XCVIII : A Changing Profession

It's not just USC that is pushing for the pharmacy profession to move forward from its traditional role of dispensing and compounding based on a physician's recommendation. This article talks about the changing profession. As the older generation of pharmacists is being replaced by the newer generation of PharmD-carrying pharmacists, the profession is shifting toward a more patient-centered care. This means that pharmacists are actively participating in the treatment of an ill patient. This means that pharmacists can do what they are expected to do best: know about drugs. This means that pharmacists can provide the insight and knowledge about drugs to monitor how the patients respond to therapy. What am I getting at? Pharmacists play an important role in patient treatment, just as physicians, nurses, and all other health professions do.

"The primary care physician shortage is acute and growing," Schommer continued. "Nursing and pharmacy are being called upon to take a lot of the load that physicians once carried. Physician groups are saying this is a good time to let go and focus on what they do best, which is diagnose and treat. When it comes to nonmedical care, nursing is very well positioned to take on the load. When it comes to medication therapy management, you think of us [pharmacists] as the best-trained experts."

In the end, it doesn't matter if the physician makes the perfect diagnosis if the patient doesn't get the right medication, or the physician also writes the prescription but the patient doesn't even believe the medication works. Each person in the health care team is specialized in a certain aspect of patient care, and because there are some overlaps, the team can make the best decisions about the treatment that a patient receives.

As a specific example, consider the roles in a hospital. Everyone knows that doctors go on rounds to check up on patients in their sick beds. Everyone knows that nurses take over caring for the patient after the doctors do their rounds. But, what do pharmacists do in a hospital? I may not know everything that the pharmacist does, but ever wonder where the medications that nurses give come from? Where do the IV bags that nurses infuse come from? Where do the emergency medications come from? Who checks that these supplies are always available? Who prepares everything so that nurses and physicians don't need to look for them? Who knows all the medications that the patients are on and how they interact? Who monitors that the medication is actually given to and taken by the patient?

It's true pharmacists are still mainly in dispensing and distribution, but it's changing. Pharmacy is a profession, and I'm proud to be going into part of the health care team.

I think I'm more suited for the hospital than the community because I'm feeling more strongly about being in the hospital setting right now. This rotation is really getting to me. I want to see more. I want to know more. I want to experience more.