Twenty years

   Sunday was an anniversary day for me. Twenty years ago the state board of pharmacy gathered to sign the licenses for the people who had recently passed the two day licensing examinations. Mine was one of them.
  It's not customary to celebrate such things, but to me this day was important. I had accomplished something that I wanted to do. I worked had and had a few bumps along the way, but I achieved what I wanted. I was a licensed pharmacist.
  I wish I could say that my choice of career had been the product of study and thought. It wasn't. I knew I wanted to help people and knew I wanted to be in the medical profession. I considered nursing, physical therapist and occupational therapist. All of those were discarded when I spoke with a pharmacist at a career day at school. Pharmacy involved studying chemistry, a field  that I liked a lot. I would be helping people and I would not have to spend half my life in school. It also paid well enough that I could live on the salary and put money in savings.
  My mother was appalled. This was not what she wanted for me. She had planned that I study either journalism or foreign language. She wanted me to live the life of adventure that she always wanted. She wanted me to report on events from exotic places, or act as an interpreter for the United Nations or at least write novels. She certainly didn't want me to devote my life to what she sneeringly referred to as "the sciences".
  I am more like my Dad in this respect. He thought it was more important to find a job that was stable, that paid enough to support your needs and was something you liked doing. Prestige, glamor and high salaries didn't matter to him. This lesson stuck with me.
  I had no idea what pharmacists did. I might not have done it if I had, it didn't seem like a good fit for someone who was painfully shy and completely introverted. I had to work hard in my classes. The material was harder than I expected and I had to cut my life down to eating,sleeping and studying. It was interesting stuff though and I didn't mind.
  Once I got into the field, I found I liked the job a lot. I managed to get over my shyness. It was exciting. I had a good study group and we all supported each other. It was a happy day for me when I accepted my diploma.
  The first years I worked very long hours. It was not unusual to me to go home, change clothes, pick up some take out and go back to work for a few more hours to do inventory or paperwork. I didn't mind it, I was learning a lot and doing something that I liked to do.
  It wasn't always fun. I've worked holidays, weekends and long shifts. I've been cussed out, spit at and had things thrown at me. I've had to deal with doctors that didn't believe that women could or should be pharmacists. I've dealt with patients who wanted to talk to the "real" pharmacist, the man pharmacist. I've changed jobs to get away from toxic coworkers and unstable companies.
  I've also had some very good times. I've had great techs and worked with other pharmacists that have taught me a lot. I've met some amazing people. One elderly lady found out I was working a long shift and brought me a bran muffin with a pat of butter on the side. Later on I thanked her and told her that I liked the muffin. She brought me the recipe in her own handwriting.
  Pharmacy has changed in the last 20 years. It seems like fast service and low prices are most important. I like to bring a human touch to my work. I want the people that come to my pharmacy to know that I care about them. I know who they are. I know what medicines they take and I am here to help them. I believe that people still need and want that.
  I'm working at my "dream store" now. Many of my customers are elderly and I love it. I watch over the World War II vets and listen to some of their stories. I watch them go through cancer treatment and brag about their grandchildren. I've called to check up on them and ask them how they are doing with the new medicine they got the other day. I've sent sympathy cards to their families when they die. I'm doing what I want to do.
  I'm doing a lot of things that I never would have expected. I give vaccines and do more clinical type things. While some pharmacists are dismayed by  this I welcome these changes. A pharmacist has always been the most accessible health care professional. For many years pharmacy was the most trusted profession. Far from overstepping our bounds, I feel we are taking health care to the people who need it. We are "taking it to the streets" as I tell my students.
  Someone once asked me what my career goal was. I told them I wanted to serve the children and grandchildren of my current customers. That hasn't changed. I would add a couple of things to it. I want to show the interns I teach that a pharmacist working in a grocery store is just as much a professional as one who works in a hospital or clinic and that we serve people not diseases. I've been working that way for 20 years and I hope to continue to work that way for 20-30 more.