Experience Matters




   It's not often that I leave work feeling really proud of who I am and what I do. Most of my working days are good, a few are not so good and some days are just plain wonderful. 
    A doctor from the local clinic sent over a prescription for an antibiotic oral liquid that I don't have in stock. Not many pharmacies carry it because this particular antibiotic is generally not given to younger children due to side effects.
   Before I had a chance to call the doctor, a man with his son came in. They wanted to know if the prescription was ready. I explained to them what was going on and told the man that I would call the doctor for an alternate. While I was on hold waiting for a nurse, I looked at the prescription. I realized that it was for one dose. I did a little math and discovered that there was a capsule that could be used. If the child couldn't swallow the capsule, it could be opened and put on some sort of soft food, like applesauce. As long as it was put in non dairy food it would work just fine. The father was all right with it. The nurse gave me the prescription. We had it ready in about ten minutes. The copay was less than a dollar, the liquid would have cost a lot more. Everyone went away happy.
   A few hours later I got a prescription for a steroid inhaler. The insurance didn't cover it and I know it was expensive. The claim rejection didn't notify me what inhalers would be covered. I looked at my options and settled on one. I noticed that most insurances seemed to cover it in preference to another inhaler that was generic. I called the doctor and made the suggestion. In about 15 minutes the prescription came into me queue. I filled it and sent the claim. It was covered. Yes!
   A few hours later a family member came to pick it up. I explained the change in inhalers. As I was talking about the use of the inhaler, I realized that it was a breath activated inhaler. They would not need to spacer that the doctor ordered. In fact, a spacer cannot be used with this inhaler which saved a bit of money.  Everyone was satisfied.
   It's days like this that remind me that my 30 some odd years is an advantage. I'm a good pharmacist even though I don't have eight years of education and a "doctor of pharmacy" degree. The years of experience I have are a good thing even though the rest of the pharmacy world may disagree.
   The rest of the day was a good one. Far better than the 12 hour shift I worked yesterday. This was one of the reasons I chose to go into pharmacy. I can do some good in the world. I don't have to do anything large or grandiose. I can do small things, like what I did today.

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