The importance of lifelong learning

I got this guest post submission from a student and found it pretty funny. I'd be there are a TON of pharmacists that are just as clueless here in the states. If you don't use it, you lose it. I know that I don't remember a lot of the intricate stuff I knew back during and right after school. But, I do read, learn, and occassionally challenge myself. This is one of the reasons I like to have students. Constantly explaining things to them helps me remember it, and at the same time, they will know things that I do not remember. Having them teach me benefits me with knowledge and them with recollection and presentation. If you want to keep up and remember stuff, get some students on rotations -- trust me. CE's are worthless in general. When compared to students, they are a waste of time.

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I understand the Unites States requires every pharmacist to get a doctorate prior to becoming qualified. However, in Australia, it isn’t required. It is still an undergraduate degree, so we come out after only four years of studying, do a year’s internship, pass our registration exams and we’re done. Every year, we have to enough “points” every year to remain registered as a way to encourage our ongoing learning.

As I’m still in my third year of my degree at the wonderful University of Sydney, we are required to undertake externships, where we get sent to pharmacies for “workplace experience”. I undertook my externship at a medical centre in Sydney’s north.

As one would presume, the entire purpose of my presence there was to learn. The medical centre pharmacy was small enough for only one pharmacist and pharmacist assistant to run the store.

I was questioning the pharmacist present at the time of the several of the drugs people came in for. One of them was quetiapine- as one should know- an atypical antipsychotic.

“What class of antipsychotic is quetiapine?” I asked.

The pharmacist replied curtly, “I don’t know.”

At that time, the pharmacist assistant, who is also qualified, hospital nurse, commented that he should know coz he just passed his registration exams a few months ago.

So I continued to ask: “Why do antipsychotics cause suicidal thoughts at times?”

“I don’t know.”

 Do you fucking know anything?

Let’s try something else then. “Why do topical corticosteroids thin out the skin?”

“I don’t know.”

How much did you bribe the examiner to let you pass your registration exams?!

Ok, so I dropped that topic. So I asked about shingles. “I heard shingles is called herpes zoster, but it’s caused by the varicella virus. So does that mean herpes and varicella virus are the same?”

Again, “I don’t know.”

The pharmacist did not look at me the entire time, so I looked at the computer screen he was typing away at. He was on Wikipedia searching up shingles.

WIKIPEDIA.

SURELY, THERE ARE MORE RESPECTABLE & TRUSTWORTHY REFERENCES TO TURN TO? ALL OF THEM HAVE AN ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE. MEDSCAPE. AUSTRALIAN MEDICINES HANDBOOK. MIMS ONLINE. THERAPEUTIC GUIDELINES.

“I don’t know anything. Stop asking me questions.”

That’s exactly what I did. So for the rest of my externship that day, I didn’t ask any questions. This incompetent pharmacist went on to report me with an “attitude, and is not willing to learn”.

Oh wait, what? So did not see that one coming.

I have seen a variety of pharmacists in the professional field over the three years I’ve been studying and working in pharmacies. I’ve seen the best pharmacists who are able to treat palmoplantar  psoriasis and various skin conditions better than doctors can. I’ve also seen the negligent; one pharmacist gave out Nurofen Plus to a patient with an active peptic ulcer just because they requested it by brand.  Even with my incomplete education, I know that I should have offered an alternative, perhaps paracetamol [acetaminophen] for your headache?

The pharmacist I worked with during my externship rivals the worst pharmacists simply due to his knowledge gap. I don’t think customers realise it because all he does is assume the doctor has given all the instructions to the patient, so he doesn’t have to do it, and most customers are regulars so they’ve been on the medications for many years.

Being a young pharmacist isn’t an excuse for being ignorant. Pharmacists are the second most respected profession [second only to emergency workers] so don’t tarnish our reputation!