Firstly, that lady or man in the white coat has an abundance of medical knowledge that is extremely underused and is more than capable of answering and treating common medical issues for which we would run to our doctor. Pharmacists study towards a B. Pharm, this consists of four years studying, one year internship and then a final year of community service.
Here is the perfect example: Recently I was rather under the weather and began to have flu-like symptoms. After discussing this with my boss, he mentioned that a week prior he had gone into a pharmacy and spoken to the pharmacist about his symptoms. She suggested he combine a Vitamin B and C effervescent and take it three times a day. He did this and his symptoms were gone in three days. I decided to take my boss's advice and do the same, I had the same result! This whole process was cheaper than a visit to the doctor who would look at me for five minutes and probably prescribe the good old antibiotics.
The pharmacists though must put their hands up and take some of the blame for this perception they have created, the perception of medicine fetchers. I see this with many of the older generation pharmacists... they don't offer much advice, freely. When you go and collect the medicine they often just read out what has been put onto the box and you feel as if you have moved along the conveyor belt so to speak.
In their defence, pharmacists are some of the hardest working people I have seen. The shortage of pharmacists and the continued growing influx of people needing medication and healthcare do not help the pharmacist in terms of consulting time, therefore they need to get the medication out quickly and keep consulting time as short as possible.
Being in the healthcare industry and seeing many pharmacists from different backgrounds and walks of life has really enabled me to appreciate them and gain an understanding as to how valuable they are to their communities. As I mentioned earlier pharmacists have to do a years community service, this means that at heart all of them are humanitarians and very caring people. Having watched many pharmacists at work, especially in the private owned pharmacies, they often know their clientele quite well and on first-name basis. Many of the customers have been supporting the pharmacy for years, so if you are one of the long-standing customers, you will find it easier to gain some extra time with your pharmacist and receive his/her knowledge.
The lesson in all of this and the focal point of this article is to cement the fact that pharmacists are not what most people perceive them to be, just people in white coats behind a counter. Instead, they are some of the most caring and knowledgeable people in the healthcare industry.
I urge you, if you see the pharmacist and he/she is not disappearing three or four times to a shelf to fetch your medication, ask them for advice, go to them first before you just make an impulse call to make a doctor's appointment. I can assure you they will provide some of the best advice your hard-earned money can buy.
