Summertime

Another free moment means another promise to keep up with blogging again. I swear this time to be true (as I always say)!

But really, this past year kicked my butt, and I can honestly say I'm a better person for it, and will hopefully be a better pharmacist too. Unfortunately any mental break I had this past semester all I wanted to do was lay in bed, watch TV, and mindlessly look around Facebook in 3 different tabs.

Some things I did this year:

1) Racked up thousands of Delta Skymiles and Southwest Rewards Points. Glory of pharmacy conferences and a long distance relationship.
2) Took 21 exams + 4 finals in the span of 4 months (minus Spring Break)
3) Somehow got the clutch factor. Three classes this semester ended up with final grades between 89.5 - 90%
4) Learned the significance of "Just keep swimming". Had a few breakdowns this year from the stress, workload, etc. But my friends (and not necessarily willpower) helped get me through because we were all in the same boat together.

But the year is now over, and will just be a distant memory. Because in just a few weeks, Errol and I will be embarking on our first Eurotrip! Two weeks in Italy; I can't wait for you all to share the experience with me!

Transitions

It's currently Spring Break, in which I am spending in a study room of UCF School of Medicine as Errol studies for his exam tomorrow. It's crazy to think that after this week is over, we will be well into March, and less than 2 months away from being the oldest class residing in UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Organizations have a large role in student pharmacist lives. This is the time of year of election season, and officer transition. It's the time when first year students step up and strive to become elected, second year students begin to realize that that they need some leadership to get residencies, and third years start mentally preparing to interact daily with patients.

With two Elect positions (2-year commitments), I started this year wondering how I could possibly take over in my third year. Thanks to great mentorship, I feel confident that next year I will be able to take over and maintain the legacy.

That's all for now... onto trying to survive second year!

Pharmacists Save Lives Too

Last night was an incredibly busy day at the CVS where I work. It was only a 5-hour shift, but Mondays are always busy. From 8 to 10 PM, it was just myself and my pharmacist, but we were able to manage decently. It was a few hours before I was able to take a bite of dinner, or even go to the bathroom. But that's the life of community retail.

Around 8:30PM, a mother and her daughter approached the counter asking where the Benadryl was. Before pharmacy school, when it was busy and a patient asked me where something was, I would point them to the aisle and get back to my work. However, it seems that my way of thinking has changed completely from getting tasks accomplished, to maximizing health outcomes. 

We are taught in school systematic approaches to asking patients questions in order to extract the most appropriate information.

Me: Are you looking for tablet or liquid?

Mother: Probably liquid because my daughter says she is having trouble swallowing.

I turn to the daughter, and say: Do you feel like your throat is closing up?

Daughter: Yes

Me: Have you eaten anything recently? Or come into contact with anything foreign?

Daughter: I had something with peanuts.

Me: When did you eat it?

Daughter: About 5 minutes ago

It was at that point I immediately got the pharmacist to assess her. She was unaware she had any food allergy, but it was clear she was going through anaphylactic shock. We offered to call 911 for her, but she was refusing (some sort of psychological trauma from her past, when her grandmother died in an ambulance). Instead, we had her sit in the waiting room for about 20 minutes after she drank 4 tablespoons of Benadryl to monitor her status. 

We debated taking an EpiPen off the shelf to use for her, but my pharmacist wasn't quite sure because she wasn't aware she had any allergy at all. So instead, we called Urgent Care centers to see if they were still open. We found a couple and gave her the phone number/address, and they drove off. 

This may not sound as exciting to you all, but when I think about how I could have just told her where the Benadryl was and let her go off, she could have been in a very bad situation. 

Hey, pharmacists save lives too :)