The culture of Pharmacists

I will acknowledge that we are a unique bunch of professionals. Among us are a few stereotypes and some commonalities. Hospital pharmacists are often perceived as being more reclusive, spending much of their time in the basement dosing vancomycin. Retail pharmacists are viewed as more extroverted but less clinical. We have managed care pharmacists and no one knows what they do. Like most of you, I have worked in a variety of environments and I see some very promising characteristics among pharmacists. We are extremely detailed and accountable professionals. We have skillsets that are both unique and much advanced compared to many of our peers in healthcare. In general, we don't carry our ego around on our shoulder and we are always willing to roll up our sleeves and get sh** done. Unfortunately, we rarely advocate for our profession or take leadership roles in our organizations. How many of you are members of a professional pharmacy organization? How many of you are knowledgeable and advocating for legislation that will secure the role of pharmacists for years to come? I know the answers to these questions and it doesn't make me happy. My point is not to shame you, but to motivate you through discussion. There are far fewer pharmacists in Oregon than nurses or physicians AND they are much bigger advocates for their profession. This directly impacts the advancement of our profession. Nurses are now prescribing medications while we struggle to administer vaccines to patients under 18. How often have you had to correct an order or prescription written by a nurse (not to mention an MD)? There is very little controversy that pharmacists are the most knowledgeable healthcare professionals about medications, but we have less professional autonomy than nurses and physicians. Needless to say, we have a lot of work to do!