Compassion Fatigue

Dr. Howard Goldstein reflects on the 10 years he's been writing for the Medical Post—and the continued importance of communication skills in the medical profession.

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The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is most recently linked to social media but I believe it can be applied to a wider spectrum in an effort to support pharmacy leaders in their everyday lives. FOMO is an anxiety that an exciting event is occurring without us, flushing our brains with a depressed mood.

Dr. Sarah Smith provided advice at an OntarioMD symposium.

For the majority of my practice, I've cared for marginalized populations, knowing everyone found this kind of work as rewarding as I do. But there consensus used to be that it needed to be done. Today, in Quebec, the message seems to be, if you don’t speak French, please die.

Over the past two years, I have journaled about the anecdotes and lessons from over a decade of managing small and larger pharmacy teams, across corporate and independent models, both from retail and long-term-care. Across the multitude of journal entries, 7 key characteristics (which I call dimensions) show up recurrently. Enunciating them with very specific adjectives and placing them in an acronym allowed me to understand what to strive for in showing up for my patients, team and business.

Dr. Dennis Kendel found an outpouring of positive responses when he posted about the death of his wife from pancreatic cancer.

No one loves filling out administrative forms or dealing with supply issues. I get it. But making the patient pay—and blaming the pharmacist—for elements of collaborative patient care that require a bit of extra paperwork? That’s just not right.