Why it's (still) a great time to be a pharmacist

Because the pandemic opened the door to new business opportunities Lee Tuan, pharmacist and owner of All About Health Remedy’s Rx, Woodstock, ON Through the pandemic, there were definitely negatives, but also, there were positives—doing vaccines, for example. People were so happy that we were able to do that. We had a guy coming in for the COVID vaccines, when we were doing the vaccine clinics, he literally told everybody he knew about them. People were really appreciative of receiving the service—nothing like the flu shots or the vaccines we’ve been doing before has been like this. The trust that we have built over this time, from dispensing medications, reviewing medications, chatting with patients about their drug interactions, doing those vaccines—once you build that trust, you never lose it. It’s a very positive thing for a pharmacy professional to provide services to the public and have them value it like that. Many patients transferred to us after the vaccines, and signed up for other services—we have a couple that came to us for the vaccines, and we chatted during the vaccination process, and they literally called us the next day, wanting us to transfer their prescriptions from their pharmacy. We did a MedsCheck with them right afterwards and they were super appreciative. It’s like what we did during the pandemic opened the door for us, and now, the question is, what can we do with that open door?” Because pharmacists are changing how they care for vulnerable communities Amy Lamb, co-chair of the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada and director of Northern Health for WillowGrove Pharmacy in Prince Albert, SK. (Treaty 6 territory and the homeland of the Métis nation) It’s been almost like a paradigm shift—all the stakeholders of pharmacy seem to have shifted their focus to a better understanding of how we can reconcile health disparities. The greater context of that is that it takes pharmacy from its longstanding, dispensing “lick and stick” model to a space where we’re going to find ways to truly spend time with our patients, and support them as a whole person. My own clinical practice has focused on hearing patients’ stories for the past 10 years, and patient coaching, and I’ve been able to prove that it is both sustainable and effective. I’ve seen first-hand the growing opportunities for improving operational efficiencies through the use of technology and other innovations, and the empowerment of registered technicians. I think during the pandemic, everybody, regardless of their level of privilege, experienced a little bit of trauma, and healthcare professionals experienced first-hand how that catalyzed interpersonal issues, mental health challenges, and addiction—by removing all of those things that normally provide health and wellness and vitality to people. At the same time, while everyone experienced worsening health outcomes, it was very clear that mental health consequences, and addiction consequences, inevitably worsened for our more vulnerable communities, especially remote and Indigenous communities. Everybody seems ready to talk about meaningful actions towards trauma-informed practice, reconciliation practice, and safe workplaces now. Now is the time for us to really truly recognize, acknowledge, and grieve the inefficacies and injustices in health care, and then make some innovative practice changes. My biggest hope comes from knowing that creating sustainable practices where you can spend a significant amount of time hearing someone’s story, and caring for their community, actually does make a huge difference. The strengthening of meaningful relationships with patients is powerful medicine.” Because pharmacists have the power to create great career paths Stacey D’Angelo, vice-president of professional development for pharmacy staffing firm DPR Group This is a great time to be a pharmacist because there are so many jobs available, and you have the opportunity to really hold the reins in terms of your next job and your career path. A lot of people are really looking for work-life balance, and there’s the chance for better compensation as well. For the past decade, there’s been a shortage of pharmacists, and the pharmacists now have more opportunities. Even within the past six months, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in the job market in favour of pharmacists. When I graduated 10 years ago, wages were going downhill, there were no signing bonuses—and now we’re seeing quite the opposite. Compensation is going up dramatically, and pharmacists have the ability to choose their next options and next move. COVID has also really brought out this great opportunity for patients who are open to having health care delivered in different ways. I recently started a virtual deprescribing business, and more and more pharmacists are offering virtual services and really thinking outside the box in terms of what a pharmacist is, and what benefits we can give to patients outside of the pharmacy.” Because it’s finally pharmacists’ time to shine Chris Juozaitis, pharmacist and owner/manager of Howe Sound Pharmacy, in Gibsons, BC I’m super proud of all my colleagues, and I’m so proud of my profession, and that we have had such a positive impact on our patients’ lives and across our community. So many patients are still falling through the cracks of our system—last year I filled 12,000 emergency prescriptions in our little community. In my pharmacy, we want to take away the transactional nature of pharmacy; we spend time with the patients, and I think that’s the reason why we’ve done so many emergency prescriptions, and why our business has grown. Even though it’s a bit of a double-edged sword, because it’s hard to find staff now and we’re all burnt out, I’m thankful that I’m practising in this way. It’s a tremendous business opportunity to see the difference between regular pharmacy and [truly] being part of the healthcare team, as we are. Many of these are the things that pharmacists have been doing for years, but it’s really come to the forefront during COVID. It highlighted what we do. This is our time to shine as a profession. I’m hopeful that this will translate into more respect from the government as well. I don’t think our voices had really been heard before now. In a way, I’m thankful that this is going to show how important a piece of healthcare in our community pharmacy is.” Because people have finally seen what pharmacists can do Hajra Mirza, clinical community pharmacist, Winnipeg, MB It used to be that pharmacists were associated with physicians. Patients would see you as someone behind the counter, who counted medications, and told them how to use them—even though their doctor already had told them that. But post-COVID, pharmacists are being recognized for what they really are: a profession that speaks for itself, and is unique, not just an offshoot of doctors. The knowledge of that change keeps me going, like the fact that people are now coming in and asking questions about medications to the people who are medication experts. With the pandemic and the physician shortages, lots of provinces are looking at pharmacists to take on some of those roles, and I think very soon pharmacists will get the respect that’s long overdue. I have a feeling that we’ll emerge from this as a very strong profession, and get to do the kind of roles that we want to perform, or have the expanded practice that we want. I think it’s going to happen. Even though it’s been hard, that’s the silver lining.” Because pharmacies are finally taking mental health seriously Karen Agro, pharmacist, director at Agro Health Associates, and a keynote speaker Pharmacists went into the profession because they love working with people and helping people, but now our environment is just working against us, and not enabling us. That’s why I’m optimistic—because we can’t ignore it anymore. I think we now have the chance to create a work environment that supports employees so they can feel energized, focused, and able to create a sense of calm among the chaos. We are at a critical junction. After three years of stressors that have held on and on, and many people facing burnout or who feel like they’re at the end of their tether, we have a chance to do something now, because if we stay where we are right now, we’re going to lose staff. People are exhausted, disengaged, and then ultimately there’s a risk to patient safety, because overworked pharmacy staff are less likely to be engaged. We can’t not do anything now, we have put up with this for so long. It’s time to start making changes. I’m optimistic because it’s our chance to look at ways to manage our energy resources throughout the day—without disrupting workflow—using techniques that I speak about, such as microbreaks through mindfulness, movement and music. And also through management support and possibly changes at the system or operational level.” Because COVID-19 changed how the public saw pharmacists Kevin Kowalchuk, senior director, pharmacy operations for Neighbourly Pharmacy; pharmacist in BC and AB, based out of Calgary There’s never been a time in my 25+ year career where I’ve had patients feel there was nowhere else to go. During COVID, pharmacy was the only one available—even when people couldn’t see their doctor, we were there. They trusted pharmacy to be the sole guidance in a very dark and difficult time. When somebody said thank you for giving advice, or thank you for a vaccine, they sincerely meant it. I think this helped cement our relationship with our patients, and I really truly believe that as we now emerge, those relationships are going to carry very well for the business of pharmacy. The trust and relationship that we built will continue to be there. It’s given me personally more confidence, too. It was very scary at the beginning, but as you get through year one, year two, you’re like: ‘You know what, I can make a difference, and I know how, and I’m confident in doing it’.” Because pharmacists are leaping at new opportunities Fairuz Siraj, pharmacist at Pharmasave, Victoria, BC, founder of Empower4 Healthcare Consulting, and part of the scientific committee with Migraine Canada Despite the ongoing stress and exhausting time that we’re all having, I still think it’s a great time to be a pharmacist, and the future is looking pretty bright. That’s mainly due to our changing role—it feels like we’re more valued by the public and most governments. The public really trusts pharmacists even more now, due to the work that we’ve been doing. At the height of the pandemic, back in 2020, the pharmacies were one of the only things that remained open, and that really showed the public why we truly are the most accessible health- care professionals, and with the lack of physicians now, that’s continuing. The public is recognizing that if they don’t have a family doctor, they need pharmacists to prescribe. That’s what most of the provincial governments have noticed as well, and the emerging role of pharmacists as the essential part of the health- care team, by giving us an expanded scope. I think the other thing is individual pharmacists are making a lot of career changes, because they’re seeing that value. What they thought before was, there’s only community pharmacy, but now there are a lot of job openings in hospitals or in different avenues, and some people are taking these big leaps and becoming entrepreneurs, and it’s really cool to see that.” Because this is our chance to be there when people really need us Esmail Merani, pharmacist and co-owner of four IDA pharmacies and a Paragon, a compounding lab, in Ottawa and the surrounding area You have to look at things as an opportunity, and to remember, we’ve gone through worse before. I’ve been a pharmacist for 49 years, but I still wake up and go to work as if it’s my first day at work. This profession is very satisfying, mentally and morally; you feel good when you help people, and you’re the most accessible person out there. During COVID, when people had no information, they couldn’t figure out what was going on, we had to be there to acknowledge what was happening and guide them through the process. Even people who weren’t our patients, even when their doctor was closed. I just hope that the government doesn’t take us for granted after that. I still think going forward, pharmacy will be a viable profession. Even if there’s a recession—I’ve lived through lots of recessions, and when there’s a recession, people are getting more medications, they need more help and you have to look out for them. You have to be strong for them, you have to be there for them, because they rely on you. You’re in this not just for the good times, you’re there for the good and the bad times. Not everything can be perfect. We just have to be there for our patients.” Because the government is seeing pharmacists’ value Jeff Jardine, pharmacist and PEI Operations Manager, Bayshore Specialty Rx I think government has finally realised how much we can help in the care process. The public is now aware too of some of the things that we’re able to do, and you get a lot of really good feedback, which is also helping our cause. So now the government appears to be wanting to let us do more, to ease their burden. We already do things like medication reviews, all kinds of different therapeutic substitutions. We’re also getting into minor ailments prescribing, and the list of those things is being expanded. That’s what we went to school for. We didn’t go to school just to file people in and out as fast as we could. The whole idea is to give the patients our time, look after people’s health, and practise the way that we always were able to do.” Because tough times spur innovation Steven Hopp, pharmacy manager and owner of Rutland Medical Pharmacy, Kelowna, and chair of the board of the College of Pharmacists of BC. These are difficult times, but it is struggle and hardships that often lead to innovation. In our case, we’re finding better ways to provide higher quality care. These difficult times have offered pharmacists an opportunity to provide safer, higher-quality care to the public. It is because of this I truly believe we are going through an exciting time and we will come out of this on the other end in a better place. It’s an opportunity for change. The government has expanded pharmacists’ scope of practice as a result, and now is a chance for pharmacists to innovate and find new ways of delivering better care to the public. Right touch regulation [regulations that protect the public without unnecessarily inhibiting innovation or level of care] can ensure that the public receives safe, high-quality care in those new ways.” Because pharmacists have earned the respect of the public and other healthcare providers Saher Elbashir, pharmacy manager at Shoppers Drug Mart in Cambridge, ON This time has been stressful, but we have gained the public trust. Over COVID, we really became the main source of public information, and stepped up on educating the public. The other part is that we just provided all the services, from the vaccines all the way up to Paxlovid treatment, and that got us in the front lines with other healthcare providers, next to doctors and nurses. It created more of a collaboration with other healthcare providers. And just working to our full scope of practice made us more vital to the community. I feel like this prepared us for everything, and it showed that we’ve got what it takes. A pandemic wasn’t the best way to get here, but it did prove that we can do all of that. And now, we have this trust from the public. People have started telling us how grateful they are for what we provide, which is a kind of feedback we haven’t been getting that much of before. And we have it from the doctors as well: before I would get a bit of pushback even on renewing prescriptions; and now doctors are sending patients to me, telling me to go ahead and adjust medications as I see fit. That trust, and that kind of flexibility, where we can practise to our full scope without being afraid of being looked down on by other healthcare providers, or of how a patient is going to take the feedback, is great. It’s been stressful, but at the same time, if you’re passionate about the pharmacists’ role in society, it’s been amazing working through this change.”

Why it's (still) a great time to be a pharmacist

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