Perspective of the Inexperienced

A little while ago I ran in to a girl who had never filled a prescription at a pharmacy before. Trying to remember my outlook on pharmacy before I joined the field over a year and a half ago, I spent some time talking to her just to hear her perspective on pharmacy and what she believed goes on behind the counter.

She surprised me by claiming she does not trust pharmacists. Not that she does not trust a pharmacist will fill a prescription correctly, but that a pharmacist would not be able to guess a diagnosis based on symptoms. No, she believes a pharmacist’s job is to fill the prescriptions written by the doctor and just make sure the correct drug has been dispensed and whether she has any questions.

Based on my experience in the pharmacy I began to believe customers overused the pharmacist and sought consultation as a means to avoid a trip to the doctor. However, I never expected someone would hold pharmacists in such lower regard than medical doctors.

When I inquired further about pharmacy she revealed to me that she does not have a clue what goes on behind the counter. Her best guess was prefilled prescriptions and the pharmacy staff merely had to find the correct medication from the shelf. That guess definitely explained her expectation of a prescription filled in five to ten minutes during rush hour. In fact, her expectation is starting to sound a lot similar to other customer’s expectations when they drop off a prescription.

If only they knew.