The pharmacy profession is at a pivotal crossroads, where decisions made today will have far-reaching consequences. To comprehend this juncture, let's briefly journey through its history.

Pharmacists play a crucial role in healthcare, but their many roles often remain underappreciated by the general public. While most people are familiar with community pharmacists, those who work in hospitals or the pharmaceutical industry often work behind the scenes. Here, I dive into the three of the more common pharmacist roles: Community Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacy, and Industry Pharmacy.

Through my 4.5-year journey with Happy Pharm Life, I've experienced incredible opportunities, from speaking at pharmacy conferences to going on a behind-the-scenes experience with NASA, thanks to my personal brand. So let’s explore why building your personal brand matters, even if you're not into social media.

If you’ve had the pleasure of moving, you know how many things go into making it happen: the packing, the planning, the logistics. Now, add in a few Board of Pharmacy regulations and some FDA Clinical Trials requirements and you have what it takes to move an investigational drug service pharmacy. This was the task at hand for us recently which required several planning meetings as well as coordinating with multiple teams from IT to architects to electricians in order to make it happen! During the process I learned a few lessons…

Burnout is multifactorial. We know that there are many causes of burnout that are all intertwined in a messy web. Some of these causes like staff shortages get a lot of attention, as they should, but that doesn't mean there aren't other factors that can increase your risk of burnout as well.

Let’s be honest for a second, pharmacy gets a bad wrap. The public thinks pharmacists count pills all day (we don’t). Some people don’t view pharmacists as healthcare professionals at all (we are). Our own professionals are leaving the profession due to some of the changes that have occurred since the pandemic began (this is true, I won’t deny it). However, I wanted to highlight the things I DO like about being a pharmacist.

I may be biased, but I think I have one of the coolest pharmacist jobs out there. As an investigational drug service pharmacist I get to see the latest medication advances before they even hit the market and have the opportunity to use my pharmacist knowledge in a unique way. In this video, I'll share what went down during my time off and how I tacked the mountain of emails waiting for me when I returned. I have a close out monitor visit at a satellite pharmacy location for a study we have been conducting. It's a crucial process for medication research, and you'll get a sneak peek into how it all works.

If there is one thing I have learned about pharmacists in my 12 years in the profession, it's that pharmacists are great at prioritizing patient needs over their own health.