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Im a pharmacist, Ask me (almost) anything?

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Are you male or female?

What are you future plans?

How boring is to stand in pharmacy store all day (if that is what you do) ?

How to keep motivated during exam revision?
Original post by quasa
ooh, good question. dairy usually produces the body to produce more sebum but how exactly it does it is beyond me im afraid.


Aww where's the doctor's ama?

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Original post by preetg97
Anxiety


is it ok if I ask a few more questions: 1)are you the person suffering from anxiety
2) what severity anxiety (if you know)
3) what options have been used to manage it (medication and/or counselling, exercises). also has their been any analysis (by the patient or otherwise) regarding the cause of the anxiety.

regarding drug alternatives to diazepam, other benzodiazepines (diaz = benzodiazepine) and antidepressants can be used by diazepam is probably 1 of the less dangerous ones regarding side-effects (just be sure to not come off it suddenly as it can lead to really bad withdrawal and would require dose tapering)
Original post by Hello_x
Are you male or female?

What are you future plans?

How boring is to stand in pharmacy store all day (if that is what you do) ?

How to keep motivated during exam revision?


male
very boring (I also do some other stuff like counselling patients on using medication, medication/appliance reviews, stop smoking sessions, vaccinations).
revision bores me so I view it as a form of torture that needs to be endured until exams are over :smile: (that being said, know your own limits for revision and try not to cram everything in)
Original post by ServantOfMorgoth
Aww where's the doctor's ama?

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good question (btw, I texted a few doctors I know and they also have the same answer as me :lol:)
Original post by quasa
good question (btw, I texted a few doctors I know and they also have the same answer as me :lol:)


That they don't know?

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What does the mda in FP10MDA stand for?
Original post by ServantOfMorgoth
That they don't know?

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they also dont know.
Original post by Anonymous
What does the mda in FP10MDA stand for?


Misuse of Drugs Act
Hi, basically I have this really bad twitch on just my right eye. Itll start pumping really fast sometimes but I think its mainly to do with stress. Got any tips to stop this or even slow it down?

Thanks
Out of interest and coming from a Year 13 student, I still need to apply for my course and I'm so stuck between Biochemistry and Pharmacy! I would defintely love to become a physician associate or hospital pharmacist as I enjoy the idea of working with patients But which is a slightly better option? And I thought you need a 2:2 or above in a bachelors degree, so does the masters in pharmacy still count?
Thanks!
Original post by clarailamp
Out of interest and coming from a Year 13 student, I still need to apply for my course and I'm so stuck between Biochemistry and Pharmacy! I would defintely love to become a physician associate or hospital pharmacist as I enjoy the idea of working with patients But which is a slightly better option? And I thought you need a 2:2 or above in a bachelors degree, so does the masters in pharmacy still count?
Thanks!


Pharmacy definately an option over biochem and yes, MPharm still counts
Original post by quasa
this is a normal AMA (ie random questions / random talk etc) but am aware that people have a few health issues they may want to enquire about privately. feel free to ask away.

the following things however will be reported: racism, insulting peoples beliefs / private life (relationships, appearance etc) and insults in general (unless it is insulting trolls, then by all means troll the trolls).

also I will not mention what school of pharmacy I went to as it may inadvertantly reveal my secret ID but am willing to talk about other stuff.


Hey! I’m a counter assistant in a local pharmacy. Thing is... I have some real concerns about their practice standards. The main pharmacist at my branch and a couple dispensers make dodgy often suggestive comments about female patients including those they’ve done private consults with - I’m a guy and it makes me uncomfortable so I can’t imagine how female employees feel, and that’s ignoring the obvious ethical issue - at least one employee catfished a patient, the guy who owns the company is a qualified pharmacist but he is frankly frightening in how blasé he is about handling prescriptions etc... also I am regularly asked to do jobs I’m not qualified for (or even legally allowed to do!!) such as acting as a dispenser or putting away POM stock (seems silly but legally I’m not allowed to do it).

Another branch of the same company also regularly mess up my step-brother’s prescriptions; he can’t eat and has an NG tube, and they keep providing medicines as tablets even though all of his prescriptions are for liquid forms; they also gave him Pholcodeine Linctus instead of Liquid Codeine once so he was in severe pain as it has no analgesic effect and he also could have died from it as he is allergic to it (mast cell disorder so he doesn’t always have a reaction but when he does it’s anaphylactic).

I’m scared to mention anything because I really, REALLY need this job - I’m doing night classes and stuff to try and get some qualifications so I can train to be a social worker and I can’t afford the bus fare to get there without this job, I’m in food banks and soup kitchens at least once a month already - but I can’t stand by knowing that my silence could harm someone. Do you have any advice on what I could do?
Can I choose to not do the Masters before I do it as I'm trying to keep my options open for becoming a physician associate and that's another 2 years of qualifying so would it be a waste to do another year of training when I might no longer want to become a pharmacist?
Original post by Anonymous
Hey! I’m a counter assistant in a local pharmacy. Thing is... I have some real concerns about their practice standards. The main pharmacist at my branch and a couple dispensers make dodgy often suggestive comments about female patients including those they’ve done private consults with - I’m a guy and it makes me uncomfortable so I can’t imagine how female employees feel, and that’s ignoring the obvious ethical issue - at least one employee catfished a patient, the guy who owns the company is a qualified pharmacist but he is frankly frightening in how blasé he is about handling prescriptions etc... also I am regularly asked to do jobs I’m not qualified for (or even legally allowed to do!!) such as acting as a dispenser or putting away POM stock (seems silly but legally I’m not allowed to do it).

Another branch of the same company also regularly mess up my step-brother’s prescriptions; he can’t eat and has an NG tube, and they keep providing medicines as tablets even though all of his prescriptions are for liquid forms; they also gave him Pholcodeine Linctus instead of Liquid Codeine once so he was in severe pain as it has no analgesic effect and he also could have died from it as he is allergic to it (mast cell disorder so he doesn’t always have a reaction but when he does it’s anaphylactic).

I’m scared to mention anything because I really, REALLY need this job - I’m doing night classes and stuff to try and get some qualifications so I can train to be a social worker and I can’t afford the bus fare to get there without this job, I’m in food banks and soup kitchens at least once a month already - but I can’t stand by knowing that my silence could harm someone. Do you have any advice on what I could do?


Yikes, your place sounds bad.

I myself am a male pharmacist and generally speaking I have a policy to tell counter staff how to deal with patient queries they don't know (or cant be asked...as is a lot of the time) answering. Most of the time it tends to fall on deaf ears, but those who listen generally tend to benefit as they are aware of what to do in similar situations / what to recommend.

Spoiler



But nobody should ever make fun of patients and I tell staff off for doing so (in fact I lost a locum job because I complained to the pharmacy manager about staff taking the mick out of a lady with severe anxiety) and got discriminated by a place I used to work at before I became a pharmacist because I treated all races equally rather than giving preference to people from a certain ethnicity.

Back to your place, I would complain about the pharmacist & 2 staff members or at least let them know you are uncomfortable (worst case scenario, if you get sacked, you have an evidence base to sue them...providing you keep a record of them doing so). The catfisher should be reported to the GPhC however as it is seriously unethical.

Sorry to hear about your step-brother (hopefully he's on the mend). I would say switch pharmacy if you can. If anyone asks why, you don't need to give a reason and just say something generic (he's moved etc). What I would say however is that the tablet thing could be related to GP as they may send prescriptions for tablets so go to the GP and make sure they are prescribing the right thing.

The only thing I can say is hang in there tbh. Look for other jobs as well and keep earning money (whilst saving) until you can quit it. Also just keep an evidence base of stupid things which the pharmacy is doing as worst case scenario, you can use it on them (but dont let them know obviously).

In anycase, best of luck (hopefully my ramblings are of some help)
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by clarailamp
Can I choose to not do the Masters before I do it as I'm trying to keep my options open for becoming a physician associate and that's another 2 years of qualifying so would it be a waste to do another year of training when I might no longer want to become a pharmacist?


Mpharm is an integrated Masters which means that it is your first and only degree as the BPharm is integrated into it.tbh you'd be better off with the Masters in pharmacy as the BPharm is non-existent in the UK since 2004 (and is generally just a qualification which gets you lab work at best).

With pharmacy degree, it is 4 years and if you want to be a physician associate, you can do so straight after your degree if you want, rather than a 1 year pre-registration training to become a pharmacist.

What you can do is choose a mixture of pharmacy and Biochem, but with pharmacy as the main focus (and biochem backup). Go for a 3:2 or a 4:1 choice mix.

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