I thought I would go outside the box or the pharmacy for my next post. And that is what I did! Two fellow interns and I went to St. Johns Hospital in Detroit for a diabetes fair recently. It was an event to promote the awareness of diabetes and healthy living. We were there to promote our pharmacy stores, our diabetes program, and to give away free stuff. We had a good number of people stop by our table to hear about what our pharmacy has to offer and also to get free stuff. To be honest, we had some cool free stuff. We had pens but also skin lotion, hand sanitizer and pill box holders! This event was definitely a nice change of pace away from the busy pharmacy.
One of our store’s pharmacists gave a talk about controlling blood glucose levels to a group of elderly ladies. It was not a big group but he told us that it was still an effect talk for those who showed up. When one has information and knowledge, one can make better decisions. This is an important part of being a pharmacist from what I have seen in community setting. Drugs and medications can confuse the heck out of people. The pharmacist can turn complex paragraphs about medication into a couple key points for the patient in front of him. Customers do not want to know all the side effect but the two or three ones that could affect them. The other day I advised a customer to stop taking naproxen after she was experiencing an upset stomach and dark urine. I told to see her doctor in the next day or two. I did not save the day but I probably prevented a more serious end result. I am scheduled to do one more outreach event next month, and I am looking forward to it because it certainly made an impact.