Today we discussed the ethical dilemma of dispensing Naloxone to a drug addict. The ethical principles discussed included justice, non-maleficence, and autonomy. This dilemma relates to the ethical rules and principles presented today because we must consider the needs of individual patients, do no harm to the patient, and allow the patient to make their own decisions in their medical care.

I was shocked learning today that pharmacists could refuse to dispense any medication based on their morals and beliefs. I believe the discussion was a positive experience because we were able to discuss the different views of the case study. Talking about different views helps inform our decisions on ethical dilemmas such as the Narcan case and allows us to use empathy.  

Personally, I know two people whose lives were saved using Naloxone. One of the two went on to complete her Masters in math and work as a financial advisor for JP Morgan. I believe patients who have an addiction deserve a chance to live again and success stories such should be used to defend the use of Narcan.  

Moving forward I will treat patients who are addicted to drugs like every patient suffering from an illness. Someone with an opiate addiction should be treated with respect and get the same standard of care as any other patient seeking care. Additionally, I will not make assumptions about someone’s life just because they have a drug addiction.

The PILS assessment revealed that my dominant learning style is a producer. I generally agree with this learning style because I enjoy working by myself and working at a slower pace with like-minded individuals. Additionally, I am my worst critic, I like to pay attention to details, and I am organized. Those traits accurately describe me personally and professionally. After taking this assessment I was shocked at how dominant my learning style was because I had selected all Bs except for one D. I was also in disbelief that it described the producer as someone who does not like attention. All my friends can vouch that I thrive off attention and I love leading. The learning/teaching method that works best for me is writing information down and then grouping information together. Additionally, I like to teach others the information I know. The learning style that does not work for me is passively highlighting and reading notes. I think my learning style of teaching others works best for me because I like to be social, and I like to teach. Additionally, teaching others helps me memorize information through repetition. The passive learning style does not work for me because I get distracted very easily and I rather work in a small study group. After taking the PILS assessment, I agree that I critic myself harshly even when I do well in class because I want the best grade possible. In the future, I will actively try to be more positive.

Semon Randall

Survey ID: 6172D0C30519F

            While taking the APhA career pathway survey, the critical factors that I selected were job security, vacation and benefits, ability to work remotely and stress/workload. I selected those factors because I would like to have a family in the future and having those key factors would be essential in managing my work and family life. The career that was ranked as the best match for me was office-based medication management. I was surprised in receiving that match because I was unfamiliar with the job description. However, while reading the tasks and testimonials of pharmacists who have an office-based medication management job, I became excited about this future career option.

            I believe an office-based medication management position is a good fit for me. I believe it is a good fit because it aligns with my critical factors. The pros of this position is the ability to work from home, and flexibility with my work schedule. Furthermore, this position allows me to specialize in certain disease states. Some downsides to the position as stated by pharmacists in the field are having to stay up-to date with literature, and having to explain the value of what they do. I don’t necessarily believe the cons resonate with my attitude because I enjoy the thought of being a “forever learner/student”. I also believe that although having to explain your importance as an office based medication management pharmacist can be frustrating, I believe in the future, the view of pharmacists will change. I believe the roles of pharmacists will change as pharmacy associations lobby for provider status.

            In summary, I do believe the APhA career pathway activity correctly matched with a profession that aligns with my goals. A large percentage of pharmacists who work in the medication management field had undergone residency and certification program. I plan on continuing my educational training via a residency after I graduate. In addition, I am still open to other professions such as pharmaceutical industry which was ranked second in my career pathways survey. Pharmaceutical industry can be summarized as a job that is very versatile depending on what area you choose to work in. Drug development and research was the most intriguing factor to me. I believe the APhA career pathways activity opened more options for my career options because I did not consider a lot for the positions that were ranked in my survey.

Service & care in community has taught me many things that will make me a better pharmacist. For example, we learned about communication and how easily it can be misconstrued. This was an important lesson because as a pharmacist we need to translate things to our patient in a way that they will understand. The exercise telephone was an amazing portrayal of how easy it is to miscommunicate to a patient. Another thing this class has taught me was root cause analysis. RCA is a great way to understand and solve your problems as a pharmacist. RCA helps you deescalate problems and it also helps you avoid the same problem again. Furthermore, we learned about cultural competency. I believe this was the most important topic we discussed about because majority of our patients will be from a different cultural or socioeconomic background. We can’t treat everyone the same because in different cultures there are things that may be seen as offensive. Being culturally competent will help us as pharmacists because it helps us connect to our patients and build trust. When a patient trusts you, they will be more likely to pick up the phone and call you if they have any questions about their medications. In conclusion, this class will help me become a better pharmacist because it helped me reflect on various interactions I might have in the future. The interaction could be with an immigrant, an elderly person or someone from the LGBTQ+ community and because I have so much knowledge of each group I won’t be as intimidated in my interaction with them. Furthermore, I will help them as best as I can without making stereotypes or biases.

For our project, we chose the business plan model that included an extension of an independent pharmacy that provided targeted services to serve students and staff on an urban college campus. The business plan included a mobile pharmacy van that would provide prescription pick up, discounted birth control, and STD health screenings to the different campuses apart of the Colleges of the Fenway (COF). We chose this opportunity because we believed that a mobile pharmacy clinic was a necessity for colleges that do not offer on-campus health services. In our group, we all brainstormed different general services of our business and we worked on an outline together. Finally, we divided the group work such that members were able to choose areas they were interested in. I was tasked with market analysis, researching regulation and compliance laws, and preparing the exit plan. The biggest challenge in developing our business plan was limiting the services we wanted to provide because of the physical size of the mobile clinic. In addition, we were unaware of the regulations regarding mobile pharmacy clinics however, with adequate research we were able to overcome these challenges. While working on this project we practiced many skills that we can utilize in our future employment. For example, we enhanced our business researching skills, communication skills and time management skills. After working on this business planning project, I feel confident in starting a pharmacy business in the future.

Following my graduation from the PharmD program I plan on continuing my training
through a residency or a fellowship. In addition, I would like to pursue a MBA and create my own
non-profit mobile health clinic in Bangladesh.
My career goals are heavily influenced by my family and upbringing. My parents are
undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh and I grew up in the Bronx. I am grateful that I had a
chance to achieve higher education and I would like to use my education and skill sets to help
better Bangladesh. Additionally, growing up in a lower socioeconomic neighborhood helped me
realize that the mistrust between the public and vaccinations/medications need to be addressed
and fixed in order to achieve public health. Furthermore, I participated in undergraduate
research, and I am interested in being a part of the industrial aspect of pharmacy.
I feel anxious but optimistic about my career goals. I have a lot of people counting on my
success and that pressure motivates me to try harder. I am feeling optimistic because I know how
hard I worked to get to this point in my life and I am only getting closer to completing my goals.
Growing up in an immigrant family, I frequently translated for my parents to different
health care workers. One day, a Bengali nurse was able to speak to my mother about her hospital
visit and it made my mom feel so confident about her visit. I would like to obtain a residency to
possibly work in a hospital setting so I could represent Southeast Asian patients. Although, I don’t
speak every South East Asian language, I think seeing someone that looks very similar to you
makes you feel comfortable and more willing to trust their counsel. Additionally, since I currently
work in a retail pharmacy, my experience has helped me realize that I do not want to work as a
retail pharmacist. I believe retail pharmacists do not get enough time to have meaningful
counseling with their patients. Furthermore, I would like to make a bigger community impact and
I believe by obtaining an MBA and pursuing a residency or fellowship I will be able to create the
much-needed free health clinics in third world countries.
I plan on joining the Southeast Asian Coalition as a volunteer to help me understand the
cultures of other third world countries. I also plan on doing research and finding an internship in a
hospital setting. I will be researching and applying to many positions, and I will also try to
maintain good grades in order to get into a residency or fellowship. I will also attend webinars to
help me understand the recruitment process. Although I am not certain about what type of post-
graduate training I will end up pursuing I am willing to keep all my options open.

Fall 2021