Professionalism
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines professionalism as the conduct, aims, or
qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. Yet the White
Paper on Pharmacy Student Professionalism says it is displaying values, beliefs and
attitudes that put the needs of another about your personal needs. There is still another
definition. The Medical Professionalism Project says professionalism is the basis of
medicines contract with society. It demands placing the interests of patients above those of
the physician, setting and maintaining standards of competence and integrity, and
providing expert advice to society on matters of health. In my opinion, a persons attitude,
values, and behaviors are influenced greatly by the environment they grew up in. With
every persons environment being different, every persons view of professionalism would
be different. So since these traits are entwined in our personality, they cannot be taught to
an individual. Also, I believe that the definition of professionalism is different for every
person considering every single persons morals and values of life are different.
The accusation of pharmacy schools becoming trade schools is an outrage. The statement
was made signaling that pharmacists have the ability to stop the growing trend. With all of
the laws and restrictions put upon us, how are we supposed to be viewed as a medical
field? To make matters worse, most pharmacists and pharmacy students do not truly
believe in our medical field status: read the scripts, fill the prescription, and send the
patient on their way. How do we expect the patients to believe in the duty of our field
when we do not believe in the duty ourselves? We need to believe that we are an
irreplaceable piece of society and be proud to be a pharmacist. If we want to fix the view
of our field, we have to start with ourselves.
To help keep prestige in the pharmacy profession, family physicians should no longer
prescribe medications and should only write the ailment on the prescription. This would
allow pharmacists, who are the drug experts, to prescribe the drugs. This only makes sense
to let doctors figure out what is wrong and the pharmacist to make the correct decision on
the prescription. Half the time the pharmacist has to call the doctor anyways because they
prescribed the wrong medicine or the wrong dosage.
The other allegation of pharmacists tricking patients into declining their counseling is
hilarious in my opinion. This scenario is like any other prejudice view, a couple of bad
