Author: spokanepharmacyassociation

Message from the Board
By: SPA Executive Vice President Steven Webbenhurst

As many parents sigh with relief that summer vacation is over, all of us return to a sense of normalcy. For students, they are back in class. For pharmacists and technicians, work changes slightly as fewer employees take vacation, prescription volume returns to a steady flow, and there are fewer phone calls to insurance companies for vacation overrides at retail sites.

As we all return to our routines, it’s a great time to make efforts to fix issues in the work or home environment and make our lives less stressful.

Have you heard of the 21/90 rule? It’s simple enough. If we commit to a goal or change for 21 days, it becomes a habit. If you continue for another 90 days, it will be a permanent lifestyle change.

So I challenge all of you to pick one or two things that you want to change. It can be something like workflow, your interactions with patients, your attitude toward others, or something personal.

Focus on the change until October 1st, and you stand a good chance of making that change a new habit.

Something that I did was to alter my morning routine. I am scheduled to start work at 7:45 and have about a 30 minute commute. But I leave home almost an hour early, so I feel relaxed in case there are traffic issues or if I want to run an errand prior to work. I find that doing this, creates a less stressful morning for me. I get a jump start on work and it makes for a good start to my work day.

So, what one or two habits do you want to alter? Get others around you to commit to making the change too if it’s a work related change. Remember, just 21 days and you’re on your way to making a new and better habit.

Good luck!

Message from the Board
By: SPA Executive Vice President Steven Webbenhurst

Time is flying and the longest day of the year (sunrise to sunset) is just around the corner on June 21st!

Did you know that on that day, we have 15 hours, 59 minutes and 33 seconds between sunrise and sunset in Spokane? We miss having 16 hours of sunlight by a mere 27 seconds! That is more than 7.5 more hours of sunlight than our shortest day in December.

Think of those people that live further north in the world. The difference is even more dramatic. A few years ago I was fortunate to travel to Alaska for work twice during that summer. Daylight lasted forever it seemed. I was in Anchorage for a total of about 5 weeks and loved that it was still dusk at midnight, but the long days really messed up my mind’s perception of when I should go to bed. We would be out eating dinner and enjoying the city and suddenly realize it was 11pm!

Of course the opposite is true in the winter when they have less than 5.5 hours of sunlight in Anchorage. Residents there told me that people force themselves to be active in the winter so that they don’t go crazy. There are lots of evening activities planned so that people don’t hibernate for the winter.

Our summer days are shorter here in Spokane than they are in Anchorage, but we still enjoy the late sunsets. It seems easy here to be active during those evenings. Summer can be a busy time with trips planned and active kids to watch over, but summer for most of us is an enjoyable time. For those in the education world, it is a break from the stresses of school.

The Spokane Pharmacy Association also takes a bit of a break during the summer. We typically don’t have continuing education programs or promote drug-company sponsored dinners during July and August. Social/networking events don’t start again until fall.

The board hopes that all of our members enjoy their summer, but hope you also look forward to those events starting again in the fall. We will be in touch again before summer is over, alerting you to what great things we have planned for the fall.

Have a great summer!

Message from the Board
By: SPA Executive Vice President Steven Webbenhurst

Last month I referenced the phrase, “April showers bring May flowers.” Spring is a great time because many things come back to life or bloom. As students graduate, it really is their time to bloom. All of the hard work that went in to this event (including being exposed to much fertilizer I’m sure the students would say) has finally paid off.

Pharmacy techs are in high demand in the area and can easily find jobs. But the same isn’t true for soon-to-be pharmacists. The increased number of pharmacy schools and greater enrollment numbers at each institution have taken us from a shortage of pharmacists a few years ago, to a surplus in many locations this year.

Those entering the job market are finding employers aren’t looking for additional pharmacists. It seems to me that for those looking for traditional positions in retail or hospital, are finding more success if they were interns for those employers. I think that there are two reasons for that. Most importantly, while working as an intern, employers see it as a great way to observe if that intern is a right fit for their organization. It’s similar to IPPE and APPE rotations. Employers and preceptors evaluate students and determine if they would be good hires. And secondly, I think employers are more likely to create positions or make part-time positions into full(er) time positions if they are familiar with candidates.

But as the pharmacy world changes, I think we as pharmacists (and technicians and students) need to help drive the future of pharmacy. Who better to steer our profession than those of us in practice? When I graduated pharmacy school, clinical pharmacist jobs were new. Think how far we’ve taken that concept. And when you consider jobs involving MTM (medication therapy management), immunizations, third party, specialized disease state management, anti-coagulation clinics and so many other areas, we’ve made huge progress in making our profession broader.

As the supply of pharmacists exceeds demand, it is a perfect time to expand our profession further. What ideas do you have? Are there untapped opportunities that need the attention of pharmacists? I think there are. It’s up to us to be creative and use our knowledge to become an even more important piece in healthcare.