Drugs, lube and wet paint

My first day as a trainee pharmacist today!

My god it was tiring. Like seriously, lesson number 1 :

If you are gonna be working as a pharmacist at a hospital, wear comfy shoes. Not even normal flats, that won't do, I was practically dying in mine by the time 5 pm came around and was hating myself for not wearing my birkenstocks. Really, birkenstock level comfort, nothing less. Don't even think about heels, this goes to future Mirr. If you have a date after work, put your heels in your bag or leave them in your car, but damn girl, you don't wanna be standing up and walking around from 9 till 5 in heels. 

So pharmacist hardly sit down. Which is a relief because I absolutely hate really dislike the idea of an office job, sitting down and facing documents and computer screens. But Imma tell you its so tiring, like, so so tiring. And this is just me; I spent the day arranging the new stock and helping pack up prescriptions for patients, which required a lot of walking because hoho, you don't even know how many cabinets there are. So much respect for other jobs that are more physically demanding, contraction workers and the likes, you have all my respect, tabik spring!

Lesson number 2 :

When they say get to know where everything is, GET TO KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING IS. Caution, this is not a drill, I repeat, THIS IS NOT A DRILL.  Because sooner or later, you're gonna get a bunch of labels handed to you, and you're gonna regret not properly getting to know the system of drug arrangements. I spent more than 15 minutes getting my first prescription sorted, and I was incredibly nervous because just this morning I read about a doctor who got sued for false prescription. When I was done, the pharmacist I was helping out said 'Faster next time girl, we don't have all day.' Memorise where everything is if you can, because it helps, it makes you a bit dizzy looking for drugs all day, especially if you're doing more looking than actually finding. (I saw more drugs than people today, whoopee, sneak peak into my -InsyaAllah- life as a drug dealer)

Now if you don't know where things are, lesson number 3 is :

Ask around! Sure, everyone might be looking at you a bit weird because you're the new girl who picked out shoes more based on aesthetic value than comfort, but everyone knows you don't know where stuff is yet. My funny story of the day is that, while sorting out the stock, I could locate where almost everything was except for one thing; Durex Jelly aka, lube. And, for some reason I was shy and quiet today, plus I didn't wanna tap someone on the shoulder and go all 'Excuse me, where does the lube go?' so the new girl was walking around with two bottles of lube in her hand, not knowing where to go with it. A nice staff member pointed it out eventually, but man that was embarrassing.

Lesson number 4 :

Your handwriting matters! My handwriting is not the best and I never thought it affected anything very much, but thats far from the truth! One of the pharmacist was teaching me how to read prescriptions, what certain things mean, and he jokingly said ' Later, when you do your degree, sign up for that extra course that teaches you how to read doctors handwriting' because its true, its horrible, and it makes life so much harder. (Note to self, improve your handwriting!)

All in all, I realised that pharmacist are way way busier than I expected them to be. Patients appreciate if they get their drugs on time, so everything is on rush. Also, the pharmaceutical industry isn't as profit crazy as critics make it out to be. Theres a whole system for refunding and cancelling orders, and patients don't even need to request for it. If you are an in-patient, and you don't take the drugs that are prescribed to you for whatever reason, we will automatically reverse the charges, without you even knowing it. 

I had an eye-opening, tiring but great day. Oh and if my lube story isn't embarrassing enough, I walked into a wall of wet paint while looking for saline solution.

Look at that paint :(

My day was ultimately made because I came home to this. 

Now its starting to feel like Raya.

Love,

 Mirr