Ever Want A Re-Do?

  Have you ever thought that you would love to go back to pharmacy school now? Knowing what you do now and not having any of the pressures or worries. I have.
I absolutely love learning and I'll admit I am a bit of a pharmacy nerd. I love reading about pharmacy issues and talking about new things. When I was in school I had alot of pressure and worries both scholastically and financially. I would love to be able to just sit in class and absorb all that I could without the pressure to perform (and compete). It's one of the reasons I am a preceptor because I love having young, ambitious, and somewhat naive students in my pharmacy. It keeps me young I think.
  Anyway, back to the question. If you could would you go back to school just for the enjoyment of it? When I asked myself that question the answer was a resounding "YES!". So I thought about how I could do that without actually, physically being in school. My answer was to buy a book that many graduate pharmacists use to prepare for the NAPLEX and do a comprehensive review. In fact the book I bought is Comprehensive Pharmacy Review which is available through APhA or Amazon.com (the price is the same and with the book you get on-line access as well). I bought the book and the practice test book also. I  started from page one and it is wonderful. I was transported back to pharmacy school, which for me was over 20 years ago. I was actually surprised at the things I remembered that we obviously don't use every day. The book starts out with calculations and has practice problems at the end of the chapter. I am proud to say I received a 92% on my practice test. I have to admit I became nauseated at the sight of the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. For my non-pharmacist readers, that is an equation that was in our faces from day one of pharmacy school and drilled into our heads like it was the answer to life's ultimate question. How many of us have used it since graduating? Yeah, I thought as much.
 Anyway, I wanted to throw this challenge out to you all. If you seriously love learning about your chosen profession, do this along with me. I know, I know, I am a pharmacy nerd and I probably don't have a social life, or kids or whatever to take up my time if I have enough time to do this, but it's my thing and I'm excited about it. Maybe part of it is nostalgia and seeing that not much has changed when it comes to the education of our next generation of pharmacists. The basics are still the basics. I does beat sitting in front of the television for hours on end.

Spring Is In The Air

Ahhhh! Spring! Or if you live in the South, we go directly from winter to summer. It's HOT! Anyway, I haven't posted in quite awhile because I've been so busy. What is it about springtime that makes people move or change jobs? In the last few weeks I've lost half of my technician staff. Luckily, it's all been for good reasons like promotions and college. I had one tech get accepted to pharmacy school. I like to think I was at least a partial influence on that decision. So, I've been busy trying to re-staff. That is so difficult! A good tech is just so hard to replace. We all know how it is; you get so comfortable with a tech that you can anticipate each other's next move. They know what to expect out of the pharmacists and we know what to expect out of them. It's symbiosis at it's best. When in tune we run like a well-oiled machine. Now I have to replace some of that machine's parts. The whole training process starts all over again. Fortunately, word got out that I needed techs and I have had a flood of phone calls from other stores' techs that have had their hours cut, so I have a good pool to pull from. So, that's what I've been up to not to mention some physical ailments that have been taking up my time. I'll try to post again soon, but for all my readers, I just wanted you to know that I'm still here. I spend alot of time reading other blogs as well. So, everyone have a great spring!