- Joined
- Jan 31, 2009
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I'm a pharmacy student at the University of Maryland and our school and state pharmacy organizatoins are pushing for pharmacists to expand our scope of practice into things like immunizations. I'm not opposed to this as long as pharmacists are reimbursed properly, and I mean the individual pharmacist, not like the company makes more profits but the pharmacist still makes the same salary. Some other things I think is important to our profession though....
- The state of Maryland is debating whether to give loan assistance to pharamcists who practice in a "rural area" (here it includes cities of 30,000 that are far from our 2 major metropolitan areas Baltimore and DC.) This is a great idea to lessen the shortage of pharmacists in our smaller towns. I also think that pharmacy students should be required to do at least 1 rotation in a rural area the way our dental and medical students are. A lot of students, especially those from the rich suburbs or from the urban elites have a lot of misconception about small town America and are like oh I will never practice there. I think once a lot of people actually spend time in these towns they wont' be so opposed to settling down there. Also hope that people think more about the future. Living in the city is fun now because of all the bars and clubs but when you have a family you want to raise your kids in a healthy environment where people have good values and the right priorities and less bad influences like gangs and drugs.
I have no problem with the state using tax money toward this end because in my state and in America in general small town Americans have long worked hard and paid taxes and gotten little in return while they subsidize urban programs like public transit, freeways, urban redevelopment not to mention welfare, Section 8 housing, food stamps and other public assistance programs that are heavily used in the city. Its about time urban and suburban taxpayers contributed something to the rural majority of America.
- I think pharmacists should push for improvement in working conditions especially in the chain pharmacies. Some pharmacists for CVS work 14 hour days with no break. I know this is not true for all chains (Wal-Mart has 8 hour days as does Target) but there should be some kind of regulation. After all there are limits on how long a long-haul trucker can drive or how long a commercial airline pilot can fly. When pharmacists are overworked and overburdened the quality of care decreases and medication errors increase just like the potential of an accident increases when a trucker or bus driver is overworked. This is more of an issue in community pharmacies than institutional, managed care or assisted living.
- I believe the state and local government should subsidize independent pharmacies to help them stay afloat in the face of competition from the major chains, the way the government subsidizes farmers and ranchers. I've found independents to play a lot more emphasis on patient care and are a lot more personalbe and comfortable compared to the chains which are only about making a profit. Also small businesses in general help keep the charm of America's small towns and are worth preserving.
- The state of Maryland is debating whether to give loan assistance to pharamcists who practice in a "rural area" (here it includes cities of 30,000 that are far from our 2 major metropolitan areas Baltimore and DC.) This is a great idea to lessen the shortage of pharmacists in our smaller towns. I also think that pharmacy students should be required to do at least 1 rotation in a rural area the way our dental and medical students are. A lot of students, especially those from the rich suburbs or from the urban elites have a lot of misconception about small town America and are like oh I will never practice there. I think once a lot of people actually spend time in these towns they wont' be so opposed to settling down there. Also hope that people think more about the future. Living in the city is fun now because of all the bars and clubs but when you have a family you want to raise your kids in a healthy environment where people have good values and the right priorities and less bad influences like gangs and drugs.
I have no problem with the state using tax money toward this end because in my state and in America in general small town Americans have long worked hard and paid taxes and gotten little in return while they subsidize urban programs like public transit, freeways, urban redevelopment not to mention welfare, Section 8 housing, food stamps and other public assistance programs that are heavily used in the city. Its about time urban and suburban taxpayers contributed something to the rural majority of America.
- I think pharmacists should push for improvement in working conditions especially in the chain pharmacies. Some pharmacists for CVS work 14 hour days with no break. I know this is not true for all chains (Wal-Mart has 8 hour days as does Target) but there should be some kind of regulation. After all there are limits on how long a long-haul trucker can drive or how long a commercial airline pilot can fly. When pharmacists are overworked and overburdened the quality of care decreases and medication errors increase just like the potential of an accident increases when a trucker or bus driver is overworked. This is more of an issue in community pharmacies than institutional, managed care or assisted living.
- I believe the state and local government should subsidize independent pharmacies to help them stay afloat in the face of competition from the major chains, the way the government subsidizes farmers and ranchers. I've found independents to play a lot more emphasis on patient care and are a lot more personalbe and comfortable compared to the chains which are only about making a profit. Also small businesses in general help keep the charm of America's small towns and are worth preserving.
