During my childhood, growing up in a society whereby you see people get ill and unable to avoid good health care or even by drugs to take and get well, struck a desire to see ways in which I could help and ensure better health care.
My parents were in support of my dreams but due to unforeseen circumstances, and the educational system in my country I found myself in in order field of study. After so years went by, I still had the dream of pursuing a career in the medical field, I starting talking to people such as nurses, physician assistant, pharmacist and even medical doctors about their profession and the more I saw how determined most people were and that as long as you are determined, anything is possible. As fate would have it I later got the opportunity to go back to school and get any my degree of my choice.I had the opportunity of meeting a pharmacist at a pharmacy who told me of how he went back to school at the age of 45years to pursue his dream in pharmacy, the struggle and how he discovered that it is never too late to pursue your dreams and that struck a nerve.
It was at that point that I decided that if he could do it, I was much younger than him, that nothing can stop or hold me back except myself. I decided of all people in different profession I had spoken to, he was the one I would go and meet to conduct a phone interview with Mr. Ethelbert, who had worked as a pharmacist at Walgreen pharmacy in college station and now trying to set up his own pharmacy.
I called and started my interview with Mr. Ethelbert after getting my interview questions I had earlier prepared. I started with my greetings and asked him what profession he identifies with and what made him choose that path. He explained to me that while growing up he loved helping people and also admired people with good profession. He decided to become a pharmacist because growing up in his country, he saw people in need of proper informative health care system and wanted to provide that for his community whereby he could educate them about drugs and healthy living. It made me understand that first; you need to have a passion for humanity.
I also got to know about his educational background. First he had to go to Houston community college to get his perquisites to study pharmacy. But before that, he went for an online program to become a certified pharmacy technician. I understood that it helped him prepare for pharmacy school because of some experiences he gained working with a pharmaceutical environment.
He has been practicing pharmacy for more than twelve years. He also explained to me as a pharmacist, he is in charge of the providing detailed information of medication and the smooth running of the pharmacy.I later ask him about his work hours and typical day there are few days to day schedule and I got to understand that he is always on his toes and always alert. Although some days that run same and some that do not. The pharmacy runs in seasonal pattern; for example during the winter, cases of flu, cold, during spring, allergies, during summer, its bug bites, poison ivy, sunburns. He explained that the diversity of each day along with customer’s medication order can be very exhausting; it is what comes with the profession.
He explained that what he enjoys most about his job is meeting and helping people and one of the most challenging thing is dealing with people too especially when they are rude because of a delay in refilling their prescription. After learning about his role at work, I asked him about the salary range of a pharmacist and he says the pay is excellent (between 85,000-150,000 annually). With my conversation with him, I understood that although a carrier in pharmacy is encouraging due to the high demand of pharmacist, you need to be passionate in helping people and becoming a pharmacist in order to go through pharmacy school, get your degree, pass your board exams and practice to enjoy what comes with all the hard work.Finally, I asked him if he was to start all over again, if he could make same choice and I cannot forget his cute short laugh, accompanied with of course, I would not think twice about it.
That he has no regret; he loves what he loves his profession. We wrapped up the interview with his advice to me. He explained that in Pharmacy school, there are no short cuts. It is challenging and tough, but any on with a drive and passion can make it by studying and working hard. He also encourages that if you are working and getting your perquisites for pharmacy school, it is best to work in a pharmacy, in order to learn a lot outside from what is taught in the classroom and that it is important you have a pharmacist who you can talk to and seek guidance from time to time as a student. After the interview I understood that I need to work hard and the right information and people around me to succeed.
