Pharmacy Has a Boring Problem
Help me help you celebrate National Pharmacy Day by calling out my profession!
“I have never smiled at one of these before”
These were the words from one of the participants in a past workshop I put on for healthcare professionals, teaching them how comedy can make them better at communication, empathy, and just creating a healthcare experience that doesn’t suck so much. The words came from a pharmacist, and while it may be surprising to some, it came as no shock to me.
Let me pause one moment, and say that if you are not a pharmacist or healthcare professional, this post still may hold relevance to you in your own vocation or area of life. Plus, it may be entertaining to hear me tear down an entire profession. So, grab the popcorn and enjoy!
Since I walked into my 1st pharmacy school class way back in the days of 2007, one word was beaten into all of our heads:
Professionalism.
You must dress professional.
You must act professional.
You must exude professionalism.
The future and reputation of the pharmacy profession depended on remaining professional! Why, we were amongst the most trusted healthcare profession (depending on the source, of course). Us, doctors, and nurses are in a running battle for most trusted healthcare profession. I wonder why podiatrists never were in the discussion? Maybe nobody trusts a profession with such an odd obsession with feet? Anyways, if we didn’t act professional, the public may stop trusting and respecting pharmacists.
But there were problems with this professionalism focused approach.
Firstly, I don’t know if you have ever been inside a retail pharmacy, but the public sure doesn’t seem to respect us. Hell, the organizations we work for don’t really respect us. If they did, wouldn’t pharmacists get lunch breaks. Or even bathroom breaks? Instead, we are well dressed, professional pharmacists who were always hungry and doing a pee-pee dance like my 5-year-old who just wants to finish making his Lego robot while his bladder borders on bursting.
So, our laser focused worry about professionalism didn’t get us much respect. But there was one more, and in my opinion, even more important problem.
It made our profession unbearably boring.
When was the last time you went to a pharmacy conference, say, hosted by one of the big lettered pharmacy organizations, and couldn’t wait to sit through hours of that content? If it wasn’t for the legal requirement to have CE, most would avoid them. The only reason we like going is for all of the non-conference activities. Why do you think they always are in places like Las Vegas, Disneyland/world, or adjacent to Bourbon Street? You have to be drunk, intoxicated on gambling or high on Micky Mouse to get through them.
Now, I will pause, and say I have been to a few smaller state-run events that are actually fun. But let’s be real, most of these talks, while checking the boxes of “professional” and “evidence based” are rarely life changing, practice changing, or worth changing your schedule to actually attend. How many more times can we hear about GDMT for heart failure or the “great debate” on aspirin for primary prevention? Because aside from being recycled piles of boring, rarely are we presented with options that actually make our patients more vibrant and healthier. Just more drugged up and dependent on medications.
But don’t worry, there’s a hot “debate” on the best approaches to polypharmacy over our buffet lunch (sponsored by Big Pharma. But hey, they disclosed their COI so it’s ok. I’m sure they’ll show us how to get patients off more of their meds wink wink).
Yes, pharmacists, and pharmacy is too boring. We complain the public doesn’t know all of our cognitive services or MTM (going on 20 years of being the next big thing). But we are all too afraid to be fun, exciting, or edgy enough to capture the public’s attention. And when one of us dares to speak some truth to power in the form of comedy, the company they work for can’t take the joke and decides it’s better to fire the pharmacist comedian rather than take the issues to heart.
So, what’s the solution?
Maybe peel back the layers of professionalism a tad (which could involve a “stickectomy” from the collective rears of ourselves and pharmacy leaders).
Maybe we could get by without keeping Men’s Warehouse in business for every national pharmacy meeting, and implement a “khakis and polo” day?
Maybe we could take a look in the mirror, and take ourselves a little less seriously?
Maybe we could allow ourselves to laugh, or, at least smile at professional events?
Maybe we could have some “pharmacy adjacent” content at our big events that’s fun, engaging, or even a little controversial?
Because we have a bunch of boring groupthink in our profession. And if things were going great, burnout was low, and morale was high, I’d say keep on keeping on.
But pharmacists are miserable. We feel stuck. And ironically, we are both stressed to the gills and bored to tears with what we do.
So I say tone down the professionalism, let a little personality shine, break a few conventions and maybe even allow ourselves to have fun (and poke fun at ourselves). Because our profession is in dire need of it, and if it doesn’t change, it just may cease to exist. And, yes, I believe it’s that bad. If we remain stuck in our boring, unadaptable state, the best and brightest will pick something else to do with their lives.
And if that happens, there really will be no reason to smile.
p.s. need a good place to start un-borifying our profession? You could read my book, Permission to Care: Building a Healthcare Culture That Thrives in Chaos.. It’s totally not boring, and have been told that people literally lol while reading it. And maybe bring me to speak at your next event? I promise I you won’t be bored.