Pharmacist= medical store!!!!!?????????

“ So, aap ek davai ki dukan kholenge??? Right…..” this is what I hear whenever somebody comes to know that I ‘m doing pharmacy. Is there nothing else that a pharmacist can do?????
And next when I tell them that I’m not interested in opening a pharmacy store, because I want to be a clinical pharmacist, then….right comes the next question……” kabhie suna nahin iske bareme” I explained them what is a clinical pharmacist….that they have to look after the medication profile of the patient and a lot other things….and the prompt reply u get…..”lekin woh to doctors ka kaam hai na”
And when I started hospital training, I realized that it’s not just the layman, even the doctors (to call them physician actually) don’t know what can a pharmacist do apart from running a drug store…(which my cousin recently mixed with a chemist shop). Really, in India, no one actually cares about this profession and its such a sad thing to see around when u actually are a part of that profession. We 4-6 girls went on a hospital hunt that would allow us as a trainee….but no…..nobody has space and the prompt question…….”pharmacist ka kya kam?” I used to boil when they ask such a stupid question…..n that too doctors and directors of the hospital…….and then the response we get when we discuss with them our profile…….”we cant allow you to disturb (heran) our patients, this is a private hospital and we run a business here(business my foot…u are dealing with the life of humans not a machine!!!), and how can we allow you to crowd our place and disturb our patients.” I was so angry that I spoke out, “Sir, that’s what we have to do as a Clinical Pharmacist, not disturb the patients but to check whether their medications are right and if they are not facing any sort of difficulties. This is what is prevalent in US and that’s why the pharmacists are held in such a high esteem, because they know the value of a pharmacist.”
I wanted to add something more……….but didn’t speak out……I knew a case of that hospital when a patient was given high doses of the household drug, paracetamol, to treat chickengunia, and result…the patient suffered a liver failure. Now this would have been avoided if a pharmacist would have been around when the doctor was prescribing such a high dose of paracetamol!!! Just think about it…..
Another incident that I just recently read in a newspaper is of a man in Mumbai who is in coma since 11/2- 2 years, why because he took painkillers. Surprising???? Ya, but the fact is that he was suffering from asthma…..and generally a class of painkillers are contraindicated in patients with asthma….they are given a different kind of medicine. Just imagine….what would have been the case if a pharmacist with a sense of responsibility had warned him about this while he had gone to take his asthma medicines….and naturally how come a pharmacist whom he would have asked for painkillers know about his condition.
This is something serious and there has to be a change in the way pharmacists are valued in India……if you give respect to our profession then even we would come out with efforts to change the way……