About my Interview:

I interviewed Luis Rodas, a doctor of Pharmacy in the local Walgreen's here in Davie, Florida.

I introduced myself as a hopeful future-pharmacist and told him where I attended school and what the interview was for. I found out a lot of interesting information about both the Pharmaceutical practice as well as Dr. Rodas personally. Probably the most interesting thing that I discovered during my interview, was the crazy work hours that some pharmacists deal with. For instance, Dr. Rodas works 7 days out of the week but then gets the fallowing 7 days off. He works the night shift Monday through Friday from 10p.m. to 8a.m. On Saturday and Sunday he works 11 hour shifts. All together this comes to around 70 hours a week.

Interestingly enough, as I was waiting to interview Dr. Rodas, a Nova Southeaster Pharmacy student got in line to fill a prescription. I was lucky enough to be able to ask her a few questions as she waited in line. I found out that she is currently in her 11th and final year of school. When I heard this, I panicked. I thought that pharmacy was a 6year program give or take. However, depending on which degrees you get, and whether or not you go for your Bachelors, school can take a very long time. This admittedly made me question my commitment for a second, but as of now I am willing to do what it takes.

My interview was a very eye opening and exciting experience. It further concluded that this is defiantly going to be a difficult journey in a difficult major. However, seeing the bright future that Dr. Rodas has gives me a lot of determination and drive to work as hard as I can to get my education. Overall, I believe the interview went extremely well.

Observation 5

Being a patient with ADD, I am prescribed Aderol monthly. Therefore, for my fifth observation, I thought it would be a good idea to keep a detailed journal of the process I, as well as many others, go through in order to get my prescription medication. I wanted it to be sort of an inside look at the every-day prescription pharmaceutical process.

Because I am an out of state student, I had to switch health care providers when I came down to Florida for school. I decided, for convenience purposes, to make my main health care provider the sports medicine doctor at the U.C. In order to fill my prescription, I had to set up an appointment with Dr. McCarthy to make sure that the prescription I am currently on, is right for me.

When I went in for my appointment, the doctor asked me a series of questions about being on my medication. Common symptoms of being on Aderol, she explained, were loss of appetite, inability to sleep, feelings of depression and sometimes even suicide. She asked me if I had experienced any of these feelings. When I told her no, she then proceeded to ask me if I think the dosage that I am currently on is right for me. I told her that from time to time it gets harder and harder for me to focus, so I will occasionally double-up on my medication in the morning. She said that it was acceptable, but in the future I may have to increase my mg.

After my appointment, prescription in hand, I proceeded to the nearest Walgreen's. I had to bring all of my insurance information with me, because I am from out of state and being prescribed medicine from a new doctor. After the pharmacy technician entered all of my information into their data base, she told me there was a twenty-five dollar co-pay for my prescription, and that it would be ready in a couple hours.

The reason that people have to drop off a prescription and come pick it up later, is because the pharmacists as well as the technicians have to concentrate on giving you the exact amount of the correct prescription. The have to measure out exact mg and dosages. Pharmacists have to approve the dosages and make sure the technicians are filling prescriptions properly.

A few hours later, I returned to pick up my prescription. I received it in a very clearly marked bag. Inside was the medication bottle, also clearly marking my name, my doctor, the pharmacy I went to, the date, and the mg dosage I received. It made me relieved to know how thorough my pharmacist as well as my new doctor was. The world of prescription medication is one of extreme accuracy. One day I hope to be able to help patients the way my new doctor and pharmacist helped me.

Observation 3

Florida's Pharmaceutical Distribution Dissimilation

For my third observation, I thought it would be interesting to research and compare Florida's pharmaceutical distribution laws in comparison to the rest of the country's. I had previously heard something about Florida's prescription drug distribution laws being different than every other state's, so I decided to investigate.

In 2003, The Prescription Drug Protection Act unintentionally isolated the state from the nation's pharmaceutical distribution network. This was unfortunately the cause of enormous amounts of prescription drug abuse. Patients would get prescriptions filled at two or three pharmacies in one day. These consequences could have been crucial in the event of an emergency or a drug shortage. Something had to be done!

Mckesson, the largest pharmaceutical distributor in America. who had sales of 101.7 billion in 2008, is a company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high quality health care by reducing costs, and improving the quality and safety of patient care. ("Mkesson Empowering Health Care 2006") Their primary focus is to keep the nations drug supply safe and to make sure lifesaving drugs get where they are needed, when they are needed.

Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida recently took action to rectify this issue. He signed into law Florida House Bill 371. This bill enhances the security of the distribution network without compromising the safe, cost-effective, and rapid delivery of medicines to Florida health care providers and their patients. Mckesson is fully supportive of this legislature for obvious reasons.

It was very interesting to learn about how pharmaceutical laws can vary from state to state. When I first discovered what I had heard to be true, it shocked me. Honestly, I felt somewhat intimidated because I now reside in Florida. However, when I found out that Jeb Bush signed the the new bill into law, I was very relieved. I would still like to find out more about the variations of pharmacy distribution laws within the country as well as outside of it. This was a very educational observation and definitely my favorite one yet. I can't wait to learn more next week!