Speaker: Sarah Smith, Founder/CEO, Pharmacy Essentials LLC
Start by introducing who you are, then share where you work and what you do.
Sarah Smith: Hi, my name is Sarah Smith. I am a pharmacist. I started off as a tech trainee, and I have been in the pharmacy field since 2017. I'm currently working as a clinical pharmacist, but I am also opening up my own pharmacy technician training company. The company will be focusing on hands-on training to help bridge the gap between didactic learning and the worldwide experiences, in order to better prepare technicians and increase patient safety.
What advice would you give to someone just getting started as a technician?
Sarah Smith: Advice I'd have for somebody who's just getting started as a pharmacy technician is to ask questions. Don't be afraid to look like you don't know what you're doing. It's OK to ask questions. It's better to ask the question now than to make the mistake and a patient suffer. It's also good to go at the speed you're comfortable with when you're getting started. There may be some pressure to work at a faster pace because of the workflow, but it's important while you're learning to know your limits and to go at a pace that is comfortable for you. Also with asking questions, take every opportunity you can to learn. Even if it's just saying the drug name to yourself or saying the drug name and it's indication to yourself while you're filling a prescription, anything you do to help yourself. Will benefit you in the long run. Making sure that if there's an opportunity that arises, and it's something that you're interested in, to volunteer for it or ask if you can be a part of it, even if it's something that they're not advertising that for people to come in, you can still ask, you can ask to be a part of it. Take every opportunity you can to learn and to grow yourself in this profession. It has a lot of exciting things in it that you may not even know about to start off with. It's not just retail or hospital, there's specialty, there's nuclear, there's automations, there's a plethora of areas you can be in, so just learn, follow your interest, ask questions, and make sure you go at the pace that you're comfortable with, so that we can prevent errors from happening.
Share how you got to where you are professionally.
Sarah Smith: I got started in 2017 after seeing multiple times throughout my life where people would get new diagnosis or their family members would be sick, and they would get all this information of the providers, but then they'd get started on these medications and not really know what they were for or how they worked, or side effects of it. And it just led to increased frustration. Which, when you're already sick or your loved one's already sick, the last thing you need is something else adding stress. So I wanted to come to this profession to help be an advocate for patients and help family members and loved ones understand what's going on. I started off as a tech trainee, and then I ended up getting certified as a pharmacy technician, and then I was a pharmacy intern while in pharmacy school, and then a pharmacy manager. And then a clinical pharmacist, and now I'm the founder of a pharmacy technician hands on training company. And I saw also throughout the time, not only was I able to help patients, but I kept seeing a constant theme of frustration around onboarding. And I think it's really important to make sure we elevate ourselves in this profession because if we're not setting up to succeed, then our patients suffer also. And so we suffer as a profession and then patients suffer, and I don't want anyone to suffer. I want us to be elevated. And so this company is designed to help bridge that gap between the didactic learning and real-world experience so that technicians can walk in day one with the skills confident that they need to succeed, and ultimately, the patients also get to have improved safety with this.
