Pharmacist Communities: An Analysis of Writing

Pharmacist Community: An Analysis of Writing

Alesandra Hlaing
Northeastern University

Pharmacist Communities: An Analysis of Writing

Each day, a pharmacist communicates with an array of people in order to quickly

and efficiently do his or her job. Naturally, the pharmacist will communicate with a
patient and those directly related to a patient, such as a family member or friend.
However, it is also important to note that pharmacists will communicate with their fellow
healthcare professionals, as well as professionals from other disciplines. These
occupations of a pharmacists colleague depend on the area of expertise of the
pharmacist. For instance, a hospital pharmacist will go on a minimum of two rounds per
day, which consist of speaking with the physician, the physicians assistant, the nurse
practitioner, multiple nurses, the pharmacy technicians, pharmacists. In some cases they
will also confer with financial counselors and insurance companies. Looking at a
completely different path in pharmacy, industrial pharmacists will communicate with
various engineers, pharmacologists, businessmen, lawyers, clinical specialists, and even
test subjects, in order to adhere to the laws of creating or changing drugs on the market.
Communication is the quintessence of a pharmacists success and efficiency in his or her
career.
At my first pharmacy-related class at Northeastern University, I was given a copy
of the Oath of a Pharmacist. This oath, created by the American Association of
Colleges of Pharmacy, is a statement of the primary concerns of the modern pharmacist.
It is a vow that as future pharmacists, our priorities are the welfare of patients and always
striving to act in a professional manner. We began the class by learning and memorizing
this oath, which makes us promise that we will not only use our knowledge to help our
future patients, but also to help the future pharmacists that will come after us. This oath is
a constant reminder that the field of pharmacy is forever changing and growing into a

Pharmacist Communities: An Analysis of Writing

more prestigious and desired role in health care. It teaches us that it is our duty to work
with each other as pharmacists to create a better future for patients and health-care
leaders alike. With this being said, it becomes increasingly evident that communication
amongst pharmacists is a necessity. Its imperative that communication is not limited by
proximity. Communication on a large scale among pharmacists is one of the few ways to
ensure optimum success.
When looking at communication on a large scale, it is clear that websites and
databases are the primary communication of pharmacists. Databases such as Lexicomp or
Micromedix are a pharmacists tool for locating facts about medications. When working
over the summer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, it was not surprising
that most of the computers in the pharmacy had these websites opened after a pharmacist
searched these medications to ensure patient safety. Another example of communication
that takes place on a grand scale within the pharmacy profession are the websites of
national organizations such as American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and American
Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). These websites from various
organizations continue to address current problems in pharmacy as well as continue to try
and progress the profession by advocating for rights of the pharmacist.
When dealing with such a vast amount of information pooling out of various
sources, an important source for pharmacists and other health care leaders is something
that condenses all of this information and creates a news bulletin for those who need to
know the important news pertaining to them. The Pharmacy Times is a publication that
informs pharmacists across the country about current events happening that will affect
them in their careers. These news articles can range from breaking news within the

Pharmacist Communities: An Analysis of Writing

pharmacy practice, or focus on reforms that want to be brought about by the various
pharmacy organizations. Publications such as the Pharmacy Times are an important asset
for newcomers into the world of pharmacy. It is an impossible endeavor to join each and
every pharmacy organization, and therefore it is impossible to know what each
organization is doing during a given time. With news websites such as these, important
information can be transmitted in a concise manner to those who arent involved in every
aspect of an organization. It helps to ensure that all pharmacists are informed of
important changes that are being made in pharmacy, or what is likely to come in the
future.
The Pharmacy Times publications are released monthly by Intellisphere, LLC
(Pharmacy Times). This company not only produces Pharmacy Times, but a plethora of
other health care journals that allow for education towards many different branches of
health care professional (Pharmacy Times). This is in an important aspect because it
means that the writers for these articles will not always necessarily be pharmacists, but
can teach and inform pharmacists in areas that they are not familiar with. This publication
is primarily for the use of pharmacists in their daily practice, but some articles can pertain
to other branches of healthcare professionals. Some articles refer directly to drug
information, whereas some can explain changes occurring due to the Food and Drug
Administration. Each article packs important topics from various fields of pharmacy, and
brings it together important facts in each category, allowing it to be of significance to
many different types of pharmacist.
Despite the broad nature of the text in the Pharmacy Times journal, it contains
several sections allowing the readers to find what is relevant to them. When reading

Pharmacist Communities: An Analysis of Writing

through the table of contents in one issue of the publication, a reader can find various
titles that will direct them to where they desire. Examples of different types of titles
include: Medication Safety, Rx Product News, OTC Case Studies, Counseling
Focus, Legal Focus, Patient Education, Technology News, and Case Studies
(Pharmacy Times). With a large variety of topics, this publication can give knowledge to
even the most uncommon of pharmacy career paths. When looking through the several
articles posted in this journal, it can be noted that there are authors in this publication that
are not pharmacists. In the Legal section, lawyers and police officers write the articles.
Having a variety of authors can be important to ensure that pharmacists are well informed
via the use of people who are more specialized in the areas they are coming from.
When sampling the most recent issue, I analyzed the text to see the writing styles
exhibited. It is interesting to note the tone and sentence structure of each article in this
journal. Each article is concise and straight to the point, and it is very clear when an
article is looking to inform rather than trying to share the opinions of the writer. There are
portions of this journal that can be biased or nonbiased. An example of a biased article is
an article about a pharmacists own personal experience when dealing with breast cancer
and the surprising aspects of the disease (Wick Breast Cancer Surprises). Many
articles contained in this journal are created with the sole intent of educating a pharmacist
in their career, by either giving them a lesson about a lesser-known topic, or by bringing
up a new topic in the field. When looking to analyze a section of a nonbiased article in
the Pharmacy Times journal, I chose an article about chemotherapy, which is a topic that
most pharmacists dont learn too much about unless they choose to specialize in it. A
snippet of the article is as follows:

Pharmacist Communities: An Analysis of Writing

When patients hear chemotherapy, they think vomiting. Chemotherapy-induced

nausea and vomiting (CINV) decreases cancer patients quality of life
significantly. Serious CINV limits absorption of oral agents, or reduces
effectiveness if the patient vomits part or all of the dose. Oncologists must
subsequently reduce chemotherapy doses. Before effective antiemetics were
available, up to 20% of patients refused potentially curative therapy because of
CINV (Wick Chemotherapy: Managing Side Effects).

The context of this article seeks to provide straight-to-the-point information that

will be primarily read by pharmacists. This article is about the use of chemotherapy and
what to expect when counseling patients who are undergoing the negative side effects of
these treatments. It contains medical terminology that a person who is not involved in a
health care career would not understand, but it is clear enough to inform a medical
professional without confusing them, even if oncology is not their specialty. It uses
various methods to keep a pharmacist informed, including defining the terminology used,
as well as including statistics to give a more tangible explanation of the article. This is a
common trend of the articles contained within the journal.
Journals such as the Pharmacy Times are an important asset for pharmacists in
their careers. It reminds pharmacists that there is always something to learn within their
career paths, and that pharmacy is a constantly evolving and changing environment. It is
important that pharmacists communicate with each other because science and technology
is constantly expanding as a field, and it is the duty of health care professionals like

Pharmacist Communities: An Analysis of Writing

pharmacists to actively involve themselves in keeping up-to-date in order to provide more

clear patient status.

Notes:
This piece would be a good asset to include into my professional portfolio in my
career. I think that it shows that I am able to the time to be educated about current
events in my career, and I believe that the company that produces these magazines
have a great history of providing information for health care professionals. I believe
that it unlocked more doors for me in my career, because it allowed me to realize all
of the resources available to pharmacists when beginning their careers outside of
the classroom.

Pharmacist Communities: An Analysis of Writing

Works Cited
"Oath of a Pharmacist." American Pharmacists Association. American Pharmacists
Association, n.d. Web.
<http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2014/sept2014>.

"Pharmacy Times | News, Education, and Practical Information for Today's Pharmacist."
Pharmacy Times | News, Education, and Practical Information for Today's
Pharmacist. Intellisphere, LLC, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.pharmacytimes.com/>.

Wick, Jeannette. "Breast Cancer Surprises: A Pharmacist's Personal Experience." Breast

Cancer Surprises: A Pharmacist's Personal Experience. N.p., 8 Sept. 2014. Web. 20
Sept. 2014.
<http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2014/sept2014/Breast-CancerSurprises-A-Pharmacists--Personal-Experience>.

Wick, Jeannette. "Chemotherapy: Managing Side Effects." Chemotherapy: Managing

Side Effects. Pharmacy Times, 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2014/sept2014/ChemotherapyManaging-Side-Effects>.