As a pharmacy student I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be a Pharmacy intern in Eutaw, AL. The Pharmacist that served as my preceptor played a major role in serving that community.

First, he owned one of the two local independent pharmacies in the community. Thus, he filled folks prescriptions and provided jobs for people in the town.

Second, he served as the pharmacist for the local hospital that was licensed for 20 beds. You can’t have a functioning hospital without a pharmacist to dispense and order the medicine.

Third, he served as a consultant for the local nursing home which by law has to have medication chart reviews.

Fourth, my preceptor at various points in time owned multiple businesses in the community. One of his technicians told me that at one point he owned the “bait shop” in town. I mean you have to have good bait if you want to catch some fish!

Fifth, and just as important as anything aforementioned; he gave back to his community in the form of time, service, and money.

I remember a man in his early 50’s walking into the pharmacy and asking to speak with my preceptor. My preceptor walks down the steps of his pharmacy; his pharmacy was “old school” and the counters and shelving for dispensing the medication sat at an elevation in the back of the store. He and the gentleman discussed the need for the high school football team to have good uniforms that fall. The team had to be presentable for it’s Jamboree game which was coming up in a few weeks. Without hesitation my preceptor verbally committed a donation. The football team after all was a representation of the community.

On another occasion he helped folks by making sure people got their medications even when they couldn’t afford them due to lack of insurance. He frequently allowed customers to have charge accounts; allowing the customers to come up with the money and pay the pharmacy back in installments.

My preceptor that month had a lasting impression on me. It made me understand what a Pharmacist can accomplish in a day. One month with him helped me to define the level of impact that a Pharmacist can have on their community.

As a student I sat in class and listened to plenty of lectures regarding pharmaceutical science and pharmaceutical practice. In Eutaw I was forced to consider the social sciences (socio-economics, history, politics). These factors are just as important to consider when educating folks about medication and lifestyle modifications. I learned there was a reason why they call it “pharmacy practice”. Pharmacy like life isn’t always black and white — but rather shades of gray.

I’m blessed to have had the experience. It helped me to identify opportunities in the community that I serve presently. Imitation they say can be a form of flattery. I don’t plan on fully imitating the role my preceptor played in Eutaw, AL. However, I write this because at times Pharmacists can undervalue the role we play in the community and in the lives of the folks we serve and manage.

I do believe that each Pharmacist, including myself can identify their God given talents to play a greater role in the communities that we serve. Our main objective in the pharmacy is to dispense medications correctly. But outside of the pharmacy what can we do to show folks who we are and what we represent!? Hopefully by trying to figure this out, we can be more like my preceptor from Eutaw, AL and increase the value of the things we can accomplish in a day of work. This type of thinking I believe will uplift our profession and the communities that we serve.

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Sam Blakemore is the Pharmacy Manager of Peds Rx Pharmacy Solutions. Connect with him via: LinkedIn