I was reading some articles from Pharmacy Gateway to get an update on Bill 16 these days after the tour to keep myself updated on this issue (as any member of the pharmacy profession, including myself, should these days). May 18 was a dark day for the pharmacy profession, as Bill 16 had passed third reading then. It was also an event that I had expected ever since the issue had arisen a few months ago. The only twist to the story is that Minister Matthews have stalled on the implementation of the regulatory changes by “reviewing submissions” for a month.
I have mixed and, quite frankly, quite cynical feelings about Minister Matthews’ gesture on this issue. True, it has been settled between the pharmacy students and Minister Matthews that she would agree to delay the implementation of the bill and use the time to review more submissions. She has kept her word in that sense. However, the truth of her actions cannot be evaluated. With my cynicism in politicians, I truly doubt that she will truly consider the feasibility of those submissions, which are all great ideas.
It’s almost like an episode of Daily Planet on Discovery Channel about different possible oil-spill clean-up technologies aired a week ago. The technologies introduced in that segment were brilliantly simple, cost-effective and worthy of being the solution for a missing clean-up method. However, as Jay had said, the technologies would never get considered to clean the present oil spill (probably from political reasons again) and are claimed to be chosen for the “next” spill, only to be at a loss of clean up methods again in the next spill because they have conveniently forgotten about those previous methods.
I have a feeling that Matthews will act like she is genuinely reviewing the submissions to acknowledge what she had said to the pharmacy students, but will implement what was originally planned once the issues have sunken back into a low-profile status. I don’t doubt that the original plan of eliminating professional allowances to lower generic drug prices would remain. Personally, they can take that all away – it was frankly an area of less transparency in pharmacy that gives space for the public and government to slander the profession (which was exactly what happened). HOWEVER, the government MUST give back sufficient funding for pharmacy services. Like what the student tour advocated, without these pharmacy services, the profession cannot provide quality healthcare to patients of local communities. The question remains whether the public and the government realizes this.
Deb Matthews, prove me wrong this time and consider each submission carefully for its cost-effectiveness, for the sake of the pharmacy profession, the patients in Ontario and the quality of the healthcare system. I’ll even say PLEASE!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The end to advocating for pharmacy? Never...
Yesterday concludes the Stop Cuts Student Tour. Day 15 brought us to Collingwood, a worthy location for the end of the tour. Although the last day was previously reserved for London, we went to Collingwood in a last minute decision because there was a Liberal meeting in Blue Mountain that was attended by many important politicians, including McGuinty and Deb Matthews. Because of this, we had decided to do a peaceful protest in front of the conference centre, where the meeting was held. We had also organized ourselves to stand united with a single, consistent media message, as we had expected the media to come and produce a messy scene. However, because the media never showed up, the politicians did not have any incentive to enter and we, as the students, did not have a chance to speak with McGuinty himself about these funding issues to pharmacies.
After acquiring rather hoarse voices from hollering for an hour straight, we went back to the bus to grab some lunch before heading back home. Today was probably one of the most uneventful days of the tour. However, given the fact that most people were quite tired from being on the bus and travelling to a different community every day, I was relieved that it was not as crazy and energy-consuming as other days.
Upon looking back at this tour, I have truly learned much more about the realities in the pharmacy profession, including the non-transparencies in the government and the pharmaceutical company. I have also learned more about myself and my capabilities. More importantly, I have matured in aspects that I otherwise would not have without this tour, both as a pharmacy student and as a relatively sheltered person. Given how much I value knowledge, I am forever grateful that I had this opportunity to be on this tour to advocate for the pharmacy profession in this period of turmoil and instability.
Thanks to the media who forced me to be careful with my words and understand the importance of self-image to the public. (You would think that it would be enough listening to my parents; it's quite a different story being on camera or on the newspaper having everyone see you and your words being twisted!) Thanks to our driver who took us to each and every destination in a safe and timely manner, and made sure that everyone was fed properly before proceeding to our jobs. Thanks to the PR and canvassing staff who trained us to be media-ready and organized us into our tasks. Thanks to the students of our tour for being so inspiring for me to do my job everyday, even on a rainy day. Most of all, thanks to the entire pharmacy profession and the Ontario patients who understand the importance of pharmacists in our healthcare system. Without all of your support, sharing of knowledge and inspiration, we would have not had the motivation or resources to continue to fight for the profession.
Pharmacy cannot succeed by itself, but can only be successful with the support of the public that it serves. Please help us help your health!
After acquiring rather hoarse voices from hollering for an hour straight, we went back to the bus to grab some lunch before heading back home. Today was probably one of the most uneventful days of the tour. However, given the fact that most people were quite tired from being on the bus and travelling to a different community every day, I was relieved that it was not as crazy and energy-consuming as other days.
Upon looking back at this tour, I have truly learned much more about the realities in the pharmacy profession, including the non-transparencies in the government and the pharmaceutical company. I have also learned more about myself and my capabilities. More importantly, I have matured in aspects that I otherwise would not have without this tour, both as a pharmacy student and as a relatively sheltered person. Given how much I value knowledge, I am forever grateful that I had this opportunity to be on this tour to advocate for the pharmacy profession in this period of turmoil and instability.
Thanks to the media who forced me to be careful with my words and understand the importance of self-image to the public. (You would think that it would be enough listening to my parents; it's quite a different story being on camera or on the newspaper having everyone see you and your words being twisted!) Thanks to our driver who took us to each and every destination in a safe and timely manner, and made sure that everyone was fed properly before proceeding to our jobs. Thanks to the PR and canvassing staff who trained us to be media-ready and organized us into our tasks. Thanks to the students of our tour for being so inspiring for me to do my job everyday, even on a rainy day. Most of all, thanks to the entire pharmacy profession and the Ontario patients who understand the importance of pharmacists in our healthcare system. Without all of your support, sharing of knowledge and inspiration, we would have not had the motivation or resources to continue to fight for the profession.
Pharmacy cannot succeed by itself, but can only be successful with the support of the public that it serves. Please help us help your health!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Belleville - C'est belle!
Each community will have their share of nice and not-so-nice people. I had the privilege of meeting the nice people today. A pharmacy provided us with brief, but very much appreciated, hospitality. We were able to meet with some of the pharmacists, me being able to talk about our experiences with an older one who was incredibly nice. These pharmacists had accompanied us to the MPP’s office, where we had rallied. 4 of our student team entered in conversation with the MPP, who had specifically wanted to talk with students. Our PR person had come in as well (she looked young enough to be one of us anyway) to take notes during the conversation. The conversation was said to have gone very well and she had agreed to push for more negotiations at the table before implementing the new regulatory changes to DIDFA.
Afterwards, we had canvassed for 2 hours, and my friend and I once again were together canvassing. (We make such a good team anyway!) On our way back, we had encountered a lady who was known as the oldest person with FASD. FASD, or foetal alcohol syndrome, is a condition that results when the mother of the baby has taken excessive amounts of alcohol during the pregnancy. It is known that the alcohol has detrimental effects on the development of the baby, including certain neurological deficits due to the alcohol hindering brain development. There is now some movement towards educating the public to not drink if there was a possibility that one could be pregnant, as it would then avoid foetal exposure to such alcohol and thus, avoid the brain of the baby from not developing properly.
Anyway, it was so inspiring to hear her talk. She completely agreed that the services that pharmacies provide are essential to the patients with FASD. She sees this first-hand with these patients, as she is a volunteer receptionist at a centre that provides education about FASD. Not to mention, having such a condition would further make her understanding the needs of these patients as well. What struck me was her explanation that FASD patients has trouble understanding the words that are read or listened; therefore, FASD patients may not understand what is put on the label or said through patient counselling. Therefore, pharmacists must act out how to take the medications in order to properly show how their patients should take their medications. That is something that I will forever keep in mind whenever I see anyone with FASD.
She had referred us to the pharmacist who serves all of these FASD patients. She had even given us directions to how to get to her pharmacy. Unfortunately, we were not able to do so due to the tight schedule that our tour was running. Even more unfortunate was our lack of ability to actually explain to her that we were not going to be able to go there. However, I would never forget this experience. I will use this to educate myself in FASD and how to communicate effectively with FASD patients.
Afterwards, we had canvassed for 2 hours, and my friend and I once again were together canvassing. (We make such a good team anyway!) On our way back, we had encountered a lady who was known as the oldest person with FASD. FASD, or foetal alcohol syndrome, is a condition that results when the mother of the baby has taken excessive amounts of alcohol during the pregnancy. It is known that the alcohol has detrimental effects on the development of the baby, including certain neurological deficits due to the alcohol hindering brain development. There is now some movement towards educating the public to not drink if there was a possibility that one could be pregnant, as it would then avoid foetal exposure to such alcohol and thus, avoid the brain of the baby from not developing properly.
Anyway, it was so inspiring to hear her talk. She completely agreed that the services that pharmacies provide are essential to the patients with FASD. She sees this first-hand with these patients, as she is a volunteer receptionist at a centre that provides education about FASD. Not to mention, having such a condition would further make her understanding the needs of these patients as well. What struck me was her explanation that FASD patients has trouble understanding the words that are read or listened; therefore, FASD patients may not understand what is put on the label or said through patient counselling. Therefore, pharmacists must act out how to take the medications in order to properly show how their patients should take their medications. That is something that I will forever keep in mind whenever I see anyone with FASD.
She had referred us to the pharmacist who serves all of these FASD patients. She had even given us directions to how to get to her pharmacy. Unfortunately, we were not able to do so due to the tight schedule that our tour was running. Even more unfortunate was our lack of ability to actually explain to her that we were not going to be able to go there. However, I would never forget this experience. I will use this to educate myself in FASD and how to communicate effectively with FASD patients.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Cold and Rain in Brantford...
What a gloomy day in Brantford! It was the type of cold that got into your bones and refuse to go away. It also does not help when quite a few people on the bus are tired and on the verge of getting sick. But for the profession's sake, we must persevere along...
We were also expecting similar cold treatment from some of Brantford’s newspapers, particularly the Brantford Expositor, as we heard that they had posted a one-sided, negative and inflammatory article about how we, as pharmacy students, were manipulated in this situation by the Coalition as part of an “increasingly nasty campaign to stop a ban on so-called professional allowances”. What slanderous and preposterous comments! (He must have not read my message from before to the media. Tsk tsk!) I give total credit to my classmate who handled them like a pro... But alas, here is my rant of the day...
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2576307
Just to put it clear:
1) I, as a pharmacy student, know nothing about politics and I don’t want to do anything about politics. I’m here with the purest of intentions and the understanding that anything that I do will not change the government’s mind, regardless of what party it is. I’m here for my own conscience and passion.
2) We are NOT pawns – we are pharmacy students with actual brains who willingly decided to partake in the tour. (Try getting through our Med Chem course without brains.)
3) This is not a “nasty campaign”. It is purely spreading awareness and letting people know how great the pharmacy profession and the services that it provides for all Ontarians. Healthcare is a right, and we advocate for maximizing Ontarians' rights to have access to best possible patient care services. Is it nasty to want to advocate for a healthier population? Is it nasty to act for the good of the public?
4) We are here for ourselves because we love the profession and are worried for the future of the profession, as well as the quality of the healthcare system. It's not even about the jobs that we lost anymore. It's about the viability of the profession and healthcare system. That’s it. Seriously.
This is the second time that I’ve put this – I really do hate repeating myself (unless if it is for a patient who has forgotten it or needs to be reminded, then I’d gladly repeating a hundred and thousand times for the patient).
Before I close off this entry, I only want to remind people that I personally as a pharmacy student don’t treat this as a political campaign, as some of the presses or MPPs may have said. We are EDUCATING people about what could happen should these cuts be implemented (and will be done so on the 15th of May – this coming Saturday), the importance of pharmacy services and what pharmacists do. This is not propaganda that I’m speaking of. This is telling people about what my pharmacist mentors and I do in our respective practices. It’s not just about pouring pills from a big bottle into a smaller bottle. It’s about giving the patients the means, particularly non-drug advice and patient education, to live longer and more healthily with greater quality of life.
The public will forever be required to be reminded about what pharmacists do. I’ll be more than glad to be that reminding voice.
We were also expecting similar cold treatment from some of Brantford’s newspapers, particularly the Brantford Expositor, as we heard that they had posted a one-sided, negative and inflammatory article about how we, as pharmacy students, were manipulated in this situation by the Coalition as part of an “increasingly nasty campaign to stop a ban on so-called professional allowances”. What slanderous and preposterous comments! (He must have not read my message from before to the media. Tsk tsk!) I give total credit to my classmate who handled them like a pro... But alas, here is my rant of the day...
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2576307
Just to put it clear:
1) I, as a pharmacy student, know nothing about politics and I don’t want to do anything about politics. I’m here with the purest of intentions and the understanding that anything that I do will not change the government’s mind, regardless of what party it is. I’m here for my own conscience and passion.
2) We are NOT pawns – we are pharmacy students with actual brains who willingly decided to partake in the tour. (Try getting through our Med Chem course without brains.)
3) This is not a “nasty campaign”. It is purely spreading awareness and letting people know how great the pharmacy profession and the services that it provides for all Ontarians. Healthcare is a right, and we advocate for maximizing Ontarians' rights to have access to best possible patient care services. Is it nasty to want to advocate for a healthier population? Is it nasty to act for the good of the public?
4) We are here for ourselves because we love the profession and are worried for the future of the profession, as well as the quality of the healthcare system. It's not even about the jobs that we lost anymore. It's about the viability of the profession and healthcare system. That’s it. Seriously.
This is the second time that I’ve put this – I really do hate repeating myself (unless if it is for a patient who has forgotten it or needs to be reminded, then I’d gladly repeating a hundred and thousand times for the patient).
Before I close off this entry, I only want to remind people that I personally as a pharmacy student don’t treat this as a political campaign, as some of the presses or MPPs may have said. We are EDUCATING people about what could happen should these cuts be implemented (and will be done so on the 15th of May – this coming Saturday), the importance of pharmacy services and what pharmacists do. This is not propaganda that I’m speaking of. This is telling people about what my pharmacist mentors and I do in our respective practices. It’s not just about pouring pills from a big bottle into a smaller bottle. It’s about giving the patients the means, particularly non-drug advice and patient education, to live longer and more healthily with greater quality of life.
The public will forever be required to be reminded about what pharmacists do. I’ll be more than glad to be that reminding voice.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Nerves of Steel? Not quite...
Today I made a special trip to Hamilton to do a TV interview for the show “For the Record” that would be aired on Cable 14 on Cogeco or Shaw cable providers. At first, I didn’t think much of the interview and was not nervous or worried about it – I thought that I understood the messages enough to be sufficiently eloquent on TV. I realized that I didn’t have a chance when I was prepped by a very experienced media relations woman, whom I would name C. She taught me very much about getting the messages out as short, succinct sentences; after all, I would probably get cut off after 1-2 sentences due to time restrictions. The entire 30 minute preparatory conversation was probably the equivalent of a dummy’s crash course in how to do a TV interview. Frankly, after that conversation, I was quite shaken up and realized how wrong everything could go.
Although I was late in leaving the house, the traffic was very good to me and I somehow got to Hamilton in around 50 minutes (and to think that I required 90 minutes!). After getting lost briefly (damn you, G-maps!), I made it to the TV station on time. I met up with M (one of the pharmacists whom I’ve met in Hamilton), who is very outspoken and very knowledgeable in pharmacy practice in Canada and practice models in other countries. In addition to C’s tremendous efforts in helping me prep for the interview, find the station and the talks to calm my nerves, my conversation with M also relieved some anxiety. (Seriously, with the capabilities of M and C, who needs anxiolytics?) Thus, when I went on TV, I was able to channel what I learned from C and broadcasted my messages as eloquently as I could.
Such messages included the following:
- the tour’s objectives in educating the public about the detrimental impacts on healthcare and pharmacists’ ability to provide patient care should these cuts follow through
- telling the public that such cuts, when implemented by the government, can only be reversed with the support of the public
- the government’s reckless healthcare funding cuts will greatly affect patients and pharmacists by decreasing pharmacists’ ability to provide best possible patient care and decreasing the quality of the healthcare system
- the decreased staffing, which the pharmacists are forced to do in light of these funding cuts, would lead to heartbreaking decisions to let go of students and their abilities to provide mentorship that is essential to providing students the practical experience needed to become ideal future pharmacists
The interview was a success and it was an incredible experience with media. While it was much harder than I thought to be interviewed on live TV (with minimal editing, if any), this experience taught me very much about how to present myself to the public. I owed the help of C and M (C especially, as I had bugged her incessantly with call after call) to calm my nerves, provide help when I required it the most and teach me how to respond to media and their potentially difficult questions while sending short succinct messages to the public at the same time. I cannot thank you both enough for everything today, and I hope to work with at least one of you in the future. (I also promise not to have nerves as shot as those of today.)
Although I was late in leaving the house, the traffic was very good to me and I somehow got to Hamilton in around 50 minutes (and to think that I required 90 minutes!). After getting lost briefly (damn you, G-maps!), I made it to the TV station on time. I met up with M (one of the pharmacists whom I’ve met in Hamilton), who is very outspoken and very knowledgeable in pharmacy practice in Canada and practice models in other countries. In addition to C’s tremendous efforts in helping me prep for the interview, find the station and the talks to calm my nerves, my conversation with M also relieved some anxiety. (Seriously, with the capabilities of M and C, who needs anxiolytics?) Thus, when I went on TV, I was able to channel what I learned from C and broadcasted my messages as eloquently as I could.
Such messages included the following:
- the tour’s objectives in educating the public about the detrimental impacts on healthcare and pharmacists’ ability to provide patient care should these cuts follow through
- telling the public that such cuts, when implemented by the government, can only be reversed with the support of the public
- the government’s reckless healthcare funding cuts will greatly affect patients and pharmacists by decreasing pharmacists’ ability to provide best possible patient care and decreasing the quality of the healthcare system
- the decreased staffing, which the pharmacists are forced to do in light of these funding cuts, would lead to heartbreaking decisions to let go of students and their abilities to provide mentorship that is essential to providing students the practical experience needed to become ideal future pharmacists
The interview was a success and it was an incredible experience with media. While it was much harder than I thought to be interviewed on live TV (with minimal editing, if any), this experience taught me very much about how to present myself to the public. I owed the help of C and M (C especially, as I had bugged her incessantly with call after call) to calm my nerves, provide help when I required it the most and teach me how to respond to media and their potentially difficult questions while sending short succinct messages to the public at the same time. I cannot thank you both enough for everything today, and I hope to work with at least one of you in the future. (I also promise not to have nerves as shot as those of today.)
Niagara Falls!
Niagara Falls yesterday! We had initially planned to do some commercial canvassing and rallying at the Clifton Hills area; however, we had got news that the entire area was quite quiet and that rallying there would not be productive at all. Thus, before getting some lunch and rallying at the MPP's office, we were able to enjoy ourselves very briefly by enjoying one of the natural wonders of the world and bonding with each other as the Stop Cuts Student Tour group. How nice of them to plan that for us!
Afterwards, we drove over to the MPP’s office to rally. We received some unexpected news that the MPP there expressed his support for the pharmacy profession and for re-entering negotiations for a better solution to decrease healthcare costs and drug prices. He acknowledges the importance of pharmacists, the vast number of services that they provide and the funding that is allocated to make such healthcare services possible. This really caught us by surprise, as we had not encountered any Liberal MPP who was actually in support of our message against funding cuts to pharmacy services.
What do I feel about his words of support? Mixed feelings. I’m quite pleasantly surprised that he has taken the time to talk to the pharmacists in his local community and understand the role of the pharmacy profession in our health care system. I appreciate how he listens to hundreds of his constituents about their disagreement in the McGuinty government’s decisions. However, I have my reservations about his words. Politicians can play political games after all. I hope Craiter can prove me wrong about my reservations for politicians.
We had again canvassed in his area with a new message – to support their MPP in his effort to drive the McGuinty government back to the drawing board for a better solution to lower healthcare costs. Although we only canvassed for a short while (due to the rain), we managed to reach out to some people and got a few signatures, even if it was not nearly as many as that received in Peterborough or Trenton. However, the primary thing, as with each day of the student tour, is to spread public awareness of the consequences in deteriorating healthcare should these funding cuts be implemented. The pharmacy profession cannot do this alone; it can only be done with the support of Ontario and public support can only be done with public education and awareness.
The following day, I will not be joining the rest of the tour group. I have agreed to travel alone to Hamilton and meet up with one of the inspiring pharmacists (whom I will name M), who had visited us when we arrived in Hamilton (a few days ago). It would be for a TV interview as one of the segments broadcasted on a public affairs show called “For the Record”. Stay tuned for the next entry!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Trenton: More than just an army base
Trenton was our stop today at Day 9 of the Stop Cuts Student Tour. Most of us were grateful for the brief break from Mother’s Day (and I personally was very glad to have the opportunity to spend long-awaited time with my own family) on the Sunday before. Most of us have also discovered that we have lost our voices considerably as well – I personally am suffering from a rather sore throat and sounding a bit like a man. Sigh.
Thank goodness our public relations representative was extremely enthusiastic and helped us out with the rallying on the streets. We first protested in front of our bus in front of the Trentonian newspaper building, where we met up with the reporter with his camera. After an interview with our fourth-year pharmacy student (who is quite charismatic, may I add), we had rallied on the way to the bridge along Dundas Street – the main street in Trenton in what I believe to be the downtown area. The reporter had also followed us during the rally and took pictures. At one point, he was also taking pictures into another store while we were walking down the street with the signs; frankly, I’m not too sure what he was doing.
While we were rallying at the corner of Dundas and Front, Zenah had wanted to take a picture of us rallying at the other side of the street. Coincidentally, there was a radio reporter who was on that same side who took note of the rally, and had wanted Zenah to do a radio interview on the spot. It was quite awesome actually, having attracted even more media attention than what we expected!
Again, we had canvassed around the residential area of Trenton. One of my friends and I were pleasantly surprised that there were quite a few people who were extremely supportive of our efforts to stop these funding cuts on pharmacy and were more than willing to sign the petitions. Moreover, there were quite a few people walking around (presumably because it was quite nice and sunny today) and we were able to reach more people.
A few of our pharmacy students had encountered a former MPP, who was a good friend of Deb Matthews, the Minister of Health. One of them had given us a brief summary about the conversation that had gone on in the few minutes that they were talking, including the reminder to keep in mind of the things that the big players say during this whole ‘war’ between the pharmacy profession and the government.
That truly opens a whole can of worms about the associations that are involved and the government during this period of instability. One’s words are typically manipulated to demonize the opposing party and promoting one’s own party. That’s just how the game is played and how humans typically support themselves. While the government seems to do so to support themselves, one also needs to remember that the associations that we support may do the same in the name of politics. As pharmacy students, we will support the profession; however, we, as all individuals of the public should, must be aware of the possible lies that could be fed by the associations representing the profession. Wars, including that between pharmacy and the government, are never black and white. The roles of the “good” and “bad” guys are never clear. I am in no way stating that the associations that support the pharmacy profession are bad, or that the government is evil by making such decisions against us. I merely want to state that we must be careful not to be brainwashed by either party and take things with a grain of salt. Be aware of the issues yourself, digest the information, make the logical conclusions yourself and think/act for yourself according to what our own conscience and values allow.
Why do I blog? I blog because I see issues in the pharmacy profession that need to be addressed. I put my own opinions onto it and separate them from that of the pharmacy-representing associations and the government. On top of that, I strongly encourage others to read my blog, be provoked in learning more about these issues and forming your own opinions about them. Don’t be sheep – stay educated and aware!
Thank goodness our public relations representative was extremely enthusiastic and helped us out with the rallying on the streets. We first protested in front of our bus in front of the Trentonian newspaper building, where we met up with the reporter with his camera. After an interview with our fourth-year pharmacy student (who is quite charismatic, may I add), we had rallied on the way to the bridge along Dundas Street – the main street in Trenton in what I believe to be the downtown area. The reporter had also followed us during the rally and took pictures. At one point, he was also taking pictures into another store while we were walking down the street with the signs; frankly, I’m not too sure what he was doing.
While we were rallying at the corner of Dundas and Front, Zenah had wanted to take a picture of us rallying at the other side of the street. Coincidentally, there was a radio reporter who was on that same side who took note of the rally, and had wanted Zenah to do a radio interview on the spot. It was quite awesome actually, having attracted even more media attention than what we expected!
Again, we had canvassed around the residential area of Trenton. One of my friends and I were pleasantly surprised that there were quite a few people who were extremely supportive of our efforts to stop these funding cuts on pharmacy and were more than willing to sign the petitions. Moreover, there were quite a few people walking around (presumably because it was quite nice and sunny today) and we were able to reach more people.
A few of our pharmacy students had encountered a former MPP, who was a good friend of Deb Matthews, the Minister of Health. One of them had given us a brief summary about the conversation that had gone on in the few minutes that they were talking, including the reminder to keep in mind of the things that the big players say during this whole ‘war’ between the pharmacy profession and the government.
That truly opens a whole can of worms about the associations that are involved and the government during this period of instability. One’s words are typically manipulated to demonize the opposing party and promoting one’s own party. That’s just how the game is played and how humans typically support themselves. While the government seems to do so to support themselves, one also needs to remember that the associations that we support may do the same in the name of politics. As pharmacy students, we will support the profession; however, we, as all individuals of the public should, must be aware of the possible lies that could be fed by the associations representing the profession. Wars, including that between pharmacy and the government, are never black and white. The roles of the “good” and “bad” guys are never clear. I am in no way stating that the associations that support the pharmacy profession are bad, or that the government is evil by making such decisions against us. I merely want to state that we must be careful not to be brainwashed by either party and take things with a grain of salt. Be aware of the issues yourself, digest the information, make the logical conclusions yourself and think/act for yourself according to what our own conscience and values allow.
Why do I blog? I blog because I see issues in the pharmacy profession that need to be addressed. I put my own opinions onto it and separate them from that of the pharmacy-representing associations and the government. On top of that, I strongly encourage others to read my blog, be provoked in learning more about these issues and forming your own opinions about them. Don’t be sheep – stay educated and aware!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Appendix to Day 8 regarding compounding:
For those who are not very clear about what compounding is, it is the procedure of making drug products that are not available on the market in pursuit of a prescription (written by a prescriber) for a patient. We are not allowed to make large batches of it, but only enough to fill for the prescription, or in anticipation of a FEW prescriptions that may call upon the same product. Compounding is also NOT manufacturing, which requires us to mass produce such mixtures and is not allowed in the pharmacy profession. There are many reasons why we would need to compound; however, all of them revolve around meeting patient needs. Some include the following:
1) The drug that we want to dispense may not be available on the market as the desired form. For instance, we may require Drug A, which is only available on the market in a tablet, in a patch because a patient may not be able to take Drug A by mouth.
2) The drug mixture may not be available on the market and may require us to make it for the patient. This is particularly useful for drugs that can be applied on the skin as creams and ointments and for patients who don’t want to put many creams one after the other.
3) While the drug may be available in a certain form, it may not be in the same strength or concentration that we want. These situations may not be able to be solved by giving more of the drug because the patient may not necessarily be able or willing to take more of the drug. A problem will also occur by giving less of the drug if the concentration is too strong, as it is harder to measure smaller amounts of drug and maintain the accuracy of each dose.
4) It allows us to personalize what specific ingredients should be mixed and their respective amounts to each other, depending on the patient’s unique condition.
Of course, there are many more benefits to compounding, but I hardly think that people will want to see me list them on my blog.
Sorry for the great burst of posts – this has truly been the only time when I was able to upload them all. Day 9 will be on Monday instead of Sunday – we will be heading to Trenton. This gives me plenty of time on Sunday to spend time with my family. It’s also special because it is Mother’s Day and there are 3 mothers in the family on that day!
Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!
1) The drug that we want to dispense may not be available on the market as the desired form. For instance, we may require Drug A, which is only available on the market in a tablet, in a patch because a patient may not be able to take Drug A by mouth.
2) The drug mixture may not be available on the market and may require us to make it for the patient. This is particularly useful for drugs that can be applied on the skin as creams and ointments and for patients who don’t want to put many creams one after the other.
3) While the drug may be available in a certain form, it may not be in the same strength or concentration that we want. These situations may not be able to be solved by giving more of the drug because the patient may not necessarily be able or willing to take more of the drug. A problem will also occur by giving less of the drug if the concentration is too strong, as it is harder to measure smaller amounts of drug and maintain the accuracy of each dose.
4) It allows us to personalize what specific ingredients should be mixed and their respective amounts to each other, depending on the patient’s unique condition.
Of course, there are many more benefits to compounding, but I hardly think that people will want to see me list them on my blog.
Sorry for the great burst of posts – this has truly been the only time when I was able to upload them all. Day 9 will be on Monday instead of Sunday – we will be heading to Trenton. This gives me plenty of time on Sunday to spend time with my family. It’s also special because it is Mother’s Day and there are 3 mothers in the family on that day!
Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!
Long Day in Ottawa...
The Stop Cuts Student Tour brought us to Canada’s capital. After a very long 5-hour drive from Toronto, we had arrived to another Pharmasave that has a compounding facility. We had met the pharmacist owner, who, like the pharmacists at Hamilton, was extremely enthusiastic about advocating against funding cuts to pharmacies. She had also kind enough to show us around it in the pharmacy. It was extremely fascinating, as it was the first compounding pharmacy that I have ever visited and she also had a clean room for sterile compounding.
After the brief tour, we rallied on the street and waited for the media to get in touch with us and our story. Because it was on a main street in the Ottawa suburban area, we attracted quite a bit of attention from the public and were able to make our voices heard easily. Getting people to stop and listen to us was a little more difficult, as people seemed to be in a hurry to go and did not want to stay for a minute to listen to us.
Nevertheless, we had media coverage from CTV and the Ottawa Citizen from the attention that we were attracting in the community. I bumped into the reporter from Ottawa Citizen quite accidentally by handing him a flyer and trying to spread awareness of the issues of decreased pharmacy funding to him. My friend and I were then interviewed at the side of the road, mainly us trying to get our message across about the pharmacy profession, as well as sharing the student perspective on the issue. This interview was much less aggressive than what was asked of me in Barrie, and I also felt more comfortable answering his questions. Why can’t all interviews be like that? But then again, I also have to see precisely how the article portrays our words.
Canvassing was less successful for a number of reasons. One was that we did not spend enough time on the area. This was completely understandable, as we did not have much time left in Ottawa before we had to make our way back with another 5 hour drive back to Toronto. Another reason may have been because of the time – who, other than only a few sick, elderly people, unemployed or people on a day off, would be at home for us to talk to them at 2 or 3 in the afternoon?
On top of that, it may have been because people were again not completely aware of these issues and may have already formed opinions that prevent them from opening themselves to other viewpoints. My personal goal was simply to spread awareness about the pharmacy profession and allow them to understand the profession’s role in building a healthier population so that they can make their own conclusions about what is happening. While the tour does attack the McGuinty government for not caring about pharmacy's ability to provide patient care, I personally will not demonize the government or get involved in battling in politics at this stage. Any non-naive person will understand that they have the ultimate power of decision that will never been influenced by the public if they choose not to listen. If all fails, I can only go back to my own personal goals and practice pharmacy as my conscience allows: represent the pharmacy profession as well as possible by providing optimal patient care.
After the brief tour, we rallied on the street and waited for the media to get in touch with us and our story. Because it was on a main street in the Ottawa suburban area, we attracted quite a bit of attention from the public and were able to make our voices heard easily. Getting people to stop and listen to us was a little more difficult, as people seemed to be in a hurry to go and did not want to stay for a minute to listen to us.
Nevertheless, we had media coverage from CTV and the Ottawa Citizen from the attention that we were attracting in the community. I bumped into the reporter from Ottawa Citizen quite accidentally by handing him a flyer and trying to spread awareness of the issues of decreased pharmacy funding to him. My friend and I were then interviewed at the side of the road, mainly us trying to get our message across about the pharmacy profession, as well as sharing the student perspective on the issue. This interview was much less aggressive than what was asked of me in Barrie, and I also felt more comfortable answering his questions. Why can’t all interviews be like that? But then again, I also have to see precisely how the article portrays our words.
Canvassing was less successful for a number of reasons. One was that we did not spend enough time on the area. This was completely understandable, as we did not have much time left in Ottawa before we had to make our way back with another 5 hour drive back to Toronto. Another reason may have been because of the time – who, other than only a few sick, elderly people, unemployed or people on a day off, would be at home for us to talk to them at 2 or 3 in the afternoon?
On top of that, it may have been because people were again not completely aware of these issues and may have already formed opinions that prevent them from opening themselves to other viewpoints. My personal goal was simply to spread awareness about the pharmacy profession and allow them to understand the profession’s role in building a healthier population so that they can make their own conclusions about what is happening. While the tour does attack the McGuinty government for not caring about pharmacy's ability to provide patient care, I personally will not demonize the government or get involved in battling in politics at this stage. Any non-naive person will understand that they have the ultimate power of decision that will never been influenced by the public if they choose not to listen. If all fails, I can only go back to my own personal goals and practice pharmacy as my conscience allows: represent the pharmacy profession as well as possible by providing optimal patient care.
The crossfire between Deb Matthews, pharmacy students and the media
Sorry for the delay in the post! I had typed out a first draft for the post; however, I was not able to post it on the same day that I had finished it, even if I had intended to do so. So, to make it clear, this is the entry for May 7. Stay tuned for the next entry for our next stop to Ottawa on May 8!
Perhaps this is the day that all of us on the Stop Cuts Student Tour were anticipating. Today, we went to London, where we can meet Deb Matthews, the Minister of Health and the one who announced the decision to cut all professional allowances from pharmacies and not replacing sufficient funds for funding pharmacy services. Because today was Friday and all MPPs were obligated to stay in their constituency offices each Friday, it was practically guaranteed that Minister Matthews will come to meet us. Yes!
5 students, including me, had volunteered to provide a formal media statement in front of Deb Matthews. This statement was to provide a glimpse of the student perspective under the aspects of jobs, education, profession and patient care. We had carefully planned it out to make sure that our messages were each short and sweet. So what if it were scripted? It's scripted so that we are clear when we make our messages to the media and Deb Matthews. No one wants to stumble and sound stupid in front of the Minster of Health! These were all words that came from the hearts of pharmacy students and were not by any means manipulated by the Coalition. After all, we are not pawns, and what we have to say is what we feel strongly as pharmacy students.
Afterwards, we had chosen 2 pharmacy students (2 of the same charismatic individuals who have done many interviews for us) to do more interviews with the media. The rest of us had rallied briefly on the streets to gain more support. The Minister wanted to have a conversation with all of us at her office without the media's presence, and we had chosen 5 individuals, including me as well, to enter the conversation. For now, I shall not disclose the information, as I am not sure whether it is of ocnfidential nature or not. However, I will try to post a short summary should this information be allowed to be revealed. Sorry everyone!
As usual, canvassing was done in the community; however, the public, at least for me, did not seem to welcome our presence or words. There was even one individual who told us that he “had [his] own church”, as he thought that we would be “preaching” to him about the pharmacy services. I'm speechless about that and I can only say this. While I respect his opinions about pharmacy, a little open-mindedness would have been appreciated.
Anyway, onward to Ottawa as our next stop!
Perhaps this is the day that all of us on the Stop Cuts Student Tour were anticipating. Today, we went to London, where we can meet Deb Matthews, the Minister of Health and the one who announced the decision to cut all professional allowances from pharmacies and not replacing sufficient funds for funding pharmacy services. Because today was Friday and all MPPs were obligated to stay in their constituency offices each Friday, it was practically guaranteed that Minister Matthews will come to meet us. Yes!
5 students, including me, had volunteered to provide a formal media statement in front of Deb Matthews. This statement was to provide a glimpse of the student perspective under the aspects of jobs, education, profession and patient care. We had carefully planned it out to make sure that our messages were each short and sweet. So what if it were scripted? It's scripted so that we are clear when we make our messages to the media and Deb Matthews. No one wants to stumble and sound stupid in front of the Minster of Health! These were all words that came from the hearts of pharmacy students and were not by any means manipulated by the Coalition. After all, we are not pawns, and what we have to say is what we feel strongly as pharmacy students.
Afterwards, we had chosen 2 pharmacy students (2 of the same charismatic individuals who have done many interviews for us) to do more interviews with the media. The rest of us had rallied briefly on the streets to gain more support. The Minister wanted to have a conversation with all of us at her office without the media's presence, and we had chosen 5 individuals, including me as well, to enter the conversation. For now, I shall not disclose the information, as I am not sure whether it is of ocnfidential nature or not. However, I will try to post a short summary should this information be allowed to be revealed. Sorry everyone!
As usual, canvassing was done in the community; however, the public, at least for me, did not seem to welcome our presence or words. There was even one individual who told us that he “had [his] own church”, as he thought that we would be “preaching” to him about the pharmacy services. I'm speechless about that and I can only say this. While I respect his opinions about pharmacy, a little open-mindedness would have been appreciated.
Anyway, onward to Ottawa as our next stop!
Friday, May 7, 2010
F’S WISDOM: Patients live or die depending on the vigilance of the pharmacist.
There are innumerable stories about how pharmacists provide educational services to patients for free in attempt to save lives and/or prevent serious adverse reactions from occurring due to inappropriate therapy. These services are virtually always unpaid (I myself cannot think of an instance when such education is actually paid) and are never compensated; however, they are invaluable in patient health because THEY SAVE LIVES.
What are these services, you may ask? These are services to teach patients about their condition, the symptoms that are associated with the condition, medications that they may be taking for it and how to control it using lifestyle changes. The last point is perhaps the most important one, as they determine how effective the treatment will be in treating/curing the condition. Furthermore, they are conversations to assess how appropriate the therapies are in many aspects. We assess whether there is duplicate therapy or therapy that needs to be initiated, whether the doses are too high or low, what stage of therapy the patient is at based on the dosage that was given, whether it is even the right drug and whether the therapy is suitable based on the patient’s willingness to take medications. If we were only pill pushers, we wouldn’t have the cognitive skills to do these things rapidly.
How do these services save lives? Think of it this way. If a patient took too much of a narcotic analgesia like morphine or codeine, it will cause their breathing to stop by depressing certain fundamental activities in the brain. If a patient took two drugs together that prevent Drug A from eliminated in the body and Drug A is a blood thinner, they will suffer excessive bleeding in their body and will be admitted into the emergency room. (Wouldn't that be great for the healthcare costs?) If a patient does not realize that he/she could control diabetes using mainly diet and exercise, potentially with drugs to supplement the lifestyle changes, the patient may not be given the proper resources to live longer and healthier with improved quality of life. These are not mere examples that I had wished I had seen; these are everyday examples that are encountered not only by pharmacists, but pharmacy students in their practice in pharmacies as well. This is the reality.
F was completely right when he said that patients will live or die depending on our ability to be on the lookout for potential drug therapy problems and provide optimal patient services in education and health promotion. This is why we go to school for an extra 4 years. This is why we are primary care providers.
PHARMACISTS SAVE LIVES. This is the reality.
What are these services, you may ask? These are services to teach patients about their condition, the symptoms that are associated with the condition, medications that they may be taking for it and how to control it using lifestyle changes. The last point is perhaps the most important one, as they determine how effective the treatment will be in treating/curing the condition. Furthermore, they are conversations to assess how appropriate the therapies are in many aspects. We assess whether there is duplicate therapy or therapy that needs to be initiated, whether the doses are too high or low, what stage of therapy the patient is at based on the dosage that was given, whether it is even the right drug and whether the therapy is suitable based on the patient’s willingness to take medications. If we were only pill pushers, we wouldn’t have the cognitive skills to do these things rapidly.
How do these services save lives? Think of it this way. If a patient took too much of a narcotic analgesia like morphine or codeine, it will cause their breathing to stop by depressing certain fundamental activities in the brain. If a patient took two drugs together that prevent Drug A from eliminated in the body and Drug A is a blood thinner, they will suffer excessive bleeding in their body and will be admitted into the emergency room. (Wouldn't that be great for the healthcare costs?) If a patient does not realize that he/she could control diabetes using mainly diet and exercise, potentially with drugs to supplement the lifestyle changes, the patient may not be given the proper resources to live longer and healthier with improved quality of life. These are not mere examples that I had wished I had seen; these are everyday examples that are encountered not only by pharmacists, but pharmacy students in their practice in pharmacies as well. This is the reality.
F was completely right when he said that patients will live or die depending on our ability to be on the lookout for potential drug therapy problems and provide optimal patient services in education and health promotion. This is why we go to school for an extra 4 years. This is why we are primary care providers.
PHARMACISTS SAVE LIVES. This is the reality.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
An enlightening and inspiring Day 7 at Hamilton!
On Day 7 in our Stop Cuts Student Tour, we went to Hamilton. A pharmacist owner of 2 Pharmasave pharmacies (independently owned) had taken note from the Facebook group and Zenah’s blog that we were on a student tour to spread awareness of the healthcare funding issues to different communities. She was gracious enough to provide us with a place to meet and talk with other pharmacists and patients who were equally concerned about these issues. On top of that, she had provided us with lunch. I cannot thank her enough for her incredible hospitality!
During this time, we met many pharmacists who were owners or had worked in nearby pharmacies. They were all equally supportive of our time and efforts to advocate for the profession and rally for more public support to reverse this bill. They each gave a little speech about their points of view, as well as how they have been trying to gain support on the store level. While all of the pharmacists were very inspiring, what particularly caught my attention were the words and the depth of knowledge of a pharmacist named F. Thus, I had found myself in a lengthy, but very enlightening conversation with F with two of my second-year classmates. I also cannot thank F enough for engaging me in many more issues in the pharmacy profession beyond the tour and for his inspiration. I promise to explore further in these issues and to spread his message (stay tuned for that!).
After the media event and conversations at the pharmacy, we had rallied in Downtown Hamilton while educating the public about the funding cuts on pharmacy services. I had met some interesting people, including an Aboriginal, who understood the importance of the services and advice that pharmacists give and how they improve the health of many patients each day, particularly Aboriginals. Brief discussions were made about how I, as a pharmacy student, understood the importance of the Aboriginal lifestyle, replacing the order of Aboriginal communities and health promotion to deal with the diabetes epidemic in Aboriginal communities. Furthermore, it was tied back to the pharmacy profession’s contributions to helping such remote communities by providing them primary care. It’s a morale booster upon seeing that communities of so many backgrounds are there to support your cause and promise to let their voices be heard.
We had canvassed in the Dundas area briefly after a successful rally. Although the residential area canvassing was not nearly as successful, one must be optimistic about spreading awareness and initiating the train of thought about the long-term consequences of healthcare quality should these funding cuts follow through. However, we have tomorrow to look forward - next stop is London, and it will be in Deb Matthews' riding! This shall be interesting...
During this time, we met many pharmacists who were owners or had worked in nearby pharmacies. They were all equally supportive of our time and efforts to advocate for the profession and rally for more public support to reverse this bill. They each gave a little speech about their points of view, as well as how they have been trying to gain support on the store level. While all of the pharmacists were very inspiring, what particularly caught my attention were the words and the depth of knowledge of a pharmacist named F. Thus, I had found myself in a lengthy, but very enlightening conversation with F with two of my second-year classmates. I also cannot thank F enough for engaging me in many more issues in the pharmacy profession beyond the tour and for his inspiration. I promise to explore further in these issues and to spread his message (stay tuned for that!).
After the media event and conversations at the pharmacy, we had rallied in Downtown Hamilton while educating the public about the funding cuts on pharmacy services. I had met some interesting people, including an Aboriginal, who understood the importance of the services and advice that pharmacists give and how they improve the health of many patients each day, particularly Aboriginals. Brief discussions were made about how I, as a pharmacy student, understood the importance of the Aboriginal lifestyle, replacing the order of Aboriginal communities and health promotion to deal with the diabetes epidemic in Aboriginal communities. Furthermore, it was tied back to the pharmacy profession’s contributions to helping such remote communities by providing them primary care. It’s a morale booster upon seeing that communities of so many backgrounds are there to support your cause and promise to let their voices be heard.
We had canvassed in the Dundas area briefly after a successful rally. Although the residential area canvassing was not nearly as successful, one must be optimistic about spreading awareness and initiating the train of thought about the long-term consequences of healthcare quality should these funding cuts follow through. However, we have tomorrow to look forward - next stop is London, and it will be in Deb Matthews' riding! This shall be interesting...
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Contemplations in Mississauga...
Mississauga was our location for today’s part of the Stop Cuts student tour. We went to Port Credit and spent our time near the lakeshore area. It’s such a beautiful area there!
We first went to the local MPP’s office and rallied the public on the streets with our signs. Again, we were able to get media attention. One of our pharmacy students from Mississauga was interviewed by Rogers TV, while another few students took pictures with a newspaper. After rallying and lunch, we went canvassing in the residential areas and tried to inform the public as much as possible. This seems to be the normal routine these days. Personally, I don’t mind this type of routine, as long as the media takes hold of our presence and writes in favour of our positions. We just have to be careful of our words…
During the tour so far, it has truly hit me that many individuals have many misconceptions on the pharmacy profession and do not know enough about what pharmacists do every day to provide primary patient care. For example, the misconception that pharmacists are merely businesspeople who sells drugs to patients is pervasive. I find myself talking about what pharmacists do because people ask me what they do, what services they provide and why patients need to be concerned when pharmacists will no longer have time and resources to provide such services. The reason why I came into pharmacy is because I love the technical aspects of chemistry and understanding how drugs work, and I want to incorporate such knowledge into my love for helping people live healthier lives. I didn’t enter because I want to count pills all day and promote the sale of such drugs. If that’s the case, then we only need a robot with a loudspeaker that screams out, “DRUGS FOR SALE! DRUGS FOR SALE!” At that point, who needs pharmacists and their services for patient counselling, education, and health promotion? Who needs them for answering questions that saves the patient time and a trip to the emergency room and/or the doctor’s office?
Another issue is the ramifications to research and development (Rx&D) of brand name medications. It was mentioned to me that the lowering of drug prices may cause decreased funding for Rx&D, which is essential for medical advancement towards safer and more efficacious treatments. Although I was thinking about the possibility of increasing efficiency in the drug discovery pipeline (decreasing attritions to reduce the amount of money thrown away from testing compounds that do not come to fruition), the situation may be more complex than I had anticipated. This is also something worth exploring in my own time.
To everyone in the tour, a job well done today! Keep up the good work and rest your voice for tomorrow! And really… a megaphone or loudspeaker would be greatly appreciated for the sake of all our voices!
We first went to the local MPP’s office and rallied the public on the streets with our signs. Again, we were able to get media attention. One of our pharmacy students from Mississauga was interviewed by Rogers TV, while another few students took pictures with a newspaper. After rallying and lunch, we went canvassing in the residential areas and tried to inform the public as much as possible. This seems to be the normal routine these days. Personally, I don’t mind this type of routine, as long as the media takes hold of our presence and writes in favour of our positions. We just have to be careful of our words…
During the tour so far, it has truly hit me that many individuals have many misconceptions on the pharmacy profession and do not know enough about what pharmacists do every day to provide primary patient care. For example, the misconception that pharmacists are merely businesspeople who sells drugs to patients is pervasive. I find myself talking about what pharmacists do because people ask me what they do, what services they provide and why patients need to be concerned when pharmacists will no longer have time and resources to provide such services. The reason why I came into pharmacy is because I love the technical aspects of chemistry and understanding how drugs work, and I want to incorporate such knowledge into my love for helping people live healthier lives. I didn’t enter because I want to count pills all day and promote the sale of such drugs. If that’s the case, then we only need a robot with a loudspeaker that screams out, “DRUGS FOR SALE! DRUGS FOR SALE!” At that point, who needs pharmacists and their services for patient counselling, education, and health promotion? Who needs them for answering questions that saves the patient time and a trip to the emergency room and/or the doctor’s office?
Another issue is the ramifications to research and development (Rx&D) of brand name medications. It was mentioned to me that the lowering of drug prices may cause decreased funding for Rx&D, which is essential for medical advancement towards safer and more efficacious treatments. Although I was thinking about the possibility of increasing efficiency in the drug discovery pipeline (decreasing attritions to reduce the amount of money thrown away from testing compounds that do not come to fruition), the situation may be more complex than I had anticipated. This is also something worth exploring in my own time.
To everyone in the tour, a job well done today! Keep up the good work and rest your voice for tomorrow! And really… a megaphone or loudspeaker would be greatly appreciated for the sake of all our voices!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
An eventful day at Barrie
Day 5 of our tour took us to Barrie. We started our day rallying the public in front of the Pharmasave pharmacy and trying to maximize the number of people notified about the healthcare cuts. Although we were not at a very busy street, we still did get many honks of support. When the media came (and did so quite late), a few team members, who were expected to be interviewed, had done so splendidly. When one of the reporters came to take close-up pictures of our posters, he had unexpectedly come up to me for an interview. On top of that, he had come with many questions that are used to provoke rather controversial and potentially aggressive answers from me.
Things that I learned from that experience and have done as much as I could:
1) Do not look innocent and young – looking like that may contribute to you being picked on by reporters.
2) If you are picked on by media, play their game. Do not give information or words that would lead to controversy. Say your message and nothing else but your message. If you give them nothing but that, they will have no choice but to broadcast your message.
3) If you don’t have anything else to say and/or you are tired of repeating your message a million times, put a pause and wait until they are tired of your silence.
4) Greatest one of all: stay calm with a poker face. No matter how hard your heart is pounding with anxiety and fear, don’t let the media smell your fear. They will feed on it otherwise and take control of the interview.
On top of that, a gentleman, who was for these cuts on professional allowances, had a rather animated and long debate with some of the pharmacy students. The media had caught their eyes on this discussion and ended up filming much of the encounter. They also conducted a short interview with him. I personally was not part of the discussion; however, it was obvious that the gentleman’s words could deeply affect the effectiveness of that media event. We shall see how the reporters manipulate this information…
Still, it was heart-warming to see pharmacists who are very supportive of our efforts and are also trying to put their two cents recorded to be posted on our blogs and to the media. The short video clip that he agreed to record with us will be posted shortly...
What made today even more eventful was the encounter with a policeman who attempted to fine each of us $150 for loitering on the streets. He gave one of our organizers a very hard time by swearing profusely and intimidating him to submit to the fine. Loitering? We were merely making people aware of the healthcare funding issues by gathering support on the streets! There is freedom of speech after all, and we were doing it peacefully without hindering traffic, disturbing people and breaking any laws.
Later on, we also did canvassing and collected signatures for our petition to the McGuinty government. Although there were fewer people than Peterborough who signed the petition and/or were aware of the issues, it was nice to spread awareness to the public and allow them to think more deeply about the cuts on pharmacy services for patients. Ultimately, that’s all I want. Once the facts are out, these people should have the brains to think it through logically and come up with the same conclusions for which we are advocating.
TO MASS MEDIA, THE POLITICIANS AND ANYONE WHO IS KEEPING UP WITH THE MEDIA WITH RESPECT TO OUR TOUR:
We are NOT pawns of the pharmacy movement in this issue of healthcare cuts. We are students of the profession who partake in this tour because we are passionate about helping patients, providing the best possible care to them and advocating for a healthier population. We are here because we are worried about the future of our profession and the quality of our healthcare system. Although we are only a piece of the entire healthcare puzzle, we try to play our part to educate patients and empower them to live lives of better quality of life. We do this by our own will because we want to, not because we are forced to. Please get the facts right.
Things that I learned from that experience and have done as much as I could:
1) Do not look innocent and young – looking like that may contribute to you being picked on by reporters.
2) If you are picked on by media, play their game. Do not give information or words that would lead to controversy. Say your message and nothing else but your message. If you give them nothing but that, they will have no choice but to broadcast your message.
3) If you don’t have anything else to say and/or you are tired of repeating your message a million times, put a pause and wait until they are tired of your silence.
4) Greatest one of all: stay calm with a poker face. No matter how hard your heart is pounding with anxiety and fear, don’t let the media smell your fear. They will feed on it otherwise and take control of the interview.
On top of that, a gentleman, who was for these cuts on professional allowances, had a rather animated and long debate with some of the pharmacy students. The media had caught their eyes on this discussion and ended up filming much of the encounter. They also conducted a short interview with him. I personally was not part of the discussion; however, it was obvious that the gentleman’s words could deeply affect the effectiveness of that media event. We shall see how the reporters manipulate this information…
Still, it was heart-warming to see pharmacists who are very supportive of our efforts and are also trying to put their two cents recorded to be posted on our blogs and to the media. The short video clip that he agreed to record with us will be posted shortly...
What made today even more eventful was the encounter with a policeman who attempted to fine each of us $150 for loitering on the streets. He gave one of our organizers a very hard time by swearing profusely and intimidating him to submit to the fine. Loitering? We were merely making people aware of the healthcare funding issues by gathering support on the streets! There is freedom of speech after all, and we were doing it peacefully without hindering traffic, disturbing people and breaking any laws.
Later on, we also did canvassing and collected signatures for our petition to the McGuinty government. Although there were fewer people than Peterborough who signed the petition and/or were aware of the issues, it was nice to spread awareness to the public and allow them to think more deeply about the cuts on pharmacy services for patients. Ultimately, that’s all I want. Once the facts are out, these people should have the brains to think it through logically and come up with the same conclusions for which we are advocating.
TO MASS MEDIA, THE POLITICIANS AND ANYONE WHO IS KEEPING UP WITH THE MEDIA WITH RESPECT TO OUR TOUR:
We are NOT pawns of the pharmacy movement in this issue of healthcare cuts. We are students of the profession who partake in this tour because we are passionate about helping patients, providing the best possible care to them and advocating for a healthier population. We are here because we are worried about the future of our profession and the quality of our healthcare system. Although we are only a piece of the entire healthcare puzzle, we try to play our part to educate patients and empower them to live lives of better quality of life. We do this by our own will because we want to, not because we are forced to. Please get the facts right.
Stop Cuts Student Tour
I am currently part of a tour to educate communities about the dreadful consequences of tremendous cuts on healthcare funding - $750 million from all Ontario pharmacies in total! The Ontario provincial government believes that it will decrease healthcare costs and decrease the deficit at the same time. Furthermore, it was claimed that professional allowances, a significant and completely legitimate portion of the income that all community pharmacies make, were main contributors to driving generic drug prices upwards. Little do people know that these costs, while reducing some of the genetic drug prices, will have dramatic consequences in the pharmacists’ ability to keep their doors open and provide sufficient time and resources in educating their patients of their respective communities. This is especially the case for independent pharmacies, which account for over half of the pharmacies in Ontario. There would be less opportunity for the pharmacists to showcase their abilities in various FREE services, with counselling patients, teaching patients how to use various devices for their therapies, providing free delivery services to patients in need, answering questions and refilling medications automatically only a few of the services that pharmacists provide. Moreover, there would be fewer pharmacists around and possibly even fewer pharmacies who can maintain themselves out of the red.
What does this mean to patients? It means fewer opportunities to gain healthcare access from pharmacists, more likelihood of taking medications improperly, more patients driven into hospitals and doctors’ offices and thus increasing wait times, more patients sick from both side effects and untreated conditions. What is the end result? You have more patients requiring therapy (which requires more money) and a sicker population (fewer people being able to contribute to the workforce fully – less money into the country). In other words, you have greater healthcare costs with less money to pay for it. Really, Ontario… Is this what you want? Is this what the government had promised when they wanted to decrease healthcare costs?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for decreasing healthcare costs and decreasing generic drug costs. However, this is NOT the right approach, even if it has good overall intentions. As a pharmacy student, I feel the need to voice out my opinions and let people know the real story before we walk the path towards a sicker Ontario. Together we as pharmacy students must stand united and become a stronger voice!
What is our current mission? STOP CUTS TO PATIENT CARE!
NOTE: As another perspective to our tour, please also read the blog of the lovely Zenah, a dedicated pharmacy student in my class! Her entries will also give great insight on our efforts to advocate against healthcare cuts on a day-to-day basis!
What does this mean to patients? It means fewer opportunities to gain healthcare access from pharmacists, more likelihood of taking medications improperly, more patients driven into hospitals and doctors’ offices and thus increasing wait times, more patients sick from both side effects and untreated conditions. What is the end result? You have more patients requiring therapy (which requires more money) and a sicker population (fewer people being able to contribute to the workforce fully – less money into the country). In other words, you have greater healthcare costs with less money to pay for it. Really, Ontario… Is this what you want? Is this what the government had promised when they wanted to decrease healthcare costs?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for decreasing healthcare costs and decreasing generic drug costs. However, this is NOT the right approach, even if it has good overall intentions. As a pharmacy student, I feel the need to voice out my opinions and let people know the real story before we walk the path towards a sicker Ontario. Together we as pharmacy students must stand united and become a stronger voice!
What is our current mission? STOP CUTS TO PATIENT CARE!
NOTE: As another perspective to our tour, please also read the blog of the lovely Zenah, a dedicated pharmacy student in my class! Her entries will also give great insight on our efforts to advocate against healthcare cuts on a day-to-day basis!
Monday, May 3, 2010
A warm welcome!
This is also a blog to reflect upon some of the pharmacy issues that I have observed through my time so far in the profession. It is also designed as a place for people in the pharmacy field (pharmacists, pharmacy students, interns and technicians) to voice their opinions (politely and professionally, if I may add). That being said, I give my warmest welcomes to anyone - other healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers and so on - to voice their own concerns about our Ontario healthcare system and how it can be improved. Just as the firepit was historically a communal place for friends and family to share memorable experiences and conversations, PharmPits is designed with the same purpose of friendliness in mind.
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