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!
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