Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf's edge and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.
The man was stuck by the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.
As he came up to the person he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference." The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and picks up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It sure made a difference to that one!"
She shared the story at the Pharmacy Price Giving Ceremony after receiving the prestigious award for being able to maintain at least 75 and above for every subject throughout the third and fourth year of her degree. She was burning with passion and full of emotions. She was the best of the best; she was the centre of attention that night.
She too highlighted that pharmacists are there to make a difference, one at a time but we are there to make a difference in life of other people. I reflected on how constantly I tried to get away with doing as little as possible at work.
I wanted to do more but there are so many factors holding me back. Far too many times I just skipped the WWHAM questions especially the checking for interactions. I just felt it is a bootless effort to try to help the customers. I was comfortable being ordinary little guy behind the counter.
Some find pharmacy assistants annoying and bothersome while others believe they are of no beneficial use. I realized the mass amount of knowledge I have and if only I can pass it all on to the layman standing in front of me. I was in a dilemma, contradiction and was uncertain.
I looked back at the early days I started in a community pharmacy, I was excited, charged up and I look forward for each day I am going to work; the interactions with the customers, the new things I learned, the relevance of the knowledge in a community setting, the products, the drugs, the signs and symptoms, the minor illnesses, there are so many things to look forward to.
I rearranged the whole over the counter shelf, I moved things around, I put them according to their half life, and I tried to conceal the less effective medication. I was trying to improve the pharmacy. I was constantly asking questions, I was learning, I was craving for knowledge. Each customer is seen as an opportunity to learn. I was willing to go the extra miles for them.
I lost my passion eventually and things changed, I do as little as I could, I hate interacting with customers and the travelling to work part is taking its toll on me. If I am to make a difference, I have to change and I am already changing.
I am looking for satisfaction now once again and not the 5pm and head back to home. Doing just enough is no longer my aim anymore; I pushed my boundary once again. I am going to try, it is not easy but I am going to put in my effort.
Althea Tjokrorahardjo, the girl from Jakarta impacted my life. Thank you. It was an out of the ordinary night. I am sure you made a difference in my life.
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