It is time that everyone, especially in retail pharmacy, began to think about their future. Young pharmacy graduates are facing years of working long hours, standing on their feet, and being treated with very little respect from the public and the corporations for which they work. There should be a complete redesign of the pharmacy to take into account the “pharmacist”! Yes, the pharmacy should be designed to accommodate the pharmacist. We pharmacists and technicians hold the publics health and safety in our hands. The environment in which most of us work is ridiculous. Sometimes it will be more like a zoo than a professional work place. The environment and the work conditions are intolerable! It will affect YOUR health and wellness. It will affect your mentality. No job is perfect and there are a lot of jobs that are worse than ours. However, the fact remains, that there is NO REASON why we should be working in these conditions. It would be better for everyone if those conditions were improved. It would be better for the patient, because the patient would get better service. It would be better for us pharmacists and techs because we would not be stressed and suffering from the physical ailments caused by long hours of standing on our feet. It would be better for the corporations because they would have happier customers and sell more products. It would be a “win-win-win” situation.

The time for action is now. If we are to generate any respect from the public, the corporations, and for ourselves, then we should be joining together. There is no better time than the present for pharmacists and technicians to get together and work toward change. I work with some wonderful techs. They are not treated very well by the public, nor are they paid anything near their worth. So, what stands in the way of all of us getting together and working in unison to create a better work environment for everyone? I could continue to expand on the subject of working conditions and how little change has come to pharmacy. But, YOU know the problems. We all know the problems. The real issues before us is finding solutions. For a lot of the the problems, the solutions are easy and simple. The only thing needed is a little initiative by us. It can only begin when we unite. It can only happen when we band together, share ideas, and work toward a common goal.

The Pharmacy Alliance is the only organization working toward the goal of improving the state of pharmacy for pharmacists and technicians. Most of the other organizations have gone the route of trying to educate us. A vacuum has been left for an organization that really deals with the everyday problems that us “real world” pharmacists face. The sad fact is that pharmacists/technicians have so little “power”. We have virtually no leverage in which to get anything done for ourselves. If you don’t believe this, then just try getting something done where you work. You will quickly find that you are out of the decision making loop. The very people that make the money for the big corporations find themselves with the least power and virtually no control over anything in their environment. This is not acceptable! It is time that we were heard in the political arena too. While nurses are being able to write narcotics, we pharmacists are left with nothing. This is unacceptable!

Our journey must begin by our banding together. I know, and I have met, lots of smart pharmacists. There is no lack of mental ability in the pharmacy profession. When pharmacy minds meet and work together, there is no limit to what can be accomplished. Yes, we can make pharmacy better. We can improve everything! We can throw off our “shackles” and set the stage for our own creations. No one is going to do it for us! Yes, pharmacists, no one is going to improve your state, other than ourselves. I don’t have to tell you how hard it is try and get something done by yourself alone. But, lets begin to think about working together! Yes, we can do it!

For a long time, I looked around for a pharmacy organization that addressed the “real” issues in pharmacy. I was surprised and happy to find The Pharmacy Alliance. I am here to promote this organization because of one purpose and one purpose only: I want to see change in pharmacy and I want that change to improve the working lives of pharmacists and technicians. No one at The Pharmacy Alliance gets paid. We all donate our time for free. Most of the money from membership fees are used in maintenance of the website. This organization is not like the other organizations that are trying to sell you something. Yes, they want to sell you some educational package. They have advertisements by the big drug companies. The only educational package offered here is for FREE. There is no advertisement here by drug companies.

Just becoming a member of TPA is not enough. We want your ideas! We need your ideas! It is so vitally important that pharmacists and technicians band together. Together we can accomplish some wonderful things for ourselves, our customers, and for the very corporations for which we work. We have been left out of the loop for too long. The corporations have failed to see and utilize our talents. The government has failed to utilize our knowledge. You see how much money is wasted, by the government, every day. And, yes, you know where “tons” of savings can be made. It is time that we stepped forward and began driving pharmacy in a direction that is better for everyone.

Just to give you an idea of what pharmacy was like in the 1940’s, I have supplied this link to YouTube. I think you will find it interesting. As you watch it, just think of how pharmacy was then, and how it is now.