The pharmacist I am today

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Source: JL / The Pharmaceutical Journal

Here’s to the patient who told me she’s only allergic to men,

The patient who used to put a blanket over his ward neighbour and new best friend,

The patient who kicked me off my computer as he wanted to use it himself,

The patient who came to A&E then absconded home for a nap as he was underwhelmed.

 

Here’s to the patient who threw her metformin behind her bed when she thought we weren’t looking,

The patient who hated oral meds so had to have three months of enoxaparin,

The patient who was admitted because of non-adherence,

The patient who was incredibly grateful when I linked her presenting complaint to an adverse drug reaction.

 

And here’s to the patient who wanted to stay in over Christmas as she had no family to visit her,

The patient who came in with a fall and then found out she had leukaemia,

The patient who was terminally ill but still asked me why I was limping when my ankle was sprained,

The patient who came in because of a reaction to chemotherapy and then sadly passed away.

 

Here’s to 12 months of being qualified where no day has been the same,

These are some of the patients who have shaped me,

and caused my practice to change.

 

These are some of the patients who made me into the pharmacist I am today.

Fatema Mamdani, rotational clinical pharmacist, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Fatema’s piece received a special mention in our 2019 writing competition ‘The Patient Who Changed My Practice’. Read more entries here.

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Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, The pharmacist I am today;Online:DOI:10.1211/PJ.2019.20206926

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