A few notes about staying passionate & excited about your career in pharmacy:

Is the grass greener on the other side? I will admit to having that thought cross my mind on more than one occasion. Something about my personality makes me reluctant to make a career change. Could it be the safety and security of knowing what to expect in my current arrangement? Could it be the fear of the unknown that comes with a career change? It certainly isn’t for the money since I have taken pay cuts to seek out new ventures. It isn’t the fear of failure given that I have seen growth and success from my failures. Plus, I tell my teen-aged daughter at least once a week not to fear failure, but to embrace it. I better walk the walk.

We are all in the same boat trying to seek new opportunities and journeys

In the last 6 weeks 4 colleagues have reached out to me in one form or another asking if I knew of any opportunities or job openings. I asked each of them what the impetus was for seeking alternative employment. All but one told me they are burned out in their current careers and are looking for a change. There were consistent themes about working long hours, not doing what they trained to do and not being appreciated by their employer. The fourth was moving back to the area and has been following what we are doing at CHS and was intrigued by the way we practice.

Ironically enough during this same time frame I reconnected with a classmate (and now friend). We shared pleasantries back and forth before deciding to have a phone call. She shared with me her career path since we graduated back in 2006. She left Iowa after graduation and decided to move back a few years later. She took a job being promised future endeavors that never materialized and rode that out for several years. Eventually she had enough and started the searching for a new career path. She even considered leaving the profession and pursuing a position that focused on other skills she had developed since graduating. All doors were open, including going back to school.

We spent more than an hour on the phone reminiscing and sharing stories about how our career paths transcended the last 15 years. If I recall correctly, I told her at least twice how much I respected her willingness to change jobs, not because she was looking for more money, but because she was looking for more out of the work she did. She is a highly trained healthcare professional and simply making sure the correct medication was put in a bottle with the correct directions and correct patient name was not fulfilling. At the time of her most recent career change she had over a decade’s worth of experience and was bound and determined to put those experiences and new skillsets to better use.

Luckily for pharmacists...

The profession of pharmacy offers ample opportunities to create new positions outside of those most apparent to the general population. Two decades ago, you rarely heard about a pharmacist whose primary responsibility was population health. The flexibility of the profession has allowed me to create (dare I say trail-blaze) a position for which there was no job description written. It can be frustrating and exhausting when I hear rumblings of having a lower cost resource perform these same functions. The owness is on me to show the value of work I do and bring to the organization, and I relish that challenge. I believe we owe it to ourselves to consider alternate opportunities. Is the grass greener on the other side? It might be. At least listen and entertain the idea.