Pharming

For those of you whose blogs I read and comment on, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth the last few weeks! I've been interning--read "working for free"--to become a pharmacy technician. I'm not used to an 8-hour day on my feet any more and it really kicks my butt! By the time I get home, all I want to do is have a glass (or 3) of wine and soak in the bubble bath my husband has waiting for me every night (God bless him)!

I'm enjoying this internship. Nat, the pharmacist, is a consummate professional; yet he's really nice, has a great sense of humor, and believes in laughing while getting the job done. His licensed techs are the same. It makes for a much more relaxed atmosphere and, I think, helps the learning process. Sure, we interns make mistakes (which are ALWAYS caught before any possible harm could happen), but it's not so intimidating because a joke is usually made and it's so much easier to learn when you don't have any personal stigma about what went wrong--you just do it right and get on with things. And hopefully get it more right the next time. Nobody expects us to get it ALL in one shot right away (which is a HUGE relief!). My God, it took me two days to master taping a label on straight on the stupid little plastic bottles, what's up with THAT?! (but then, I've always been adhesively challenged . . . packing tape is NOT my friend, lol!).

So I have about 50 hours done of my required 120. And I'm sure I'll be asking Nat if I can put in more "free" time while I'm waiting for my license and looking for a job. Several techs who haven't found jobs yet have come in to practice while I've been there. It keeps everything fresh in their minds, they help train us newbies, the scrips get filled quicker, and Nat has more people to joke around with--a win-win situation all around! Sometimes it feels like a little party, laughing and joking, but all the while, prescriptions are getting filled, people are getting what they need to feel better, and real learning is going on.

Very cool.

So don't give up on me! I'll be commenting more soon and keeping up better, promise!