During my freshman year in high school, my science teacher assigned us to interview people in the community about how they use science in their careers. Although I don’t remember most of the people I spoke with, I can tell you that I spent meaningful time with a local community pharmacist who changed my life.
What I saw was a man who loved his career and truly cared for his patients. In an instant, I knew that I wanted to become a pharmacist, and I never wavered from that goal throughout high school.
Knowing what you want to be when you grow up at age 14 is unusual, but it is very liberating. I simply had to work backwards to figure out how to achieve my goal of becoming a pharmacist.
After high school, I chose to attend Ohio Northern University (ONU) because it had a unique pharmacy program. Rather than attending college for 2 years and then applying to the pharmacy program, ONU students were admitted to the College of Pharmacy from day one.
Although it was expensive, being in pharmacy school from day one and avoiding the risk of rejection made it worthwhile for me.
In college, I spent a lot of time in the library. Although the classwork was difficult, I did well with one exception: organic chemistry.
I did fail organic chemistry—a notorious “weed out” course—but I successfully retook the class over the summer and graduated on time with the rest of my classmates. Failing a course is a difficult stumbling block, but I stood strong and persevered.
Today, I’m thankful for the wonderful pharmacy profession for so many reasons.
First, I’m thankful that community pharmacists are the health care professionals most accessible to the public. If my local pharmacist wasn’t accessible to me, then I likely would have taken a different career path.
Second, I’m proud of the work we pharmacists do, the diversity of our career options, and the relationships we share with our patients and fellow health care providers.
Pharmacy is a profession that makes a real difference in people’s lives. It certainly has made all the difference in mine.
Hospital, Missouri, Non-Dialogue, Patients, Silly, USA | Healthy | December 10, 2018
I come into the hospital, 39 weeks pregnant with a single baby, due to a sudden headache, high blood pressure, and vomiting. It’s determined I’ve developed severe preeclampsia and need to be induced today.
Just about three hours after being admitted, the baby has moved for the fourth time, making it difficult to accurately monitor her heart rate. The doctor decides to have a monitor placed in utero on the baby to get a consistent reading.
The nurses tasked with placing the monitor are gathered at my legs, talking amongst themselves, prepping for the procedure. I’m foggy from the medicine and not really paying attention when a nurse says, “Oh, there’s two.” After having a minor panic attack, I catch the nurse’s attention and it turns out they had two of the monitors, but after talking about irregular heartbeats I thought somehow a second baby had shown up.
Canada, Health & Body, home, Lazy/Unhelpful, Non-Dialogue, Ontario | Healthy | December 7, 2018
I’m a very lazy person by nature. I’ll get up and walk around if I feel like it, but I never really go out of my way to try and stay fit. I’m also notorious for hating every sport except for swimming, due to poor performances in gym class. As part of a co-op program for college, I end up staying with my marathon-running, fitness-nut uncle for a month. He is constantly offering for me to join him for workouts or trips to the gym, but I always decline, and he never pushes it. He just wants to be polite and offer to let me come along.
One day, I decide I want to try it, so I get his help setting up a workout routine. When I go back to college at the end of the program, I try it myself without supervision. I end up hurting my hip and have to stop, but after a week or two, I notice that the pain is not going away. It takes me two years to get a proper doctor’s appointment for this — my community is notorious for long waits to see doctors for anything — and I am diagnosed with a muscle tear in my right hip.
So, to sum it up, I hate sports, but the first time I do an actual workout to try and get myself into shape, I come away with what is commonly called a “sports hernia.” Everyone who found out laughed at the sheer irony of it.
Extra Stupid, France, Hospital, Non-Dialogue, Reception | Healthy | December 6, 2018
I was told by a previous doctor I had polycystic ovary syndrome. My period has always been irregular and I have often had hemorrhages for the last three years. I have not seen a gynecologist in over six years because of a bad experience with the last one, but I make an appointment with a different one to get it checked out. To make the story short, things go okay at my appointment, but for some reason my left ovary is nowhere in sight on the sonogram, so I have to get an MRI scan. When I call to make the appointment, I get asked why the doctor wants me to take an MRI scan. I tell the secretary I have irregular periods and the doctor could not find my left ovary on a sonogram. She tells me that I can’t be on my period for the scan, so she asks when my next is period due so she can put me in when I am not on my period. I tell her again that my period is irregular and I have no idea when the next will come. She stares at me for a few seconds, and then asks me when the last one was and asks me how long my cycle usually lasts. I know the date, but I tell her that it can be somewhere between 28 to 120 days.
A few second of blank stares later, she finally gives me an appointment and tells me yet again that I can’t be on my period for the scan.
How can a woman not understand what “irregular period” means?
Canada, Doctor/Physician, Jerk, Medical Office | Healthy | December 5, 2018
(This takes place shortly after my 19th birthday. I want to get a tattoo, much to my parents’ dislike, but since I am an adult now, they relent and my father goes with me as I get it done. I get a Gallifreyan circle — from Doctor Who — on my left forearm. It comes out really nice and I love it. However, a few months later, when it is fully healed, I develop some little red bumps over the tattoo and the skin is very itchy. I think it’s a rash, but it doesn’t look serious. I go to my family doctor to check it out, since I rarely get rashes at all. For context, my doctor is originally from Germany, and she has a thick accent. She also doesn’t have any sense of humor and is really blunt, which makes it hard to talk to her sometimes. I go in for my appointment and show her my arm.)
Me: “I think I have a rash on my arm, but I don’t know how I got it. I don’t have allergies to anything, so I’m not sure what triggered it.”
Doctor: “When did you get the tattoo?”
Me: “In May, a few months ago.”
(It’s August now.)
Doctor: *cutting me off* “You’re allergic to tattoo ink. No more tattoos.”
Me: *thinking* “If I’m allergic to the ink, wouldn’t I have had a reaction immediately?” *out loud* “Are you sure? It’s been a good amount of time since I got it, and I didn’t have a reaction when it was healing.”
Doctor: “You’re allergic to tattoo ink. You can’t get any more tattoos. You’re lucky you came in now; it could have developed into something worse. “
Me: “If I got this rash right after getting the tattoo, I would agree with you. But it’s been about three months, and it’s fully healed. Is there any possibility it could be something else?”
Doctor: “You’re not listening to me. You. Are. Allergic. To. The. Ink. Do not get any more tattoos. And don’t get any more piercings, either.”
(I only have my ears and nose pierced, but I don’t know why that mattered since they also healed fine. I was skeptical, but didn’t push it further. She prescribed a rash cream and said to use it until it clears up, or come back to see her if it doesn’t. I decided to call the tattoo shop I went to to ask them about it, which I now know I should have done in the first place! They told me not to worry, since it was fully healed, and it wasn’t a typical allergic reaction, especially months later. I used the cream and the rash was completely gone about a week later. I now have four tattoos, and have never developed another rash. Allergic, indeed!)
Bad Behavior, Dentist, North Carolina, USA | Healthy | December 4, 2018
(Thanks to starting a new job, I am finally able to afford to go to a dentist for the first time in five years. After the x-rays, it is determined that I have a cavity in between two molars, so I’ll need to be numbed. My last dentist, who was a pediatric dentist, had a habit of practically stabbing the needle into my gums, so when the hygienist towards me with the syringe, I instinctively grip the chair’s armrests.)
Dentist: “Are you okay?”
Me: “Just fine; I just don’t have good experiences with dentists and needles. But I can deal with it.”
(The dentist and hygienist exchange a concerned look and administer the shot. Instead of a jab, I barely feel a pinch. While we wait for it to take effect, we just make small chat.)
Dentist: “[My Name], you said your last dentist was a pediatric dentist, correct?”
Me: “Yeah, I think I was 15 or 16 when I last saw them. I had to get sealants on my back molars.”
Dentist: “Did they numb you?”
Me: “Yeah, only on one side, though. When they numbed me on the left, I swore the needle nearly hit bone, so I begged them not to numb the other side.”
Dentist: “And they listened?”
Me: “Yup, it hurt less than the needle.”
Dentist: *pause* “Was your dentist, by chance, the one whose practice is at [Location Downtown]?”
Me: “Yes?”
Dentist: “Dear God, no wonder we got so many of his patients when we opened.”
Doctor/Physician, Georgia, Hospital, Ignoring & Inattentive, USA | Healthy | December 3, 2018
(I get a strange painful lump that shows up while I’m pregnant. The doctor tells me not to worry and that it will go away after birth. Six months postpartum, I go to get it checked out again. The doctor tells me to give it more time to heal. Eight months postpartum, I go to a GP to get it checked out, because I’m still in pain and tired of being blown off. I’m quickly diagnosed with a hernia. As I’m getting ready for surgery
Me: “I wish my doctor had just told me he couldn’t do anything and told me to go see someone else.”
Nurse: “Well, that would have meant having to put aside his ego; doctors don’t like to do that.”
Doctor/Physician, Ignoring & Inattentive, Medical Office, USA | Healthy | December 2, 2018
(The urgent care doctor says my test results for flu and strep are negative. She prescribes anti-nausea medication and wants to put me on antibiotics for ten days. I have some complicated gut issues, and I explain that the last time I was put on antibiotics, my stomach was messed up for weeks.)
Doctor: “There aren’t any antibiotics you can tolerate?”
Me: “I really don’t know. I could try taking them, but if I get sick, I can’t stop taking them until the bottle is empty, right?”
Doctor: “Oh, I will just give you the five-day Z-Pack, then.”
Me: *trying not to ask her if she’s stupid* “Isn’t the Z-Pack stronger, since it’s used for only a few days?”
Doctor: *lightly and carelessly sighs as she responds* “Oh, yeah…”
Health & Body, home, Silly, Spouses & Partners, USA | | Romantic | August 5, 2019
My husband is incredibly polite and a bit insecure and embarrassed about his body, so every time he has to fart around me it is followed by a minute or two of apologies and embarrassment. I have tried everything I can to make him feel more comfortable with it because it is a normal human thing and I’m grateful he is polite about it, but he should never feel gross or embarrassed.
One night he was asleep — he talks in his sleep and sometimes does things or walks, as well — and he farted… what followed was him feeling around in the dark for my hand and high-fiving me super hard.
Just glad he found his confidence!
Somehow me laughing my butt off for five minutes didn’t wake him up.
Friends, Health & Body, home, Michigan, Silly, USA | | Healthy | August 6, 2019
(I have a strange sense of humor and enjoy talking about ordinary events in outlandish ways. I am texting a good friend of mine who shares my sense of humor and regularly exchanges joking threats with me. She also happens to be the daughter of a nurse. I am in no way a healthcare professional.)
Me: “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you something. I performed gastric surgery today!”
Friend: “Oh…”
Me: “I’ve been meaning to get around to it for a while, but there was never a time when I could do it. Well, I did it today and the patient was just fine. Didn’t even want anesthetic.”
Friend: “I… I’m curious but scared.”
Me: “Here she is!” *sends a picture of a stuffed dog*
(The stuffed dog in question is very precious to me and sustained a long rip along a seam running down its stomach. I have sewn it up before the inner netting can break, too, and spill plastic pellets everywhere.)
Friend: “Holy crap, I was terrified, [My Name]!”
Me: *laughing way too hard*
Friend: “We’re gonna get that freaking cosplay blade we were talking about earlier and I’m going to find a way to stab you with it.”
Extra Stupid, Hospital, Patients, USA, Virginia | | Healthy | August 4, 2019
(I am a junior volunteer at my local hospital with a decent amount of medical knowledge for my age stationed in the emergency room. As I am a freshly graduated high school student — and most volunteers are around my age — we aren’t really allowed to do much but answer call bells, put together blood draw tube sets, enter data, and, in my case, monitor the heart rate screen and alert nurses to abnormal changes. But this isn’t a story about an abnormal heart rate; this is a story of a complete doofus. I am coming back to Central from being over on North — two of the four sections of my ER — when I overhear this gem of a conversation.)
Doctor: *to a patient’s nurse* “We had [Patient] come in complaining of abdominal pain about an hour ago. [Hospital he was transferred from] suspects a small bowel obstruction, but he can’t think of anything to have caused it and said he was experiencing other symptoms.”
Nurse: “Was it?”
Doctor: “Well, considering his last meal was an entire jar of pickles and an extra-large bag of [Popcorn Brand], take a guess.”
(Spoiler alert, it was. Still my favorite story to date. I have no idea why that man thought it was a good idea to eat that in one sitting, and even less of an idea why he couldn’t figure out why he was feeling so bad.)
Bad Behavior, Dallas, Doctor/Physician, Lazy/Unhelpful, Medical Office, Texas, USA | | Healthy | August 1, 2019
(I’ve had problems sleeping most of my life. I’ve mentioned this to doctors before, but I have always been told it is stress and/or that I’ll grow out of it by the time I am 20. I finally go to a new doctor at age 23 to try to get a sleep study to find out if there’s an underlying issue, and I decide before going in that I am not taking no for an answer, collecting everything I can to back my case up. This is my exchange with the doctor.)
Me: “I’ve hardly had what constitutes a ‘good night’s sleep’ in ten years. It takes me two hours to fall asleep at night, regardless of what time I go to sleep, but during the daytime, I can fall asleep within minutes.”
Doctor: “Well, maybe if you didn’t take naps, you wouldn’t have a problem. Why don’t you try that?”
Me: “I have, actually. I’ve done tests on myself using a sleep tracking app and trying two-month test periods of going all day every day without a nap, and then again taking a thirty-minute nap each day. There’s next to no change in the nighttime data, and my self-rating of how I feel after I wake up is the same, too. I’ve repeated this for the past year with variables like listening to music and using a weighted blanket with the same results.”
(I show him the graphs I’ve made from my data.)
Me: “Not to mention, I hardly spend any time in deep sleep. It’s all light.”
Doctor: “Well, sleep tracking apps can be very unreliable. You shouldn’t trust it just because it’s on your phone. Even though it says you’re in light sleep, you might be getting deep sleep.”
Me: “I know it’s not 100% accurate, but it still shows approximately when I fall asleep, and it’s never less an hour and a half, and that’s on my best nights.”
Doctor: “That’s normal! You’ll grow out of it!”
Me: “But when? I can’t wait until my 30s to ‘grow out of it.’ It’s affecting both my work and home lives. I can barely get any housework done on the weekends or after work because I’m too tired, I sleep through holidays with my family, and I have to call into work at least once a month due to exhaustion. Just last week, I was pulled over because a cop saw me nodding off at a red light.”
Doctor: “Just get some melatonin and you’ll fall asleep in no time. And if that doesn’t work, try valerian!”
Me: “I have. Both of them. There’s no effect on how long it takes me to get to sleep or how I feel when I wake up. If anything, I feel worse in the mornings after I take them. I really think I need a sleep study to figure out if there’s something wrong with me. I’ve literally broken down crying because I was so tired before.”
Doctor: “Are you sure it isn’t just PMS?”
(We go back and forth like this for almost fifteen minutes, him suggesting ideas and me telling him I’ve already done it and recorded my data — all of which I’ve already mentioned to the nurse and on my new patient forms. I’m growing frustrated and, thanks in part to the continuing exhaustion, nearly start crying again under his line of questioning. Finally, I’ve had enough.)
Me: “I am not leaving this office until you set me up with a neurologist for a sleep study. I have a family history of sleep apnea, and I need answers.”
Doctor: “So, you want drugs, that’s it. You’re too young and skinny to have sleep apnea.”
Me: “What? Sleep studies don’t even involve drugs! I am literally getting less than five hours of sleep a night; that should be reason enough for me to get a sleep study right there!”
Doctor: “I don’t work with people hunting for drugs.”
Me: “And I don’t work with f****** crackpots who don’t listen to their patients!”
(I stormed out without paying and reported him to my insurance, and I have an appointment with a new doctor this Friday. Hopefully, this one will actually listen to me.)
Bigotry, Doctor/Physician, Medical Office, USA, Utah | | Healthy | July 29, 2019
(I just found out that my fiancé of five years has been cheating on me for three of those years. To be safe, I make an appointment to have a full STI panel done. The only appointment I can get is with the physician’s assistant and not my usual doctor.)
PA: “Okay, dear, I’m just going to give you the swab and let you take the sample.”
Me: “You aren’t going to do it? I don’t know what to do.”
(She explains how to take a culture and leaves the room to give me privacy. When I finish, she collects the swab and begins to leave again.)
PA: “Okay, we should get results in about a week and we’ll call you.”
Me: “Aren’t you going to take my blood, as well, for HIV and syphilis testing?”
PA: *laughs* “Oh, you only have to worry about that if you’re gay.”
Me: “You know what, I’ll just go and make an appointment with the actual doctor.”
(That was the second issue I had with her, and the last time I ever saw her working there.)
England, Extra Stupid, Hospital, Ignoring & Inattentive, London, Nurses, UK | | Healthy | July 24, 2019
(I am a nurse practitioner, assisting my coworker inserting a vascular catheter for dialysis use. The patient is very restless.)
Coworker: “Please stay as still as you can; we don’t want to puncture the wrong blood vessel.”
Patient: “Okay, okay, sorry. It’s just that it really hurts.”
(My coworker continues with the catheterisation, but the patient still keeps wriggling.)
Coworker: “On a scale of one to ten, what is the pain level? I have given you lots of local anaesthetic already.”
Patient: “Nine to ten!”
Coworker: “Okay, let’s give you a little bit more local.”
(My coworker turns to me.)
Coworker: “Okay, let’s give him some more [anaesthetic].”
(I then point to the tray containing all the items required for the procedure, specifically the syringe containing the local anaesthetic — the FULL syringe that hasn’t been used.)
Coworker: *eyes bulge* “Oh, s***!”
(She turns back to the patient.)
Coworker: “Okay, we’re giving you some more local now. How is that?”
Patient: “Oh, much better!”
(The rest of the procedure went by without a hitch. To clear it up, my coworker has been working in the dialysis ward for almost twenty years and this was her first minor mistake at the end of a very long cover shift, but she d*** well hasn’t made that mistake again
England, Extra Stupid, Hospital, Ignoring & Inattentive, London, Nurses, UK | | Healthy | July 24, 2019
(I am a nurse practitioner, assisting my coworker inserting a vascular catheter for dialysis use. The patient is very restless.)
Coworker: “Please stay as still as you can; we don’t want to puncture the wrong blood vessel.”
Patient: “Okay, okay, sorry. It’s just that it really hurts.”
(My coworker continues with the catheterisation, but the patient still keeps wriggling.)
Coworker: “On a scale of one to ten, what is the pain level? I have given you lots of local anaesthetic already.”
Patient: “Nine to ten!”
Coworker: “Okay, let’s give you a little bit more local.”
(My coworker turns to me.)
Coworker: “Okay, let’s give him some more [anaesthetic].”
(I then point to the tray containing all the items required for the procedure, specifically the syringe containing the local anaesthetic — the FULL syringe that hasn’t been used.)
Coworker: *eyes bulge* “Oh, s***!”
(She turns back to the patient.)
Coworker: “Okay, we’re giving you some more local now. How is that?”
Patient: “Oh, much better!”
(The rest of the procedure went by without a hitch. To clear it up, my coworker has been working in the dialysis ward for almost twenty years and this was her first minor mistake at the end of a very long cover shift, but she d*** well hasn’t made that mistake again
(I am at the dentist for a routine teeth cleaning. I am a new patient as I have recently moved; this is my first appointment at this dentist. Note that I originally scheduled an appointment in the middle of the month, but when I called with a question a few days after making that appointment, the receptionist was able to get me in earlier due to a cancellation. The hygienist takes me back to the room and is asking me some questions about my dental history.)
Hygienist: “And how are your wisdom teeth? Are they still hurting you?”
Me: *confused* “Um… I don’t have wisdom teeth; I was born without any.”
Hygienist: “Your record says that your previous dentist in Saint Louis made a note that you were having some pain from them.”
Me: *now very confused* “I’ve never lived in Saint Louis; I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Hygienist: “Wait… You’re [My First Name] Smith, right?”
Me: “No, I’m [My First Name] Jones!”
(When the hygienist called me from the waiting room, she had only used my first name, not my last. Turns out the person who had previously been scheduled and then cancelled the appointment I subsequently took had the same first name! I was even more surprised about the mix-up because my first name is not very common.)
(I am at the dentist for a routine teeth cleaning. I am a new patient as I have recently moved; this is my first appointment at this dentist. Note that I originally scheduled an appointment in the middle of the month, but when I called with a question a few days after making that appointment, the receptionist was able to get me in earlier due to a cancellation. The hygienist takes me back to the room and is asking me some questions about my dental history.)
Hygienist: “And how are your wisdom teeth? Are they still hurting you?”
Me: *confused* “Um… I don’t have wisdom teeth; I was born without any.”
Hygienist: “Your record says that your previous dentist in Saint Louis made a note that you were having some pain from them.”
Me: *now very confused* “I’ve never lived in Saint Louis; I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Hygienist: “Wait… You’re [My First Name] Smith, right?”
Me: “No, I’m [My First Name] Jones!”
(When the hygienist called me from the waiting room, she had only used my first name, not my last. Turns out the person who had previously been scheduled and then cancelled the appointment I subsequently took had the same first name! I was even more surprised about the mix-up because my first name is not very common.)
Canada, Halifax, Medical Clinic, Nova Scotia, Patients | | Healthy | July 21, 2019
(I am in the co-op program at my high school, and I have a placement at a local university medical clinic. Since I am a high school student, there are a lot of things at the clinic that I am not qualified to do, so I am often tasked with calling patients to inform them of specialist appointments that they have been referred to.)
Me: “Hello, is this [Patient]?”
Patient: “Yes, it is.”
Me: *reading the referral sheet* “I’m calling from Dr. [Doctor]’s office to let you know about an upcoming mammogram appointment on [date] at [Location].”
(Pause.)
Patient: “Well, I just had a double mastectomy, so I don’t think I’ll be needing that appointment.”
Me: “Oh.”
(I was mortified and apologized profusely; thankfully, the patient laughed it off. I informed my supervisor and she, while shocked, commended me on how I handled the situation.)
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