Having uBer Fun

Whee blogging again....I need friends....

Surviving Ward Rounds for Dummies: 

Trainee Pharmacist Edition

Tip #1

Always have a calculator with you. And I mean a PROPER one. Using your phone to calculate something as important as kidney function is plain difficult and just looks unprofessional. Besides, most of us who need a calculator now probably needed one way back in uni, so might as well put that faithful scientific calculator to good use.  

Tip #2

Whenever presented with a query to which you don't know the answer, choose to say "I'll get back to you about that" rather than "I don't know but I'll go look it up". The former sounds much better, despite them both indicating that you haven't got a clue! This may take a bit of practice, especially if you're used to blurting out "I don't know" at every instance.

Tip #3

Get into the habit of asking lots of WHYs when you're studying. If YOU don't ask, your supervising pharmacist definitely will, so you may as well find out as much as possible beforehand. Bear in mind, there will be always be a WHY that you cannot answer no matter how much you read. The aim is to keep the "I didn't think about that"s to a minimum. 

Tip #4

Learn to sift through information. Case notes are full of information in mostly illegible handwriting, and if you try to read it all, you'll end up with fuzzy-brain (ala Australian Nutella commercial) by the time you reach the third page. If you can find someone to teach you (properly) how to read them, he/she is God-sent and should be forever held in high regard.

Tip #5

Never date someone working in the same ward. News spreads, and it spreads FAST on the wards.

Tip #6

Have fun! Enjoy the learning without the responsibilities. Use the time to get to know the pharmacists (it also makes them less likely to tell you off when you don't know the answers. Well, actually they still tell you off, but it doesn't feel so bad).

Based on the true experience of a trainee pharmacist who needs friends =)