RPhLink.com  The Pharmaceutical Care Network! From: L. L. PharmD candidate, Class of 2007  -  The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy       uic.edu   03/01/05 What Contribution Will I Make to My Profession As A Pharmacist When I Graduate?        The most important effect I can have on my patients will be to empower them to take an active role in their own healthcare.  In order to accomplish this,  I must first be able to build a comfortable relationship with my patients.  For me,  I know that impatient physicians or indifferent healthcare providers can make me feel unintelligent, belittled, and uncomfortable with asking questions.  I aim to be trustworthy, knowledgeable, and honest in regards to my patients and their concerns.  I believe the highest  quality healthcare is best achieved is best achieved when physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals work with a collaborative goal of sharing their knowledge to best serve the patient.        My experiences as a patient have nurtured an appreciation for the importance of the patient-pharmacist relationship, and I realize that providing excellent healthcare is facilitated by a culturally sensitive, empathetic, and compassionate attitude.  This helps to develop a good rapport with patients and gives them a more positive view of the healthcare profession as a whole.   I feel that is especially important to teach my patients about wellness and prevention so they can make appropriate lifestyle changes to achieve the outcomes they desire. By encouraging my patients to be familiar with their disease states and the options available to them, I can help them be advocates for not only themselves, but for their family members as well.        With the technology availbale today, pharmacists are able to spend more time with their patients than in past years.  I intend to use clinical knowledge to share important information with patients in a respectful and understanding manner that they can relate to.   Finally, quality assurance is an extremely important issue in the medical field today.  I will deliver high quality pharmaceutical care by reducing drug dosage errors and adverse effects with appropriate medication monitoring and counseling.  In these ways, I hope to provide my future patients with the best degree of pharmaceutical care possible.        I hope to contribute to the profession of pharmacy by making constant improvements and by committing to lifelong learning and professional development. By continuously developing new medication or disease state management programs and reaching out to the community, we can create niches for pharmacists and responsibilities as the profession evolves.   I aim to encourage young people to consider pharmacy as their profession, and I plan to constantly encourage practicing pharmacists to be active in the profession by acting as role models and mentors, by lobbying for various legislative issues, by acting as leaders of professional pharmacy organizations and by continuing to learn what's new in the world of pharmacy. By continually striving for improvement, we not only enhance the profession during our lifetime, but we also ensure that there will be a place and need for pharmacists for many years to come.