The 16 Key Skills Needed To Be A Pharmacist
The 16 Key Skills Needed To Be A Pharmacist
The 16 Key Skills Needed To Be A Pharmacist
Professional Skills
1 Dec 2017
Siôn Phillpott
Shutterstock
This article is brought to you by the Canada Insulin Connection – a website that can help you to
order insulin for diabetics from affiliated and licensed Canadian-based pharmacies with safe and
reliable quality care and personalized service.
Pharmacists are an important cog in the healthcare machine. Following the diagnosis of certain
ailments or conditions, patients will be prescribed medication that is the responsibility of a
pharmacist to check, prepare and dispense. But it’s not as simple as picking something up off a
shelf and handing it out – pharmacists require a wide range of skills to be effective in their role.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for this profession is predicted to be
steady over the next ten years, so which of these skills are the most important for the next
generation of pharmacists to have?
We’ve compiled a handy checklist to help you find out…
1. Accuracy
When it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, attention to detail is literally a matter of life and
death – and there is no room for error. Although human beings naturally make mistakes, the
consequences don’t lie only with the pharmacist – the effects on a diabetes patient given the
wrong type of insulin, for example, could be absolutely catastrophic. Whether it’s reading the
doctor’s abysmal handwriting, entering the information into the computer system, or measuring
ingredients correctly, accuracy is essential.
2. Integrity
Sometimes doctors forget to check for drug interactions; sometimes the nurses who submit
electronic prescriptions make typos. Pharmacists are like proofreaders, and if something doesn’t
make sense, or a mistake has been made, then they have to have the confidence and
the integrity to stand up and ask questions.
The same applies to scientific aptitude. Pharmacists need to have an in-depth knowledge – and
enthusiasm for – chemistry and biology; it is important to be able to easily assimilate new and
complex information when it becomes available.
4. Interpersonal Skills
Pharmacists often have to juggle between doctors who don’t like to be questioned (see point 2),
and frustrated patients who are upset at having to wait for their prescriptions; developing
the interpersonal skills to deal with this requires patience, diplomacy and a great sense of
humour. Being able to soothe bruised egos and hurt feelings are an essential part of making the
process run smoothly.
5. Communication Skills
This is one of the key parts of a pharmacist’s job. It is essential that they can communicate
clearly to the patient how and when they should take their medication, and then verify their
understanding. It can also be challenging to explain why a patient is receiving a certain
medication, as well as explaining any side effects.
6. Advocacy
In the US especially, pharmacists can find themselves battling with insurance companies all too
often, especially when they are hesitant to cover the medication that the patient needs. As
registered professionals, they need to be able to advocate on their patients behalf when
obstacles arise, rather than just sending them away empty-handed.
7. Management Skills
This is an aspect of the job that can often be overlooked. Depending on the place of
employment and the structure in place, pharmacists may be responsible for supervising
technicians and dispensers (including all the people management issues that this entails), as
well as managing budgets, monitoring inventories and keeping accountable records.
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8. Ability to Multitask
Not only are pharmacists busy performing tasks that can potentially have life-or-death
ramifications, but they are also answering calls, dealing with other patients, and ensuring strict
regulatory protocols are being followed. This means being able to not only multitask – but
multitasking with 100 per cent accuracy!
9. Diplomacy
At one time or another, every pharmacist will encounter a patient who is trying to get a restricted
substance without a prescription, on an expired prescription, or too early. Some of these
patients – especially those with addictive characteristics – can become extremely belligerent
and intimidating.
Pharmacists have to be able to resolve these situations in everyone’s best interests. This
requires diplomacy, good judgement and the ability to stay calm, as well as taking into account
the safety of the patient, the staff and the other customers.
Subscribe
Sign up to our Weekly Fix newsletter for more great content and get 20% OFF our career test!
Subscribe
12. Counseling
Despite the fast-paced nature of the job, pharmacists should take the time to explain a patient's
medication to them properly and discuss the wider effects it may have on their life. For example,
if a patient frequently forgets to take certain pills, a pharmacist should try and dig deeper into
why this is (it could be more than simple forgetfulness), and try to offer a solution that will benefit
the patient.
15. Mentoring
Pharmacists have to be able to instruct and pass on their knowledge and experience to junior
pharmacists starting out, as well as pharmacy technicians. In the UK, this is a requisite, as
potential pharmacists are required to undergo 52 weeks of competency-based mentoring prior
to taking their registration exam.
16. Conscientiousness
As with other medical professions, pharmacists are expected to adhere to clear ethical and
moral guidelines, regardless of their personal beliefs. A Wisconsin pharmacist was struck off in
2007 for refusing to fulfil an emergency contraception prescription, claiming he “did not want to
commit a sin”. Like doctors, pharmacists must put the professional needs of their patient before
their own personal feelings.
As you can see, pharmacists have a fast-paced, highly technical job that can be very
demanding, and there’s absolutely no room for error. But it can be highly-rewarding for people
who possess the personality traits and abilities on this list.
If you feel like you’d be a good fit, the next steps are to complete a specialist pharmacy degree
(typically 4 years long), followed by a 52-week placement (in the UK only), before attempting the
final regulatory body exams. In the US, license requirements vary from state to state.
So, do you think you’ve got what it takes to become a pharmacist? Let us know in the
comments below…
Am J Pharm Educ. 2006 Jun 15; 70(3): 58.
doi: 10.5688/aj700358
PMCID: PMC1636963
PMID: 17136179
Abstract
Go to:
INTRODUCTION
Interpersonal communication skills are important for pharmacists to master. Whether counseling patients,
communicating with physicians, or interfacing with associates, pharmacists use their interpersonal communication
skills daily. Effective communication by pharmacists is essential to improve the use of medications by patients and
ensure optimal therapeutic outcomes.1-4 Pharmacists can improve patient adherence to drug therapy through
appropriate strategies, including patient counseling and education.5-6 In addition to verbal communication,
appropriately written recommendations to physicians to resolve drug therapy problems can be an effective strategy
for drug therapy changes.7
Because of the importance of interpersonal communication skills in practice, pharmacy students need appropriate
training to develop their own effective communication styles. Practicing these skills is an important component of
clinical rotation experiences. Optimally, students should be able to model the behaviors and techniques used by their
preceptors. Therefore, pharmacist preceptors need to be fully prepared to provide these experiences for students
during their community APPE.
There is ample opportunity for students to enhance their communication skills in the community pharmacy.
Preceptors have the responsibility to create the environment for clerkship students to practice their skills, provide
timely and constructive feedback, and demonstrate the significance of a variety of communication opportunities.
This is not always easy in a busy community pharmacy. Preceptors need a well thought out plan to incorporate
precepting into the workflow and to provide efficient and effective teaching opportunities for students.
This article reviews the role of the pharmacist preceptor in facilitating development of communication skills for
students participating in community advanced pharmacy practice experiences and provides strategies for
incorporating communication and collaboration in patient care activities.
Setting the Stage for Communication
The first encounter at the start of the APPE will set the stage for the educational experience. During this first
meeting, preceptors can share the history and philosophy of the site. The history of the site will give students a
perspective on how the site has grown and why choices were made to go in certain directions in the areas of
management, service, and patient care. Preceptors may want to cover the following topics:
What role has the site played in the community over the years?
Table 1
Strategies for Establishing the Pharmacist-Patient Relationship10
Patient Counseling
Counseling patients regarding their medications is an important responsibility for pharmacists and an excellent
learning opportunity for students. Pharmacists are often the only health care providers focusing patient education on
medication: how to take it, what to expect, and side effects and drug interactions. Many pharmacists have been
trained to use a counseling method developed by the Indian Health Service (IHS), which is summarized in Table
Table22.11-13 The IHS model has been promoted as an effective strategy for patient counseling because it utilizes
open-ended questions (3 prime questions) and feedback (final verification) strategies, which make communication
between the pharmacist and patient more efficient and engaging. This technique is a useful strategy to teach students
while on rotation so that they become accustomed to asking open-ended questions and engaging the patient in a
conversation about their therapy.
Table 2
Indian Health Service Counseling Model11-13
Though this is an effective counseling strategy, it is important that the students understand that communication
between individuals is a complex process involving more than just verbal communication. They need to be aware of
other communication strategies that can help make the pharmacist-patient encounter more meaningful. These
include active listening (focusing on the patient), eye contact (being attentive, but not staring), being aware of your
own body language (facing the patient and giving them your undivided attention), recognizing and interpreting
nonverbal cues from the patient (comparing their nonverbal behaviors to their verbal communication), and being
aware of barriers that prevent a good exchange between the pharmacist and patient (lack of privacy, interruptions,
noise, etc).14 Pharmacist preceptors can periodically review patient encounters that they have had or that students
have had to discuss the communication process, problems that they incurred during the patient encounter, what they
did to resolve any problems, and what they can do to improve the process in the future.
Patient counseling sessions are also excellent opportunities to briefly review patients' medications and assess them
for any drug therapy problems. Pharmacists routinely provide prospective drug utilization review services during the
filling or refilling of prescriptions. Students can assist with and learn from this process. If a drug therapy problem is
found, students can participate with the pharmacist in the counseling session with the patient, the communication to
the physician, and the documentation within the pharmacy. This is also a good activity to demonstrate to students
that pharmaceutical care is a continuum: it occurs during the dispensing process as much as in scheduled sit-down
patient interviews.
Interviewing Patients
There are times when pharmacists need to go beyond counseling patients during dispensing functions and collect
more in-depth clinical information. This may occur during the provision of disease state or case management
services, a comprehensive medication review, clinical services, or other types of clinical encounter with patients.
During this time, pharmacists need to be systematic and organized with the patient interview to ensure that they are
efficient with their time, as well as accurate and comprehensive with data collection. Patient interviewing is an
essential skill that the students need to develop and pharmacist preceptors should routinely provide these
experiences. Many practices or colleges of pharmacy have developed their own data collection forms to help ensure
a complete history is taken (Appendix 1). Pharmacist preceptors can review these forms with the students, discuss
how they are used, and demonstrate the use during a patient interview. In addition to these sample forms, Table
Table33 provides useful tips for conducting an interview that preceptors can review with students.
Table 3
Tips for Good Patient Interviews10
Educating Patients
There are also several clinical situations where pharmacists should conduct an in-depth educational session to meet
patient needs. Students should understand the objectives of the educational session and the most appropriate
methods to use.15 Table Table44 summarizes these objectives and methods.16,17 Educational sessions provide patients
with more comprehensive information regarding their medical conditions, treatment strategies, and/or lifestyle
changes. Much like the patient interview, patient educational sessions may take more time to complete. The same
communication principles apply, but it is also important for students to remember that the adult learner can only
process so much information at one time. Therefore, it is important to teach pharmacy students to provide concise
information that applies to the patients' needs or relates to what they already know.15 Asking open-ended questions to
determine what patients already know will be key to preventing pharmacists from providing information that is not
needed: in other words, the educational session should be personalized.18 Also, preceptors should discuss with
pharmacy students how to use language that patients can comprehend. Sometimes this is a difficult transition for
pharmacy students, minimizing difficult to understand medical terminology and utilizing patient friendly language.
This requires careful thought about the terms used and possibly learning new terms that may be easier for the patient
to understand, and then actively integrating these terms into the counseling/educational sessions.
Table 4
Targeted Methods for Achieving the Objectives of a Patient Education Session16-17
Pharmacists often use print material as a teaching aid or supplementary material during the educational process.
Developing this material can be a good learning experience for pharmacy students. It is important for students to
understand that some patients are completely illiterate (13%-40%) or marginally illiterate (20%).19 The average
reading level for the general public is at the 7th-8th grade level.17 Therefore, students should keep in mind the
readability of print material as they develop it. Many word processing programs (eg, Microsoft Office Word) can
assess the reading level of a document and may be helpful to students in developing educational materials.
Physician Consults
Pharmacy preceptors can provide students with opportunities to consult with physicians regarding medication issues
affecting patients. This may be done over the phone or it may be done face-to-face depending upon the clinical
situation. In either scenario, information should be provided in a standard format to ensure physician acceptance.
Table Table55 provides strategies for communicating information to physicians.
Table 5
Communicating Information to Physicians
Using appropriate communication strategies during physician consultations is important. Pharmacists should teach
students to use the right words during a consult, to be assertive, but not aggressive, and to be ready to provide
clinical recommendations. In other words, pharmacists' recommendations should be concise, provide physicians
with information that they may not know (eg, patient adherence to their regimen or other medications that have been
prescribed by other providers), and suggest potential solution(s) to drug therapy problems that had been identified.
For written or faxed communications to physicians, students can be trained to use standardized forms (Appendix 3).
Students should be taught to be concise with their recommendations and provide enough information to physicians
to help them assess the clinical situation.
Conflict Management
Whether pharmacists are communicating with patients, physicians, or colleagues, conflicts will occur. Learning
appropriate conflict management strategies will help students address conflicts that occur in practice. It is important
for students to realize that during conflict, their emotions and anger may escalate. This is a time to take a step back,
control one's anger, and try not to take the conflict that is occurring personally. Table Table66 summarizes different
types of responses that pharmacists can use to diffuse conflict situations.24,25 Certain conflicts may take just one
meeting to resolve, but several weeks to months may be needed to resolve other conflicts. It is important for students
to realize that there may be conflicts with patients, other health care providers, and/or staff members that may never
be resolved. This is particularly the case when the other party is not open to resolving the conflict. In this situation, it
may be best to avoid confrontation with the individual, if possible, or minimize interaction with him/her.
Table 6
Types of Responses During Conflict Resolution24-25
Table 7
Basic Seven (History of Present Illness)27
As community pharmacies become more involved in medication management services, students will also need to
learn to communicate information in a more comprehensive manner. Students have been taught a comprehensive,
methodical thought process in the classroom for application in the clinical setting. The process feels different in a
real-world setting. The APPE is the student's opportunity to practice these skills in a practical way. Observing a few
encounters is typically necessary before a student attempts to lead a patient management session. Next, the student
should participate in part of the appointment, such as checking in the patients, collecting vital sign data, performing
point-of-care testing, and counseling the patients at the end of the session. After assisting several times, the student
can become more involved in conducting the interview, collecting the data, identifying the drug related problems,
and formulating and implementing the plan under the preceptors' supervision. Feedback from the preceptors at the
end of each encounter will enable the student to become more independent over time during the APPE.
Community pharmacists typically have established solid relationships with many of the customers, patients, and
health care providers who frequent the pharmacy. These faithful clients often prefer to speak with their pharmacist
rather than work with a new student every month. Students need to understand how these relationships are built and
how important they are to maintaining an effective practice. Preceptors should model the relationship building
process and discuss their approach to building long-lasting relationships. Preceptors should give the students the
opportunity to practice relationship-building skills with some of the patients they encounter during the normal
workflow of the practice.
CONCLUSION
Communication in various forms is becoming more important in the evolving world of community pharmacy.
Community pharmacy preceptors have a wonderful opportunity to strategically incorporate communications training
into the APPE. The outcome can positively impact the pharmacy site, preceptor, student, and more importantly, the
patient.
Aref Alabed
International Medical Training Academy Limited, UK
Title: Soft skills needed for pharmacists. How can we gain these skills!
Biography
Biography: Aref Alabed
Abstract
It is a known fact that Pharmacists are largely encouraged to develop the scientific areas of their
career, adding value and new benefits to our lives. Less encouragement, however, is given to
their personal development; understanding how to connect, build valuable relationships with
others and manage the team, the communication in the pharmacy. Management and interpersonal
skills are rarely included in the Pharmaceutical curriculum at universities and yet these skills are
crucial when faced with the responsibility of managing teams. Systems and processes have to be
implemented to lead a team successfully and without an understanding of leadership and
communication skills this can be extremely challenging. A very well know that: " In order to be
a good professional, a pharmacist should possess “a combination of comprehensive therapeutic
knowledge, experience, problem-solving skills, and judgment” (Burke, et al., 2008). And in a
recent survey soft skills were rated as more important than the hard skills (Aasheim & Williams,
2009). And lastly Hewitt Sean (2008) and Tobin (2006), quoted in (John, 2009), state that soft
skills are non-technical, intangible, personality specific skills which determines an individual's
strength as a leader, listener and negotiator, or as a conflict mediator. Soft skills are the traits and
abilities of attitude and behaviour rather than of knowledge or technical aptitude. Here in the
UK, the NHS is aware of the importance of the soft skills, that's why the requirements for the
pharmacist's job is to have an excellent communication skill, good customer skills, willing to
supervise others, team work, have leadership skills, able to deliver knowledge to the new
employees. And all these skills have to be up to date with annual continuing professional
development ( CPD). I believe that the balance between technical excellence and interpersonal
skills is what truly makes a difference in the experience for service users and staff
1 Dec 2017
Siôn Phillpott
Shutterstock
This article is brought to you by the Canada Insulin Connection – a website that can help you to
order insulin for diabetics from affiliated and licensed Canadian-based pharmacies with safe and
reliable quality care and personalized service.
Pharmacists are an important cog in the healthcare machine. Following the diagnosis of certain
ailments or conditions, patients will be prescribed medication that is the responsibility of a
pharmacist to check, prepare and dispense. But it’s not as simple as picking something up off a
shelf and handing it out – pharmacists require a wide range of skills to be effective in their role.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for this profession is predicted to be
steady over the next ten years, so which of these skills are the most important for the next
generation of pharmacists to have?
We’ve compiled a handy checklist to help you find out…
1. Accuracy
When it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, attention to detail is literally a matter of life and
death – and there is no room for error. Although human beings naturally make mistakes, the
consequences don’t lie only with the pharmacist – the effects on a diabetes patient given the
wrong type of insulin, for example, could be absolutely catastrophic. Whether it’s reading the
doctor’s abysmal handwriting, entering the information into the computer system, or measuring
ingredients correctly, accuracy is essential.
2. Integrity
Sometimes doctors forget to check for drug interactions; sometimes the nurses who submit
electronic prescriptions make typos. Pharmacists are like proofreaders, and if something doesn’t
make sense, or a mistake has been made, then they have to have the confidence and
the integrity to stand up and ask questions.
The same applies to scientific aptitude. Pharmacists need to have an in-depth knowledge – and
enthusiasm for – chemistry and biology; it is important to be able to easily assimilate new and
complex information when it becomes available.
4. Interpersonal Skills
Pharmacists often have to juggle between doctors who don’t like to be questioned (see point 2),
and frustrated patients who are upset at having to wait for their prescriptions; developing
the interpersonal skills to deal with this requires patience, diplomacy and a great sense of
humour. Being able to soothe bruised egos and hurt feelings are an essential part of making the
process run smoothly.
5. Communication Skills
This is one of the key parts of a pharmacist’s job. It is essential that they can communicate
clearly to the patient how and when they should take their medication, and then verify their
understanding. It can also be challenging to explain why a patient is receiving a certain
medication, as well as explaining any side effects.
6. Advocacy
In the US especially, pharmacists can find themselves battling with insurance companies all too
often, especially when they are hesitant to cover the medication that the patient needs. As
registered professionals, they need to be able to advocate on their patients behalf when
obstacles arise, rather than just sending them away empty-handed.
7. Management Skills
This is an aspect of the job that can often be overlooked. Depending on the place of
employment and the structure in place, pharmacists may be responsible for supervising
technicians and dispensers (including all the people management issues that this entails), as
well as managing budgets, monitoring inventories and keeping accountable records.
Subscribe
8. Ability to Multitask
Not only are pharmacists busy performing tasks that can potentially have life-or-death
ramifications, but they are also answering calls, dealing with other patients, and ensuring strict
regulatory protocols are being followed. This means being able to not only multitask – but
multitasking with 100 per cent accuracy!
9. Diplomacy
At one time or another, every pharmacist will encounter a patient who is trying to get a restricted
substance without a prescription, on an expired prescription, or too early. Some of these
patients – especially those with addictive characteristics – can become extremely belligerent
and intimidating.
Pharmacists have to be able to resolve these situations in everyone’s best interests. This
requires diplomacy, good judgement and the ability to stay calm, as well as taking into account
the safety of the patient, the staff and the other customers.
Subscribe
Sign up to our Weekly Fix newsletter for more great content and get 20% OFF our career test!
Subscribe
12. Counseling
Despite the fast-paced nature of the job, pharmacists should take the time to explain a patient's
medication to them properly and discuss the wider effects it may have on their life. For example,
if a patient frequently forgets to take certain pills, a pharmacist should try and dig deeper into
why this is (it could be more than simple forgetfulness), and try to offer a solution that will benefit
the patient.
15. Mentoring
Pharmacists have to be able to instruct and pass on their knowledge and experience to junior
pharmacists starting out, as well as pharmacy technicians. In the UK, this is a requisite, as
potential pharmacists are required to undergo 52 weeks of competency-based mentoring prior
to taking their registration exam.
16. Conscientiousness
As with other medical professions, pharmacists are expected to adhere to clear ethical and
moral guidelines, regardless of their personal beliefs. A Wisconsin pharmacist was struck off in
2007 for refusing to fulfil an emergency contraception prescription, claiming he “did not want to
commit a sin”. Like doctors, pharmacists must put the professional needs of their patient before
their own personal feelings.
As you can see, pharmacists have a fast-paced, highly technical job that can be very
demanding, and there’s absolutely no room for error. But it can be highly-rewarding for people
who possess the personality traits and abilities on this list.
If you feel like you’d be a good fit, the next steps are to complete a specialist pharmacy degree
(typically 4 years long), followed by a 52-week placement (in the UK only), before attempting the
final regulatory body exams. In the US, license requirements vary from state to state.
So, do you think you’ve got what it takes to become a pharmacist? Let us know in the
comments below…
Steph’s Note: After a couple months of hard hitting clinical posts, we’re taking a mini break and heading
to the other side. The softer side, as you’ll see.
We have a special guest post that, if you’re smart (and you are because, well, you’re here), you’ll
internalize, reflect on, and extrapolate to your futures. If you’ve ever been through any interview,
whether pharmacy or non-pharmacy based, you know that a large portion of what you’re asked has
nothing to do with which antibiotic you’d pick. Rather, you’re asked questions about YOU. How you
handle things. And people. And situations. Which brings us back to the softer side of pharmacy.
And with that, I’m going to let Cory take the stage and introduce himself!
Greetings tl;dr fans! My name is Cory Jenks, and when I’m not guest posting on awesome pharmacy
websites, I am a practicing pharmacist, inhabiting the world of ambulatory care.
However, amb care is not my true specialty. Rather, crowd management, object work, and improvised
rapping are more my speed. You see, I have been a practicing pharmacist since getting my PharmD in
2011, but I’ve been a practicing improv comedian since embarking on my (very unofficial) improv
comedy “Master’s Degree” in 2013. Since that time, I have taught, coached, and performed improv for
thousands of people.
You won’t find me at my own website or on Saturday Night Live…yet. But feel free to say hi on
LinkedIn, Twitter @pharmacomedian, and on Instagram at, you guessed it, @pharmacomedian.
I am here today to talk about skills often sorely lacking in pharmacists, other healthcare providers, and, if
you ask me, most folks in general. The ever ambiguous: soft skills.
First things first, I think we should set the stage and lay out the difference between what a “hard skill” is
versus a “soft skill.”
via GIFER
The gauntlet of pharmacy school, residency (for some), and a working career is a blueprint for developing
hard skills. Heck, hard skills are literally a pharmacy specialty.
Sure, you will certainly need to establish at some point in your pharmacy future that you have the skills.
The hard skills. Usually by taking some tests and/or discussing patients and therapies with practitioners.
In a broad sense, soft skills are more about the “who” of someone rather than the “how much they know.”
The reality, as most pharmacists who spent hours cooped up in a library (or a few minutes on tl;dr)
learning about kinetics realize, is that we can learn, practice, and measure hard skills over time. You get
an A on the exam. You pass your boards. You get all the questions right on your Continuing Education
credits. Boom. Objectively more intelligent. You are now “officially” a wise and effective pharmacist.
Not so fast, my friend! (Are we friends yet? I’d like to think we at least could be if you’ve read this far).
Don’t believe me? Straight from the pages of the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy
comes a paper that says maybe the elusive, holy grail of pharmacy students, the GPA, may not be the best
measure after all of a residency candidate’s knowledge and skills. What are we undervaluing?
Things like “work ethic, passion, adaptability, leadership, research experience, communication skills,
professionalism, cultural competency, and personality fit.” Hmm, sure looks like a whole lot of hard-
to-measure soft skills to me.
This is exactly why most residency programs and job interviews consist of so many behavioral questions!
Rather than focusing on what you know, possible employers want to see how you communicate your past
experiences. Because how you’ve done previously is a pretty darn good clue to what you’ll do in the
future when faced with similar circumstances. And your soft skills are the backbones of your answers.
(Check out behavioral interviewing…and tl;dr’s own Interview Mastery for more tips!)
Have I convinced you of the value of soft skills yet? Maybe I have, but now comes some work to get us
up to speed on what we can do to fix up our soft skills. The challenging thing is, especially for us mostly
left-brained pharmacists who are used to be being measured by standard testing, that soft skills are harder
to objectively measure if we are “getting better” at them. Beyond the measuring of them, the question is
how can we even learn and change our own soft skill set?
If it seems like the soft skill set is a nebulous, un-measurable, yet important set of abilities that are easy to
define but hard to measure and obtain, you would likely be correct. Fortunately, I scoured the internet
from top to bottom, east to west, and light to dark (suggestion: do NOT go to the dark part of the internet)
to research, review, and distill what I think are the most crucial soft skills we as pharmacists need to have
for success.
Communication
You’re a tl;dr reader, so I know you’re highly intelligent. However, no matter how much you know, your
knowledge doesn’t mean anything unless you can effectively communicate that information in a clear,
simple, succinct manner to a variety of audiences - both written and orally.
Beyond written and oral communication, it is important we are able to present professionally and
competently, but most importantly, listen. Listening to our patients and other providers is crucial in
getting the right information.
One source I came across noted that poor communication cost 1.7 billion dollars over a 4 year period.
BILLION. (Not to mention the noted 2 THOUSAND lives. That’s a LOT of family members.)
via GIFER
The Joint Commission estimates that up to 80% of serious medical errors can be attributed to
miscommunication.
Flexibility/Adaptability
The great thing about the profession of pharmacy is that everything always goes exactly to plan: our
coworkers all show up on time (or at all), patients do exactly what we ask them, doctors and nurses
respect and heed our advice regularly, and our computers, printers, and fax servers are always 100%
reliable.
If this sounds like your work environment, congratulations, you are living in a land I like to call
“Pharmatopia.” For those of us living in the real world, we just laughed. Out loud. Until we couldn’t
breathe. Clearly, our best-laid plans don’t always come to fruition.
It is one thing to learn kinetics, anticoagulation management, or infectious diseases in the comfort of the
classroom. It is another to apply these (hard) skills in an ever-challenging and ever-changing work
environment. The happiest and most effective pharmacists are the ones who can roll with the punches,
learn to adapt to new environments, and are not phased (much) by changes (both big and small).
(Video)
Teamwork
Whether pharmacists like it or not, our ability to get along with other people and work as a team is
critical. Most pharmacy jobs require us to work as a team with pharmacy technicians, nurses, doctors,
dieticians, and other non-clinical staff.
And guess what, we’re even on a team with our patients! (Yes, even those patients who may be grouchy
or non-adherent.) We are STILL on their team.
My unofficial opinion is that any pharmacist can endure a less than ideal job for a day, week, or even year
if you work with an outstanding team. The best and brightest pharmacist who cannot cooperate, interact,
or generally coexist with other team members will not be a valuable employee.
This reality is that, even if you aren’t the smartest pharmacist (looking at myself in the mirror), you will
likely be welcomed if you are an outstanding team player.
via GIFER
Positive Attitude
We have all worked with someone who thinks it’s their job to complain and dwell on the worst parts of
their job. Meanwhile, while doing their negative cave dwelling, they can bring the mood down for an
entire pharmacy team.
We call these people Debbie Downers. Please don’t be a Debbie Downer.
Having a positive attitude can be easier said than done, especially in the often frustrating world of
healthcare. However, a positive attitude will make you the pharmacist others want to work with, the one
that others see on the schedule and get excited to work with.
You know what happens when others are excited to work with you and your positive attitude?
You improve your communication, flexibility, and teamwork (do these seem familiar?).
Empathy
We’ll end with empathy. However, this discussion must begin with a definition of empathy versus
sympathy.
Empathy can be defined as a person’s ability to recognize and share the emotions of another person,
fictional character, or sentient being. It involves the ability to see someone else’s situation from their
perspective and share their emotions, including, if any, the person’s distress.
Sympathy is a feeling of care and concern for someone, often someone close, accompanied by a wish to
see them better off or happier.
The big difference is that sympathy, unlike empathy, does not involve a shared perspective or emotion.
Why is empathy important? Because it can help us connect with our patients, show them that we care
(you do care, right?), and communicate more effectively.
It can be easy after a long day on the “pharm” to forget that every patient we take care of has a history,
family, motivation for their action, and a general “why” in life. If we can empathize with what they are
feeling in the moment and share in their experience, we can then proceed more effectively in a plan that
will be not only helpful for, but also more likely accepted by, our patients.
Now for the easy part: sharpening those soft skills! No problem, right? Just follow a defined, stepwise
approach, much like pharmacy school, and you too will have the softest of skills!
Unfortunately, it may not be that easy. Soft skills are short on hard answers. However, let me offer up
several “soft skill hacks” to get to developing the softer side of you as a pharmacist.
Know Thyself
After reading this article, you are at least aware of some important soft skills to have. Excellent! It is
probably time to look in the metaphorical mirror and take stock of what you think you do well, what you
think you can improve upon, and what you have to gain by addressing your soft skill deficits.
Are you a great communicator? A terrible team player? A so-so empathizer? Ask yourself these
questions. Answer honestly.
Then, take it a step further and ask those you work with, your managers, mentors, anyone who observes
you in action. Find out what they think you do well and what you could improve upon.
Knowing where you stand and getting feedback are not bad things. If you’re not up to par on some pieces,
that gives you #lifegoals. (And guess what - BAM - there’s another common source of interview
questions.)
Communication
Communication comes in many forms: written, verbal, hilarious gifs. Almost all of those are critical for
healthcare.
As I noted above, knowing yourself and what you do well is a great place to start. If you need to work on
your written communication skills, I suggest start writing! Write in a journal everyday. Start a blog.
Submit an article for the best pharmacy site on the internet. Just like any hard skill, the more you practice
it, the better you will get at communicating your ideas.
If verbal communication is your weakness, there are options for you to improve as well. Remember that
metaphorical mirror I suggested above? Well, start talking into an actual mirror. Does it seem silly? Of
course it is, but it is a simple place to start practicing your verbal skills, and you will already know the
audience.
Try recording video or audio of yourself communicating or speaking and listen to the patterns you pick
up. It can be painful at first, but the camera doesn’t lie. Do you “um” a lot? Do you smack your lips? Do
you let the other person speak? Hearing yourself can give you excellent insight in your verbal habit.
Beyond those options, try taking a course in public speaking or look into Toastmasters to hone those
verbal communication and presentation skills.
Attitude
The tough thing about soft skills is that they can be, as you may have discerned, sort of nebulous. How
does one become more flexible and adaptable? A better team player? Just “having” a positive attitude?
I think part of the solution is having the mindset that there really are no guarantees in any given day. So
much is up to chance (who calls out sick, what drug shortages affect us today, what is going through the
mind of the patient in front of us), and we simply have to let go of those things which we cannot control.
This is easier said than done, of course, but it is my suggestion for a happier pharmacy life after 8 years.
Look for opportunities and interests outside of pharmacy (you should have interests outside pharmacy) to
practice these skills in a lower risk environment than healthcare provides. For me, this means playing
pickup basketball. For others, it could mean having a game night, sharing in a book club, or volunteering
with an organization whose mission you care deeply about. All of these life experiences help us develop
soft skills that we can then utilize in our pharmacy careers.
Empathy
This one may be the hardest to work towards. How are you supposed to feel what others are feeling?
It is not always easy to walk in another person’s shoes, but I implore you to try and to look past an angry
patient at the counter, a grumpy nurse on the floor, or an irritated medical assistant on the phone and
understand there is a person who may be having the worst day of their life. Understand they may be
hurting deeply, and do your best to summon the best compassion you can to feel their plight. I will let this
excellent video from the Cleveland Clinic try and explain my advice:
Improv can make you a better scientist. It can make you a better pharmacist. It will help develop all of
these skills I discussed and more. Most importantly, it is a chance to have fun for a few hours a week, and
who wouldn’t love more of that in life?
I hope you have found this information on soft skills valuable, and more importantly, that you take some
of the tips offered and go and put them to practice. The more you experience, the more you grow, the
better caregiver you will be, and BONUS, the more you’ll have to discuss in interviews when asked about
your behaviors.
The world needs smart pharmacists, but it also needs those smart pharmacists to communicate, work as a
team, and empathize to provide the best care possible.
STEPHANIE KUJAWSKI