Keeper of the Keys

I officially passed from the role of pharmacy student to licensed pharmacist today. Without ceremony, I was handed a key to my office, a key to the medication carts, and a key to the outpatient pharmacy. I was also asked to provide a pin number that would allow me access to the narcotic vault. I am now the keeper of keys and passwords for my hospital. It was pretty exiciting. I was also given a pager, consequently tethering me to the hospital for the next year. Now, anyone can find me anywhere at any time. On Tuesday, I was issued three white coats from the facility - one of which has the emblem washed off. My name was ironed into the neck by the uniform clerk. As an added bonus, they would provide me with a key card that allowed me to have my white coats laundered there. I opted out, figuring my detergent smells better, and my fabric softener will make the coat more comfortable. Tomorrow we're going to start planning out the path of my residency. A former resident informed me that I'm already four days late in picking out a topic for my final project. Talk about inducing an anxiety attack...I thought I wouldn't have to pick a project for at least the first week. Sheesh!

Residency Day #2

Here are the valuable lessons I learned at my second day of mandatory orientation for my residency:

If I get a speeding ticket on the grounds, I must present myself to the federal court house in DC.

If the building is on fire, I must get out of the building - or at least get behind the smoke barrier doors.

If a co-worker wants to trade sex for vacation time, I am being sexually harassed.

The only acceptable password for the computer system must be 100 characters long and be a combination of letters, numbers, capital letters, and special symbols...and must be certified in blood.

Residency Day #1

Number of forms filled out - 2,567

Number of attempts to print my left pinky finger - 5

Times I signed my name - 25

Finding out at 8:53PM that I'm a licensed pharmacist - PRICELESS :)

Kick Me When I'm Down

This has been the absolute week from hell. The only positive thing is that the swelling in my left knee has totally absolved. Monday I received a telephone call from my residency informing me that I had a physical on Thursday at 1. My NAPLEX started at 1230 - totally impossible to be at my NAPLEX and physical at same time. I told them I could come any other day this week. I was told that this was not possible, as this was the only available day for the physical. The center lost my employment file, thus not having any record of me coming. My start day was bumped from June 26 to July 9 - apparently brining someone on in the middle of a pay period is a sin. Tuesday brought great news. HR moved the schedule around and got me a physical scheduled for Friday, which moved my start date back to June 26. Thursday was my NAPLEX (read - long and tiring). When I returned home Thursday evening I had a letter from the facility I'll be completing my residency at. The letter stated the wrong salary and docked me my benefits. Friday I got all that worked out - including a raise. Then my desktop computer completely crashed. (Currently I am running CHKDSK for the fifteenth time with no avail) Today I've broke out in some kind of rash on my legs. I'm just hoping it's not antibiotic related, seeing as I've finally started feeling better from the Lyme disease. So, does anyone else want to kick me while I'm down???? One final question - what the hell does "The application \??\C:\WINDOWS\System32\sfcfiles.dll is not a valid windows image" mean? I'm guessing since this includes windows\system 32 it's not good at all...pass the beer.

The Day in Summary

5.5 hours of sleep

185 pharmacy-based questions (with no less than 5 pertaining to low birth weight babies)

2.5 hours to complete said pharmacy test

2 beers

1 splitting headache and a quick buzz

Oh, You're a Pharmacist?

Today I went to get my hair cut by a lady who used to cut my hair a couple years ago. She went MIA and I couldn't relocate her until last week. After washing my hair, she asked what I did for a living. I told her I was a pharmacist and I was starting a residency at the VA hospital in town. Upon telling her this, I received her entire life story - including that she is a fetal alcohol baby (mild, but after being told I was able to discern the facial abnormalities) and that her mother is schizophrenic and an alcoholic. She went through every medication in her medicine cabinet and asked me what my opinion was and what side effects she should expect. This actually came in handy for my NAPLEX, which is scheduled for Thursday. I quickly discerned that her mother was not the only member of the family with some mental health problems. The conversation then turned to alcoholism and treatments and schizophrenia and whether I think she has it or not. I referred her to her psychiatrist for a formal diagnosis. I did share with her some schizophrenia facts that I brushed up on last night while studying for the NAPLEX. This seemed to put her mind at ease. I think it mainly helped with the guilt she was feeling for having committed her mother to a hosiptal only last week. By the time she finished styling my hair, the entire beauty shop was staring at us. I think everyone learned a little more about her than they wanted to know. But I also detected a hint of "I want to ask the pharmacist a question" in their eyes. I suppose I just have one of those kind faces that beckons people to tell me their problems. I spent twice as long at the grocery store today because I helped an elderly lady shop. She was looking for something to clean her cabinets and selected a harsh cleanser that would remove the finish on her wooden cabinets. I explained this and ended up helping her with several other things throughout the store. Thank God I didn't reveal I was a pharmacist to her...I can only imagine the stories of bowel regimens I would hear. All joking aside, I enjoyed helping the elderly lady and I found the conversation with my hair stylist informative. For future reference, though, I will refrain from mentioning my occupation unless absolutely necessary.

History in the Making

Today was a historic day for West Virginia and for Senator Robert C. Byrd. Today Senator Byrd surpassed Senator Strom Thurmond's record for longest surviving senator. He has been serving West Virginia for 48 years - and he doesn't want it to stop there. He's vying for a record 9th term in the Senate, which would bring his tenure up to 54 years for those counting. I have talked to Republican and Democrat West Virginians and the theme is always the same - no one has ever done for our great state what this man has. At a rotation site, a staunchly Republican pharmacist informed me that he could never vote a straight Republican ticket because he always has to click the box beside Senator Byrd's name. This past May 9, it was an honor for me to click the box beside his name to give him the Democratic nod for his 9th term in the Senate. In the picture above, Senator Byrd is holding the Constitution, which he carries in his pocket. He truly believes that no one is above the Constitution - not him, and certainly not the President. He treasures the values of our forefathers. He's not only a champion for West Virginia, but for the United States.

Diagnosis: Lyme Disease

After two doctors visits, three vials of blood, and one methylprednisolone dosepak, I have been diagnosed with Lyme disease. Apparently my swollen knee was not do to my graceful stumble after graduation, but rather to a disease I've had for several months. It seems as though the joint pain/stiffness that's been going on for almost 6 months really was a problem. The swollen knee gave me lots of time to study for the boards, especially since I've practically been a cripple since graduation. We shall see if all the study efforts pay off on Thursday when I sit for my Federal and State Drug Law Examination. My antibiotic makes me ill when I take it on an empty stomach. However, I am rather versed in the pharmacology and counseling points of doxycycline - which will come in handy next Thursday when I sit for the NAPLEX. I just hope I'm not still hobbling around when I start my residency on June 26. Did I just see Murphy peak around the corner? Damn him...

AIDS - 25 Years Later

June 5, 1981 is one of those dates that future generations will never forget. It was the day AIDS was first discovered. Twenty-five years later, we're still grappling with this disease. According to the World Health Organization, 5 million people were infected with HIV last year. There was estimated to be 40 million individuals living with HIV/AIDS worldwide in 2005. We have made great strides in prolonging life of individuals with HIV, but still remain rather stagnant in preventing HIV transmission. Unfortunately, the "abstinence only" programs pushed by our dear President are contributing to the transmission of HIV. Teenagers now believe that oral and anal sex do not constitute as intercourse, when in fact these acts are just as dangerous, if not more, in respect to HIV transmission. President Bush's first move in office was restoration of the Mexico City Policy. While he told the public he was pulling funding from clinics that provided abortions in Africa, he failed to tell the public that these clinics also provided condoms and HIV counseling. Another unfortunate reality of this epidemic is the stereotypes that still accompany the disease. These stereotypes are not only ethically wrong, but are helping to spread the disease. This propagates the "it will never happen to me" sense of security. In 2006, the individual most likely to contract HIV/AIDS is not a homosexual male, but a heterosexual African-American female. Let's hope that the next 25 years bring not only a loss of stereo-types but a cure.

HIts from a Previous Employer

As if I didn't need another reason to dislike my previous employer, this past Friday I received notice that they "lost" a laptop with my personal information on it. This personal information apparently included my name, DOB, SSN, and benefit amounts. The best part - they "lost" the laptop on May 2. I received notice that my personal information was "stolen" on June 2. Thanks for the heads up on that one! As a consolation, they provided me with free credit monitoring through Equifax for one year. Being the worrier that I am, I immediately signed up and received my credit report. Nothing fishy there. My real concern with this is why they were carrying my personal information in laptop to begin with - being as I resigned last September from the company. They yanked my benefits from me last July 31. My tax papers were sent out at the end of January. I find no reason for them to be accessing my personal information. I'm just adding this to the file entitled "Reasons to Never work for Company-X Again." That file is getting pretty fat. However, thanks to my free credit report, I did discover that TransUnion apparently believes my date of birth is 12/1960. Cute, they're only off by a month and 21 years. And apparently, they just won't take your word for it either (even though Equivax and Experian have my DOB correct). To add insult to injury, to talk an actual person at TransUnion, you have to purchase a credit report from them directly. I fought with the telephone computer for 5 minutes. I even tried the sure-fire insurance company method - "REPRESENTATIVE!" Unfortunately, their computer didn't understand that command. The only way to dispute the claim was to submit an "error report" online. TransUnion agrees to reply within 30 days. In the meantime, they urge me not to try to obtain credit. Thanks for that! Glad I bought the car two months ago.

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