A lot can be said for the “bedside manor” of pharmacists. In the retail environment, most of our patient interaction is from behind the counter without a lot of privacy, but times are changing. Newly minted and progressive pharmacists have begun interacting with patients without a counter separating them. These pharmacists, who have embraced this new practice model, are finding a new feeling of fulfillment in their profession. They are getting to use the patient-care tools that they were taught in pharmacy school.

While patient-care tools were rehearsed in the classroom, practical application to real patients is still uncharted territory. This new shift in patient-care activities requires the pharmacist to step out from behind their comfort zone (counter) and present a new image as a knowledgeable professional on the patient care team. This is not as easy as it sounds. We must combat generations of prior “programming” and societal imagery of pharmacists counting pills with a phone stuck to one ear while ringing a cash register and solving insurance issues. Those days, I am happy to say, are coming to an end for most of us.

As pharmacists move out from behind the counter and provide innovative hands-on patient care activities, more training, education, interactive and personal skills come into play for this to be a successful venture into patient care. These skills, while new to us pharmacists, have been used quite successfully by other healthcare professionals for decades. Skills such as showing empathy, listening, coaching, advising, and being a “professional friend” take time to master and embody. Once instilled, these skills must be practiced and used repeatedly in providing care for our patients and in collaborating with their physicians.  

In the long term, when we have learned these new skills, embraced this new shift in patient care, and show that we can have a documented positive impact on patients’ lives, we will have earned a place as viable healthcare providers and vital members of the healthcare team. 

The only question that remains is: when are you going to start?