It has been a busy two months since the end of my residency, and I cannot believe how the time has flown. The day has finally come that I have worked so hard for all these past years: I finally am a full-fledged clinical pharmacist. Stepping out of residency and into the shoes of a new practitioner life, I confess that I still look back at this journey most days and marvel at how I got here. I confess I am still waiting for the magic POOF that will transform me into the clinician I have always dreamed of becoming. If this POOF has happened, it is happening slowly and imperceptibly in tiny increments (kind of like aging, but don’t get me started about THAT!). I didn’t wake up at the end of my residency and magically have the answers I hoped I would. I find I don’t feel smarter at all, for all my training. I feel like I am just beginning to become aware of all the things I don’t yet know. Sometimes, I wish I could get there faster. Sometimes I think it would be nice if there was an imaginary fast forward button I could push and skip over all these bumps along the way. But I have to keep reminding myself that the bumps are where the learning happens and to miss them is to miss an essential part of this transformative process. So I force myself to embrace the bumps, too, even though sometimes I feel as though I could do without so many all at once!
So what can you expect on your journey ahead? Whether the journey for you holds life as a resident, a community pharmacist, a health system pharmacist, faculty member, or some combination of all of the above, we ALL will be new practitioners one day. Nobody ever published a survival manual on this journey, but I would like to share some of my insights that I have gathered along the way in the event that it might help you navigate the waters a little bit easier as you make your own transition (and wait patiently on your own magic POOF).
1) Find your advocates. Not everyone you meet will be supportive of your transition or learning process. The fact is that some people are better mentors/coaches than others. Some people will be invested in your learning, while others less so. Seek out the people whose opinions you value, who are willing to teach you, and solicit feedback from them. Often. And remember to say thank you. Building bridges takes time. Respect is earned. Try and stay as positive as you can, even when the criticism is disenchanting or discouraging. Nothing poisons a work environment faster than unkindness and negativity.
2) Be a mentor to others. Remember how difficult the road was when you where a student? A resident? When you were starting out doing something new for the first time? Use your experiences and learning to help lift up another person, to ease their way, to teach them something new--even if (or perhaps because) you had to learn the hard way. There is a quote I love by Benjamin Disraeli which says, "The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own." I am a big believer in giving encouragement where and when you can. It costs nothing, and it means so much to the person receiving it.
3) Be patient with yourself. No one springs from the womb knowing this stuff. It isn’t second nature; everyone has to start somewhere. It can feel like a trial by fire: Some days, I feel like I am learning more in an entire day than I did for many weeks in my residency, just by being in the trenches doing the work. It isn’t easy, but you just have to keep chipping away at all the unknowns and use every opportunity to build your skill set as much as possible. You can survive the heat of the fire as long as you recognize the learning curve may seem steep now, but it won’t always feel this way. Take courage that you will pass successfully through the fire as others have done before you.
4) Keep putting yourself out there. You don’t have to stop learning just because you aren’t in school anymore. You can pick up CE classes online, at your institution, or at local/state/regional/national pharmacy meetings. Someone once postulated that you need at least 10,000 practice hours at doing something before you achieve true proficiency at mastering a skill. Whether you are on your 10th, 100th, or 10,000th hour of pharmacy practice, keep honing your craft as much as you can. Don’t wish those years away (I know it is tempting!)…These formative experiences are valuable learning opportunities to learn and grow personally and professionally.
5) Manage your career. This is a novel concept for most of us. Identify your goals, where you want to be, and how you want to get there. You need to think about these things because it is likely that your manager/director/administrator will have more direct reports than he/she can shake a stick at and will not be able (even though they wish you well) to necessarily help you get the most out of your career experiences on a moment by moment basis. So you must be as proactive as possible, take charge of your career path, and learn to set your own expectations for what you want to accomplish.