OBRA 90

Out of our 4 lab instructors, only 1 of them seems to know what it's like out in the real world of retail pharmacy, either that or she's just a damn good teacher.

This week we filled 3 prescriptions for a fake patient, one was for pills, one was eye drops, and one was a compound that we had to compound. We then pretended one of our classmates was that imaginary patient, and counseled them. This is always interesting because it's painfully obvious who has counseled before and who hasn't. It's hilarious when the book smart quiet girl who's never even seen a pharmacy has to counsel me. Watching her stutter and stammer her way through OBRA while avoiding eye contact is entertaining. It then gets frustrating and scary when I realize this person will actually be a pharmacist someday. *shudder*

I've been doing a lot of counseling lately, but like every pharmacist I know, I don't follow OBRA. OBRA can sometimes seem so redundant that you literally watch the patient's eyes glaze over as they stop paying attention. We're supposed to introduce ourselves, give them the name of the drug, the dosage, and a million of other things. I think we have to offer to give them our 1st born son somewhere in there too. It's in the fine print.

When the instructor came over to listen to us counsel each other, I didn't introduce myself or tell them the strength of the eye drop that I was counseling on. Whoops. The instructor seemed impressed with my interacting skills, as she said "Well I can tell you've worked in retail, and I'm sure you've counseled before, but remember you have to introduce yourself and give the strength, which would be 5% for this one."

I gave her a look that must have told her my feelings on the subject, which are "Really? I mean, like, I know... But Really?"

She responded to by saying, "I know, but it's the law, and we have to teach you do things correctly." I was sympathetic. She just wants to teach, and she's a good teacher. I won't forget to introduce myself ever again.