This is short and brief.

You literary need to be more than five times better than you are right now as a healthcare provider. With the internet and everyone getting basic education most of us are knowledgeable.

It is possible for anyone to do a successful open-heart surgery in this century, only that it might take more time. I am just kidding. The point is people can do what they want to do even better without being professionals.

Clients these days look for someone knowledgeable, confident, and ready to listen with excellent customer care attributes. Most of them are so focused on paying attention to detail.
Some patients consult doctors, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and pharm techs just to get professional advice. Most of them know about their conditions better than professionals.

With limited knowledge, you might end up losing a potential client. There is nothing bad other than a patient having less confidence in you. You become unreliable.

If you typed into Google, “I have diarrhea” Google is going to give you all the information you need to know about diarrhea and how to manage it. So it is easier for someone to treat themselves at home before seeing a doctor.

Some patients may find out a drug has been discontinued by FDA or PPB before the pharmacist or pharm tech. How will you tell whether they are correct or not as a healthcare professional without reading published journals or relevant healthcare materials?

The patient could be right or wrong. People are consuming so much fake news these days too. How will you advise the patient when you don’t know? It becomes hard.

Being 5x better at the pharmacy level means you have at your fingertips:

• Most brands names and the generics
• Side effects of common drugs (don’t just tell the customer it doesn’t have side effects).
• Drug interactions & contraindications (this is where you come in as a professional)
• Dosage forms and frequency
• The active ingredients of specific drugs

Most pharmacists/pharm techs will write how the medicine is going to be taken followed by, avoid milk, avoid alcohol, or take before or after food, etc. without explaining what will happen if the medicine is taken for instance with the milk. The patient needs a brief explanation of why they have to avoid that.

This is now the right time for you to take a piece of paper or your notebook and write down the areas you feel you are weak at. Get your school notes and revise them, there are things we learned in class but forgot soon after the final exams. Plan yourself and continue developing your knowledge.

What else do you think a healthcare provider needs to learn?