Every Monday and Thursday when I go to my mentorship, I am greeted by the pharmacist, technicians, and other students. I jump right into work by handling prescriptions given to the pharmacy by patients straight out of the pediatrics center on the other side of the lobby or another facility within Longstreet Clinic. Usually, the prescriptions that the Longstreet Pharmacy fills are from inside the building. Because of this, my mentor is aware of doctors' names and how to easily contact them using the extension codes assigned to phones throughout the building. After receiving a prescription, whether it be transmitted to Mr. Dan over the phone or handed to me directly, I input the data given on the prescription into the computer. By doing this, I can print the labels for the pill bottles, directions regarding the use of the medicine, and an additional label to put on the back of the prescription. If the prescription is received electronically, the additional label is put on the side of the paper so that it can easily be folded in half and put into the stack with the other written prescriptions. After filling and printing the prescription, I count the pills that I am allowed to count (certain medicines are only allowed to be handled by Mr. Dan). I then take the bag with the medicine, directions, and sometimes a syringe inside to the cash register where I call the patient or customer's name to checkout. I then scan the bar-code given on the piece of paper stapled to the outside of the bag with the cash register's scanner and check the person out. I repeat this process many times.
Chemistry had helped me the most in terms of understanding the names of medicine, what the medicines contain, and what they do. In Chemistry, I learned the elements of the periodic table and how they react with each other. Ions are also an important factor in pharmacy, because ions create compounds. Compounds create medicine; therefore, Chemistry really helped me develop a deeper background of what medicine really is. For example, one compound that everyone knows, H2O, forms water. I have one course of Honors Chemistry behind me and I am now in my first year of I.B. Chemistry. Next year I will take I.B. Chemistry Year 2, which will deepen my understanding of medicine and how it is created even more.