Leadership Essentials for Pharmacists

Reflection Paper:

Consider the two of the following prompts to guide your reflection paper.

Who will you be as a pharmacist leading in the profession?

How do you “exhibit behaviors and values that are consistent with the trust given to the profession by patients, other healthcare providers, and society”?

Rubric found below.

Please follow the following rubric (grades based on this):

Criteria:
1- Topic 1: Clearly and thoughtfully reflected on one of the reflection prompts. Identified specific examples for how professional development has changed over time.

2- Topic 2: Clearly and thoughtfully reflected on one of the reflection prompts. Identified specific examples for how professional development has changed over time.

Resources to use for the paper:

Topic 1:

Leadership At All Levels

Pharmacy Leaders:
Provide purpose to create goals and objectives, passion, commitment, and conviction with perspective and context.
Generate and sustain trust by providing authentic relationships.
Foster hope and optimism to generate energy and commitment.
Get results to create confidence and creativity.

Leadership Essentials for Pharmacists

Characteristics of True Leaders in Pharmacy:
The ability to articulate a compelling vision for the future.
Passion
Integrity
Encouragement of others
Curiosity, daring, and taking calculated risks

Remember, a leader is more than just a manager!

Remember, you are a leader, leading all the time.
Magis, Cura Personalis, and a Leader For and With Others.

Topic 2:

1. Take an active role in patient care
a) In the inpatient setting, the new pharmacist is expected to contribute by politely (yet forcibly) speaking up when a drug therapy issue is noticed during medical rounds. This skill isn’t easy to acquire and the student may not have had much experience with it during his/her APPE rotations.
b) In the outpatient setting, the new pharmacist is in charge of balancing clarifications from prescribers, phone calls from patients, technician lunch breaks, and dispensing several hundred prescriptions per shift.
c) Visualize yourself as an active part of the patient care team and always act in the best interest of the patient.

2. Hone your communication skills
a) As a pharmacist, you are a translator.
You decode medical diagnoses to patients and their families.
You make recommendations to physicians and other prescribers
You communicate handoffs to pharmacist colleagues.
You discuss patient care issues with nurses.
b) No matter what your practice environment, your ability to communicate effectively can make or break you.
In your professional life, you will work with diverse socio-ethnic groups both as patients and as providers.
Your key to success lies in how well you can understand, empathize, and ultimately interact with people of varying temperaments.
When speaking to patients, take care to actively listen and don’t interrupt.
When speaking with busy healthcare providers, be succinct and to the point.