Bruce Millin
I have a confession to make: I have been a hospital pharmacist for almost 30 years. Yikes! To quote Dr Seuss, “How did it get so late so soon?” Over the course of my career, many things have changed, but some have remained (to quote William Shakespeare) “as constant as the Northern Star”.
So what has changed? I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in different roles, including staff pharmacist, dispensary supervisor, residency coordinator, manager, and now departmental director. I have worked at a variety of institutions, ranging from a large tertiary referral teaching hospital to a small community hospital. I have been through amalgamations, restructurings, and one consolidation. I have learned about continuous quality improvement, Six Sigma, and lean design. Despite all of these changes and the latest management trends, the biggest change that I have seen is in the value that those outside the profession place on what hospital pharmacists do to improve patient care.
What has remained constant? I still love being a hospital pharmacist! I still look forward to going to work just about every day. I love the fact that no matter what my role has been, I have been able to have a positive impact on patient care. Finally, no matter what my role, the patient has been at the centre of every decision.
Another constant has been the quality of the people who have worked alongside me. I have been lucky to work with extremely motivated, caring individuals who try every day to make a difference to patients and to the profession. I am reminded of something the anthropologist Margaret Mead once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Throughout my career, the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP) has been a constant companion. I got involved with CSHP upon completing my residency and participated actively at the Branch level, holding several positions on Council. Over the past few years, I have been fortunate to become more involved at the National level, serving as the CSHP representative on the Canadian Council on Continuing Education in Pharmacy and, more recently, as the British Columbia Branch delegate to National Council. The dedicated volunteers who put in tireless hours to make CSHP and the profession better certainly exemplify the sentiments expressed in the Margaret Mead quote above.
So where does this long and winding road that I have travelled now lead? I look forward to my term on the CSHP Executive and especially to working with dedicated staff in the CSHP office and the talented individuals at the branch level. I will finish with another quote from Dr Seuss: “You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So … get on your way!”
Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy , VOLUME 66 , NUMBER 4 , July-August 2013