Despite spending four years at pharmacy school, the real learning begins in clinical practice. Here are my current 'top n' pieces of advice to new pharmacy graduates (Today, n=15)

1. Be realistic. Patients are rarely fully concordant with treatment. Give them encouragement and information.
   
   
2. There's no such thing as a lunch break; learn to eat on the run.
   
   
3. The word quiet should not be uttered in the dispensary.
   
   
4. A patient always takes other medications. Usually, its "just a bit of hypertension" that requires three or four antihypertensives. C'mon, all they want is pseudoephedrine.
   
   
5. If a patient looks like they're going to ask for a sharpz kit, they probably will. If not, they're after Kiddie paracetamol.
   
   
6. There will always be a run on ADHD medication at 4pm on Sunday afternoon.
   
   
7. Don't sell something because you can, sell something because you believe in it's potential to help the patient.
   
   
8. If you're going to lob things around the dispensary, bottles of tablets are a no-no. This is called friability, and there were at least three pracs on it at Uni. Boxes are fine to throw, as are capsules.
   
   
9. The two most dangerous words your can say without thinking are That's fine. Eg."Maxolon and Madopar? That's fine."
   
   
10. Make friends with your co-workers; if, like most pharmacists, you work too many hours for the first few years, you might end up seeing them more than your family.
    
    
11. Money matters. Be the voice of reason when big pharma and/or corporate pharmacy's desire for dollars compromises your patients' health.
    
    
12. Every patient wants something. It might be medicine. It might be attention. It might be reassurance.
    
    
13. If a patient wants butterfly stitches, they probably need to go to hospital.
    
    
14. Foolish is s/he who does not refer a case they cannot diagnose and manage safely.
    
    
15. Never ever trust a junkie. Ever.