Some summers ago, I was lucky enough to work as a student at an interesting Pharmacy in Sydney. The pharmacy was particularly eye-opening for two reasons; the staff and the trains. It was before I graduated, and proved an important experience, with some vital lessons in staffing and a solid Training Ground. You can read the rest of the series here, and here.

One of the pharmacists at the Training Ground wasn't interested in his job. Not at all. An ideal shift, for him, would be involve a technician to do all the dispensing. That way, all he had to do was check the 'script before it went out. And read the newspaper.

He read the Sydney Morning Herald, in its entirety, each and every shift. Quite an impressive feat. And potentially disastrous.

The Newspaper Pharmacist (NP) prioritised reading above everything except checking prescriptions, and in doing so, compromised his patients. He didn't counsel on new medications. He didn't give opinions regarding the most appropriated Pharmacist-prescribed medicines. He left the shop assistants to fend for themselves. He was thrilled that I could dispense, albiet at a lethargic pace.

The NP was a good bloke; he was intelligent and had wide ranging and interesting views on the world. Unsuprisingly, he was well informed on the state of the world, and we had discussions about everything from Casey Martin in the USPGA tour, to unfolding events in Israel, to the state of the Health system in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US. I became a better world citizen from my chats with NP.

It helped my pharmacy, too. Every time I worked with NP I would be thinking "He needs to talk to this patient." Or, "I don't think that's the right stuff." All this was sharpened by my idealistic student way of thinking. I was horrified at the lack of interest the NP gave to his work, more so given the poor quality of shop assistant (more on that next time).

From a tangible point of view, NP wasn't doing anything wrong. It was NP's failure to act, counsel and frankly, to care, that left me gobsmacked. By the end of the Summer, I'd firmly resolved never to be a newspaper pharmacist.