858. A Day in the Life–What's It Really Like to Be a Pharmacist?

Steven Simenson

Steve Simenson, pharmacist in Netherlands

“There are so many more opportunities today for pharmacists that we haven’t ever dreamed of. Physicians and other healthcare providers who work with a pharmacist quickly say, ‘I don’t want to work without them anymore and, they make many more opportunities for us.’”

Steven Simenson, BPharm, FAPhA, FACA, DPNAP is the CEO and Managing Partner of Goodrich Pharmacy, Inc., with five community pharmacies in Minnesota. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy along with his wife, Wendy, also a Pharmacist. Steve was the 2013-2014 President of the American Pharmacist’s Association and is on the Board of Directors of Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Companies and the Community Pharmacy Foundation. He is actively advocating for the pursuit of Patient Access to and Coverage for Pharmacist Patient Care Services. Steven is at his best taking care of patients.

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

“When I graduated from pharmacy school there was a shortage of jobs for pharmacists. I’d worked in both hospital and in community pharmacies while in college, and I really enjoyed hospital pharmacy work. But at the time I graduated you were happy to get any job you could. When I graduated I put my name out on the job board and a gentleman from the NOCCA called me and said, ‘I’ve got a job opening. Come out and take an interview.’ And I did. I’m still with the same organization decades later. It’s changed a lot, but I’m still living out in this area in Minnesota and practicing community pharmacy and I’ve never looked back to hospital pharmacy. I greatly enjoy being a community pharmacist.”

The Most Powerful Lessons Learned?

1. If you are not a continuous lifelong learner, you probably don’t want to be a pharmacist because you have to do ongoing research on so many aspects of the profession.

2. An innate proclivity for relating to and helping other people is vital: finding solutions to their problems, locating other healthcare providers, and staying connected to them and their families, too, often for a lifetime.

3. Selecting and grooming your staff, while building a culture that allows people to use their best talents and grow both personally and professionally, is one of my key focuses as CEO, and it gives me great satisfaction.

4. To maintain your overall health and wellness in this high stress profession, you have to be able to not take your work home with you, which is easier said than done, but key to your overall performance and satisfaction.

5. In the future, pharmacists are going to provide more direct patient care like pharmacogenomics such as point of care testing for influenza and strep throat and collaborative practice agreements that allow us, through a physician sign-off or medical practice sign-off, to manage and monitor medications.

6. Another gratifying aspect of my work is the internships we have with the University of Minnesota, where we can introduce them to both sides of the work we do—direct relationships with customers and interprofessional work with physicians.

7. There are so many more opportunities for pharmacists today than we ever dreamed of. Physicians and other healthcare providers who work with pharmacists quickly say: “I don’t want to work without them anymore; they create more opportunities for us.”

8. Enthusiastically embrace opportunities that arise to further your education and get experience in a career you are interested in. And network every chance you get. You never know when someone will step forward to help you.