Learning during your internship is like trying to drink water from a fire hydrant but it doesn’t have to be.

Let’s face it, and I will be the first to admit it: learning during your internship is like trying to swim in quick sand where you’re doing a million things at once.

The information is simply too complex and comes in one ear and straight out the other. On top of this, everyone is busy, and it's rare to find someone in the dispensary who is always present. You have assignments to do at the same time, and somehow, you still want to maintain some kind of social life.

This is going to ruffle some feathers because a huge component of how you’ve been taught to learn in pharmacy is wrong.

You're taught to be a robot from your early university days, memorizing the entire eTG and AMH as if your life depends on it. So, you have the eTG and AMH book in front of you for every single script and treat it as if you're trying to uncover Einstein’s theory of relativity. The script numbers pile up, and so do the complaints, with the doctor's clinic suddenly calling you up. All hell breaks out, and you're still trying to uncover Einstein’s relativity at the same time.

I had the same problem again and again, and if you’re still reading this, you’re probably in the same boat that I was on.

But that’s when I came across something that high-level companies have done time and again during their outreach campaigns. It’s the simple habit of micro habits, where one makes consistent, small but effective changes over long periods of time that lead to big outcomes.

Take, for example, the biggest influencers on social media. Almost all of them will give you a YouTube video that garners millions of views, but at the end, they will always say, “like and subscribe.” These simple habits will gain them thousands more views in the long run. Or take Instagram. Simply by looking at the small things you search up every day, the algorithm will create a feed with products tailored specifically to you.

Now, just imagine if we apply this concept of micro habits used in marketing to pharmacy practice.

That’s exactly what I did and am still doing, and it worked wonders.

Rather than learning the whole textbook at once, I set the goal of learning about two OTC and 1 prescription medication a week for the most common medications and conditions, no matter how busy I was.

That same week, I taught someone else about these medications, whether it was a patient or the floor staff. This meant that by the end of the year, I knew the ins and outs of over 100 OTC medications and some of the top prescription medications. The year after, it would be more than 200, and then 300! All I had to do was learn two OTC and a prescription medication a week that even a kid working on the front tills could do.

The information was never going out the other ear because I was pushing myself to understand and teaching it to other people at the same time, which is by far the best proven way to retain information.

Now, as the head pharmacist with only one year of pharmacy under my belt, I can handle over 500 scripts in a day and still upscale with almost every sale.

My ability to do clinical interventions was primed like never before because almost everything is a red flag on the dispense system, yet 99% of the time, patients are never badly affected by it. But by really going through one prescription a week and the key counselling points, I knew the 1% of times when an interaction would make a difference.

The key is to tackle the elephant one bite at a time. Consistency is crucial. This approach may seem slow, but it works because it builds habits and mastery of essentials before moving on to more complex topics. It also encourages the routine of setting short-term goals to achieve long-term success, a practice often overlooked in today’s world of instant gratification.

So today, set yourself that short-term goal and commit to it no matter how you feel. Over the span of just a month or a year, you will be amazed by what you have achieved.

Warm regards

Mohammad Iman Rahmaty

Head Pharmacist and Copywriter

P.S  It would be great to hear some of your stories about success of making little changes over time and if you (or anyone else) ever need an email copy writer please don’t hesitate to reach out.

More about the Author:

Head pharmacist at Your Chemist Shop Top Ryde, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Science and a Master’s Degree in Pharmacy from the University of Sydney.

I completed my internship at Priceline Pharmacy Baulkham Hills and have extensive prior experience at Pharmacy4Less Top Ryde.

I also organise high-end company advertising and copy. I am passionate about healthcare and enhancing company outreach.

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