Internship Diaries

As a pharmacy student, it is required of me to do a practical vacation training and this is what we usually refer to as internship. It is mandatory as we get to know what is happening on the community level and applying what we studied in school as well. Every year and the place you would be tasked to go. This year I've been told to be in a community pharmacy to help and counsel people on drug use using the knowledge acquired. Although I've been at the community pharmacy for only four days, the experience has been amazing.
As an intern at Recova Pharmacy, I have to walk from my house to the pharmacy and it's approximately 20 km apart. It takes me twenty to thirty minutes to get there. I get to see my high school which brings me lots of joy as it brings back some memories of my past.
Now at the pharmacy, I have the opportunity to learn from two workers there already and they are I would say warm and welcoming people.
Pharmacy is known as the patient's first call in terms of sickness and therefore we must be always ready to meet any situation that comes our way. I have been given the opportunity to check the blood pressure of patients and some to their blood glucose levels after which I give advice on how good they must manage their blood pressure. If it's very high I have to refer the person to a practitioner in order to save lives.
On my third day, I had a great experience as mostly my lecturers say in class but hardly have I met one before. A young energetic man entered the pharmacy to check his blood pressure (it seems he usually does it at the pharmacy so the workers there knew him) but something exciting happened... He complained of how uneasy he felt off late so I started to make enquiries of him. I started asking him questions which he replied nicely and it turned into a conversation. I found out he was having a bad diet which could be a cause but then, I thought I had found the solution by then and even told him to see a nutritionist to help him out. Funny enough, the conversation continued, it was later he opened up to me he had been prescribed anticholesteremic drugs which he took for two days and stopped because I didn't the get it why a patient who's not diabetic, takes his antihypertensive medications still have such issues. I now have to advise him on the benefits of the drug, its mechanism of action in the body and some side effects. I was glad I found out this of which I am really excited about to have had an impact on someone's life and I know it would prevent or reduce the uneasiness he had been feeling.
Aside these good things, another problem we are facing is the rate of drug abuse. It saddens me when I am trying to educate them on the harmful effect of such drugs and they seem to ignore it. Drugs being abused in the vicinity we are located is the painkillers, antibiotics (a worrying concern for myself) and the sedatives. The problem too is of you don't sell it to them, they'll go and buy at a licensed chemical shop. These drugs affect the liver which is one of the vital organs and it's responsible for detoxification of substances ingested. The liver also has a wide variety of functions which would be affected when it malfunctions. The drugs can affect the mind interfering with cognition and memory. I will continue with the education and find ways to make sure the rate would be reduced.
Our slogan as pharmacists : Amicus Humani Generis meaning Friends of the Human Race.
I will always be a friend of the Human race.