Directly Speaking - National Pharmacy Week, Month , Whatever... Does Anybody Even Give a Rip?

by Scott A. Meyers, Executive Vice President, RPh, MS, FASHP
September 14, 2011

I can’t remember if I wrote an article last year about National Pharmacy Month and National Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Week, but I know I have written one almost every year for at least 19 years and maybe even 20!  But you know what?  I very seldom hear about anybody ever celebrating it!  So seriously, does anybody even give a rip?

Back in 1992 when my first attempt to stimulate celebrations was written, it was National Pharmacy Week during the third week of October – just one week for all of pharmacy!  There was nothing special for hospital and health-system pharmacists and definitely no special day for pharmacy technicians. 

I had helped organize a celebration the year before while working as the Assistant Director of Pharmacy at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, and we had a great time!  Since then, I’ve written about Pharmacy Week and now Pharmacy Month with the special Hospital Pharmacy Week and even more special Pharmacy Technician Day almost every year since. 

This year, October is again, National Pharmacy Month and Oct 16-22 is National Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Week!  Tuesday October 25th is National Pharmacy Technician Day on top of all that!  So you still have plenty of time to plan and execute a fun and fulfilling celebration for your department and your staff. 

I could spend the next few paragraphs showing you great ways to celebrate, provide you with strategies for a successful celebration but really there is no need.  The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Public Relations team has done that for me, and you can find all of their tips, tactics and treasures for Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Week at www.ashp.org/menu/PracticePolicy/ResourceCenters/PublicRelations/HealthObservances/HealthSystemPharmacyWeek.aspx.  The ASHP team has done a comprehensive and creative job of putting a whole kit together for anyone and everyone who wants to celebrate this year.  So at least click and see what they suggest.

But then, prove to me that you still give a rip!  I know everybody is busy and cut to the bone.  Spare time and spare dollars for this kind of event are hard to come by.  But by initiating a celebration in your institution, maybe you will impress a few of the folks who don’t completely understand what it is you do!  Maybe you can invite a local Congressman in to see why pharmacy should be an integral part of health care reform.  Maybe you can show the rest of the staff that it’s okay to celebrate who you are and what you do once a year! 

If you really give a rip about the institution you work for, send me some pictures of your celebrations!  Since KeePosted has gone digital, color photos and color pages don’t really matter anymore!  They don’t cost extra, and we can load all kinds of pictures on the ICHP website and Facebook page, so everyone can see just how much fun you had celebrating!

I know that most pharmacists and pharmacy technicians don’t like to write, but take a chance and write a couple of paragraphs to go along with your pictures and who knows?  Maybe you’ll be featured in the Oct/Nov KeePosted issue!   Our crack editorial staff will make you look like Dave Barry or John Kass!  Hopefully not as funny but at least as well read!

Show me that you give a rip!  Become an ICHP reporter and share your celebration activities during the 2011 National Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Week and National Pharmacy Technician Day, so that those who didn’t celebrate will get an idea of the fun and excitement they missed!  Here’s your chance to tell our story! ΓΆβ€"Β 

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