Somedays

I enjoy my clinic days at work. One-on-one consultations. Leading a class. Or presenting a presentation. Whichever it is, I'm teaching. It can be rewarding at times. When that patient who is trying to quit smoking walks out of our session saying, "Hmm, I never thought of it that way. Good point," it makes me feel good. He may not quit the next day or even the next year, but I got him thinking differently. One step closer is still one step. When I screened that patient for heart health problems and he comes back telling me that he wouldn't have otherwise seen his doctor (who ended up telling him that he has high cholesterol) if he hadn't talked to me, it makes me feel like I've made a difference. And at the same time, the perefectly healthy individuals who score really well on their body fat percentages and BMIs and bone density tests that I perform on them can also teach me a thing or two about how to do it right - how to stay healthy. This is what I went to school for. In practice, filling out action plans isn't as annoying as when I did it for homework in school. When I'm allowed to take my time to really do my work that way... I honestly do care. Care about the people. Care about their health. And care about doing my job to making them understand whatever it is that they need.

Sure, some might think the clinics are gimmicky and perhaps just a way to pull customers in the store (well, it's still a business afterall). But, if I'm going to use my knowledge and my skills to better a life in the smallest and simplest way, the clinics that I do have been a great way for me to exercise exactly that... which makes my work worthwhile. A job really is only what you make of it.

When people ask me how much I like my job, I usually give a shrug or a grumble. It's hard to explain what a day at work is like for me. (Go watch McPharmacy on Youtube... that really happens... all the time). It's tough sometimes to practice true patient care in a retail setting with people yelling at you and you running around like a mad chicken doing fifteen different things at a time. It's not a glorifying job.

But somedays, I really don't mind what I do. I guess I'm kinda lucky that I can say that about my job.