Oishi Rahman, PharmD

How did you pick your career? Did you know all along?

When deciding on a career after high school, I considered many factors. These factors included college/university location, course load/years of education required, potential income after graduation, career options available with the specific major/degree, work-life balance, subjects I enjoyed while in high school, and personal fulfillment. I decided on pursuing the 6 year PharmD program at St. John's University after taking all the factors into consideration. I was motivated to work towards my goal of becoming a pharmacist by looking forward to having a great work-life balance, helping others daily, and earning a 3 figure salary after graduation. These 3 reasons are still important to me in the present in addition to my personal goal of being a life long learner and pursing other careers with my pharmacy degree.

What is it like when your job gets tough?

My profession as a retail pharmacist can be tough for many reasons. Some of these reasons include under staffing of support staff (I may have to work with one or no pharmacy technicians sometimes and usually am the only pharmacist unless the prescription volume of a pharmacy is above around 500 prescriptions a day), high work load (depending on the location of a pharmacy and particular day, prescription volume, how many tasks there are to complete such as filling prescriptions, inventory management, conference calls, reviewing medications with patients, patient counseling in person and on the telephone, phone call volume, providing customer service such as ringing customers up at the register or assisting customers to find items), and communicating with people all day (angry/upset customers, other health care providers or their representatives, coworkers, and management members). It took me a few months as a pharmacist to be able to juggle all of this within a work shift and I am able to handle these challenges by thinking of them as something for me to overcome, not to take things personally, remembering that everyone has good days and bad days, and maintaining a positive attitude by thinking of how I am helping people daily.

How did you start building your network?

I started building my network by working on a research project and publication with my professors. During my final year of pharmacy school, I conducted a research project studying potential drug interactions between supplements and chemotherapy. In February 2018, an article that I coauthored titled "Clinical Overview of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccines" was published in the New Jersey Journal of Pharmacy. Once I began working as a pharmacist, I made sure to develop strong connections with all my managers both at the store and corporate level as well as my coworkers including those who I supervised. It is important to keep in mind that you should have academic and professional connections when applying to colleges and universities for recommendations as well as lifelong because you may need references when applying to jobs.

In layperson terms, what do you actually do at work?

Here is a list of thing I do at work as a retail pharmacist: 1. Open the pharmacy gates (with keys, disarming an alarm if there is one) 2. Ring up front end items for customers as well as prescriptions for patients 3. Show customers/patients where over the counter items are located in the store 4. Answer phone calls from patients and health care providers 5. Supervise pharmacy technicians and pharmacy interns 6. Answer all health and medication related questions from patients 7. Use the pharmacy database system to process electronic and paper prescriptions which includes data entry, date review, filling (actually counting tablets or pulling a medication from the shelf and labeling it), reviewing filled prescriptions 8. Call health care providers for questions or clarifications about prescriptions or for refill requests or any prescription related issues 9. Call patients to offer additional medication counseling 10. Perform inventory daily of specific medications and accept medication delivery from warehouse or vendors 11. Close the pharmacy making sure everything is secure

When you were a student, did you do anything outside of school to build skills or get knowledge that has helped your career?

When I was a pharmacy student, I worked as a pharmacy cashier and then as a pharmacy intern at a retail chain pharmacy for 5 years to gain retail pharmacy experience which significantly helped me in my career. I also worked as a pharmacy intern at a rehabilitation center for 3 years.

What is the most useful piece of career advice you got as a student, and who gave it to you?

This is not actually advice but something I learned from my pharmacy manager when I was a pharmacy student was that "everyone is listening." This means that once you are in a professional setting, especially at a place where you work at, it is vital that you put your best foot forward and act professionally at all times. Everyone will be listening and observing how you act with them, to others, and how you present yourself. You never know who will be asking you a question or having a conversation with you and if there is anyone else nearby who is listening. It is also important to try to maintain a cordial if not friendly demeanor with everyone that you encounter in a professional setting in order to build a good reputation about yourself and the work that you do.

Did anyone ever oppose your career plans when you were young or push you in a direction you did not want to go?

Fortunately, no one opposed my career plans when I was young or pushed me in a direction I did not want to go. Always believe in yourself and your ability to overcome challenges that come along the way!

When did you get your first Big Break? How did you get it? How did it go?

My first Big Break was when I was a 3rd year pharmacy student and I was applying to many different pharmacies to work as a pharmacy technician/cashier and I was not getting any call backs. Since I was not hearing back from pharmacies, I went to numerous pharmacies in person, asked if they were hiring pharmacy technicians/cashiers, and left my resume. I received a call back within a few days from a pharmacy manager, was hired right away, and worked at that same location throughout the rest of my pharmacy school education so about 3 years!

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome to get to where you are now professionally? How did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge I had to overcome was my lack of self confidence. I would take a lot of things personally from patients or coworkers and I would not stand up for myself (in a professional manner of course) when I was being treated unfairly. It took me several months of working professionally as a pharmacist to overcome this and learn to stand up for myself as I met numerous people with different personalities and realized that no one is perfect, people make mistakes, people have good and bad days, and everyone has their own struggles that they are not able to manage so they may occasionally take it out at others (this is wrong of course but people are imperfect and once you learn this, it becomes a lot easier to let things go while also maintaining your confidence and self respect).

What is the one piece of career advice you wish someone gave you when you were younger?

The one piece of career advice I wish someone gave me when I was younger is to always believe in yourself in order to achieve your goals! Never let anyone put down your goals in your personal or professional life!