As the Assurance System™ training program director at Medication Management Systems, I have the unique opportunity to follow new practitioners as they develop into extremely capable pharmaceutical care providers.  We’ve seen this not in just one practice setting, but in several –the classroom, clinics, telephonically, even virtually.  As we continue to provide care to more and more patients, it is important to reflect upon what we’ve learned.  We believe reflection is vital for growth and improvement; in fact, we teach all of our new practitioners the importance of reflection in practice.   Over the next few months, I will be reflecting upon some of the lessons we’ve learned along the way:  understanding the rational taxonomy of drug therapy problems, the importance of documentation in practice, the benefits of collaborative practice agreements, and the unique contribution pharmacists provide in patient care.

The first thing that became obvious in practice is that “common things are common,” which I had heard for years from Dr. Bob Cipolle.  When I first heard this phrase, I thought how obvious it seemed.  When I reflected on what it meant, I realized that this could be very helpful as I was learning to practice.  Our practitioners - across the globe, in all different types of service venues - are seeing patients with the same conditions, over and over again.   Diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, depression, pain; these were consistently the medical conditions (with their accompanying medications) that needed to be managed.  As a result, common drug therapy problems were occurring over and over again.  In fact, over half of our patients’ conditions are represented by the same ten conditions.  This is great news for practitioners learning to practice.  Learn as much as you can about these medications and conditions.  In doing so, you will be prepared to identify, resolve, and prevent the majority of drug therapy problems encountered each day.  Every practitioner will encounter these common situations because, well, they’re common.  So prepare yourself, and you’ll be more confident to manage these conditions as well as having time to learn to manage those conditions which are less common.