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“I always want to make sure everyone leaves with what they need and with a good, positive experience.”
Aggie didn’t expect to work in a pharmacy until she actually worked in a pharmacy.
Although she grew up wanting to work in health care, she planned to become a doctor. Then, after she pursued a degree in biology, a friend helped her get a pharmacy job.
The more she worked in that job, the more she liked it.
“I like helping out the patients, talking to them,” she says. “You're also learning about all these drugs and applying science knowledge and my biology knowledge to everything. It’s just the perfect puzzle piece for me, the perfect fit.”
Aggie enjoys working in the pharmacy so much that she now is pursuing pharmacy school.
In her current job, Aggie helps with everyday tasks to help the pharmacy at UPMC Harrisburg run smoothly. That includes keeping the pharmacy’s front stocked, filling prescriptions, ringing up patients, calling insurance companies, and coordinating with care providers. It helps ensure patients get their medications upon discharge from the hospital.
She also is trained to work in the Emergency Department as a medication transition coordinator. She makes sure patients’ medication lists are up to date so they can continue to receive their proper medications while they’re in the hospital. And she also helps the hospital’s “meds to beds” program, encouraging patients to use the hospital pharmacy to get their medications upon discharge.
“It's like I see the patient during the whole journey: when they first come in the hospital, as they're being treated, and then as they're leaving the hospital,” she says. “Sometimes, patients like seeing that familiar face a couple times.”
Because the pharmacy is often a patient’s last stop before leaving, Aggie believes it’s important to help patients leave on a good note.
“I'm a huge patient advocate. I always want to make sure everyone leaves with what they need and with a good, positive experience.”
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