*Corresponding Author:

Sharma Gaurav
Bachelor of Pharmacy, Pranveer Singh Institute of Technology, Bahuti Road, Kanpur - 208020, India.
E-mail: E-mail: gaurav.sharmapsit@gmail.com

The doctor is usually seen as a picture of never-ending optimism and incredible patience. Doctor themselves admit that their fraternity makes the worst patients. They are diffi cult to handle, behave abnormally and keep brooding about complications that can happen and most of the time. In short it can be said that “doctors are the worst patient”. [1]

But did pharmacist also suff er the same situation when they get ill? Yes they do but the case is little diff erent. It is the fear of the ADRs, drug interactions, drug incompatibilities, secondary eff ects of drugs, toxic eff ects that makes pharmacist such nervous wrecks. They have theoretical knowledge which is somehow limited. Which makes them to decide the treatment for themselves than leaving it to someone else (Physician). Moreover, pharmacists (mostly Indian) have natural instinct to consider docs as a machine who prescribes most of the medicines uselessly. The thinking is normal as pharmacist also have knowledge of pharmacology. Th is results into a false sense of insecurity which comes from a thorough knowledge of pharmacology but incomplete knowledge of pathology. [2]

After reading about drug poisoning, drug intolerance, idiosyncrasy, drug allergy, photosensitivity, drug dependence, drug abuse, drug withdrawn reaction, teratogenicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and drug induced disease makes a pharmacist to think thousand of times to take a medicine. Pharmacists are only for the dispensing of the medicines and not for the diagnosis of the disease. In other word we can say those pharmacists are the worst patient.

In a country like India, where pharmacist rarely take advice from the doctor for the medication and himself consider as a doctor, pharmacist can be a worst patient. It will be very diffi cult for them to take the medicines prescribed by the doctor.

For instance, a doctor usually prescribes antiulcer drugs with antibiotics. Most of the time it is necessary but some times it is included to increase the bill for the patient. Being aware of this fact pharmacist will be hesitant to take these drugs with antibiotics thinking that the drug not very essential. Similarly drugs for nausea and vomiting are always considered as a crap by the pharmacist.

Considering this, pharmacist can be a patient who will reach health centre at the last stage of their ailment. It is very diffi cult to decide that it is the folly of the Indian medical system where doctor is consider as a god and pharmacist as a common store keeper, or doctors who think that they are more superior or pharmacist who think themselves as a doctor.

So according to me when a doctor becomes a patient he will tend to over-medicate, over-cautious and try to take appropriate medicine. On the other hand when pharmacist becomes a patient he will be reluctant in taking the medicine and make himself a serious non compliant patient.

References

1. Kumar M. Fear of the worst makes docs bad patients. The Times of India [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2012 Jun 20] Jun 10. Available from: http://articles.timesofindia. indiatimes.com/2006-06-10/india/27806516_1_senior-doctor-patients-consultant.
2. Doctors make the worst patients’. The times of India [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2012 Jun 21] Jul 11. Available from: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006- 07-11/mumbai/27812817_1_dead- patient-angry-relatives-clinical-depression.