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MentorVIEW With Steven Player, Pharm D.
Inpatient Pharmacy Supervisor At Barnes Jewish Hospital In St. Louis, Missouri
Steven Player is a 1998 graduate of Xavier University College of Pharmacy in Louisiana and is currently an inpatient pharmacy supervisor at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Player, 27, recently offered his insights on retention issues at the ASHP annual meeting.
PNOW: Being a young pharmacist in a dynamic field has got to be interesting. Tell us what you find most exciting about the future of pharmacy.
SP: It is really exciting to see the fruits of your labor develop. You study for an extended amount of time and get into a profession that is really growing in where your position is in high demand. No matter where you go, there is a big need for us(pharmacists). You can actually get involved with hands-on patient care if that is what you want to do.
PNOW: As an inpatient pharmacy supervisor, you have to help out when your staff is short a few people. What do you find yourself doing in the course of a day?
SP: Right now is a good time because we just had joint commission come through the hospital and we passed with no citations which is a big plus for us. A lot of preparation went in to that. But on a regular day, scheduling is a major part of my daily activity. I make sure everything is covered ---- not just the central pharmacy but also our satellites and various other areas within the department. If there is a shortage, I try to find coverage or I cover for some of those areas. Also, I developed an internship program last year and try to recruit for that. Plus, last year was my first year participating with the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and their externs so I prepare a course description for my upcoming students. Each day there is something new that pops up plus my manager has various assignments for me through out the day, so it is kind of a juggling act.
PNOW: Tell us a bit about how you developed an internship program and how that program is coming along under your leadership.
SP: Right now, we have a program in place that I developed. It's a 10-week program for students of universities other than St. Louis College of Pharmacy because we have students from there already working at the hospital. We wanted to get some outside influences in the system. We place students in various areas within the hospital pharmacy, pay a salary and provide housing for that 10-week period. The intent is to get younger students involved so they can take full advantage of what the program has to offer. The ideal situation would be to get the equivalent of third-year students and get them to participate for 10 weeks during the summer and then go back to school for the following school year. Hopefully they will come back to us in their fourth year of school and participate. Then, if they are still interested and are showing good progress in the program, we pay for 100 percent tuition of their last two years of school. Upon graduation, they sign on with us as full-time pharmacists.
PNOW: That sounds like a fantastic program! How long do they sign on for once they graduate?
SP: It breaks down to a year for each year of tuition we pay. The program is similar to what we have set up for students at St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Those students are working with us throughout the school year for their tuition and then they have the opportunity to participate in the tuition assistance program where we pay 100 percent of their tuition for the year. Upon graduation, they work for us one year.
PNOW: Do recent graduates on your staff at Barnes-Jewish help inspire other students to come aboard?
SP: Yes. I am also on the BJC (Barnes-Jewish Christian Health System) pharmacy recruiting team with pharmacists and HR recruiters from throughout the system. We meet monthly to discuss which schools we will be visiting each year along with efforts to recruit those students and how to sign on current and graduating students. The internship is just a portion of that. We have packet information for each recruiter to take with and share with each university. We are visiting six or seven different universities this fall and spring where each student will get a chance to get that information. The program is just starting but we have a widespread ability to get this information out to a number of schools and different students.
PNOW: This sounds like a novel program. Do you think it will stay that way or do you expect every hospital in the country to duplicate your efforts?
SP: Hopefully they will. I have been out of school for over three years now, and while I was in school, I only heard about internships through pharmaceutical companies or retail sites. Hopefully a lot more health systems will get involved in setting up similar programs to ours and give students more of a well-rounded look at pharmacy in general.
PNOW: You are a young pharmacist who has taken a staff-level position. Have the career experiences you've had been satisfying?
SP: It is very satisfying to me. A lot of my classmates ask me how I can work for a health system when you could make more money in retail or by doing other things. But actually this has given me more experience developing programs for students participating in the areas of the pharmacy that I am interested in, like education and management skills. Being as young as I am and in a position that I am in now at Barnes is an excellent opportunity for me and I am trying to take full advantage of it.
PNOW: You obviously have an interesting position at Barnes-Jewish. How important is the ability for you to do what you are doing to keeping you at Barnes-Jewish?
SP: Actually, it is very important. The first year after graduation I was a staff pharmacist working evenings with a seven days on/seven days off position. I enjoyed that because on my seven days off, I could go back down to school and visit my wife. But I saw that 100 percent staffing was definitely not something I was interested in as a long-term position. I needed a little more stimulation, in terms of management or education development, and after that year I was lucky enough to obtain the evening supervisor position. It allowed me to grow and develop some skills and now I am the day supervisor. I am furthering the acquisition of skills and opportunities that continuously present themselves.
PNOW: What's the next step for you?
SP: I don't know. Right now I am focusing on getting the internship program on its feet and it gaining some success, furthering my skills as a preceptor for the St. Louis College of Pharmacy students, and hopefully giving a few more talks as I did at the annual convention. I'm really just trying to solidify the skills I am learning now and looking at whatever presents itself to me.
PNOW: When you, as a young pharmacist, look at career opportunities, do you see opportunities in other directions that you would like to pursue?
SP: In pharmacy right now there is a wide array of areas that I can just jump into, be it with a drug company or retail or with another hospital or health system. Ideally if there were one position for me out there, it would be a position where by I could develop different programs for students. It could be a recruiter-type position for a particular institution or pharmaceutical company or what have you. The ideal position for me would be anything involved with development of students and matriculation into the workflow and the career of pharmacy.
PNOW: In your opinion, what does it take to keep a young pharmacist retained at a pharmacy?
SP: I think it is a three-pronged answer. Obviously one of the major things is money. For a portion of those young pharmacists and soon-to-be graduating pharmacy students, flexibility in work hours or schedules is also important. Then there is also stimulation or continuous career education, which are important. These are what I consider to be the three major areas that can retain pharmacists right now. Personally, I never really look at the money because the money is always going to be good as a pharmacist no matter what area you are working or practicing in. For me, the biggest areas of attraction are stability, which I have in my current position as a supervisor, and also flexibility in the continuation of my education and personal development.
PNOW: Steve, you are a motivated, young pharmacist and mentor. What prompted you to get into pharmacy?
SP: Since I was a little kid, I was always interested in the health profession. For a majority of my younger days, I was interested in the medical field. After high school I had some doubts, and even considered becoming an engineer. My junior year of high school I participated in a summer program at Xavier University of Louisiana dealing with health-related fields and that experience solidified my ideal career choice, pharmacy. After the program, I tried to develop myself in the best way that I could in terms of acquisition of education and making the right choices. That summer program allowed me to see the future role I would play in the health and care of others.
PNOW: What's been your greatest challenge so far?
SP: I think my greatest challenge so far is my age. I am 27 years old and the average work experience of the staff that I am supervising is anywhere between 15 and 30 years. Separating Steve the friend from Steven the supervisor and dealing with issues where you have to put your foot down and get some older, more experienced pharmacists to realize they may be incorrect in what they are thinking, saying or doing is a challenge. It is hard to separate the two because I think we have a real good camaraderie at the job and everybody goes out to the ball game or to the football game together and hangs out. Being able to separate that from the job sometimes is kind of difficult.
PNOW: How old is the oldest pharmacist under your supervision right now?
SP: I supervise one who has been at Barnes hospital for 39 years. I was born in Barnes hospital so he was working when my mother had me.
PNOW: What's the single greatest joy that you have experienced so far in your profession?
SP: I think it's the relationships that I have built. When I was a summer intern at Barnes and got ready to leave for my last year of school, I was not sure whether I would be coming back to Barnes or moving to another state. The staff threw a going away party for me. When I came back the next year, the staff still had the same appreciation for me. We, as a pharmacy, do a lot of things together and it's the small things that really count.
PNOW: As an African-American, have you had any interesting experiences as a result of your ethnicity in your profession?
SP: I have, both as an intern and also now as a supervisor, but I would attribute it to a combination of my age and my ethnicity. As an intern, there were a couple incidents where some jokes were inappropriate. As an intelligent person, you need to address it right off the bat and let others know that it is not a funny situation. Even though it was not a major issue, anything minor like that can escalate if you do not address it up front. If you don't it just leaves room for things like that to fester and make the situation worse. I have also had situations where I may be dealing with a nurse or a doctor, and am wearing my badge that says Steven Player Supervisor, and they see me and think that I am a tech and look right past me. They may say they are looking for a pharmacist or for the supervisor. I believe if you address a situation upfront and if you do it in a professional manner, there is no need to get volatile or hostile with the person involved. I have never had a case where something was said or done or upset me enough that I would need to or want to take it to human resources. Usually if I address it with that person, I would not have a problem later.
PNOW: Would you recommend for other younger pharmacists of color to assess situations and try to address them on their own before taking it to a supervisor or manager?
SP: Yes, but only if they are comfortable enough doing so. Otherwise, I would suggest that they involve a third party (be it a manager/supervisor or HR representative) to ensure that they're comfortable enough discussing the issue.
PNOW: Thank you for sharing your opinions on race. It's important for society to be able to have a dialogue on the subject. Onto a different matter: What final thought would you like to share with your colleagues?
SP: My number one piece of advice is to keep God first. Through Him all things are possible always. Also, have faith in what you have been taught in school and don't be afraid to ask a question if you're unsure of anything. Finally, always look for further development, positive development of yourself -- not only in your career but in your family life and your personal life as well.
Person I most admire: My father. He has always been a great source of inspiration in my life, both personally and professionally.
Favorite book: The Bible for whenever I need additional support or guidance.
Favorite quote: "Through God, anything is possible."
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