My name is Dr. Christina Bekhit PHARM-D and you have never met a pharmacist like me. I don’t usually like to talk about myself or boast about my abilities, but I don’t think like a normal pharmacist, and I talk way too much.
I didn’t start my career working at pharmacy like most students would, I started working at Sears in the electronics department. Do you remember Sears, I’m not even sure it exists anymore… I loved talking to people and I sold them tv’s, cameras, camcorders. I built relationships, people often came back to show me pictures they took with their cameras or came back with family members because I price matched and got them the best deal, without them even asking.
I carried that same empathy, after I graduated pharmacy school from the Arnold and Marie Schwartz college of Pharmacy in May of 2009. I worked for retail chain pharmacies for half of my career, and a private mom and pop pharmacy for the rest. My empathy continued as I often paid out of pocket for people who couldn’t afford their medications, until something changed, COVID.
It changed me as a person, and it changed the lives of my patients. There was a fear… a fear of going out, shaking peoples’ hands. Employees were given N95 masks, face shield gloves, everything we could need to feel safe at work. Multiple times I worked completely alone. The staff took two weeks off because a friend of a friend got COVID. I worked drop off, filling, answering phones, pickup and I was even the delivery man too, for two weeks,more than once.
The burn out and exhaustion and frustration were overcoming me. I channeled my energy into learning new skills that involved drug safety, reading countless books, taking online courses, and my soul has been refreshed. I am so excited for the future, only amazing things await me.
