Why Pharmacists Will Not Be Replaced By Robots
Since choosing to pursue the field of pharmacy about 8 years ago, I have come across a few naysayers who tell me that my profession will be replaced by robots in a few years. While I see where they get this idea, with automatic cars being invented and the age where technology is becoming "smarter" than humans, I have to strongly disagree. Pharmacists are so much more than just medication dispensers, and the profession has only expanded in the recent years. From medication therapy management, immunizations, prescribing rights to certain medications, certifications in specialty areas such as HIV, to name a few, the profession has proved to be multifaceted and is only trending to be more so.
There is also an approachability to pharmacists that many other health professions do not have. For one, pharmacists are on every street corner, in your favorite grocery store you visit weekly or drug store you frequent to run your errands. They are accessible, approachable, and have time for you. Patients are not going to their physician's office on such a frequent basis, and even if they did have the time, they often are not going to pay for a visit to have just a couple questions answered. Even if they were to pay, many physicians work simply to diagnose the patient and leave the rest to be taken care of by other healthcare professionals.
While we do live in an age where everything can be Googled, I have often seen even millennials prefer to have the in-person, one-on-one discussion with a pharmacist. Pharmacists are entrusted to know more than a Google search that generates tons of unregulated information. Even many physicians, my father included, refer to pharmacists as the "drug experts" and defer patients' medication questions to the pharmacist. There is an interprofessional trust between a physician and pharmacist that could not exist with a robot or machine. Robots can be defected, and don't have the adaptability and understanding that a real person with real compassion has. For it is not only the clinical knowledge that comprises a competent pharmacist, but also ultimately the care. Patients need to be cared for, not just saved from fatal medication errors. Oftentimes the listening ear a pharmacist provides, compassion, followed by assessment and recommendations is the full package of care a patient needs. A robot cannot possibly possess all these qualities because a robot will never be a human--who understands what it feels like to not feel well or be concerned about their health, who is also a patient himself.
There is also an approachability to pharmacists that many other health professions do not have. For one, pharmacists are on every street corner, in your favorite grocery store you visit weekly or drug store you frequent to run your errands. They are accessible, approachable, and have time for you. Patients are not going to their physician's office on such a frequent basis, and even if they did have the time, they often are not going to pay for a visit to have just a couple questions answered. Even if they were to pay, many physicians work simply to diagnose the patient and leave the rest to be taken care of by other healthcare professionals.
While we do live in an age where everything can be Googled, I have often seen even millennials prefer to have the in-person, one-on-one discussion with a pharmacist. Pharmacists are entrusted to know more than a Google search that generates tons of unregulated information. Even many physicians, my father included, refer to pharmacists as the "drug experts" and defer patients' medication questions to the pharmacist. There is an interprofessional trust between a physician and pharmacist that could not exist with a robot or machine. Robots can be defected, and don't have the adaptability and understanding that a real person with real compassion has. For it is not only the clinical knowledge that comprises a competent pharmacist, but also ultimately the care. Patients need to be cared for, not just saved from fatal medication errors. Oftentimes the listening ear a pharmacist provides, compassion, followed by assessment and recommendations is the full package of care a patient needs. A robot cannot possibly possess all these qualities because a robot will never be a human--who understands what it feels like to not feel well or be concerned about their health, who is also a patient himself.
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