“This is alchemy, and this is the office of Vulcan; he is the apothecary and chemist of the medicine.”
— Paracelsus
Alchemy simply put means if life gives you lemons then make lemonade!
Watching children instinctively using stones to draw on the pavement got me thinking about cave drawings and how instinctive and resourceful humans, indeed all living beings are!
This also reminded me how artists like Van Gogh would have had to work within the constraints of space, cost and materials, yet producing masterpieces!
It intrigued me at how humanity has evolved and keeps evolving. In seasons of change and uncertainty, we instinctively go into fight or flight mode and, in extreme, cases sink or swim.
From biblical apothecary to modern day clinical pharmacy one observes how adaptable in keeping with change pharmacy is! We embrace the change, continue to work within the limitations albeit exploring what new opportunities lay therein.
Now, I invite us all to think “within the box” to tackle the current threat of pharmacy closures.
I coined the phrase: “Applying reductive modelling strategies to steer scarce resources into limitless possibilities.”
As pharmacists and healthcare professionals, we pride ourselves in our ability to be alchemists! A wise man said: “When the wind is blowing at gale force there’s no point sailing against it!” I am confident we will weather this storm, too!
Sally Omolara Rose
Election Candidate, English Pharmacy Board, Royal Pharmaceutical Society
The candidate letters for the RPS national pharmacy board elections have not been edited by The Pharmaceutical Journal
