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Today we’re giving you a glimpse of what being a pharmacist at MedMe looks like on the day-to-day. The thing about working at a startup, especially in healthcare, is one day is never like the next. So, while this post is A Day in the Life, it is by no means “the norm”, which is what makes working at MedMe so fun!
Hey there! 😊
Today we’re giving you a glimpse of what being a pharmacist at MedMe looks like on the day-to-day. The thing about working at a startup, especially in healthcare, is one day is never like the next. So, while this post is A Day in the Life, it is by no means “the norm”, which is what makes working at MedMe so fun!
Before we get started, let’s meet the team of pharmacists that I’ll be highlighting in today’s post:
Co-Founder + Chief Clinical Officer
Rui received her Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo and has worked across many clinical backgrounds including mental health, oncology and geriatrics.
Clinical Operations Lead
Charina went to school for her PharmD at the University of Waterloo, with experience in digital health research, pharmacy operations, cardiology and oncology.
Clinical Project Manager
Taher has experience working at a diabetes specialty clinic as well as in a corporate pharmacy setting. He joined MedMe as a Co-op Pharmacy Student, but decided to join MedMe full-time as a Clinical Project Manager before heading back to complete his Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo.
Alarm clocks have gone off, breakfast eaten, and dogs walked… It's now time to prep for the day! To maximize productivity, it’s important for our team of pharmacists to plan ahead and set priorities for themselves. This includes making a daily to-do list and taking note of high vs. low priority tasks.
In these early hours before morning meetings begin, is when Taher first responds to any overnight or early morning intercom messages from clients. He also uses this time to check out any COVID-19 vaccine news/updates and other pertinent information relating to in-team communication between our developers.
Charina says,
“At MedMe there are a lot of new and different things happening everyday and it can be a lot to keep on top of at a fast pace. Typically, I get the day started by catching up with client questions or any outstanding email chains.“
This is stand-up hour for the BD team - the team that MedMe’s pharmacists are most heavily involved in. Our pharmacists run-through task lists for the day as well as any items that need to be brought up to the team for discussion. Taher will also join in on other stand-ups from time to time, like with MedMe’s development team, to learn more about what’s happening around the company.
In a virtual office setting, MedMe stand-ups ensure our pharmacists are still able to engage with one another to start off each day and stay up to speed with the direction MedMe is headed.
Here’s the time to get started on all those tasks that are now hanging over your head.
For Taher, this time is often spent working on sell sheets, market research, clinical input, updating MedMe’s changelog, etc.
What does being a pharmacist mean to you personally?
“My grandfather was a Chinese traditional medicine pharmacist back in China, so I grew up with him having this mentality and value system of always helping others. It’s just something that has been instilled in me from early on and is why I’ve always been interested in healthcare and decided to pursue a career in pharmacy.” - Rui Su
Lunch time? Like I said before, daily schedules at MedMe are almost never consistent. Some days a lunch break can be taken as early as noon and other days some pharmacists on the team won’t be able to catch a breaking point until later in the afternoon.
Fun fact! Rui’s go-to lunch is a frozen Amy’s burrito heated in the microwave for 30 seconds. Quick, easy and delicious 😋
Most of Rui’s afternoons are booked with back-to-back meetings. Charina and Taher are spending this time on current clinical projects and connecting with MedMe clients and stakeholders. As a product designed for pharmacies, there is a lot to be said about a PharmD coming in handy.
“As a pharmacist by background, I can relate to the people that I’m talking to. Having pharmacy experience, especially within community pharmacy, I understand the unique situations clients may find themselves in and am able to communicate how MedMe can relieve pain points in the pharmacy space.” - Charina Alducente
“There is a lot of leveraging my previous clinical experiences as well as the ability to discern relevant guidelines when it comes to designing new modules. Whether it’s the changing eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations or modules for chronic disease management, I synthesize complex information to distill research down and apply that content in a clinical context. Where I apply this knowledge is in how pharmacists on our platform are going to use us in order to deliver better care to patients and streamline workflows.” - Rui Su
Now is the time to finish up the remaining of the day’s tasks. After ending off the workday, Charina shares what she does to decompress from any stress:
Netflix, a nap + a sugar cookie side hustle!
… And, that’s a wrap! Thanks for spending the day with us here at MedMe.
Interested in learning more about Taher and Charina's experiences as pharmacists at MedMe? Watch this video for a candid conversation between all 3: https://www.loom.com/share/c2abf88248124bcf878da7ee036a9938
Bye for now 👋
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