Q&A with Aariana Lopes: Pharmacy Assistant at Shopper's Drug Mart, Public Health in Pharmacy, & more 💊

My name is Aariana Lopes (she/her). I am currently in my fourth year as a biochemistry major at the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus in Kelowna. In all honesty, when I started my degree I didn’t have a specific goal that inspired me. I knew I was interested in science and healthcare so I went into a bachelor of science as a stepping stone. I also minor in French, so I take some arts and literature courses in French alongside my core science courses.

Outside of studying I picked the school that I go to because of the location. School/life balance is really important to me and I wanted to live somewhere where I could easily do the activities I like in my spare time. I enjoy hiking, bike riding, running, and other outdoor activities, so the Okanagan is perfect for all of that. In my spare time I also do a lot of reading. As for my current aspirations, the further I get into my degree, the more I change what I think I’d like to pursue. Like most undergraduate students in Sciences, I started out wanting to pursue med school, but that has definitely changed. Since I currently work in pharmacy, that is something I’ve really enjoyed and could definitely see myself pursuing, but more than that has opened my eyes to public and community health crises and I would love to be a part of an organization that works to combat physical and mental health crises in our community. 

The experience I would like to highlight is my current co-op position as a pharmacy assistant. I actually started working in pharmacy prior to my co-op, but applied to the co-op program to get the position certified as a paid co-op for credit. So at this point I've been in pharmacy about 2 years now, at different Shoppers Drug Marts in Kelowna. And then, as of September of last year it became a Co-op for me.

I would say that my role in the pharmacy is definitely a bit misunderstood as to what different staff members in the pharmacy actually do. In short, I work underneath the pharmacist and also registered technicians. Pharmacists and technicians are all licensed by the College of Pharmacy. They have different jobs, but I work under their supervision, but most of what I do is customer service and first point of contact for patient care. Every patient that comes in the pharmacy first talks to an assistant before they see a pharmacist. Whether that be dropping off their prescription, picking up their prescription, asking questions or advice, we field the question to direct them to a technician or pharmacist for care. That being said, I get to hear a lot of the concerns that are brought into pharmacies prior to going to other health care professionals like doctors, emergency rooms, walk-in clinics, etc.

A lot of what I also do has to do with insurance, such as insurance billing to third party plans and government coverage and mental health plans and things like that, which sounds incredibly boring when you think about insurance, but I think it's actually like one of the most important things that we do prior to being an assistant. I really didn't know what a lot of people go through to get their medication covered. Like in Canada, we have government healthcare programs and assistance but our health care is also provincial. I also grew up in Ontario, so I really had no idea how the B.C. Healthcare system worked. At the end of the day, my job as an assistant is to ensure all patients are aware of the coverage available to them and provide the most cost effective option for the best care for them. Majority of the population struggles to afford essential meds such as insulin and diabetic supplies, mental health drugs and so many more. I also assist pharmacists in filling out applications on the behalf of patients for government coverage such as the government mental health assistance program and forward them to their physicians for review and submission. At the end of the day, it is really rewarding how grateful people are to the pharmacy staff for helping them navigate these systems, especially the more vulnerable members of the community who are unable to advocate for themselves. All of this is super interesting especially the people you meet and interact with and really opens your eyes to a lot of things.

The application process is not incredibly extensive as no formal education or training is required prior to applying. Mostly good customer service skills, organization skills, compassion and willingness to learn are the most important skills to have. The advice I give is to go in with an open mind and be prepared to interact with people from every and all walks of life and don’t let that discourage you from applying because it’s a great experience if anything, just the people you meet and learn about is so interesting.

I think the most notable thing is the amount of jobs that I didn’t even know existed prior to this. Seeing the amount of different healthcare professionals that go into the care behind the scenes of individual patients is incredible. Being able to be a part of a team of professionals really going out of their way to help whole communities is incredible. Especially the work we do with the OAT (Opioid Agonist Therapy) clinics. These are clinics available to people battling opioid addiction. Not only do we dispense the medication and oversee treatment of this population, but it is often the pharmacies calling shelters, and other assistance programs on behalf of patients to help them through difficult periods. This part of my job is difficult to see some of the things we do, and only be able to do so much, but I appreciate the opportunity to help and educate myself and others in any way I can.

It was also extremely notable how many successful women I have encountered, which I think is amazing because most career fairs, talks, etc. highlight successful men in their fields. But there is an incredible amount of amazing women I’ve met while working in the pharmacy, be it other assistants, technicians, pharmacists, doctors or nurse practitioners. I think it's amazing to see a field becoming more and more dominated by women, and it is not said enough how valuable these women are in encouraging us, a new generation of graduates, to pursue careers that we love. 

Specifically, no. Working in a pharmacy doesn’t necessarily qualify me for other jobs or positions but it did allow me to gain plenty of knowledge and experience that is definitely transferable to other positions. It also allowed me to gain a unique perspective and learn a lot about the community I live in and I feel more confident in what I’d like to pursue post-graduation. 

Aariana’s LinkedIn

I’d love to answer any questions people have!

I think it's really amazing that the whole point of Invite Health is to bring forward these opportunities for students. I think it's really important for students, especially young women in STEM, to hear from other successful women and hear about their experience and know what opportunities are available to them. However, I think that it’s also important to remember not to only look for opportunities specific to science, that seem expected of you, while in your undergraduate degree. I believe it is incredibly important to have transferable skills like customer service, public speaking, marketing, computer coding/skills and so many more! Find opportunities that genuinely interest you and allow you to gain new skills and meet people with similar interests!

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