Geoffrey Cheng, an outpatient pharmacist at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Clinic, counts pills to fill a prescription. He takes over when one of the 13 full-time outpatient pharmacists is out on break.
‘Medicine Man’
Geoffrey Cheng is Kaiser’s
relief pharmacist who can
bring you relief
GEOFFREY CHENG IS the new kid on the block in Kaiser Moanalua Medical Clinic's pharmacy department. He's been there just eight months and has the role of "relief pharmacist," meaning he fills in for any of the department's 13 full-time pharmacists when they go on vacation or are out on sick leave. The rest of the time, he said, he "assimilates" with the regular staff and "works on the regular duties of helping with the operation of the pharmacy." Cheng grew up on Oahu but graduated from St. Anthony's High School in Wailuku, Maui, where his family lived for a few years. He next attended the University of Hawaii for three years, majoring in microbiology, before going on to the University of Washington in Seattle where he obtained his doctor of pharmacy. Cheng, 27, is single and lives in Pearl City.
Geoffrey ChengTitle: Outpatient pharmacistJob: Fills medical prescriptions for outpatients at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Clinic
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Answer: For my particular job, it's an outpatient setting. The inpatient pharmacists pretty much take care of patients in the hospital, and the outpatients pharmacists, we're taking care of patients that go see their doctors, then come down to the pharmacy, and we'll fill in their prescriptions that are right for them.
Q: How many pharmacists do you work with at Kaiser?
A: At Kaiser Moanalua, our outpatient department has a total of 13 full-time pharmacists. That doesn't include some of our call-in pharmacists as well.
Q: What is your schedule generally?
A: My spot is unique in that of those 13 pharmacists, I'm the relief pharmacist. I usually fill in for whomever is on break, for vacations or whatever. It's a pretty neat job, actually. I get a lot of variety. And then when nobody goes on vacation I assimilate with the regular staff and work on the regular duties of helping with the operations of the pharmacy.
Q: How many medicine orders do you fill each day?
A: It varies month to month, and, obviously, from season to season. Like you have cough and cold season during the winter months -- runny noses, nasal congestion, people who might have pneumonia, and flu season as well. But on a side note, we see a variety of things. People will come in for their health maintenance medication.
Q: What do you mean "health maintenance?"
A: Conditions such as cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes. Then we'll see also prescriptions for people on short-term treatment, whether it be pain, antibiotics, various things along those lines.
Q: What's the most commonly prescribed drug?
A: That's a tough one. I guess I can't really say just one.
Q: Well then, what are the most prescribed drugs as a group?
A: Let me think about this for a second. ... I guess most of the prescriptions that we fill are for the health maintenance medications, which is refreshing because that's a sign that people are trying to be compliant.
It's a busy place behind the pharmacy counter at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Clinic. Above, pharmacist Geoffrey Cheng sets out a prescription for a patient as pharmacist Danilo Agbayani, left, looks on. At right, pharmacy technician Jhannalyn Roberts handles a phone call.
A: When I work, we have lot of people ask for anti-inflammatory medications, to help them with their pain, like muscle pain. People come in with sore backs, sore shoulders, muscle stiffness, like if they did the Aloha Run or something, so they'll ask for recommendations. And so any of the pharmacists on staff would recommend anything suitable, based on what we feel would be appropriate.
Q: So there's no particular brand you want to mention?
A: Nothing in particular.
Q: What about the best over-the-counter cough medicine?
A: Hmmm. I can't really say there's one that's the best one. But a lot of people when they come with a productive cough, where they produce a lot of phlegm, you would recommend Robitussin. If they have a dry cough, probably you would give them a cough suppressant, something like that.
Q: How much continuing education do you have to take to stay abreast of your field?
A: That's funny you mentioned that. I just got a letter from the state board. Hawaii didn't use to have a continuing education requirement, but they just passed a new law, and now we have a requirement of a minimum 30 hours of continuing education for each licensed biennia.
Q: You have to renew your license every year or something?
A: Every two years?
Q: How do you do that?
A: You just do it through the state Board of Pharmacy.
Q: What were you doing before you joined Kaiser?
A: When I graduated from pharmacy school, I went right to work at Longs (Drug Stores). And I was relief pharmacist for Longs, too, so I got to travel throughout the state. They have about 30 stores, so I got to work in a lot of different communities, including the neighbor islands.
Q: Have you ever questioned a doctor's prescription?
A: If we ever have any questions about a prescription, like if it may interact with other drugs the patients are taking, or if there is a change in the patient's dose, we'll go ahead and give the physician a call and try to verify that with them.
Q: Would you ever want to be a doctor?
A: I've thought about it, and I give a lot of credit to those guys. Being a doctor is a very challenging and rewarding job. But, honestly, I really like what I do. I went into pharmacy because I really liked seeing what pharmacists did for patients, and I'm glad I did. I think I made the right choice for myself. And I like the people I work with.
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