I feel like I am constantly writing on my blog that I am busy. But the truth is…that is how it is. We wake up every morning at 7:30 to be ready and at the hospital by 9:00 we work until 12:00 then have an hour to an hour and a half for lunch. Once returning to the pharmacy we are there until 5:00. After that, we usually run back to the dormitory and get ready for the evening activities of going out to eat at different restaurants and exploring what it is like to live in Turkey. So as tomorrow is my last day, today’s blog is dedicated to the wonderful people that I have met during my time in Ankara.
Side note: the Joint Commission International came to visit the pharmacy today and it was rather uneventful as far as I am concerned. In the beginning of the visit the head of the department explained that the pharmacy was so packed because they had brought extra workers in today as well as having interns. He mentioned that I was from the United States, but she did not even say anything to me. The most exciting part was seeing how anxious all of the pharmacy employees were to have this organization evaluating their pharmacy. Everything was extra clean and people were smiling and making themselves available if they were needed to assist in any way possible. I did not take a photo because I did not want to have my phone out while they were here. I am assuming the visit went well, but it was hard to tell because the evaluator’s face was a deadpan the entire time. Some of the questions she asked that I overhead were related to research medications, different aspects of the new computer system, medication storage, and the workflow. However, for the most part she just let the pharmacists explain the happenings in the pharmacy and a translator relayed the message to her. I would say she was in the pharmacy for about an hour before she moved on. Upon asking I was informed there were multiple evaluators from the Joint Commission in the hospital, but they were each assigned different departments to inspect so I did not see any of the others.