Integrate Your Way to a Fulfilling Pharmacy Career with Dr. Rod Bastani

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 1:04

This is episode six of Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics. On this episode, I'm interviewing Dr. Rod Bastani, a doctor of pharmacy and the passionate and driven CEO and founder of pharmacists preceptor. He helps pharmacy professionals advance their careers through the support network of specialists, advisors and guides. Rod is going to share with us how to cultivate an open and growth-oriented mindset through the power of integration. He shares his journey from retail pharmacy to entrepreneurship and how overcoming personal challenges led him to help other pharmacists achieve multi-dimensional wellness. You'll see how collaborating with a diverse range of specialists can expand your impact. If you want to break free of limitations, integrate your personal and professional lives and become a leader pioneering the future of our field, listen to this episode. Welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics, part of the Pharmacy Podcast Network, a must-have resource for pharmacists, entrepreneurs seeking to enhance patient care while enjoying career and life. Join us as we pivot into Nutrigenomics, using pharmacy and nutrition for true patient-focused care. Explore how to improve chronic conditions rather than just manage them. Celebrate entrepreneurial triumphs and receive priceless advice. Align your values with a career that profoundly impacts patients. Together, we'll raise the script on health and pivot into a brighter future. Today, it is my pleasure to introduce you all to Dr. Rod Vestani, the founder of the Pharmacist Preceptor, and we have some very good information to share with you today, so let's dive right in. Hi Rod, thank you for being with us today.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 2:53

Hi Tamar, Thank you so much for having me.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 2:55

You're welcome Now. Can you give our listeners a brief introduction to yourself and your background?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 3:01

Of course. So I went to the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. I graduated in 2015 with my PharmD and I then moved to Kansas City to get licensed. I started working in retail pharmacy. I then moved to New York where I worked as a multi-location pharmacist. I was jumping from different pharmacies in the city in Manhattan, and then I ended up landing a pharmacy manager position at an independent pharmacy in the city, and this was during the pandemic, and I think at that time it was rather difficult for me professionally and personally. I am now here in Hawaii. I know it's very different from New York, but I've shifted, not only where I live, but in terms of what I do. I'm no longer a retail pharmacist, but I still would like to make an impact in community pharmacy as an entrepreneur with Pharmacist Preceptor. I launched Pharmacist Preceptor December 2022, and it's a startup. It's growing and I would love to share it with everyone. It's essentially a professional network of specialists who are wanting to help pharmacists tap into their full potential, help them realize their goals and achieve work-life balance. So I'm really excited to grow the company and to create leaders in the field of pharmacy and beyond.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 4:29

Wow, Rod! I think that is amazing, coming from where you started to where you are now with the Pharmacist Preceptor. Could you tell us how your personal journey inspired the creation of the Pharmacist Preceptor?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 4:44

Sure, I was working for big chain retail company in New York and I think it was serving me financially. It allowed me to live a certain lifestyle, and this was pre-pandemic. I was able to live in New York, and it was a very exciting, exhilarating experience to be in the city. You essentially have the world at your fingertips. However, when the pandemic happened, it became a very different type of environment. It became rather stressful, chaotic. It essentially became the epicenter of COVID and it became a very dark and isolating place. I mean, working as a pharmacist in retail is already a very isolating role, so to be in that particular type of situation it really took a strain on my mental health and it made me consider how it was affecting other aspects of my wellness, not just okay, yes, it was providing a steady paycheck, but it was affecting other dimensions of my wellness, and it made me ask these hard questions. So at that time, my father was diagnosed with brain cancer back in my hometown, and it put me in a very difficult position where I wanted to serve patients and the city during that time period, because it was a crisis. At the same time, though, I know that I would want to be there for my father who was going to die. Essentially, it made me confront a lot of things about myself personally and professionally, and at that time I allowed my role to define me and as soon as the pandemic hit and what was going on in my personal life, it really had a big effect on me. It really affected my mental health and now that I'm looking back on it and trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, I'm wanting to make sure that I'm working in a state of growth rather than a state of stress, and that I'm wanting to integrate more positive things into my work life and in my personal life so that I have more balance and if I'm able to assist others before they find themselves in this particular type of situation, I would love to be that person that provides that information, to provide that wisdom and to be a platform for others where they're able to achieve work-life balance and multi-dimensional wellness.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 7:17

Yeah, thank you for sharing that personal experience. Rod, and you hit on something that many pharmacists do face, especially in retail the issue of the impact of the work environment on mental health. And, of course, during COVID that was an extra layer that impacted the mental health of many pharmacists who are seeing patients coming in and firsthand seeing the illness and how the virus is affecting various patients. Yeah, well-being Well-being is absolutely something that we tend to neglect in our profession, right?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 7:53

Yes.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 7:56

So thank you for sharing that with us. How has overcoming your personal health challenges influenced your career?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 8:02

So, like I mentioned about let me go into greater detail with regards to operating, yes, and that type of work environment I found myself to be working in a state of stress where I was just trying to make it to the end of the day, and I think that in itself is trauma. And, you're right, it's this additional layer of stress upon the shoulders of healthcare professionals, not just me Nurses, doctors, frontline workers, even people outside of healthcare. They were under tremendous amount of stress during this time With regards to overcoming those personal mental health challenges. I've realized that mental health, especially among healthcare professionals, is something that we don't necessarily talk about. There's a lot of stigma attached to it. If I'm going to be that person who's going to stand up and speak about it openly, and if it helps others, yes, by all means, I'll definitely speak and be an advocate on that front. As healthcare professionals, as pharmacists, we need more resources that are more readily available, that are more accessible to us. In Hawaii, just a few weeks ago, we had the wildfires on Maui in Lahaina just completely wiped out the town. There were 115 or 116 that have passed away. It just makes me wonder like, okay, the healthcare professionals were working in that particular situation. The pharmacists how are they being taken care of? So then they are able to operate in a state of growth and be able to engage with their patients more effectively. If I were to have been in a state of growth, in a better mental health mindset or a space, I should say it makes me wonder how much more of an impact I could have made for my patients and those around me, as opposed to being in a negative, unhealthy mental health space. So it makes me wonder how much more we can achieve as a society and as healthcare professionals and pharmacists if we're able to be at a more healthy level when it comes to mental health or financial health, occupational health, social, spiritual. So it's all encompassing. I find it very fascinating.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 10:35

Yeah, you bring up an interesting point, because we usually don't think about when it comes to taking care of ourselves, applying that to work and how efficient we are in the work environment. Usually take care of yourself so that you can be better at home with your family. But yes, indeed, it's catering to our well-being so that we can be at full capacity at work and have something to give the patients that we are working with. Absolutely.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 11:05

So I absolutely love that.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 11:07

And you mentioned the resources Pharmacists. We need those resources and you provide resources with a pharmacist preceptor. So how does a pharmacy preceptor support professionals in various aspects of their lives?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 11:21

So we would like to make sure that there is accessibility to industry leaders and resources that make pharmacists better professionals. When it comes to evaluating what works for us individually as pharmacists, what works for us as a group, I think it's very fascinating to pool all of those resources together and put it underneath one roof. When it comes to professional development, personal development, leadership, focus services you know NaPlex, mpje, I think in our own particular roles, we have the blinders on and we just see what's in front of us and we want to achieve those goals and then, once we achieve them, we move on to the next set of goals. So it's very fascinating when I speak with other pharmacists and ask them this question like what has helped you become the pharmacist that you are today, what helps you be a better pharmacist? And some of them really can't come up with ideas like right in the moment, which I think is very interesting. But as pharmacy students, as pharmacy graduates, as pharmacists, there are things that we integrate into our careers, into our lives that allow us to be better pharmacists. And it's not just pharmacy related, it can be in and out of pharmacy and it can involve different aspects of our well-being. So, when it comes to being an entrepreneur or being a person who is purchasing products or services, or being a pharmacist, we're always integrating different things into our lives. So, when it comes to mental health, I think this is going to be the very interesting part of the conversation which we'll touch upon is how are we integrating ourselves versus disintegrating? But yes, with regards to pharmacists, preceptor accessibility to leaders and resources, active assistance from specialists who can assist pharmacists in achieving those goals and work-life balance, tapping into your full potential as a professional and also individualizing those services. I think each and every one of us we have our own set of concerns and issues and desires and wants what we want from our careers. So individualizing, personalizing those services for our clients, I think, is going to be very important, and that's how I envision pharmacists' preceptor moving forward.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 13:54

Oh, wow, thank you. Thank you for sharing that, rod. Now you did mention integrating services and program as part of those who entrepreneurship, those who want to grow businesses. Could you talk a little bit more about that?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 14:09

Sure. So, as entrepreneurs tomorrow I'm sure this may resonate with you when it comes to building a business, building a brand, we're looking at different services and products that are out there that we're able to integrate into our businesses. That will facilitate how we roll out our services. So, when it comes to website development, surveys, engagement, client engagement I'm just trying to think of other ones appointment scheduling, transaction based services and products, there's a whole, it's a whole business, it's a whole industry that's out there and we want to kind of see what works for us as entrepreneurs, what works for our company and what works for our clients to streamline these processes and what essentially assists us in helping our clients and the people that we work with in a professional and personal regard. So, when it comes to, yes, like website development, there may be, like, different options that you can pick from. You want to integrate what works best for you, what you think would be easy to use, what would be most affordable. So there are different aspects to looking at different products that are out there or services, and we wanna make sure that, yes, they're accessible, that they provide great customer support, they have different offers that they can provide. So we're essentially shopping for these different services and products that facilitate what we're trying to build in our own world as entrepreneurs.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 15:54

Yeah, that's a good point, because each business structure is gonna be different, so the needs of that business are gonna be different, but it is important that that individual identifies the systems that will work for them, because what works for one pharmacist may not work for another and may not be necessary for another. And so why work harder if you don't have to right? Only use what you have to use? And another aspect that will impact what is necessary for these pharmacists in their business is the type of services they're offering. Now I know beforehand we had talked a little bit about having an open mindset towards things that are not like traditionally done as pharmacists, right. So if you have a client that approaches you with a non-conventional, non-traditional business idea, how would you help them? How would you guide them? Like to have more of an open mindset, or even others who may not have that mindset to think of something different? What have you found are some key ways to help cultivate that open mindset with those types of pharmacists?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 16:59

So I think this is a wonderful question in terms of cultivating a more open mindset towards innovations like nutrigenomics. It's very fascinating how I personally took that information and processed it myself. So there's something called unconscious bias and as soon as I heard nutrigenomics, my mind went to pharmacogenomics, which is similar. It's what I associated with, and it's fascinating because my mind went to a different place. They're similar, but what you do is was novel to me. It was different to hear. So when you had initially spoke about it, you essentially what we're doing. We like to plant seeds. So this gets the conversation going right. So you had mentioned, okay, pharmacogenomics. Yes, that's something that we can provide. If I'm not mistaken, we can do that, but essentially, our focus is nutrigenomics. And it made me wonder okay, what exactly is nutrigenomic? It made me want to research the topic. I was in this position that I want to learn and have an open mind, so I think communication is super important, and wanting to learn and keep the door open With learning more about it, it made me ask the question okay, how can I incorporate this service into my practice? As of right now, I am not practicing as a retail pharmacist or helping patients directly. However, it's something that I can put into my toolkit, right, I can say, okay, nutrigenomics is a point of reference. If there is someone who's interested or who needs this service or would like this service, I know exactly who I can point them in the direction to and that would be you, tamara, I mean. And also I'm able to ask myself how can I support you with what you're doing? We're all essentially trying to help each other and there is a lot of value to nutrigenomics what we eat, what we put into our bodies, how it affects our genome. I think this is very fascinating and I think it's very relevant to our DNA age, with our eating habits as a society here in the US, and what foods are we consuming, how it's affecting our genome, our genetic makeup. So I think, by speaking about it, wanting to learn, and then asking those questions, say, hey, how can I incorporate this? How can I integrate it? How can I support one another, instead of saying, oh, this is pharmacogenomic related, this has nothing to apply to me, which is not a correct line of thought, or saying that this doesn't relate to me, this is something that I cannot bring into my practice, this is something that I'm not able to incorporate. So, instead of just writing it off, ask yourself, why am I writing it off or why am I not open to this idea? I think by having that type of mindset, being open and seeing how we can help each other because you, Tamar, are pharmacists as much as I am, and we are in the pharmacy profession and we are wanting to bring on these novel products that may not be familiar to other people and when other people hear about it, they may be skeptical or they may have their reservations, but we are in this position where we have to educate and we have to keep promoting our services to not only help these people understand what we do, but to help, essentially, our client pool. I mean, without our services, without helping our clients, we are essentially doing them a disservice. So we want to be of service to our clients and help them, and I'm here to help you, Tamar, in your journey as an entrepreneur, and I'm just, yeah, so excited to be a part of this.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 21:03

Thank you, rah. Thank you for your kind words, and that's why I admire about the pharmacist preceptor is that you are putting these pharmacists in touch with you, have your team of various talents and skills. At the same time, you're making connections with pharmacists outside of your team so that you can provide reference or direction for pharmacists that come to you for help for the professional development and their personal growth as well. So I think that is very commendable with what you're doing with the pharmacist preceptor.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 21:37

Thank, you so much.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 21:38

And likewise, I'm here to support you and you're taking as well. Thank you Definitely and you hit a point on the head where it is the mindset, where people can write things off right away, mainly because it's unfamiliar and it's new right. So that is a challenge. So how do you think, in your opinion, how can pharmacists actually bridge that gap between the unknown, the non-traditional, cutting edge concepts like pharmacogenomics and nutrigenomics, and bridge it with the traditional pharmacy practice?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 22:12

I think that's the multi, I think that's the million dollar question. I think again, traditional pharmacy, cutting edge technologies in pharmacy, instead of putting them into two separate realms and boxes, they are one of the same. I mean essentially traditional pharmacy and these cutting edge technologies or services. They belong to us pharmacists. So we have to take it upon ourselves to be not only our own advocates but advocates for one another. Be the bridge. Be the bridge to integrate them. Don't be in your silo and this traditional pharmacy sense and say this is how things are and then double down and put your foot down and say no, we don't have room for cutting edge technology, there's no money, there are no resources. And then, for those who are in the cutting edge technology, we need to integrate those traditional practices because that's what the general public knows and that's what they're familiar with and one cannot function without the other. So if you're in this position where you're boxing yourself in, you're doing yourself in the profession a disservice. We wanna make sure that you're open to integrating what is necessary not only to you but to your practice. Again, nutrigenomics for me, as of right now, may not be applicable because I'm not serving patients. However, I know that I'm able to add that to my toolkit if and when I am going to reenter a role where I have direct patient care interactions, and that's why I'm able to ask myself how can I integrate it, how can I bring this on board? How can I educate others within my own sphere? But yeah, be the bridge, integrate, be smart about how you integrate. We wanna make sure that the things that you integrate are necessary, that you're not double dipping when you integrate and that you're open to it and that you're educating others.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 24:15

Yes, I agree 100%, Rod, because I love it. It's like it's one and the same. You're like be the bridge. Be the bridge Like we are the bridge. It doesn't have to be separate, it doesn't have to be non-traditional on this side. And then the new concept, you know, cut edge things on the other side. We can definitely bridge it. We can still be pharmacists even when we take on these new quote, unquote, non-traditional tools and skills and start those services. We have to be the bridge.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 24:47

I absolutely love that Be the bridge.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 24:50

That's a great headline for some type of talk.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 24:52

I know Be the bridge. I should put that on a coffee mug or something.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 24:56

Yeah, do it, do it. And another aspect of like along the lines of being that bridge is collaboration, right and community. These are essential aspects of integrating different areas of pharmacy practice, whether traditional or non-traditional just integrating. How do you foster this sense of community within the pharmacist preceptor and how does it benefit the members?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 25:24

Collaboration, community. Those are vital to running a big business, big corporation, big company. It's extremely vital for small businesses, an organization. With regards to community and collaboration within pharmacist preceptor diversity, equity, inclusion, dei that's super important to our values. Yeah, community collaboration, diversity, equity, inclusion they're part of our values at pharmacist preceptor. So, by bringing everybody to the table I like to call like a round table talk by bringing everybody to the table and that they're able to share their own lived experiences and voice. It brings so much value and so much insight to how people think about different things or processes or ideas within the community. Outside of the community. If we only have a select few people around the table who have similar ways of thinking and how they were brought up, cultural similarities, you're essentially working with a limited scope of insight. So, by bringing diverse people, including them, making sure that there's equity, I think there's tremendous, tremendous value in that and that's one of our values. It's part of our work culture here at pharmacist preceptor. With regards to collaboration and community, I always say creativity takes community. We have community sessions, brainstorming sessions, think tank sessions every couple of weeks where we get together and meet up and collaborate. We speak about different behind the scenes, internal operations, with pharmacist preceptor. We exchange ideas and we brainstorm. So I love that. I love the sense of community that I think was missing when I was working in retail pharmacy. I felt that I wasn't part of the conversation. I didn't have control over how my own pharmacy operates and it was as if our team wasn't unified. It seemed as though we were just operating as individual entities and I think that's very telling in pharmacy how pharmacists work as individual entities as opposed to coming together and collaborating and coming together as a community and brainstorming. It's actually, I think, very disappointing. I think pharmacy could achieve a lot more. We can utilize our own services and interests and passions and move the profession forward together.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 28:15

Yes, indeed indeed, and you know that your the values that you have for your company. I can definitely see how that provides you with a more well rounded view and well rounded concept of what you need to offer your clients by having everybody be part of the table, part of those discussions. And I'm absolutely love that you have those think tank sessions, you know, because I'm sure you probably have some very good, interesting conversations come up and some great ideas.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 28:47

Yes, it's not just individuals in pharmacy. These are career coach specialists, these are individuals who are working as psychotherapists and we hope to integrate. Coming back to our topic, integrating people in and out of pharmacy to serve our clients and to help them achieve work life balance and realize their goals, I think we have to have a broader approach to how we serve what we serve. It can't just be what we know and what's been done traditionally.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 29:22

Yeah, it's good to have others, other non pharmacists, as part of that right. So the same thing for, like any business in pharmacy, as pharmacists, we're trained in pharmacy and that's it. Well for most of us. Very few of us actually have a master's in business or have sales and marketing experience, right. So at times, you need to have a member of your team that has expertise and the things that you do not have expertise in, so that's why it's good to have the diversity within your business. Yeah, so I absolutely love that with what you're doing at Pharmacy, preceptor. Now I want to go back to those think tank sessions. Do you have a specific example of how, maybe something that came forth from those sessions that really helped with integrating programs and services for your clients?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 30:13

I'm glad you asked. I have a really great example. So during one of our think tank sessions, a couple pharmacists disagreed on how to roll out a particular service to best serve our clients, and I was serving as mediator for the meeting. I mean, I'm part of the conversation. I am just wanting to make sure, to facilitate the conversation, that it's going in a positive direction, which it was. This was constructive feedback that I was getting that pharmacists preceptor was getting. So, even though there may have been this civil disagreement between thoughts, I said, hey guys, you know what, like it's okay, we can bring both on, we can integrate both ideas into our services. It's not just one or the other. There can be a third way to approach this, and it's very funny because I had gotten feedback from clients and they said oh, I'm super interested in this one service that was proposed by one of the pharmacists in the meeting, and another client was actually very interested in this other service that the other pharmacist was proposing. So instead of doing one or the other, why not? Why don't we just integrate the two and just call it a day and then see how it goes? We can always amend, we can always revise and see how it goes. It's not to say that it's one or the other. We can always integrate.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 31:40

Oh, my goodness. So your vision, your values extended beyond just staff or the people you work with, but also the ideas that come for you were not excluding. You was all equal opportunity for these ideas to be put into play, and especially if they're good ideas and you have clients who want them. It's in demand. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 32:02

And I think it's also this perspective that I have, that I'm working with this particular type of intention where I am working as a peacemaker and I'm a collaborator and I'm wanting to engage others. This is maybe something that I wouldn't have been able to do working in a state of stress, let's say, at the center COVID 2020 in New York. You know like I didn't have time for new ideas. I didn't have time for people to come together and collaborate, to see that I was not in that position to bring people together, to be open to new ideas. I was doing my staff at a service in certain scenarios. It allows me to take a step back and see now I've integrated in this way, mental health-wise, that I'm able to integrate these different types of services with pharmacist preceptor. To me, it's very fascinating how it's not just me, it's how I'm engaging with people around me.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 33:09

I think that's interesting. It brings us back to what we started with, with catering to your well-being first and the ability, once you do that, you're able to give so much more to others. Now you're actually able to do that now. To me, it seems like you have this fulfilling career compared to what you started with.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 33:30

Yes, absolutely. I think working retail pharmacy. It's served me in certain ways, but when I came down to a fulfilling career and sustainability, I think there was a lot to improve on. I think there's still work to improve on now I'm not saying that what I'm doing is serving me in all these different areas where I'm like 10 out of 10, 100%. We're all evolving. Nothing is permanent. We're all, as a society, we're all trying to live a better life. In this particular role, this is much more fulfilling. I'm able to lean into my higher self, my more authentic self, and to be this person that bridges creativity and collaboration and being artistic, being creative as an entrepreneur and also applying these very scientific black and white concepts that's very common in pharmacy. Being a pharmacist, I think that allows me to live a life of balance and fulfillment.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 34:40

Oh my goodness. Yes, I'm happy for you, rod. So now that you are here in this stage, what advice would you offer to other healthcare professionals about integrating personal life, professional practice, entrepreneurial pursuit, in order to achieve this balance and create a fulfilling career?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 34:58

That question is a very good question. I wish I had done my own homework years ago so that I could pursue those things that you just mentioned With regards to integrating personal life, my entrepreneurial role, my professional work as a pharmacist, I think it comes down to, yes, having perspective, understanding who you are as a person, what you're trying to achieve in your career short term, long term, goal wise and then finding out what your interests are really, taking the time to deep dive and figuring out what you're wanting to accomplish and what your passions are. So, having perspective, having purpose, making sure that you have clarity. And then the next is intention. You want to make sure that you do things with intention rather than just going with the flow, seeing where life takes you. Okay, so life took me to New York. I worked in all these different pharmacies as a retail pharmacist. I landed as a role as a pharmacy manager. What comes next after that? I didn't ask myself that question. So, by understanding what my purpose is in my life, as an entrepreneur or as a pharmacist or as a person, having that clarity, being intentional yes, setting those short term, long term goals and then ultimately finding that passion where you're able to integrate it all. So I also am a passionate writer and I again want to integrate all these different things in my life that works in tandem towards what I'm trying to achieve. So it comes down to my fundamental desire as a person and fear. My fundamental desire as a person is to support others and to be supported. My ultimate fear as a person, my fundamental fear, is to not be supported. Understanding who I am and what I'm looking for in life, how I'm wanting to help others. I mean, yes, I can be in a pharmacy and I can help patients, which I was doing, and that fulfilled me in a certain way. But it makes me wonder. It made me wonder like how am I able to help other pharmacists across the US so that they're able to help their patients more effectively?

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 37:13

You just said a lot. With that we can make a whole another series of interviews. They said just this one question, because you're 100% correct we need to understand who we are when we're pursuing making these entrepreneurial pursuits or even in our career. Understand who we are. We have to have clarity, we have to be intentional, purposeful, and passion is important because if you're not passionate about what you do, you're not going to enjoy it. So some of us go into pharmacy because we are passionate about it. Others do it maybe because they have a family history of doing it or they make a lot of money doing it. They may not have the passion for it and guarantee they're not enjoying it. It is important that no matter what we do in life, whether it's professional or personal, we need to, at the core, understand who we are, and then we do have to be passionate about it in order for us to really enjoy it. So I definitely appreciate you sharing your personal advice on being able to find that balance and fulfillment and a rise in our career by sharing those points with us. What do you believe now that the future of pharmacy is, with these integration programs and services and cutting edge approaches that, as pharmacists, we can use?

Dr. Rod Bastani: 38:38

I personally envision pharmacists utilizing what they know, what their own strengths and skills are, and expertise and to be able to provide them as services. That individual, that pharmacist, can make the choice themselves, whether if they want to integrate different resources or different items. The future of pharmacy when we're looking at retail pharmacy, it doesn't look good. I can only speak to retail pharmacy because that's the industry that I'm well versed in. I can't really speak on behalf of individual hospitals or different sectors within pharmacy, but within retail pharmacy it seems as though robotic processes are going to come into play. It doesn't seem as though the pay outlook for pharmacists is going to go up. It seems as though they're wanting to bring on board newer talent and push out people who have been within the company for years, because by bringing on newer talent, that means you have to pay these individuals less. What I envision for pharmacy in general yes, I like to see pharmacists utilizing what they know, their strengths and skills and leveraging them and supporting our own community of pharmacists and also helping patients directly. So, with regards to community pharmacy, I like to think of that as an umbrella and I think, working in retail pharmacy I may get some slack for saying this out loud, but it falls under community pharmacy, absolutely. But there are so many other elements to community pharmacy which I think is gonna be very interesting exploring. I am here to advocate for those trailblazers out there who are paving the way in their own field, in their own roles, on their own. So, yes, like Nutrigenomics, Dr. Tamar Lawful, PharmD, I commend you for doing what you do because you are, in a sense, you are, a trailblazer in your own right. There is no playbook on how to run your business or there are not many individuals who are doing what you do, and you're creating this network of future pharmacists who are gonna be involved in Nutrigenomics. And I think, for me, I'm in the field of creating leaders within pharmacists who are able to teach back to other pharmacists and to make sure that they're able to, yeah, achieve that work-life balance which I think is extremely critical, and to realize their goals, so they're able to pursue what they wanna do without doing what is told of them. So I think the future of pharmacy is gonna be very fascinating to see, because there are a lot of different entrepreneurs, a lot of different startups coming about right now. So I'm very excited to see this very promising and exciting future with Nutrogenomics. I'm really excited to see where Pharmacy's Preceptor goes. But I think there is gonna come a point where we're going to, as a profession, that we're gonna have to confront how we wanna operate as pharmacists, whether if we want to still cling on to those traditional aspects, or whether if we want to move forward with the new. But how do we integrate both? Why not?

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 42:23

Why not? Why not right? Thank you for sharing that Rod. And you know the future of pharmacy is changing. It's changing, it's in the process, it's already started. There's some shaken up, there's some changes going on and I didn't just start stepping. Nutrigenomics has been around, but I would love to see more pharmacists using it and being comfortable with using it, and so that's why that's my mission is to help them understand it and see how, as pharmacists, they can still use Nutrogenomics Without having to pivot away from pharmacy. We can still be pharmacists and use Nutrogenomics and help our patients in a different capacity. Sometimes I speak to pharmacists who they're independent pharmacy owners and they're interested in adding Nutrigenomics as a service into their pharmacy, into their community pharmacy. So, yes, the community pharmacy, retail pharmacy, is changing towards you see it as going to more robotic and automated processes, but they still have the opportunity to offer these innovative services like pharmacogenomics and Nutrogenomics, even health coaching to those patients that come into their pharmacies. So we just have to start thinking differently as pharmacists, we cannot stick with the standard, the traditional way of thinking and what we were taught or told, that this is what you can do and that's it. You know, because there's so much more as we both know you and I both know. So pharmacists in the community setting just have to be more innovative and be willing to try these new things. So definitely. So the future is going to change. It's changing, but I still see some light at the end of the tunnel with a bit more hope.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 44:14

Yes, yes, I mean I think from personal experience working and retail pharmacy where I wasn't leaning towards my higher self, where I was working in this very stressful environment and this influence of concern and negativity. It just seemed as though it was consuming me and that I didn't have control over my situation. And I think, working with that type of mentality where you're like, oh, this is what I've been destined to do and this is how it is, and if I don't work as a pharmacist, then I don't make anything so it's kind of this negative dialogue that we're internalizing, that this is how it is, that things can't change and I don't have the ability or the power to change. With this positive approach and perspective, we can start opening those doors. It's just a matter of whether, if we want to cross that threshold and walk through those doors, so for me to have said, okay, like I'm not going to work as a retail pharmacist, I'm going to pursue this entrepreneurial role, which of course, comes with a certain risk, but it allows me to bring in more positivity. And if I'm bringing in more positivity, more positivity will attract more positivity and it just makes me very excited for the future, as opposed to feeling dreadful or another week of working in the pharmacy, like another shift I have to get to the end, to another paycheck. So with that type of mentality, like I'm excited, I'm ready to do the work. I'm really excited to see what Tamara's up to and what she's posting and what she's doing on her end. What are some other entrepreneurs doing in the community? How is my community here in Hawaii helping each other? It's just a completely different type of perspective and I'm just so excited to see what happens and from there we're able to grow.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 46:26

So we've been talking about pretty much the power of integration right and integrating different aspects of our life, work and even entrepreneurship as pharmacists and healthcare professionals, and this is so valuable when I'm seeing it, it really comes down to our mindset so that we can really work on our wellbeing, that we can give to others. What you've been saying reminds me of that. What you have here heard people say like is the cup half empty or half full? It depends how you look at it right. And then another cup. Analogy is if you don't have anything in your cup, you can't pour it into anybody else's cup.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 47:06

That's true too.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 47:07

By focusing on your mindset, your mental wellness and your wellbeing, you fill yourself up to the point where now you can pour it into others.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 47:18

Yes.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 47:19

Really you're open so that you can do that you can share with others, versus being feeling stuck and really locked in and not having anything to give, not being able to give, and now you're in a position where you can give through the final three sectors. So thank you for that. On behalf of Pharmacists at UHealth, I appreciate you and what you're doing. So how can listeners stay up to date with you, rod, and what you're doing, and learn more about Pharmacists? Preceptor.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 47:45

Sure, I mean I'm sure this is gonna resonate with you as well. I mean, as entrepreneurs like the way to support us, reach out to us, connect with us, engage with us, see what we are producing, what we're doing with our services and products. With Pharmacists Preceptor, everyone has a seat at the table, everyone is invited. So again, this talk of community and collaboration, it's not just for clients, it's not just for specialists, it's not just for pharmacists. We want to create a community where we're able to assist one another. I'm able to bring my own skills, my own strengths to the table. Another specialist, another community member can bring their own skills and strengths to the table and that way we're able to engage with one another through active assistance and be able to serve clients to get where they need to be and want to be as pharmacists. So reach out to us through social media. We're active on all platforms Facebook, x, twitter or no X, I'm sorry, x LinkedIn. You can reach out to me personally through LinkedIn. You can also go onto our website at wwwPharmacistsPreceptorcom and you can also subscribe. We provide exclusive offers and we provide updates as to what we're working on. That way you can stay tuned and updated with our progress. But with regards to supporting us and what we're doing, yes, connect with us, connect with Tamar, connect with me, speak with us, engage with us. There are ways to engage and to collaborate, and through community we're able to achieve so much more as opposed to working independently.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 49:44

Well, rod, it's been a pleasure, so thank you again for taking the time today to speak with us and share about the power of integration.

Dr. Rod Bastani: 49:54

Thank you so much, Tamar, for having me. This has been a wonderful experience.

Dr. Tamar Lawful: 49:59

Next week. Our upcoming episode is all about personalizing diabetes control so that you can confidently guide your patients in achieving their health goals, while eliminating the getheter or the one-size-fits-all approach. It's an episode you won't want to miss and until then, always remember in your journey as a healthcare professional always raise the scripts on health, because together we can bring healthcare to higher levels.