When I was still a student, I really envied how the med reps would often approach our residents and consultants with their medicine samples and various give-aways. I would often wish for that day to come when med reps would approach me with their products and I'll have to sign their techie PDAs. (Actually, what I really wished for then was that they'd just give me some of those ballpens they always hand out as freebies... XD)
Well ever since I started working in a hospital, I have been receiving a lot of "covers" from med reps. Sometimes I feel excited, but when I'm busy, I would sometimes feel annoyed. And I also feel a bit of concern for them because they are always waiting on us doctors, flocking our ER doors as if our signatures and support really matter so much. I'm not used to this kind of attention. And with my training coming from government hospitals, I am actually not used to prescribing branded medicines either.
So for the past 4 months, I've accumulated A LOT of free samples, most of them are pretty useless for me because I have no need for them. I get one or two antibiotics with different brands, or one or two hypoglycemic drugs with different dosages, and a bunch of anti-hypertensives which I can't even give away to patients (because they are either too expensive, or just simply not readily available in the market). I have meds like Gabapentin, Cilostatin and Fenofibrate which I don't even know how to use. And I have dozens of Omeprazole and Simvastatin which I'm eager to give away (I thought of selling them to earn a couple of bucks but I think that's illegal... XD).
I tried to arrange them by brand names and types and whatever order I can organize them into, but I ended up frustrated and confused. I plan to just take the rest of the meds back to the hospital where I can give them out to my patients who'll probably thank me for them, rather than stock all of these at home to gather dust and wait for their expiration dates.
Occasionally, I do get some ballpens and fancy items, or useful meds like vitamins and cough remedies, but they somehow end up in my mother's stash.
Oh well. XD
No comments:
Post a Comment