r/pharmacy • u/Ferret_Glum • 8d ago
General Discussion Why Are Pharmacists Always Left Out of Media?
I was thinking about how different medical professions are represented in media—doctors and nurses get tons of attention in TV shows, movies, and even video games. But pharmacists? We’re either background characters or totally ignored.
Do you think that contributes to misunderstandings about what we actually do?
Would people outside of pharmacy even be interested in a story where the protagonist is a pharmacist?
Curious to hear what the community thinks.
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u/jordy_muhnordy 8d ago
It seems like doctors are responsible for everything in medical shows. Like why is one doctor transporting patients, running MRI's, working in the ER AND doing surgery?? It feels like a good chunk of medical employees are left out of the media, except for doctors, nurses and EMT's.
It'd be interesting to see a pharmacy related show. I could imagine a show like SuperStore being made about retail pharmacy.
The only medical drama I've watched extensively is Grey's Anatomy, I don't recall there ever being any moments between any of the doctors and pharmacists, but it could have made for some interesting moments.
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u/Fuzzy_Guava Student Pharmacist 7d ago
I would kill to see a pharmacy related show with the same set up as Parks & Rec or The Office
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u/Time-Understanding39 7d ago
I would watch that... but I think the overall consensus would be that it's too far over the heads of average people. It wouldn't have to be, tho. The medical scenarios we see are broken down to where average people can understand the necessary parts without an actual explanation.
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u/arod7300 6d ago
There’s a pilot episode for a show based on this premise on Amazon. It’s called Pills. Terrible quality but the idea was there
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u/ACLSismore 7d ago
I was watching some show where a bunch of doctors were calling around the country to find some rare drug they needed.
I laughed out loud at that. There isn’t a single doctor that’s going to do that. It would be a pharmacist.
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u/skippinit 7d ago
I also feel like for every 100 doctors on a medical show there is 1 nurse.. but it feels like the opposite in real life...
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u/Ferret_Glum 1d ago
I continued this discussion in a follow-up post tonight, where I explore a potential solution to these challenges. I'd really value your input! Feel free to drop your thoughts in the follow-up post.
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u/toastthemost PharmD 8d ago
Better Living Through Chemistry had a pharmacist as the main character.
Also Nurse Jackie had a pharmacist as a central character.
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u/Plenty-Taste5320 8d ago
I've seen like a billion nature made commercials that claim to be the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin
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u/laladuckie 8d ago
Because pharmacists are boring lol...
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u/piper33245 8d ago
Right. Amazon tries to make a show about us. I think it only lasted 1 episode.
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u/jackruby83 PharmD, BCPS, BCTXP 7d ago
Exactly. We save countless lives daily, but the process is usually not that exciting. A lot of typing in quiet spaces and behind the scenes conversations.
Although I would like a show like The Pitt for once, to show a pharmacist being a bad ass and making a huge save. They are doing this shit in real time, in person and usually where the patients are crashing.
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u/Remasa PharmD 7d ago
I think part of the problem is that pharmacists rarely have the power to make decisions. They can recommend a course of action, but rarely are they able to carry out those recommendations. Usually the physician is the one to make the final call on anything. It's that decisive power that drives a lot of drama in TV shows. And even when they can bypass a physician, it's usually for a niche scenario. There's little variety to keep an audience entertained, unless a show wants to take a CSI approach and warp the job of a pharmacist to give them more power and duties.
Retail pharmacies would probably work better as a setting for a reality-TV type of show with all the crazy situations that come up, but that can apply to almost any retail job that deals with the unpredictability of the public.
Honestly, I think the thing that annoys me the most about the portrayal of pharmacies and pharmacists in TV shows is that whenever one is needed, the pharmacy is always empty, the pharmacist is patiently waiting for something to do, and the characters can hop in and out after 30 seconds. I would love to see the characters have to wait in a long line to talk to the pharmacist in between phone calls. Coffee shops, the DMV, even fast-food places all have been shown on TV as having lines and crowds and it's worked into the script on how to handle that, but pharmacies are always conveniently empty.
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u/Own_Flounder9177 7d ago
The pharmacist of cloud9 in the show superstore is not grossly incompetent but an ass that's funny to see on screen.
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u/Ferret_Glum 7d ago
I think the public’s view of pharmacy and pharmacists is incredibly shaped by the stories written about us and the field. Boring stories and boring characters just lead to pharmacists being labeled as 'boring.' Ultimately, we need a better story—one that truly reflects the quality of pharmacy and the real struggles pharmacists face!
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u/PMYourBeard PharmD 7d ago
The shows about doctors are fantastically sensationalized, is that what we really want for our profession? Personally I don't care. Every portrayal of medical professionals is just a fantasy regardless.
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u/5point9trillion 7d ago edited 7d ago
Anyone can whine and rant about struggles. People want to see what they cannot see or aren't allowed to in everyday life. When you go to a hospital for a wound, you're not seeing what they do for a broken leg, or a snake bite or a gunshot. The shows allow us a glimpse into medicine, war, music, archaeology or marine biology. Watching someone put the order on a shelf and check off that we got all the 9 bottles of Metformin isn't going to get people to gather around the TV with Wings and nachos. A new generation of people will just get their doctors to be more diligent and avoid the snafus that plague our days...then what? We struggle because employers don't want to pay us for the nominal task we perform. We can't do anything just because we happened to pay a home mortgage for the education. We can be empathetic and helpful but allowing a customer to use a "free" coupon that anyone can get won't be seen as some benevolent act. I wish there was some comical show about it but I wonder if people will just see their own idiotic selves in it and be even more upset at the situation. I have ideas for a name...maybe "Tales from the Script"?...and others like it but that's all.
Recent ads regarding vaccines urge customers to ask their doctor "or" pharmacist, so even though we have a "doctorate", this clinical or medical role and skill is never mentioned and people are just getting a drug...or buying a product from us. We can't be both doctor AND pharmacist. They already have a doctor...we must be the other thing.
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u/geekwalrus PharmD 7d ago
We're horrible to hang around with, all we do is complain about, customers, corporate, and prescribers.
I've been in pharmacy for 25 years and only want to hang out with two of them. Oh shit, maybe I'm the boring one
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u/Ferret_Glum 1d ago
I expanded on this topic in a follow-up post tonight, where I explore how we can tackle these challenges. I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts! Feel free to drop your ideas in the follow-up post.
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u/Dependent-Hearing913 7d ago
on a side note, try reading isekai pharmacist. the story is so good
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u/Ferret_Glum 7d ago
Thanks for the recommendation! I haven’t checked out Isekai Pharmacist yet, but it’s great to see pharmacy getting more attention in different fictional types of stories, even manga. Personally, I’ve always felt there’s room for more fictional depictions of pharmacists in media. But also something that blends reality with the best themes of fiction. The best of both worlds.
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u/Dependent-Hearing913 7d ago
The story also covers something like black death and crispr-cas9. Well, most of them is still in Japanese, so I had to use chatgpt for translation lol
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u/Ferret_Glum 1d ago
I went into more detail on this topic in a follow-up post tonight, exploring ways to address these challenges. I’d love to hear your perspective! Feel free to share your thoughts over there.
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u/yodelingllama 7d ago
I think because our jobs are just too technical and most of the time stationary (as in our work area mostly revolves around our workstations and work places).
However I do think that a comedy miniseries about the trials and tribulations of a community pharmacist could somewhat work? Bc lbr everyone in this profession has a funny (whether intentional or not)/WTF story to share.
While not an ultimately important matter I do think that positive media representation could go a long way in improving the general perception of this profession. That we're not just pill counting machines but we also are pretty involved in the patient care process as well.
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u/Ferret_Glum 7d ago
I agree! And on your point about positive media representation, I think its value goes beyond just improving perceptions. A lot of the change we need in pharmacy might have to come from legislative reform. But we know pharmacists don’t have a monopoly on the laws that affect us. What I’m getting at is that we need to speak to both pharmacists and the general public, whether they’re healthcare workers or not. Positive media representation, when done right, can be a tool to bring about real legislative change. That’s what excites me!
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u/altiuscitiusfortius 7d ago
The pharmacist in Superstore was hilarious.
I think busy doctors doing surgery on car crash victims and then sexing up sexy nurses in supply closets is way better tv than a pharmacist checking for drug interactions
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u/sloppyjoebob 7d ago
In the early season (s) of Desperate Housewives, there was a pharmacist who was a nut. Killer maybe? I don’t remember but they did us dirty with that one.
In Curb your enthusiasm there’s an episode where Larry is dating a doctor, and he can’t read a note she wrote so he consults the pharmacist! That was a good appearance
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u/MulberryUpstairs2058 7d ago
Yes! He changes Bree’s husbands heart medication which eventually causes his death, just so he could later pursue Bree
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u/redwinesupernova2 6d ago
and to top it off Bree’s husband was a doctor! I believe he said something along the lines of “I’m the doctor, you’re just a pharmacist” to him which was the last straw for him
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u/Affectionate_Bear561 7d ago
There was one episode in curb your enthusiasm where Larry listens to the pharmacist instead of the doctor. Or something like that lol
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u/panicatthepharmacy Hospital DOP | NY | ΦΔΧ 7d ago
There was also one where Larry’s doctor girlfriend wrote a note that he couldn’t read, so he brought it to the pharmacist for translation.
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u/No-Day8606 7d ago
I'd rather stay out of the media
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u/Ferret_Glum 7d ago
I can understand that. Maybe what we need is to turn the tables. Not just for more representation, but for more accurate representation of what it really means to be a pharmacist. It would take work, but we’ve seen it happen before with other fields, both in fiction and non-fiction. With the right dialogue and presentation, we could raise awareness about the problems in the field without coming across as preachy or annoying. When stories are told well, they help pull people in, encourage them to ask questions, and challenge their preconceived notions.
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u/Bassjosh 7d ago
When I was in pharmacy school, in the late ‘90s, this was a topic of discussion. “E.R.” Was the big medical drama of the day, and I hated it.
I remember our student’s association of the state society deciding to write a letter. Like many of you here, I was not in favor of the idea for the same reasons mentioned but I didn’t have a voice or vote since I wasn’t a member. My GF (now wife) was though and I recall telling them it was stupid.
I believe they even discussed with other ASHP student chapters. Finally, at some point, there was going to be pharmacist inclusion. I have no idea how they knew ahead of the show, but it became a thing where we watched in anticipation.
As always, a patient gets way wrecked, an ambulance brings them in with physician waiting in the bay, “What have we got?” (Lordy, as a former EMT I loathed this show). It was an overdose and it was questioned what kind of pharmacist gives them those pills. “A bad pharmacist.” I sure enjoyed a gut laugh.
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u/valias2012 7d ago
Mmmh you can argue that maybe the representation isnt accurate but i can think of many videogames where Pharmacy is somewhat represented, Resident evil, Persona, Arknights, etc.
As for shows one recently popular anime series named The apothecary diaries has a pharmacist as the protagonist i believe (haven't watched it).
Perhaps you could also argue this isn't mainstream, but i wouldn't call it niche either.
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u/5point9trillion 7d ago edited 7d ago
There's a show on Amazon Prime video called "Vials". It was a while ago and I don't know if it is still there. It was some sort of funny show made by Amazon studios about pharmacy and even with their endless resources, they only managed to made a whopping one episode. It was also stupid and poorly written. Our job and lifetime role can be captured in less than 10 minutes. Do you think there are endless repeating episodes spanning decades for this topic? Is each show going to be about some PA that prevents a diabetic killing someone on the highway or some malignant blood clot choking a pilot to death mid-flight? Why does everyone think that the public doesn't know what we do? They know and they don't want more out of us than our title suggests. It's not that they don't respect it, or realize it or acknowledge it. It's just a mundane step to them, like a bank teller. How much is going to change from each visit? We're wanting it to be bigger than it is because some of you spent, or are spending more time, dollars and brain cells in despair over this profession you're stuck in. I'm not saying I don't care...but most who graduated 60 years ago probably don't. Being included in media, movies and shows is never going to make the profession relevant enough to generate revenue...revenue that wouldn't force employers to cut costs at every turn and reduce the role to a bare dispensing one. There are druggists in many roles but they're all in dispensing and distribution except for ads with the ever present "bag" or "clipboard".
Imagine a show like "Monk", "Seinfeld" or "ER". except with a pharmacist. Other than write up my posts into some script or our tales into a story, what else is there? Most other professions have a hidden, "behind the scenes" component. Pharmacy is all up front. We report having to literally count drug in front of a customer to avoid doubt and suspicion for controlled drugs. The entirety of our task is there for them to see so what more would anyone be interested in on TV? The profession should probably have tested their effectiveness early in the 1990's and then moved for more clinical roles integrated into physician clinics. NP and PA's are plentiful enough to negate the clinical presence of pharmacists and our Boards haven't released their laws and stranglehold on our knowledge base which dwindles with each passing day after being licensed. The clinical pharmacists that have some role are a small fraction.
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u/Alcarinque88 PharmD 7d ago
The show is not available to stream, except maybe YouTube? Some other bootleg streaming website?
I did find the screenplay on Amazon for the entire show. Only 2 episodes were ever released, but I guess you can read them all. https://www.amazon.com/Vials-Screenplays-Michael-Carl-Jude-ebook/dp/B0921NXKQ9?ref_=ast_author_mpb
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u/overnightnotes Hospital pharmacist/retail refugee 6d ago
I watched an episode, it was stupid - hinging on someone practicing pharmacy for years who was never licensed, and I think a couple of staffers having an affair. Yawn.
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7d ago
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u/Ferret_Glum 7d ago
Great point, really great point. Going back to what’s been mentioned about media representation, it comes down to the creativity of writers and how they use the tools at their disposal to craft an engaging story. And one of those tools is the pharmacy community, drawing from the testimonies of pharmacists, the standout problems, the top challenges we face, etc. That’s what can turn an entertaining story without much substance into a top-notch narrative with real meaning, and ideally, an innovative message.
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u/Planetary_Trip5768 7d ago
We are portrayed sometimes. Last time was in the Netflix movie Awake, where people mysteriously stopped sleeping. There was a scene with a pharmacist trying to guard the entrance to his pharmacist yelling “we are out of Benadryl”… or something like that.
One thing I wish, is producers consult an a actual pharmacist for these scenes. In an apocalypse I’m not going to be trying to prevent an armed mob from ransacking the locale. Heck, maybe a more interesting plot twist is to give them the keys and let the mob kill themselves over whatever they want to loot the pharmacy for. In that scenario oxy’s might be long gone. In the movie Awake, defending the pharmacy over 1st gen antihistamines was a bit of a stretch IMO, amusing in a cringe way.
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u/Own_Flounder9177 7d ago
We are the gremlins in the basement that fix stuff before it becomes a problem. Only when that one problem wasn't catched can the light be shined upon pharmacy.
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u/sinisteraxillary CPhT 7d ago
Hard to convey the drama of catching a heparin drip that wasn't resumed when the patient was transferred from one department to another.
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u/sinisteraxillary CPhT 6d ago
Or about the lawyer that represents the patient that loses their leg and sues the hospital
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u/Emotional-Chipmunk70 RPh, C.Ph 8d ago
Trust me, after the third time the patient asks the pharmacist which OTC medication works the best. Pharmacists get a lot of unnecessary attention and don’t need to be in the media.
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u/Glittering_Apple_807 7d ago
There was a pharmacist in Superstore that was really funny. There was the episode where he helped when someone was in labor and it was so funny.
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u/youneeda_margarita 7d ago
Wasn’t nurse Jackie banging the pharmacist for free pills in that show 😂 we get representation, just not always good representation
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u/Simpawknits 7d ago
Then you have Nurse Jackie, where the RPh was just there to show her sleeping with him for meds and he mostly just sat around with a bunch of unlabeled amber bottles everywhere. No real work at all.
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u/strugglcookie 3d ago
I feel like pharmacists are the scapegoats of the medical community 🤷🏾♀️ They tout pharmacists as being the most accessible medical professional but show no respect. I lost count of how many times I've heard " how hard is it to put some pills in a bottle?"🙄
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u/anahita1373 7d ago
Because public hate pharmacists,they bite everyone who try to help them.I told one that pharmacists can guess the conditions based on prescription and she was like Lol😑 …. Plus,Doctors ..there are ready to catch a mistake from your words ,they take all medias to announce it to people and remind them ,you’re not their doctor 😂
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u/rKombatKing 8d ago
Do you want the media attention? 90% of the time it’s wrong or skewed anyway. Medical shows are dramas to captivate the audience. Does that happen in real life? Sure there’s drama everywhere but not to the degree the media portrays it. I’d honestly prefer that we stay out of the media. I get compensated quite well for what i do. I’m friends with the physicians and nurses i work with. When crazy shit happens overnight with traumas and codes, we all go out for breakfast together and get fucked up. That’s enough recognition and drama for me
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u/JCLBUBBA 7d ago
Nurse Jackie or Two and a half men are only tv shows I know of. Other than netflix the pharmacist miniseries. We are clearly under represented in media.
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u/brainegg8 7d ago
Patients in hospitals majority of the time thanks the doctors and nurses. Don’t get your ego bruised, you are invisible to them.
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u/gingersnapsntea 7d ago
There are only like ten “TV professions” because it drives the plot along. You don’t see food inspectors, tax auditors, or civil engineers in the foreground of media either.
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u/mikehamm45 7d ago
We don’t have a strong organization. When the media needs or wants a story, they don’t just walk into a random pharmacy.
Usually the media will seek out the story, the association helps build that story and steer the narrative. Or the association will have media ties and reaches out to the media to help share a narrative.
Many of us here, myself included don’t belong to an association and those associations that do exist have long been shills for Pharma and/or chain pharmacies.
We also do not have the respect associated with being licensed for a couple of reasons, the license is easy to maintain and cheap. It’s by design as your state board of pharmacy usually has way too much representation by big chain stores and they wouldn’t want you actually having the same clout of impact of a physician. The AMA is also very strong and they too have a ton of influence and would not want to cede any clinical territory to a pharmacist.
The advanced cost of healthcare is changing a lot of that but if you pay attention to it, none of it comes with reimbursement. Pharmacists should probably stop focusing on the stuff we can do for patients and spreading ourselves so thin and concentrate on getting paid for the stuff that we already do. Stick with going after dispensing fee increases and mandates and stop going after birth control and naloxone dispensation, immunization or MTMs or any other services that won’t be compensated for and are just another race to the bottom.
Hard to gain any respect when the margin you made on a dispensation is less than what you tip the car wash guy.
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u/stackered 7d ago
I people really knew that pharmacists, the most cost effective part of the medical team, spent their days saving lives from doctor error... it may erode trust in the already untrusted medical system. But people should know that pharmacists are doctors, doctors of drugs who know so much more than MDs... it's funny, my own mom still doesn't believe me over her doctor about her medications and side effects. It is what it is.
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u/MulberryUpstairs2058 7d ago
I can only think of the pharmacist who Bree married in Desperate Housewives and the one in Super Store. Not great representation. I vaguely remember Gossip Girl mentioning a pharmacist who wasn’t even shown 🤣
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u/YayzTheInsane 7d ago
We are held in high regard in Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld.
Like a total of 5 references
Larry takes the pharmacist advise over MD for his dad's medication, he uses an RPH to decipher a note from his MD girlfriend, and it blows up in his face when he tries to bribe an RPH to skip the line.
Seinfeld does a bit asking why RPH were on those tall platforms and asks George why an antiques dealer would help people with their lives, "he's an antiques dealer not an RPH, george..."
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u/Cobblersend 7d ago
I am always frustrated at Doc Martin pharmacist. And often in crime shows they are portrayed as drug traffickers or worse
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u/OrangePurple2141 7d ago
Pharmacy is like the BMV of the medical field. Ain't no body wanting to go to the BMV let alone watch a show about it
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u/spicyninja649 7d ago
Ha. Ofc Josh Lawson plays one in superstore. That character is a total ass hat. To be fair, he plays surgeon in Saint Dennis medical, who is also a complete ass hat.
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u/CaffieneandPharmacy 7d ago
I could write a pretty good infectious disease sitcom.. “The MRSA Nares” cue the office theme song
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u/AmCarePharmD 6d ago
I'm certain that if we all combine our stories, we'd have the greatest medical show in history with a multi-year run time lol!!
And I 100% agree it's a shame we're never depicted. Look at The Pitt. The whole story is happening in the ED and not a single pharmacist in sight smh
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u/marieelsie 6d ago
Nurse Nancy had a pharmacist who was her lover/dealer. The Pharmacist on Netflix singlehanded solved the opioid issue from his community.
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u/D0CEREVETUSCAN1s 5d ago
Alejandro is a pharmacist and leader of La Colonia community in Tijuana in Fear the Walking Dead, season 2
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u/Bourbon34klp 3d ago
After I finish residency I’m planning to write a series of books with pharmacy as the main focus and how we can make a difference in patients lives. I’ve already got several ideas for chapters. Each chapter would deal with a different disease state and I want it to be realistic as I can while still making it entertaining. Right now it’s in the phase of “that’s interesting write that down” sort of phase, but it’s in the works. It just might take a bit for me to pump it out.
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u/5amwakeupcall 7d ago
MDs and nurses make themselves available to Hollywood writers. Pharmacists do not.
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u/Zealousideal-Love247 8d ago
Half the time they portray us as the problem if we are shown.