Jake Boan, now in his fourth and final year of pharmacy school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, says he has wanted to be a pharmacist ever since seventh grade, when he shadowed a local pharmacist for a day. The thing that sealed the deal for him was watching the pharmacist interact with his patients, and it’s now his favorite part of the job at Walmart #20 in Clinton, Missouri. 

Boan does the expected at the pharmacy: cheerfully helping people at the register, inputting prescriptions, processing insurance, and making recommendations about over-the-counter products. But what led Boan to receive multiple nominations for the Best of the Best Pharmacy Awards is that he also does the unexpected. For example, he once spent hours on the phone with the manufacturer of Paxlovid, an antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19, to see how a patient on a feeding tube could take the medication, which shouldn’t be crushed or swallowed. 

For his dedication to patients and his drive in the industry, Boan has been chosen as our 2022 Best Pharmacy Intern. Here, he describes what a typical day is like for a pharmacy intern and what his goals in the profession are. 

Why did you pursue pharmacy?

Ever since I was young, I’ve always known I wanted to do something medical. Many in my family do medical work: My grandma was an EMT, my mom was an X-ray tech, one aunt is a lab tech and another is a nurse practitioner.

I always thought it was interesting to learn how medications actually worked. And then in seventh grade, I got the opportunity to job shadow an independent pharmacy in Clinton, Missouri, my hometown. Getting to see a pharmacist have a conversation with a patient to check in with them on their current and new medications was inspiring. Seeing a pharmacist maintain a personal relationship on top of the professional relationship is really what made me just fall in love with the position. 

So once I turned 18, I sought employment as a pharmacy technician to further my understanding of the pharmacy workflow. Once I started working in a pharmacy, I fell even more in love with it and decided I definitely wanted to pursue pharmacy school.

So, as a pharmacy intern, what do you do? 

I’m in my last year of pharmacy school, and I’m currently doing my Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs). These are rotations a last-year student pharmacist does. We go out into the world and apply the knowledge we have learned to real-patient scenarios. 

At UMKC we do a total of nine, one-month long APPE rotations. So far, I have had a rotation at the UMKC Drug Information Center, where I focused on answering drug information questions posed by doctors, pharmacists, and patients who either called in or filled out an online webform. 

Once I started working in a pharmacy, I fell even more in love with it and decided I definitely wanted to pursue pharmacy school.

After that, I was at an independent pharmacy in my hometown called Summer’s Pharmacy. On this rotation, I assumed the role of a pharmacist. I administered vaccines, counseled patients, communicated with healthcare providers about prescriptions, educated patients on disease states, and performed COVID tests for patients. I was most recently at a specialty pharmacy in Phoenix, Arizona. I was responsible for calling patients who use the specialty pharmacy and providing education on their disease and the drug the patient was using.

And now I’m at the Walmart in Clinton, Missouri. I do all the duties of a technician—data entry, inventory management, helping patients—as well as some pharmacist duties under the direct supervision of the pharmacist. For example, I counsel patients, make over-the-counter medication recommendations, administer vaccines, and perform point-of-care blood glucose/blood pressure screenings.

What do you wish people knew about your job as a pharmacy intern?

I wish people knew what kind of academic training we have to go through to actually become a pharmacist. Most pharmacists nowadays are doctors of pharmacy. A lot of patients will start asking a question and preface it with, “I know you’re not a doctor, but … .” But I actually am a doctor! Or, I will be when I graduate!

How do you go above and beyond for customers?

I really care about my patients, and I treat them the way I would treat my family or how I would want a provider to treat them. Just the other day, we got a prescription for Paxlovid, an antiviral used to treat COVID that’s packaged in pill form, for a patient. But the patient is on a feeding tube and can’t take a pill through the tube. The drug’s insert information said it shouldn’t be chewed or crushed, so I knew I had to call the drug’s manufacturer to see how to put the pill through the feeding tube. I was on the phone for two hours, trying to get to who I needed to talk to. When I finally got the information—that it was okay to crush it for a feeding tube, that it was an off-label use—I had to call the patient’s doctor and home health aide to let them know and then fax them all this information the manufacturer had forwarded to me so they would have it for their records. 

How do you help your customers save money on their prescriptions?

I’ll do anything I can for patients to make their medications affordable. 

I had a customer who had a prescription for a blood thinner. The drug was going to cost more than $500, and I knew that was just not feasible for this patient. I worked with their doctor to see if they could be switched to another medication, but that one was going to cost $400. I directed the customer to the manufacturer’s website, but they told me they didn’t have access to the internet. 

I’ll do anything I can for patients to make their medications affordable.

I went to the website myself and got the customer signed up for an assistance program. The first month on the drug, they paid nothing. And now they pay just $10 a month. This person was almost on the brink of tears when they found out they had to pay only $10. Getting to see their appreciation really helps you feel good about yourself. 

What should patients know about saving money on prescriptions?

I think patients often think, “Oh, I have insurance. That’s the only thing that’ll work to help me save money on my prescriptions.” They don’t realize there are more opportunities out there such as discount cards, manufacturer copay coupons, and assistance programs. I had another patient come in and their copay for a drug was $120. We used a prescription discount card and they ended up paying only $23. 

How has the COVID pandemic impacted your pharmacy job?

We’re doing more vaccines now than ever. And I don’t just mean COVID vaccines. I’m talking the shingles vaccine and Tdap and other vaccines. 

It’s so much easier to go to your local pharmacy for these things than to schedule an appointment with your doctor. Pharmacists are some of the most accessible health care workers, and I think COVID has shown people how much we can do.

What does this nomination mean to you?

Having patients and coworkers who nominate you because you went out of your way for them, that makes me happy. It makes me happy that pharmacy workers are being recognized for their hard work and dedication.