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My name is Dr. Christina Bekhit PHARM-D and you have never met a pharmacist like me. I don’t usually like to talk about myself or boast about my abilities, but I don’t think like a normal pharmacist, and I talk way too much.

I didn’t start my career working at pharmacy like most students would, I started working at Sears in the electronics department. Do you remember Sears, I’m not even sure it exists anymore… I loved talking to people and I sold them tv’s, cameras, camcorders. I built relationships, people often came back to show me pictures they took with their cameras or came back with family members because I price matched and got them the best deal, without them even asking.

I carried that same empathy, after I graduated pharmacy school from the Arnold and Marie Schwartz college of Pharmacy in May of 2009. I worked for retail chain pharmacies for half of my career, and a private mom and pop pharmacy for the rest. My empathy continued as I often paid out of pocket for people who couldn’t afford their medications, until something changed, COVID.

It changed me as a person, and it changed the lives of my patients. There was a fear… a fear of going out, shaking peoples’ hands. Employees were given N95 masks, face shield gloves, everything we could need to feel safe at work. Multiple times I worked completely alone. The staff took two weeks off because a friend of a friend got COVID. I worked drop off, filling, answering phones, pickup and I was even the delivery man too, for two weeks,more than once.

The burn out and exhaustion and frustration were overcoming me. I channeled my energy into learning new skills that involved drug safety, reading countless books, taking online courses, and my soul has been refreshed.I am so excited for the future, only amazing things await me.