Do All Pharmacists Have the Same Personality?

Pharmacists are not popular on TV. No hit series features the secret life of a pharmacist fighting crime. Perhaps the closest TV personality resembling a pharmacist is Walter White from “Breaking Bad,” but that’s not a great portrayal of our profession.

We’re not glamorous like physicians, and we aren’t honorable like nurses. Instead, we are type-casted as the boring pharmacist behind the counter.

If a TV show had a pharmacist as the main character, what would be his or her personality?

I once believed that the majority of pharmacists were type-A, anal-retentive, detailed-oriented, and grade-obsessed. Do you think all pharmacists have this personality?

Recently, I created the quiz “What Medication Personality Are You?” with the premise to determine what your personality would be if you were a medication.

The possible results were:

Testosterone: Leads without regrets

St. John’s wort: Interacts with everything

Synthroid: Supports a stable lifestyle

Warfarin: Ensures 100% accuracy

For those of you who have taken personality assessments before, this quiz was based on the DISC model:

Dominant (testosterone): Person places emphasis on accomplishing results. The bottom line is confidence.

Influential (St. John’s wort): Person places emphasis on influencing or persuading others.

Steadiness (Synthroid): Person places emphasis on cooperation, sincerity, and dependability.

Conscientious (warfarin): Person places emphasis on quality and accuracy, expertise, and competency.

More than 2000 pharmacy professionals completed the quiz. Here’s a summary of the major findings:

· The majority (36%) were Synthroid (Steadiness).

· 30% were warfarin (Conscientious).

· Only 12% were St. John’s wort (Influential).

Each question in this 10-question quiz asked participants to select one quality out of 4 that “best describes you.” Among individual questions, here are a few of the most common qualities:

· Loyal (50%)

· Enjoys routine (46%)

· Detailed-oriented (42%)

· Perfectionist (39%)

· Analytical (36%)

Personality exams help us better understand how to communicate and work as a team. A St. John’s wort type will be persuasive when asking a coworker to perform a task, while a testosterone type will say something like “You need to do this now.”

When we understand the personality types of our coworkers, we have a better understanding of how to communicate and what motivates each person.

Can you guess your coworkers’ personality types? Send them this article to find out!

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