Some people are born to help others, so it’s not surprising when they enter professions—doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers—to do just that. Pharmacists are part of this cohort. Like other health care professionals, they help people who are often in unpleasant situations or going through a difficult ordeal.
But then there are people who have a second gear–those who rush into a burning building when others are running away from it, people who leap into action when a customer loses consciousness in a restaurant or individuals who jump into a frozen lake to save a dog.
This month’s cover story salutes pharmacists who go above and beyond to provide lifesaving care or the extra mile to make sure their patients (or even strangers) get what they need in an emergency situation.
“Some pharmacists give of themselves quite literally, such as Kathleen Kirkland, a staff pharmacist at CVS in Kernersville, N.C., who donated a kidney to a patient who was in dire need of a transplant,” our reporter writes. Others step up in times of medical emergencies, such as David Kaiser, who administered CPR to a man who had passed out in his HomeTown Pharmacy parking lot in Hart, Mich.
This month we also recap our highly successful Inside Beauty & Wellness Forum, held in New York City in September. Packed with retailers, beauty brands, trend watchers and social media executives, the 2nd annual event focused on the intersection of beauty and wellness. It explored such topics as community, AI, women’s health, social media influence, misinformation and the importance of diversity–of customers, products and shopping.
Ali Kole, strategic advisor, Meridien Partners, pointed out that the beauty industry has gone through many eras. There was dominance when department stores ruled, followed by the democracy era with the emergence of Sephora and Ulta Beauty. That segued into the digital era. “Now we are in the diversity era,” she said. “There are so many ways customers learn about products and brands. It is no longer a linear path, and people are purchasing in many ways.”