Recently, my girl started bragging about an Elle article stating pharmacists were among those deemed "most good-looking medical professionals" in America. To begin with, I was sort of prideful in that I was dating a soon-to-be pharmacist. Later on, I started thinking if I was really dating her because of the good looks aspect. The next day it so happened that my close friend told me how he met a girl and he liked her and she told him she was a pharmacy student. He asked me about how it was dating a pharmacy student or soon-to-be pharmacist. That question brought me back to my earlier thoughts about why I was dating my girlfriend. So -- why do I like her? Why do I date her?
1. She’s a listener.
She spends most of her day dealing with patients and their complaints or questions about the medications their respective doctors have prescribed. She’s attentive, she listens, she remembers. So, yes, go ahead and say deep stuff about yourself, tell her about your past, your day, whatever. She’ll listen to every bit of it.
2. Go head, fart. Belch. She won't care.
No, anatomy class and gross anatomy class are not for doctors only. Pharmacy schools all require anatomy and physiology. So I can happily fart in front of her. Or even tell her what my poop looks like, it won’t bother her. She’s studied it all.
3. Her ambition and drive is contagious.
She didn't go into pharmacy if she didn't think she could survive it. She pushes herself. She drives to excel. Having spent countless all-nighters studying all sorts of medications and compounds and chemical-metrics, she wants to pass pharmacy school. And that fuels her ambition. When you talk to her, you'll see it. When she tells you she can't go out or meet up that day, you'll live it. And you'll take on that same drive and ambition.
4. She's a drug dealer.
If you didn’t know what pharmacists do or what pharmacy students learn, they are drug dealers. Literally. Therefore she will have the best drug dealer jokes ever. Ever need a conversation starter? How about, "Hey guys, I'm dating a drug dealer". Definitely make yourself stand out with that one statement. So, yes, you are dating a drug dealer who is probably making close to, or exactly, six-figures -- legally.
5. I'm dating a doctor without a doctor's schedule.
When she graduates pharmacy school, her degree will be Doctorate of Pharmacy or PharmD for short. She deals with patients, medications and makes six figures. Just without the hectic schedule of a medical doctor.
6. She improved my social skills.
Her profession involves talking to patients, insurance companies, doctors and other medical professionals. She went through six years of college having to present at seminars and socialize among the galas and receptions held for the professional years. She knows how to work the room, she knows how to socialize. And guaranteed she will improve your social skills being with her.
7. She worked hard to get through pharmacy school. She’ll work for the relationship.
US News wrote in a May 2016 article that pharmacy schools are tougher and more rigorous academically than 90 percent of the medical schools in the country. That being said, for my girl -- or any pharmacy student, for that matter -- to have gotten into the program and made it this far, she must have studied and worked really hard. Likewise you can guarantee that they will work just as hard for the relationship. They’re dedicated, and in the immortal words of DJ Khaled, “You’re loyal”.8. It's never boring with her.
Pharmacy school is no joke; rigorously and academically it is intense and draining. When she’s with you, she’s wants to be away from school. She wants to explore the world, be free. She wants an adventure. For me, we've explored the streets of the Upper East Side at 3 a.m. and the sands of the Hamptons at 8 a.m. in the same day.
9. She knows what it means to have an adult schedule.
She understands a busy schedule. She understands an even more busy work life. She comes from working rotations and clinical with random hours of the night in the 24-hour pharmacy of the hospital or retail stores. She understands when you don't reply back immediately. She understands when you raincheck a date. She understands.10. She’s the sweatpants kind of drug dealer.
Yes, her degree is a doctorate. She is a doctor of pharmacy. She understands all the medical jargon and attended seminars in pharmacy school, and dressed and addressed professionally. But if you ask her what she wants to wear to work, it will always be sweatpants. It won't matter of her societal status or impressing a boss, she will always want to wear sweatpants to the pharmacy. Nine out of 10, chances are, she wore sweatpants to class all six years of classes, too.
11. She's a grown-up.
In two more years she'll have received her degree and be well on her way to paying back loans, making plans for the future and how she wants to move forward in her career. She doesn't have time to waste with idiots who don't know what they want or don't want to commit. She wants someone to grow with. And it just so happened, she got stuck with me.
Overall, I'd say to my friend there's not much difference in dating a pharmacist than dating any other person. I believe everyone has similar reasons for why they are in their respective relationships. But I will say this: Need someone that can joke around with you at 2 a.m. while exploring Times Square in PJs? Need someone who knows about the periodic table of medications and say their names while belching? Date a pharmacist.
