Communication Skills for Pharmacists.

Bruce Berger's Communication Skills for Pharmacists is an important addition to the available texts on pharmacy communications and patient counseling. This clearly written text details the reasons why good pharmacy care and patient relationships are essential to the future of the profession. While the book will be extremely useful in the classroom to help students develop good patient, personal, and professional relationships, it is also a must read for every practicing pharmacist who is concerned about the future of pharmacy. The cases and examples in the text are gleaned from interactions with pharmacists locally, regionally, and nationally. 
 
Overall, the book's 15 chapters provide the basis for developing the communication skills needed by pharmacists to deliver pharmacy (pharmaceutical) care and provides practical advice on building relationships between the pharmacists, patients, and physicians. The first chapter of this text may be the most important section of the book. Here, Dr. Berger effectively makes the case for caring enough about patients to change the way one practices pharmacy. The author suggests that through caring and developing relationships with patients, pharmacists will find the motivation to continue on into the text to learn the skills necessary to provide excellent patient care. This chapter challenges each pharmacist, present or future, to examine the kind of patient care that is the current standard, then to identify motivations and barriers to providing ideal pharmacy care, then to take personal responsibility for moving the profession forward. 
 
Subsequent chapters discuss: the need for relationships and why these relationships are essential to the provision of pharmacy care; the need to see our patients as people; listening and responding appropriately; nonverbal communication; effective patient counseling; supportive communication; managing conflict; persuasion and assertiveness. This all around guide to effective counseling features useful tips and suggestions for improving patient care through effective communication, and questions for reflection are provided at the end of each chapter. Each chapter has a succinct summary, questions for reflection, and references. 
 
This book has several key strengths. First, and perhaps most important, is the text's forward-looking perspective on pharmacy care. However, the book does not just present this philosophy; it provides evidence to the reader that this perspective is vital to taking good care of patients and the future of pharmacy. The second major strength is the large number of practical examples and cases presented as learning examples. Communication Skills for Pharmacists does not just present the skills needed; it also provides the theory and background for why these skills are important. This provides a solid foundation for pharmacists who need to understand these important theoretical concepts. This understanding will assist the reader in evaluating each skill, and incorporating these skills into their practice of pharmacy. There is a good balance between the discussion of the background theories and practice-related issues. 
 
Another important strength is that the text provides a method by which pharmacists can slowly begin to take small steps toward changing their own practices. The book suggests and encourages pharmacists to identify one or a small number of patients, provide excellent pharmacy care, then document, communicate, and bill for the services provided. A web site enumerating the experiences of others doing just that is provided. 
 
The only weakness in this text is that the examples do not focus enough on the need for, and skills to enable, pharmacists to practice efficiently. Time is a major barrier and more attention may need to be focused in this area. Future pharmacists will need to handle both the day-to-day dispensing functions as well as the advanced concepts of pharmacy care; thus, efficient use of time in the patient encounter will be essential. While this may not be the focus of this text, it is a practical issue that needs to be addressed. 
 
This book is well organized and easy to read. It is full of examples and motivation to improve one's communication skills. It will be extremely useful to pharmacy students and practitioners alike. Implementation of the concepts in this book will benefit patients and the pharmacy practitioners who care for them.

Field of study: Education, Medicine