Role of the director of pharmacy: the first four months

Specific goals and tasks that should be addressed during a pharmacy director's first four months of employment are reviewed. Individuals must prepare themselves for the director's role, find the right job, and negotiate an acceptable benefits package. During the first two months as director of pharmacy, an individual should primarily work on gathering facts and assessing the department's operations without making many changes. Interrelationships within the hospital should be studied, and many pharmacy and hospital documents should be reviewed so that the director has an understanding of past history. The director should interview all employees of the department and work as a staff pharmacist for one to two days in each area. During the third and fourth months, the new director will need to determine the extent of authority, develop working relationships with key individuals, assess the pharmacy-management team, develop a data-collection system, learn the processes for making changes, and consolidate authority. A major document, containing a departmental-operations analysis, statement of philosophy, goals, and approach to goal completion, should be the culmination of the four months. The director of pharmacy must meld professional, administrative, and financial activities; the final determinant of success will be the director's ability to implement and follow through with proposed changes.