Pharmacy manager Misty Collier Farr got the opportunity to open a new pharmacy when the Walmart store opened last year in Florissant. Previously she managed the pharmacy at its Chesterfield location. Collier Farr was also a regional immunization champion for the company, training pharmacists in implementing immunizations at Missouri Walmart locations.
“I like having the opportunity to walk along people’s health journey with them,” Collier Farr said. “Working to help them improve their health journey – that makes it worth getting up and going to the pharmacy every day.”
Collier Farr moved to the St. Louis area after graduation from her high school in rural Arkansas to attend the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
“It kind of eased the tension of being homesick when I actually had family here,” she said.
Perhaps it was her Arkansas roots that attracted her to her home state’s homegrown low-cost retail store behemoth.
“I did an internship at Walmart. I was their student intern starting in 2007, and they actually hired me on as a pharmacist once I graduated,” Collier Farr said.
“It’s been great. I work with a lot of great pharmacists. They’ve taught me a lot, personally both personal skills – being nice to the customers and treating them the way you want to be treated (which was the way I was raised).”
She said it has opened her eyes to many different opportunities, and she has been encouraged to strive to move up in the company if there is something she wants to do.
The pharmacist / patient dynamic has been great, she said. In addition, in many ways, those invisible communication barriers that may exist with doctors or other health professionals and their patients do not exist for people who want to talk about their medication.
“Some of the patients have even been like family to me,” she said, “always coming in and smiling, chit-chatting, asking me about my husband, kids and the family. If I look like I’m not feeling well, they ask me how I’m doing or if there is anything they can do.”
Moreover – from the friendly neighborhood pharmacist, customers get free professional advice –with no copay.
“There are a lot of patients that take medicine just because someone told them to, whether it’s the doctor, a commercial they see on TV, a friend that told them to take it for a specific condition,” Collier Farr said. “They’re just taking it. They don’t understand why they are taking it.”
She said that is especially true with prescription medications.
“I have a lot of patients who come in and want refills on their medication, and they will say, ‘Well, I need the little pink one,’ or ‘I need the blue one,’ or ‘the oblong white one.’ A lot of times, they don’t even know the names – they just need the red pill, the white pill, the purple pill, or whatever color,” she said.
“A lot of times, as pharmacists, we have to step back and take the time to re-educate them on what they are taking – and why. Most of the times they leave appreciative and more knowledgeable about their disease state and their medication.”
Collier Farr is a member of the Missouri Pharmacy Association, where she serves on both the Legislative and Professional Affairs Committee, and a member of the Minority Women Pharmacist Association. She is on the Strategic Planning Committee of St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
She volunteers at the Missionaries of Charity and at community health fairs. She is involved in a number of women’s organizations: the St. Louis Chapter of Top Ladies of Distinction; Knights of Peter Claver Ladies’ Auxiliary, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange Court 343(the largest historically African-American Catholic lay organization in the U.S); Knights of Columbus Ladies’ Auxiliary; and League of Black Women.
She is also active in the “Red Shoe Movement,” a grassroots movement of women supporting women for career success.
“A lot of times, as pharmacists, we have to step back and take the time to re-educate them on what they are taking – and why.” – Misty Collier Farr
