PAM 2024 Interview with Sandeep Joshi

During Pharmacy Appreciation Month, we spoke with Sandeep Joshi, Designated Manager at CATP Brampton, to hear his perspective on how CATC’s integrated pharmacy services help support our patients on their recovery journey.

1. What motivated you to work in specialized pharmacy services for addiction treatment?

The utmost satisfaction that I feel when my patients achieve a stable life and are accepted well in society. They are out of all the vicious stigma that runs in the community. Now that’s motivation for us.

2. What’s the best part of your job?

Patient interaction is the most important part of my job. Understanding their problems and the difficulties they go through in their daily lives. Seeing the positive change in a patient’s behaviour, mindset and overall quality of life and knowing that my team and I played a vital role to these changes leads to the ultimate job satisfaction.

3. Why are integrated pharmacy services so important for patients with opioid use disorder?

Integrated pharmacy allows for seamless quality of care as well as assisting in compliance by the patients to achieve the best and most convenient treatment. It makes some of the hardest parts of treatment simpler.

4. What makes our patients unique, and how do you meet their needs in your daily work?

Our patients require a lot more compassion and reassurance. Everyone has bad days and doubts about medical treatment and their success rates. Our clients are more likely to have bad days than good due to the bias and stigma that runs in our society. At every step of the ladder our patients are reassured that MMT is the best path for them which would lead to achieve long term goals. They are reminded that we are here to help in any way possible to lead them in the right direction in their life.

5. If you had one message for people considering starting treatment for opioid use disorder, what would it be?

The best and the most simple advice, “Stick with it even though the treatment seems difficult. We are here to help”.

We hope you have a fantastic Pharmacy Appreciation Month!