American Pharmacists Month: Frank Kessler Reflects on Decades of Work in Community Pharmacy

In celebration of American Pharmacists Month, Pharmacy Times® conducted an interview with Frank Kessler, a pharmacist in Memphis, Tennessee who has helped community members lead healthier lives for 46 years and counting. Kessler began his career at his family's independent drug store in 1941, and transitioned to Walmart in 1993.

Throughout the discussion, Kessler recounts the tremendous change that has occurred since he began his pharmacy journey and exudes his enthusiasm for the industry and people that have shaped his life.

Frank Kessler at his Walmart pharmacy in Memphis, TN. | Image Credit: © Nichole Alfonso

Pharmacy Times®: Can you introduce yourself?

Frank Kessler: My name is Frank Kessler. I'm a Walmart pharmacist. I’ve been with Walmart for over 33 years, almost 34. I've been a pharmacist for over 46 years. My father was a pharmacist, my 2 brothers are pharmacists; my dad had a drug store, and we were raised in that drug store. Before I came to Walmart, I worked 13 years as a pharmacist for him. And of course, before that, I was the maintenance guy and everything else for him; doing the cleaning, changing the light bulbs, all that sort of thing. When they wanted to retire, I came to Walmart. I applied for a job and got a job with Walmart, and I’ve been with Walmart since…January 30th of ‘91 was my first day.

Pharmacy Times: How did you get started with pharmacy?

Kessler: Well, my dad was a pharmacist, and I grew up watching him do it and helping him in any way that I could, and just standing back and watching. I thought, after listening to him—because I was the sales clerk out there and [was] listening to him make recommendations and talk to people, I thought, “I think I could do this.” So that kind of inspired me to do it. And in fact, his older brother was a pharmacist, and they had a drug store that started in 1941. Gradually, it progressed to where the brother passed away unexpectedly, and then it was left on my dad and he had to be the captain of the ship for the rest of the time. We had 2 stores; we closed the last one in May of ’92, and I would work over there, and then over at Walmart. When I first began, I was part-time. I would work at Walmart on my days off. So, I was working every day of the week and getting to know things. It’s very interesting. But I had a young family, and I needed to work; I needed a job. So, I got with Walmart. I was very lucky that they needed me, and it's all turned out very well.

Pharmacy Times: How have you seen the profession change over your career?

Kessler: I have seen it go from, as far as technology, from typewriters and bait stamp machines, and manual records being kept, to, when the computers came in about 1985, we had our first computer, and it made things so much easier. Of course, at Walmart, they'd had one; when I came to Walmart, they already had computers up and all that. The software's gotten better. The pharmacists have gotten, of course, more knowledgeable about clinical things. Now that every school around here, and maybe every school in the United States, is graduating students with a PharmD degree, they're more clinically trained than we were and can handle different situations that [are] really worthy of their educations.

Just very recently, Walmart started doing immunizations. They said, “Well, if you could just do 1 shot a week, we'd be happy.” It kind of got into that, and then we were doing maybe 1 a week, maybe none, and it just has built [since then]. Now, we do all kinds of immunizations, and it's pretty good. I really enjoy that. I enjoy talking to people and telling them what they need and what I think they should get, and if they have any doubts, they can talk to their doctor and things like that. But it's pretty good. Of course, the test and treat thing is out now, and we're adding more things all the time. We'll soon be doing different kinds of testing and, it’s just very interesting. These kids coming out with PharmD degrees are going to be more comfortable doing things than they would have been when I came out, when I started with Walmart, over 33 years ago.

Frank Kessler at work at his Walmart pharmacy in Memphis. | Image Credit: © Nichole Alfonso

Pharmacy Times: What is the most rewarding part of pharmacy for you?

Kessler: Helping people, without a doubt. If you don't like to help people, you're in the wrong business. Talking to them, establishing a relationship with them, and gaining their trust, really, and being honest with them. I’m going to be honest with them. I'm not going to try to tell them something that's not true. I don't believe in that, and I'm not going to push something that I don't think is good for them. But gaining their trust is a great thing. It makes you feel good. You help them with their decisions about health care. Once you do that, once you gain their trust, pharmacists—they have always been among the most-trusted professions—but once you gain their trust, they start asking you about all kinds of things.

I mean, I've had these older, widowed ladies come in many years ago, and they would ask me about all kinds of things. I've had people ask me what kind of fertilizer I think they ought to use on their yard. I've even had these older sisters come back several years ago; they didn't understand light bulbs, and they didn't understand these lumens and all this. They sat down, and they wanted me to explain it to them, and I did; in fact, I even went over there and got the light bulbs for them and brought it to them, what I thought they needed. You get all kinds of questions, and people trust you, and they show you letters from companies like, “What do you think I'll do about this?” It’s very rewarding.

Especially with immunizations, too. With people my age—I'm 70—people my age, or a little younger, a little older, I can relate to them. I take great pride in relating to them and having a special kind of relationship with them and kind of keeping an eye on them. A lot of people tend to not pay attention to their health, and they think that “Aw, I can do without that.” I convince them to get what I think they ought to get and just help take care of them. And I really, really enjoy being in that role.

Pharmacy Times: What is the value of the pharmacist to you personally and to the overall health care system?

Kessler: I think the pharmacist is a valued member of the health care team and of the community. They’re very accessible. There's one practically on every corner. We’ve been allowed to do more things, like the immunizations, the test-and-treat, different kinds of testing, and probably more on the way. It's just good to use our educations and be helpful to the community and take the load off the rest of the health care system, really. People have asked me, you know, they tell me what their symptoms are and ask, “You think I ought to go to the doctor?” I'll say, well, yes, or no, whatever. Or they'll tell me their symptoms, and I say, “Yeah, I think you really do need to go to the doctor. You don't think you need to, but I think you should. You need to get that down. You need to take care of that, get that looked at.” And I think it's very good. We're gaining more and more stature in the health care community because of these things.

Frank Kessler at his Walmart pharmacy counter in Memphis, TN. | Image Credit: © Nichole Alfonso

Pharmacy Times: With their roles growing, what is the importance of pharmacists for patients and the community?

Kessler: To be very accessible health care professionals. Someone that a person doesn’t have to have an appointment to come see. They can just come up here during business hours and talk to us, and we can counsel on different things. I mean, all kinds of different things. Vitamins, first aid, gastrointestinal issues, all kinds of things. It's very good for them, they don't have to make an appointment and wait to see a physician. I mean, they call us on the phone and ask us all kinds of questions; it's very rewarding that to be able to serve that type of purpose for the community.

Pharmacy Times: How are you celebrating American Pharmacists Month this year?

Kessler: Well, I'm going to personally thank each and every pharmacist and technician that comes in here and thank them for doing a great job. I really am.

Pharmacy Times: Is there anything else that you'd like to add?

Kessler: It's a very rewarding profession, and it’s worth doing. I think we serve a valuable purpose for the community. I'm a community pharmacist at heart and I love that. It wouldn’t be the same if I were in a hospital or a clinical setting. I just like having access to the people, and the people having access to me, and in an informal-type situation, just being able to talk. They want to hear the truth. They want to be able to talk to me and put their trust in me. And I think that's a great responsibility. I think it's really a good thing. I'm really happy with that.