Giovanni
Calderon
3/22/14
Discourse Community
Abstract
This assignment had me investigate a discourse community so that I could have
a better understanding of it. John Swales, a linguistic professor, developed a theory
that a discourse community can only qualify as a discourse community if it meets six
requirements. In order for myself to fully understand what makes up a discourse
community, I will observe my workplace and interview a technician to see if Walgreens
Pharmacy qualifies as a discourse community. If proved so, I then must dig deeper and
see if the requirements work together to help the group reach their shared goals.
The six requirements, according to Swales, are that a discourse community
has a set of goals in common, mechanisms of communication amongst those in it,
uses those mechanisms for information and feedback, has community specific
genres, unique lexis and a set of levels ranging from expert to novice. In order for
me to determine whether my workplace is a discourse community or not, I needed
to pay close attention to what exactly was going on during my work hours.
First, I looked around and asked around to see just exactly what kind of goals
my co-workers had. It was a Monday so it was pretty busy, but in between
customers, I found the time to confront and question each of my co-workers. It
seemed pretty unanimous. Just about everyone answered the same answer, “I’m
here to get paid.” Sure a few people beat around the bush for a little while saying,
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Calderon
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“Oh well I’ve always wanted to help people” or, “I’ve always been interested in the
health field” but they would eventually finish it with “But really I’m just here to
make money.” Though, the evidence was pretty strong, there seemed to be a little
more to it. Yes, they were all there to get paid, but what do they have to do to get
paid? They have to work. Work which in their case is filling prescriptions, correcting
any errors that may occur, providing any answers to any questions a patient may
have, all while trying to fill in as little time possible so that it is convenient for the
patient. So are there shared goals? I ‘d say so. Check off requirement one.
Next, I looked to see if there was any sort of mechanism used for
communication amongst myself and the workers. And there most definitely was. It’s
called Intercom Plus. It’s a software program that we have installed on all the
computers. It allows us to scan in prescriptions, type them in, send them over to the
Pharmacist for review, send the reviewed prescriptions over to the filling
technicians to be filled, then finally back to the pharmacist for the final review. It’s
like a big line of people passing on information to each other as if it were a bucket of
water being passed along to fill up a large container. There’s also a lot more that
Intercom Plus allows us to do. We can write notes on any prescriptions for other
technicians to see, we can put any sort of exceptions (an exception is a problem that
is not allowing for the prescription to be filled such as there is no signature on the
hard copy of the prescription or the insurance is not covering the medication)
prescriptions to let the other workers there is a certain problem with that certain
prescription, and we keep connected with any of the workers who are out on the
floor meaning the workers who work in the actual Walgreens store and no the
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Calderon
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pharmacy. There is actually a whole lot more we can do with Intercom Plus, but the
list would be a book. So I’ll just end it with this; requirement two, check.
Next, I was supposed to see if my co-working technicians and myself use our
mechanism, Intercom Plus, as means for information and feedback, but it seems I
unknowingly explained that in my previous paragraph, so I’ll just say yes. My coworkers and myself use our mechanism as means for information and feedback.
As for the genres used, there are many. Intercom Plus is like the internet for
Walgreens, there are many different parts that work together to make one big useful
tool. First, there’s Store-net which is the mainly used by those who work out on the
floor (floor meaning the actual store). It’s used for training, keeping inventory, new
applications etc. Then there’s the Work Que which is only used by the pharmacy. It’s
used for patient information, prescription information and pretty much everything
else we would need in the Pharmacy. Then there’s Pharmacy Management which is
used to keep up with orders and shipments of many different medications and other
aspects that is only the Pharmacist’s concern. There are several others to go into,
but again I’m writing an essay not an encyclopedia. Requirement number four,
check.
Now on to lexis. Lexis meaning it’s own form of language, which the
pharmacy definitely has. First, there are SIG codes which are medical abbreviations
for certain words and directions. A good example would be the directions on a
prescription, “TK 1 TAB PO QD” which means “Take one tablet by mouth every day.”
There are many different abbreviations that us Pharmacy Technicians have to learn
how to use but it helps make the work we do a little easier. There are also codes we
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Calderon
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use whenever we need something done throughout the pharmacy. For example,
whenever there’s a prescription that has been typed but not yet reviewed by the
pharmacist we would tell the pharmacist, “Can I get an F4 for so and so” which is
asking him to review the prescription for a certain patient so that it can be filled.
Another example would be when the pharmacist needs to have a consultation with a
patient, he would put a CAP on it. Once the patient arrives to pick up the
prescription, we would tell him, “I have a CAP on so and so.” The pharmacist would
then speak with the patient on whatever it is he needed to speak to them about.
Though, a good amount of the codes we use are mainly between the pharmacist and
the technician, there are indeed lexis that are unique to our work place. Check off
requirement number five.
Finally, there’s the distinction between levels of expertise which is an
absolute given. First, you have me, the new tech….or at least newer tech. I’ve only
been working at Walgreens for about 7 months now which may seem like a while
but there are techs who have been there for at least a couple of years which are my
next example. After about a few years, you really get the full swing of how to be a
technician at Walgreens. Next, there are the Senior Techs. After about a year of
working, you are able to apply to be a Senior Tech. They handle the majority of the
insurance calling and difficult paper work that the lower grade techs are still unable
to do. Then comes the Pharmacist. After about 6 to 8 years of Pharmacy school, here
they are counseling patients, taking prescriptions from doctors, and correcting all
the errors us technicians make. Finally, there’s the highest position in the pharmacy,
The Pharmacy Manager. They are in charge of making orders for any out-of-stock
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Calderon
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medications, keeping track of performances in the pharmacy, making sure all
technicians are certified, and keeping track of how well the pharmacy is running.
From New Technician to Pharmacy Manager, I’d say there is an obvious distinction
between the levels of expertise in the pharmacy. Final requirement, met.
As for the interview, I chose to interview one of the more experienced techs,
Norma Lujan. Though not a Senior Tech, she has been there for about 20 years. I
first asked her if she felt that everyone working there had the same goals as
everyone else. She responded, “Well seeing how much we have to do and how
demanding this job is, I’d say we’re all just here for the money.” I then proceeded to
ask if she felt that our way of communicating through the pharmacy is unique to our
job field. She said, “Oh definitely. Everyone who has worked in a pharmacy knows
that we all have our own way of letting each other know what needs to be done,
whether it be SIG codes or shouting out codes to the pharmacist.” Needless to say,
the rest of the interview only strengthened the idea that my workplace is definitely
a discourse community.
Looking at just how the last five requirements work, I see a recurring pattern
in them. They all indeed work together to help all of the technicians reach their
goals. Intercom Plus helps maintain a steady workflow that makes it easier for the
technicians to do their jobs. It also allows for the technicians to communicate while
working and attain any information needed for the prescription or if the patient has
any questions. All the other parts of intercom plus, Store Net, The Work Que,
Pharmacy Management all come together to help Intercom Plus function properly.
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Calderon
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The SIG codes and other codes we have allow for communication amongst the
workplace to help speed up the filling process. The different levels of expertise allow
for those who are less experienced do the simple tasks while the more experienced
techs perform the more tedious tasks thus maximizing efficiency. It all explains why
Swales structured his 6 requirements the way he did. He not only defined what
makes a discourse community but he also defined what makes a fully functional,
productive discourse community. So Walgreens Pharmacy is not just a discourse
community, it’s a fully functional , productive discourse community.