I was just curious how many of you plan on going into retail pharmacy. For those of you who do plan to go this route, have you worked in a retail pharmacy before?

I was just curious how many of you plan on going into retail pharmacy. For those of you who do plan to go this route, have you worked in a retail pharmacy before?

I do, and yes.

I do, and yes.

ditto :)

I work in retail and I do not dislike it...but at the same time could not picture myself doing it day in and day out. I do think retail experience is important for any pharmacy student (or pharmacist) and that's why I'm working there. In the future, I would not rule out working part-time or PRN in a retail setting while working a more clinically oriented full time job. I also hope to work part-time in a retail setting while doing my residency for extra $.

Last year we had this class called intro to professional practice where all these pharmacists working in defferent areas come and tell us about their jobs. We had one retail guy who was real kickback, didn't complain about hostipal jobs at all. Then we could group all the others into the anti-retail camp. They all had a bit of complaining about retail. The funny thing is we had this lady around St Patricks day (I remember she was wearing these hideous green pants) who was complaning about retail about more than any of the others. She would go on and on about how she loved her anti-retail job. Then in the Q&A section or towards the end of her speech (I don't remember which) she brought up how she worked pool or part-time at Target. WHAT THE HELL!! You mean you love your job and hate retail so much, but you are still forced to work retail because the others won't pay you enough to pay for your lifestyle. What a freaking hypocrite.

Many of us would work hospital if it paid the same. It doesn't, to the tune of probably 10% or the cost of paying my mortgage. That is a big difference to make up when you have other costs of schooling to pay off. The hospital I am rotating at would be a nice gig to work at, but I don't know if I will want to give up that cash since retail doesn't seem like a bad place for me to go either at this point. I get tired of hearing about hospitals complain about open spots they can't fill. If you want to fill your spots, step up to the plate and pay what retail does, or at least pay something closer to retail. You would magically see the hospital spots all full.

And then retail would need guys so they would raise rates again to get them filled and we could all make more money. That would be a great for pharmacists bottom lines!

I would be considering to become a retail or a clinical pharmacist...

I was just curious how many of you plan on going into retail pharmacy. For those of you who do plan to go this route, have you worked in a retail pharmacy before?

i have 4+ yrs retail experience under my belt as a tech. [[ ===================== ]]
I had a pharmacist that quit while working. I was cussed at, harassed. Some guy rammed his car into the drive thru while we were working. My friend was held at gun point during a robbery for Prometh w/C and xanax. I've seen a pharmacist cried on the job [Dont' prejudge, you dont know the whole story!]. I was fussed at by 2 ladies on two separate occasions for not speaking their language, even though im bilingual. etc etc....That's just my experience.

It helps working retail if you are multi-lingual, strong emotionally and tough mentally.
Retail or not after graduation, BRING IT ON!

Working as a tech in retail pharmacy sucks, especially if you are the drive-thru person. I don't think I'd *mind* doing retail as a pharmacist though. I might work for an independent compounding pharmacy.

" i have 4+ yrs retail experience under my belt as a tech. i throw up each time before and after i come to work
I had a pharmacist that quit while working. I was cussed at, harassed. Some guy rammed his car into the drive thru while we were working. My friend was held at gun point during a robbery for Prometh w/C and xanax. I've seen a pharmacist cried on the job [Dont' prejudge, you dont know the whole story!]. I was fussed at by 2 ladies on two separate occasions for not speaking their language, even though im bilingual. etc etc....That's just my experience.

It helps working retail if you are multi-lingual, strong emotionally and tough mentally.
Retail or not after graduation, BRING IT ON! "

Sometimes I read posts like these, and I seriously question the integrity or intelligence of the authour. What person in their right mind would THROW UP before and after work every day and continue that for 4 years? Thats sadistic behaviour. If this is true, you are either over exaggerating things or need to switch careers asap. This might be a sign you aren't an effective people person.

hahah, that was funny, throwing up before work....

i think everyone needs to experience the retail setting and hospital setting. cxnsi is right that retail can be overburdening and stressful job. i think i quit my job like 30 times IN MY MIND, but i just kept quiet and worked it even through pharmacy school. i worked as a tech and a clerk for 3 years before going to pharmacy school, and i think there are pros and cons for retail, it just depends on the person and what they expect from a career in pharmacy. strange, how i still pursued a career in pharmacy only having and thinking that pharmacy=retail. now im on rotations, and i love hospital inpatient settings more than outpatient but i dont know if i want to spend another year for residency. an outpatient job looks easier very day especially now that its my 4th year and i have to decide soon on whether or not i want to do a residency.

i do think there are alot of cons to retail (more than pros) but its easy money, and alot of people only care for a paycheck.

i have 4+ yrs retail experience under my belt as a tech. i throw up each time before and after i come to work
I had a pharmacist that quit while working. I was cussed at, harassed. Some guy rammed his car into the drive thru while we were working. My friend was held at gun point during a robbery for Prometh w/C and xanax. I've seen a pharmacist cried on the job [Dont' prejudge, you dont know the whole story!]. I was fussed at by 2 ladies on two separate occasions for not speaking their language, even though im bilingual. etc etc....That's just my experience.

It helps working retail if you are multi-lingual, strong emotionally and tough mentally.
Retail or not after graduation, BRING IT ON!


Whoa! Where the heck do you work? I've only been working at a retail pharmacy for 3 months, but I've never seen anything or heard of anything like that yet. Do you work in the inner city or something? We usually get at least 1 person that's a jerk each day, but I've never seen anything that bad. Wow!

A lot of it has to do with your store and your co-workers. I enjoyed my first retail job because the people were fun to work with. During my internship this past summer, the techs pretty much hated me. I was guaranteed 40 hours, so the manager cut back the tech hours. The senior tech made up the schedule, so she usually put me in drive through. During the entire summer, I saw her working the cashier area twice.

Our pharmacy manager and another pharmacist both quit less than a month into my internship. We had no manager at all for a while, then they gave us a manager who was also a manager of another store. He split time between the two stores. I liked the remaining pharmacists. One of them got bad marks on his annual review because he spent too much time counseling patients. Too many prescriptions were taking over 15 minutes to fill when he was on duty.

Some of the customers would scream at you and make vague threats, but no one ever pulled a gun on me. One guy came close. He was in the drive through and then came inside because we filled his Oxycodone with the generic. He said that it was now our fault that his house will be foreclosed on because the brand drug wasn't ready on time. That's pretty much admitting that you are a drug dealer, but I couldn't do anything about it.

Anyway, I was going to be a retail pharmacist, but this last internship has made me think twice about it. I dreaded going to work every day and was counting the days until it was all over by the 2nd week.

I've just begun volunteering at the hospital I volunteer regularly at. There are actually two pharmacies, one designated as inpatient by the receptionists desk, and another at a separate medical building designated as outpatient. As another person has stated previously, the people you work with can literally make your experience a living hell, or very self satisfying. I'm lucky to lean more on the latter side because the pharmacists I work with are great people. The manager told me two jokes I'll share with you guys at the end of this post... But I was just curious to see how many people have volunteered/worked at a hospital OUTPATIENT setting. I'm not sure how much pay you'd command since you're still in the hospital, but the pharmacists I work with love their job because they still get the ability to personally interact with the doctors, and the customers are usually regulars that visit the hospital often, so they've developed a great sense of trust and rapport with all the patients. I might picture myself in a more hospital based setting in the future because of my prior experience in the E.R. Nothing really comes close to the immediate gratification of knowing you have made a difference (no matter how small) in someone's life. I'm just curious-- why is there such a great disparity between the pay roll of a pharmacist working in the hospital and the retail setting? Is it because of the funding of hospitals? I don't figure that could be the case if they are willingly shelling out $300,000 for an anesthesiologist or a dermatologist. Is this the work of unions of some sort? I'm really curious as to why this is the case and I'd like more people to elaborate about why they'd prefer retail or non-retail. Thanks :D.

Here are some jokes(sort of) from one of the pharmacists I work with--

We are in the pharmacy and the conversation takes a turn to what is ethical, moral and just and so the pharmacist turns to me and he asks:
What is the difference between illegal and unlawful?
One is a sick eagle, and the other is against the law.

The pharmacist is telling me this joke as he is filling prescriptions:
Throughout my entire life I've learned that there aren't many things you can count on. Over the course of working in the pharmacy for 32 years now, my wife has left me, my dog has left me, my children won't speak to me, and I have even lost my car and my house once too. (At this point he stops and looks at me and he lifts up his pill tray w/ the meds.) And you know what? I've realized that the only thing I could ever count on, was my pill counter.

Cheesy. I know. But I figured I'd like to share them anyway, since it was something memorable from my second day in the pharmacy.

The pharmacist is telling me this joke as he is filling prescriptions:
Throughout my entire life I've learned that there aren't many things you can count on. Over the course of working in the pharmacy for 32 years now, my wife has left me, my dog has left me, my children won't speak to me, and I have even lost my car and my house once too. (At this point he stops and looks at me and he lifts up his pill tray w/ the meds.) And you know what? I've realized that the only thing I could ever count on, was my pill counter.

Cheesy. I know. But I figured I'd like to share them anyway, since it was something memorable from my second day in the pharmacy.

Haha! That's great. I like his attitude.

Sometimes I read posts like these, and I seriously question the integrity or intelligence of the authour. What person in their right mind would THROW UP before and after work every day and continue that for 4 years? Thats sadistic behaviour. If this is true, you are either over exaggerating things or need to switch careers asap. This might be a sign you aren't an effective people person.
http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/buddyicons/376a.gif
can't take a joke, buddy? what person in his/her right mind would keep working at a job that gives him/her so much headache. Get a clue!
..integrity and intelligence? You dont deserve anymore reponses from me...
Go sit in the corner!
YOU <-http://www.myemailemoticons.com/drop_down/bad_boys/bad_boys_15.gif
know what that is? that's me throwing up on your face!

Whoa! Where the heck do you work? I've only been working at a retail pharmacy for 3 months, but I've never seen anything or heard of anything like that yet. Do you work in the inner city or something? We usually get at least 1 person that's a jerk each day, but I've never seen anything that bad. Wow!


Let's get this straight once and for all :). I don't throw up before/after work. That was just a joke. But everything else is true.

To answer your questions, I work down south in Texas. It really depends on your area/neighborhood. In my area, there are a lot of minorities (im a minority myself) that don't speak english. And the majority of them are on medicaid or other state/federal aid program. The demographic is terrible; their earning is dismal; their education level is low.
;)

http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/buddyicons/376a.gif
can't take a joke, buddy? what person in his/her right mind would keep working at a job that gives him/her so much headache. Get a clue!
..integrity and intelligence? You dont deserve anymore reponses from me...
Go sit in the corner!
YOU <-http://www.myemailemoticons.com/drop_down/bad_boys/bad_boys_15.gif
know what that is? that's me throwing up on your face!There is no need to attack another user for calling your bluff. That does tend to happen when you choose to mess around and say ridiculous things.

http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/buddyicons/376a.gif
can't take a joke, buddy? what person in his/her right mind would keep working at a job that gives him/her so much headache. Get a clue!
..integrity and intelligence? You dont deserve anymore reponses from me...
Go sit in the corner!
YOU <-http://www.myemailemoticons.com/drop_down/bad_boys/bad_boys_15.gif
know what that is? that's me throwing up on your face!

I have a minor in sarcasm and cheeky humor. I didn't get the joke, either.

please don't take any offense to this...but is it wrong not to use some common sense? Obviously, vomiting for 4 straight years is over-exaggeration; if some of you really believed her, don't you think she would've been dead by now? (And to those few people who's going to say that there are actually people who survived by vomiting for 4 straight years...sigh...).

and for cxnsi, you must really work in a tough neighborhood. In my area, if there is a robbery in any place, about 10 police cars will surround the area in a heartbeat. My neighborhood is that safe, but very very vulnerable to stingy people who keeps asking for a refill in a pharmacy.

please don't take any offense to this...but is it wrong not to use some common sense? Obviously, vomiting for 4 straight years is over-exaggeration; if some of you really believed her, don't you think she would've been dead by now? (And to those few people who's going to say that there are actually people who survived by vomiting for 4 straight years...sigh...).
a

Then tell me how people manage to be bulimic for a decade-plus and survive.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a good joke here and there, but this just wasn't funny. In context of the rest of the story, I don't think it's unreasonable that people missed the humor in it, or perceived it as an exaggeration.

okay, okay, so there ARE some people who actually survives after decades of vomiting.

And yeah, i agree, her comments were unnecessary, but i really think she didn't mean that as joke that we should all be laughing about. she's just using that comparison to show it's that hard working in a pharmacy in her area, not where we live. But hey, at least she still wants to continue to become a pharmacist even if she has to deal w/ those petty situations.

What kind of ridiculous joke was that? I think the mature "hey i'm puking on your face LOLOLOL" might be a sign why you have such awesome encounters with the customers.

What kind of ridiculous joke was that? I think the mature "hey i'm puking on your face LOLOLOL" might be a sign why you have such awesome encounters with the customers.
:laugh:

I worked as a retail tech/intern for 7 years before my current job as a hospital tech/intern for the past 2 years. I. Hate. Hospital. Pharmacy. I am glad I have the experience and feel like I can make a more educated decision, plus the pay is good and the job is very low stress. As in too low. My brain is slowly atrophying from the mind-numbing work I do. Staff pharmacists at my hospital seem to do barely more intense work than the techs. I am giving a very slight consideration to clinical.

I want to see my patients. There is very little extrinsic reward as a staff pharmacist in a hospital. I'll take the retail stress with the retail rewards.

There is no need to attack another user for calling your bluff. That does tend to happen when you choose to mess around and say ridiculous things.
dat's alrite
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a good joke here and there, but this just wasn't funny. In context of the rest of the story, I don't think it's unreasonable that people missed the humor in it, or perceived it as an exaggeration.
dat's alrite, too
What kind of ridiculous joke was that? I think the mature "hey i'm puking on your face LOLOLOL" might be a sign why you have such awesome encounters with the customers.
okay, yeah.

I hope this will settle everything once and for all.1st i want to appologise to the thread starter for jacking his/her thread (im not the only guilty party). The subject has taken a u-turn. Forget the "joke", you guys are blowing this out of proportion. I tried to tell my experience to the thread starter and you guys jumped on that puking example? ££ Oh look, cxnsi is a n00b in the forum, she has less than 10 posts, why dont we just pick on her ££. There was no need for me to get ugly, but if that was the impression that y'all got, then i don't know what else to say

The hardest retail place I have found to work is in a store frequented by rich trophy wives. They all want special treatment, everything now, and throw frigging temper tantrums at the drop of a hat. I worked in the inner city for awhile, but my store was never robbed while I was there. Patients were happy to be treated well, as many of them just got shafted in every other interaction they had. I think as long as you learn to negotiate your patient's behavior and not take their flaws personally, you'll do fine anywhere.

I think as long as you learn to negotiate your patient's behavior and not take their flaws personally, you'll do fine anywhere.
And to all a good night :D

The hardest retail place I have found to work is in a store frequented by rich trophy wives. They all want special treatment, everything now, and throw frigging temper tantrums at the drop of a hat. I worked in the inner city for awhile, but my store was never robbed while I was there. Patients were happy to be treated well, as many of them just got shafted in every other interaction they had. I think as long as you learn to negotiate your patient's behavior and not take their flaws personally, you'll do fine anywhere.

That's my store in a nutshell :laugh: It's smack-dab in one of the wealthiest communities in the Piedmont area. What's even funnier is that when their husbands come in, they're the most mild-mannered, polite, and pleasant people ever. It makes you wonder, but I'm sure there's an explanation. ;)

But we have a lot of well-mannered patients as well, so we just laugh about the afore-mentioned temper tantrums.

I just started working in a retail pharmacy recently. I'm really fortunate that the pharmacists, lead pharm tech, and pharm techs themselves work hard, know how to get along, and know how to laugh after dealing w/tough situations. It's really a team effort behind that counter that allows a pharmacy to run smoothly! :)