Ambulatory Care vs. Inpatient Care

[dreambig67]

Have you ever considered the two? What made you decide between the two? Any experiences? Pros/Cons?

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[gwarm01]

Ambulatory care will usually have better hours, work fewer holidays and weekends. Inpatient is typically seen as more prestigious, but, honestly, there's no real prestige in pharmacy.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

I have worked both and think it was useful to start inpatient to get that exposure before transitioning to ambulatory.

I really enjoy ambulatory from clinical and lifestyle perspectives. I work Monday to Friday, no weekends/holidays, flexible start/end times, office (I see patients in my office or in an exam), independence and direct working relationship with nurses and providers.

I have no dispensing duties, the nurses and providers use me solely as a consultant pharmacy provider. It really is a great working relationship, but it can get hectic. Nurses and providers stop by all day or message with questions or referrals to see patients. I enjoy the work and like the challenge. I see 100% undeserved population with complicated psychosocial dynamics and often working with our social workers and peer support folks.

I will say of you don't enjoy diabetes then stay away from family/internal medicine ambulatory care pharmacy. Most of my collaborative mgmt is for dm and htn but also growing number of copd, asthma, chf and gout.

You will also likely be responsible for regular educational talks or updates to clinical staff, pharmacy talk sessions at pt groups, precept in pharmacy students and depending on your clinic, also medical residents and students. I do some pharmacy education with our medical students and residents who rotate through.

I enjoy going to work most everyday, I have no plans on leaving ambulatory care, I enjoy the work and the time it allows me away from work

 

[Wheresmyaricept]

I have worked both and think it was useful to start inpatient to get that exposure before transitioning to ambulatory.

I really enjoy ambulatory from clinical and lifestyle perspectives. I work Monday to Friday, no weekends/holidays, flexible start/end times, office (I see patients in my office or in an exam), independence and direct working relationship with nurses and providers.

I have no dispensing duties, the nurses and providers use me solely as a consultant pharmacy provider. It really is a great working relationship, but it can get hectic. Nurses and providers stop by all day or message with questions or referrals to see patients. I enjoy the work and like the challenge. I see 100% undeserved population with complicated psychosocial dynamics and often working with our social workers and peer support folks.

I will say of you don't enjoy diabetes then stay away from family/internal medicine ambulatory care pharmacy. Most of my collaborative mgmt is for dm and htn but also growing number of copd, asthma, chf and gout.

You will also likely be responsible for regular educational talks or updates to clinical staff, pharmacy talk sessions at pt groups, precept in pharmacy students and depending on your clinic, also medical residents and students. I do some pharmacy education with our medical students and residents who rotate through.

I enjoy going to work most everyday, I have no plans on leaving ambulatory care, I enjoy the work and the time it allows me away from work

How did you find this unicorn job??

 

[Dalteparin]

Have you ever considered the two? What made you decide between the two? Any experiences? Pros/Cons?

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If you're an introvert, you will hate amb care. In amb care, you'll deal with patients all day long which is extremely draining for an introvert. In hospital, you can still have patient interaction, but it won't be nearly the same scale as amb care. In some hospital jobs, such as overnights, you might never deal with patients.

 

[farmadiazepine]

Do you like retail vs. hospital? That's all this really boils down to.

 

[farmadiazepine]

^ May be an ignorant way to think about it, but like most of of pharmacy falls into these 2 categories.

 

[confettiflyer]

Inpatient fast. Am care slow. Me like fast.

 

[Silvermist]

I have to disagree with some of the above. At my institution, amb care pharmacists are on a higher pay scale than inpatient pharmacists ... and there is nothing "retail" about the amb care, it's completely separate from the retail component of my hospital.

Similar to the other pharmacist above, I agree amb care does tend to get a lot of consult request from physicians and nurses alike.

I really disagree with the statement that you will hate amb care if you are an introvert. I am very much an introvert, and I absolutely love amb care. I see my patients in small doses, and then when they go away I have plenty of alone time to put on my headphones and write up my notes in peace. So I think it suits me quite well as an introvert.

 

[Dalteparin]

I really disagree with the statement that you will hate amb care if you are an introvert. I am very much an introvert, and I absolutely love amb care. I see my patients in small doses, and then when they go away I have plenty of alone time to put on my headphones and write up my notes in peace. So I think it suits me quite well as an introvert.

Interesting. My am care rotations (APPE and residency) were just one patient after another, all day long, with maybe 5 minutes in between to dash off a note. This introvert just could not deal.

 

[MyRealNameIs]

Interesting. My am care rotations (APPE and residency) were just one patient after another, all day long, with maybe 5 minutes in between to dash off a note. This introvert just could not deal.

Like anything, it depends on your job and location.

Even retail can be enjoyable in some areas I heard

 

[W19]

Ambulatory care will usually have better hours, work fewer holidays and weekends. Inpatient is typically seen as more prestigious, but, honestly, there's no real prestige in pharmacy.

Based on my experience, I think hospital (in-patient) pharmacy is VERY prestigious. Hospital staffs (nurses, RT etc..) know you are high up in the healthcare hierarchy based on education and salary... In fact, I had a few of my nurse coworkers who were actively trying to go out with pharmacists because of prestige/money...

 

[Trent Steele]

Based on my experience, I think hospital (in-patient) pharmacy is VERY prestigious. Hospital staffs (nurses, RT etc..) know you are high up in the healthcare hierarchy based on education and salary... In fact, I had a few of my nurse coworkers who were actively trying to go out with pharmacists because of prestige/money...

Honestly by time nurses get up to 6-7 yrs experience and admin role they are salary on par with pharmacist anyway so that sounds fake to me

 

[W19]

Honestly by time nurses get up to 6-7 yrs experience and admin role they are salary on par with pharmacist anyway so that sounds fake to me

How many nurses will get to admin role? Not many. Not trolling!

 

[dreambig67]

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If you're an introvert, you will hate amb care. In amb care, you'll deal with patients all day long which is extremely draining for an introvert. In hospital, you can still have patient interaction, but it won't be nearly the same scale as amb care. In some hospital jobs, such as overnights, you might never deal with patients.

I'm not an extrovert, but still very much enjoy patient interaction. That is one of the reasons for my interest in amb care.

 

[dreambig67]

I have worked both and think it was useful to start inpatient to get that exposure before transitioning to ambulatory.

I really enjoy ambulatory from clinical and lifestyle perspectives. I work Monday to Friday, no weekends/holidays, flexible start/end times, office (I see patients in my office or in an exam), independence and direct working relationship with nurses and providers.

I have no dispensing duties, the nurses and providers use me solely as a consultant pharmacy provider. It really is a great working relationship, but it can get hectic. Nurses and providers stop by all day or message with questions or referrals to see patients. I enjoy the work and like the challenge. I see 100% undeserved population with complicated psychosocial dynamics and often working with our social workers and peer support folks.

I will say of you don't enjoy diabetes then stay away from family/internal medicine ambulatory care pharmacy. Most of my collaborative mgmt is for dm and htn but also growing number of copd, asthma, chf and gout.

You will also likely be responsible for regular educational talks or updates to clinical staff, pharmacy talk sessions at pt groups, precept in pharmacy students and depending on your clinic, also medical residents and students. I do some pharmacy education with our medical students and residents who rotate through.

I enjoy going to work most everyday, I have no plans on leaving ambulatory care, I enjoy the work and the time it allows me away from work

Thank you!

 

[dreambig67]

Do you like retail vs. hospital? That's all this really boils down to.

Amb care is outpatient, but vastly different than community pharmacy. I love inpatient, but may miss a bit of that patient interaction aspect.