Cvs Interning Learning curve?

[bluebunny876]

Hey guys,
So accepted an internship opportunity at the local CVS and i knew it would be not the greatest due to classmates who were past techs, as well as my 1 IPPE rotation which was a nightmare. Anyways, i applied cause i wanted to start with the hardest/disliked pharmacy job (for me, atleast) to see if i had the guns to be a retail pharmacist in the near future- lets face it, everyone says their not going to go into retail and they do right?

Ive been working for a month now and i feel like im learning extreemly slowly. I still slow the team down, i haven't learned Drop off yet/typing and it has taken me this long to just be the backup QP person. I get scolded by my PIC like all the time, and half the time im confused. Ive never worked in retail, its like none of the stuff we learned in our first year (clinical stuff) counts unless you consult, which is hard to draw on the information when ur deep in QP land, and having your boss tell you ur an idiot basically.

Anyways. Just wondering if any of you have had similar experiences. I pretty much hate it 80% of days, i feel like an absolute ******. I want to know if the learning curve is really that bad for some? how long did it take people to pick it all up? and/or should i just get out and explore other pharm options? Im thinking of working during school just to do it... just to learn but im afraid it will be just as bad as an experience.

I appreciate any input/advice

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[SClENCE]

After about a month I was up to par on QP/drive through/pick-up. Took about another month or two before I could go solo at drop off as we do fill 300+ scripts in a day... the actual entry of drug/sig is easy to learn, it's just the the insurance takes some experience. Some of the more "advanced" inventory management I didn't learn until later because the inventory specialist always took care of it.

Some people catch on quick, the slow learners usually become the designated cash register slaves. You need to show that you can work efficiently and solve problems on your own otherwise you will end up being nothing more than a cashier.

 

[pillpharmer14]

I had nearly the same experience after my first year of school and absolutely hated it. You're technically an intern but haven't really learned enough in school to do "intern stuff". Your PIC shouldn't be scolding you for being slow and yeah it's gonna take some time before you pick it all up. You have to keep in mind that the PIC is worried about his numbers and pretty much all of them are improved by speed. They probably also don't have a lot of extra time to train you so it's gonna be rough until you get it figured out.

 

[bluebunny876]

Sigh. I am pretty much a cashier slave. Anyways thanks for the input!
Im about to give up on this..

 

[trailerpark]

CVS isn't worth it. I never did retail before and did my first rotation with CVS which was an absolute nightmare. The culture there is horrendous. No one wants to properly train you because they're so damn miserable and there's so much Stockholm Syndrome in the air that you can feel your soul being slowly strangled. I was nervous as heck getting a job with Walmart, but the onboarding was amazing with them. I had A TON of training modules to do, but they have a separate back room with a bunch of training computers and I was paid my hourly wage and could come in and do them at my leisure. I took good notes and had them all finished before I even stepped foot in the pharmacy and felt I had a great grasp on standard operating procedures before I even started. A positive learning environment makes all the difference and I enjoyed going to work and everyone was helpful and now I feel extremely competent at my job. I feel like floaters get a lot of flack on here, but I think I work a lot harder than most of the staff pharmacists I work with.

 

[Son_Goku]

I had nearly the same experience after my first year of school and absolutely hated it. You're technically an intern but haven't really learned enough in school to do "intern stuff". Your PIC shouldn't be scolding you for being slow and yeah it's gonna take some time before you pick it all up. You have to keep in mind that the PIC is worried about his numbers and pretty much all of them are improved by speed. They probably also don't have a lot of extra time to train you so it's gonna be rough until you get it figured out.

Pretty much this. With no prior experience, don't expect to be taking transfers and voicemails until you've had at least 3 months under your belt.

 

[alprazolamborghini]

I was an intern at cvs at my p1 year. I absolutely hated my store. It is totally not worth it. I hated every second being in there. Although I was able to handle drop off within 1 month, flood of customers everyday gave me so much stress. You should not expect proper training. Yea they throw you some modules every week and expect to learn everything. CVS is not worth it my friend. I now work in hospital and it is 100000000000000x better.

 

[bluebunny876]

thats exactly how i feel. This cvs i work at however, the staff is pretty tight and its only a nightmare when i work with the PIC. I appreciate her though, cause she takes the time to tell me to do new **** (transfer ins, outs, phone in scripts, check in orders) so i can learn and she gives me full hours, which i heard for some, dont get any hours cause the last thing a store wants is to teach a new person. It just is a really unsatisfying experience cause she kinda tells me to do stuff. i say "i dont know how" and teaches me once. I do it once (takes a while). the QP goes red. she switches me to pick up.

She tells me, "if you dont know how dont do it and ask, its better to train you correctly" I tell her i dont know how to do something/I want to do it right, next thing you know, shes telling me "you dont know how to send a fax?" Asks me, make a copy of this. I ask, a copy? shes like, "you look at me like youve never made a copy before" Im like..... she tells me its a transfer. Im like ok yes. She tells me i need to get used to pharmacy language. In my head im like.. IVE NEVER WORKED IN RETAIL. GIVE ME A BREAK. just tell me its a transfer in.

The first week i actually tried to answer customer questions that called in to learn/help the staff. took me way to long to do it, and she told me i wasnt trained in the system so i had to put all the calls on hold for other staff members. That pisses all the staff members off especially at drop off. STILL i am not "trained" to do it. So, i pass off phone calls= pissed off staff= unsatisfying work day. working 35 hours/week = unsatisfying all week

Basically.. its a nightmare. i feel bad for the staff that works with me. i feel bad overall. I feel like my life is a joke, and my life as a learning pharmacist is a joke.

Rant over. sorry guys. it just rips me up sometimes. (all the time)

 

[Son_Goku]

How old are you OP? You might just need to man-up. Though I admit, having a PIC that is a female is guaranteed to make your life miserable if it's your first time in retail.

CVS... this is the only pharmacy chain that refers to transfers as "copy".

 

[bluebunny876]

Pretty much this. With no prior experience, don't expect to be taking transfers and voicemails until you've had at least 3 months under your belt.

Im getting like the crash course. she has me do them while i do my ****ty QPing

 

[Sine Cura]

Your PIC shouldn't be too hard on you in the beginning especially if the Rx sup (not usually the PIC's choice in my experience) wants an intern at that store. I am 100% sure your PIC was a snail at all workstations in whatever pharmacy whenever he/she started working. It's all about repetition on the job because on-boarding is pretty horrible at CVS. Learn from your mistakes but it shouldn't take 5 of the same mistake to learn from it.

 

[bluebunny876]

How old are you OP? You might just need to man-up. Though I admit, having a PIC that is a female is guaranteed to make your life miserable if it's your first time in retail.

CVS... this is the only pharmacy chain that refers to transfers as "copy".

im 24. I probably need a thicker skin.. and as for manning up, i try to go the extra mile but my knowledge in everything limits me.. everyone so busy too i hate asking people questions.

 

[pillpharmer14]

thats exactly how i feel. This cvs i work at however, the staff is pretty tight and its only a nightmare when i work with the PIC. I appreciate her though, cause she takes the time to tell me to do new **** (transfer ins, outs, phone in scripts, check in orders) so i can learn and she gives me full hours, which i heard for some, dont get any hours cause the last thing a store wants is to teach a new person. It just is a really unsatisfying experience cause she kinda tells me to do stuff. i say "i dont know how" and teaches me once. I do it once (takes a while). the QP goes red. she switches me to pick up.

She tells me, "if you dont know how dont do it and ask, its better to train you correctly" I tell her i dont know how to do something/I want to do it right, next thing you know, shes telling me "you dont know how to send a fax?" Asks me, make a copy of this. I ask, a copy? shes like, "you look at me like youve never made a copy before" Im like..... she tells me its a transfer. Im like ok yes. She tells me i need to get used to pharmacy language. In my head im like.. IVE NEVER WORKED IN RETAIL. GIVE ME A BREAK. just tell me its a transfer in.

The first week i actually tried to answer customer questions that called in to learn/help the staff. took me way to long to do it, and she told me i wasnt trained in the system so i had to put all the calls on hold for other staff members. That pisses all the staff members off especially at drop off. STILL i am not "trained" to do it. So, i pass off phone calls= pissed off staff= unsatisfying work day. working 35 hours/week = unsatisfying all week

Basically.. its a nightmare. i feel bad for the staff that works with me. i feel bad overall. I feel like my life is a joke, and my life as a learning pharmacist is a joke.

Rant over. sorry guys. it just rips me up sometimes. (all the time)

This happens all day everyday at CVS stores across the country so don't beat yourself up about it. It sounds like you're making an effort to learn and working hard and that's all you can do. A lot of people struggle with seeing other's perspective. If your technicians/PIC think it's simple to look up a profile and send an RX request to a different doctor than originally prescribed (random example of a task), then they have likely forgotten at one time they had no idea how to do it. Therefore, a task that you deem difficult they deem simple and that's the reason for the detriment towards you. Bottom line that most people are terrible at training because they have a hard time remember what it was like to know nothing. It's not your fault and it WILL get better. Just stick with it.

 

[SClENCE]

Thing are going well for me at CVS and I still plan on quitting. It's just a really crappy job.

 

[Old Timer]

Hey guys,
So accepted an internship opportunity at the local CVS and i knew it would be not the greatest due to classmates who were past techs, as well as my 1 IPPE rotation which was a nightmare.

Why was your IPPE a nightmare?

Anyways, i applied cause i wanted to start with the hardest/disliked pharmacy job (for me, atleast) to see if i had the guns to be a retail pharmacist in the near future- lets face it, everyone says their not going to go into retail and they do right?

You can't tell if you'll like or be a good retail pharmacist unless you have been a good tech for a long time. You need to master the tasks you have been assigned. Can you run the register? If not, stay at the register until you master it. Then go to production, You learn the drugs, dosage forms, strengths so when you get to drop off you will know the drugs and you will progress faster there.

Ive been working for a month now and i feel like im learning extreemly slowly. I still slow the team down, i haven't learned Drop off yet/typing and it has taken me this long to just be the backup QP person. I get scolded by my PIC like all the time, and half the time im confused. Ive never worked in retail, its like none of the stuff we learned in our first year (clinical stuff) counts unless you consult, which is hard to draw on the information when ur deep in QP land, and having your boss tell you ur an idiot basically.

This job does is not brain surgery. You print the label, get the drugs, scan the drugs, count the drugs, label the bottle, hand to the pharmacist and return the bottle to the shelf. There should be no confusion. You may not know where certain drugs are kept, but this is a simple set of tasks to master. If you can't master them, you will not succeed as a pharmacist in any practice setting. Being slow is one thing, but being inaccurate is another. Your PIC should never scold you. He/she is there to teach you. The first thing I would do is quickly learn where every single item is kept in that store and learn to get them fast. Note the drugs you are printing and get the drugs while the labels print.

Anyways. Just wondering if any of you have had similar experiences. I pretty much hate it 80% of days, i feel like an absolute ******. I want to know if the learning curve is really that bad for some? how long did it take people to pick it all up? and/or should i just get out and explore other pharm options? Im thinking of working during school just to do it... just to learn but im afraid it will be just as bad as an experience.

I appreciate any input/advice

You got into college and into pharmacy school. You passed the first year of pharmacy school. You need to break down your job the same way you break down material when you study for an exam. You can't possibly judge what the pharmacist is going through until you master your job and you can see what he/she is doing.