Pharmacist Salary Thread

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40 hours per hour? whoever wrote that must be working for cvs
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crazybob said:
I'm thinking of a small retirement community with 15k people that is 15, 25, and 40 miles away from three cities with around 70k people each. So would that be good enough of a plan? Oh, and those three cities make up a well-known region of my home state.
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Sounds like Hot Spring Village Arkansas. Or Bella Vista
 
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Aznfarmerboi said:
Me too. It was one of those ultra easy classes.
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Pharmacology II and two semesters of medicinal chemistry for me. I got a "C" in the cakey OTC drugs class, though. The worst grade in the class, by far. Mostly because I never went to class...and attendance was part of the grade. I got a C in something called "Pharmacy as a Profession", too. Something I'm told wasn't thought to be possible. Like getting a 15 on the SAT or something.
 
StaviZFingerZ said:
Sounds like Hot Spring Village Arkansas. Or Bella Vista
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Yeah that's the one. I grew up in Fayetteville, so I'm used to that area. I'm sure it's changed quite a bit in 10 years or so. I might start going there when my P3 year starts if the northwest campus is up and running for pharmacy students.

Another advantage of going to school in Fayetteville would be to see my friends from elementary school. :thumbup:
 
My wife had a conversation with a co-worker of hers just yersterday. Her daughter is a P3 in Virginia and already has several job offers. She said the offers were coming in at about $118K per year with a $5K sign on bonus. If she was willing to relocate to an area of need the sign on bonus was $25-30K.

Just thought I'd pass it along.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Pharmacology II and two semesters of medicinal chemistry for me. I got a "C" in the cakey OTC drugs class, though. The worst grade in the class, by far. Mostly because I never went to class...and attendance was part of the grade. I got a C in something called "Pharmacy as a Profession", too. Something I'm told wasn't thought to be possible. Like getting a 15 on the SAT or something.
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C's earn PharmDs.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Pharmacology II and two semesters of medicinal chemistry for me. I got a "C" in the cakey OTC drugs class, though. The worst grade in the class, by far. Mostly because I never went to class...and attendance was part of the grade. I got a C in something called "Pharmacy as a Profession", too. Something I'm told wasn't thought to be possible. Like getting a 15 on the SAT or something.
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A lot of people do surprisingly well for not going to class. It's quite remarkable how they manage to beat everyone else on the curve while doing so too.
 
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I just got home from Target today (the one I worked at during the summer) and I was surprised that the pharmacist that I worked for before wasn't there anymore! I asked why and the tech told me that she was fired b/c the script count was too low. I remember the store being very slow but thats not her fault!!!! I cannot believe Target fired the pharmacy manager b/c the script count was too low. That tells you the "job security" these days. :rolleyes:
 
SHC1984 said:
I just got home from Target today (the one I worked at during the summer) and I was surprised that the pharmacist that I worked for before wasn't there anymore! I asked why and the tech told me that she was fired b/c the script count was too low. I remember the store being very slow but thats not her fault!!!! I cannot believe Target fired the pharmacy manager b/c the script count was too low. That tells you the "job security" these days. :rolleyes:
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Oh, yeah, they have all the reason to fire somebody especially when they see employee doesn"t bring any revenue to company.Employers only hire or keep those who can make money for them. Otherwise, the store will be closed and everybody get laid off. It does not matter if that 's the fault of pharmacist or not as long as the store is losing money , the rph will be fired for sure .
 
benjee said:
Oh, yeah, they have all the reason to fire somebody especially when they see employee doesn"t bring any revenue to company.Employers only hire or keep those who can make money for them. Otherwise, the store will be closed and everybody get laid off. It does not matter if that 's the fault of pharmacist or not as long as the store is losing money , the rph will be fired for sure .
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They hired a new pharmacist for almost two months now and the store is still SLOW. :rolleyes: Its doesn't matter who works there, if you have good location your store will be busy...if you have bad location your store will be slow period! Not to mention hiring another pharmacist is costing the store the same amount of money so they aren't gaining anything by doing this...so I just don't see the point of it. :rolleyes: A store thats in a bad location will never be busy. The only option is closing down the entire pharmacy.

I am so glad there is a mail order option for me! I do not want to be responsible for script counts in my store that I have no control over. Retail jobs are not secure at all. I hope mail order is at least a little bit better.
 
SHC1984 said:
They hired a new pharmacist for almost two months now and the store is still SLOW. :rolleyes: Its doesn't matter who works there, if you have good location your store will be busy...if you have bad location your store will be slow period! Not to mention hiring another pharmacist is costing the store the same amount of money so they aren't gaining anything by doing this...so I just don't see the point of it. :rolleyes: A store thats in a bad location will never be busy. The only option is closing down the entire pharmacy.

I am so glad there is a mail order option for me! I do not want to be responsible for script counts in my store that I have no control over. Retail jobs are not secure at all. I hope mail order is at least a little bit better.
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My boss is such a great parental figure at times... We had a conversation about Target not too long ago, and he basically said that the stability of pharmacy jobs associated with that company and grocery stores is something to seriously consider.

If you plan on going part-time or PRN, then it doesn't matter who you work for. But if your goal is to get some serious time with a company and eventually retire, then you need to put some consideration towards companies that are pharmacy-oriented.
Target is a department/big box/grocery store- with a pharmacy. It wouldn't take any time for them to cut the idea of a pharmacy out entirely. Sure, based on my research a while back, the company acknowledges that customers or "guests" who get prescriptions typically spend more on their shopping visits, but as soon as something more profitable (which may or may not even exist right now) comes about, then the pharmacy could get slashed and replaced by a doc-in-the-box or something else entirely.
 
wes011 said:
C's earn PharmDs.
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Well, it's one thing to get C's because you suck at taking tests, or you didn't bother to memorize normal values or something that you would normally look up in 2secs anyways. However it's important to keep in mind while your in school that if you screw up in "real life", you could kill someone. Esp. if you work in an area where physicians enjoy prescribing at 10x the lethal dose. :luck::p
 
SHC1984 said:
I just got home from Target today (the one I worked at during the summer) and I was surprised that the pharmacist that I worked for before wasn't there anymore! I asked why and the tech told me that she was fired b/c the script count was too low. I remember the store being very slow but thats not her fault!!!! I cannot believe Target fired the pharmacy manager b/c the script count was too low. That tells you the "job security" these days. :rolleyes:
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I don't believe that.

"I got fired because the script count was too low" is probably not a complete picture. Target has a lot of nit-picky metrics they follow you on. If someone failed to produce positive changes in these numbers despite "coaching" by upper-level types, in addition to poor script count, I can see that maybe being grounds for termination.

No one goes around telling people "I got fired because I'm an ineffective manager."
 
b*rizzle said:
I don't believe that.

"I got fired because the script count was too low" is probably not a complete picture. Target has a lot of nit-picky metrics they follow you on. If someone failed to produce positive changes in these numbers despite "coaching" by upper-level types, in addition to poor script count, I can see that maybe being grounds for termination.

No one goes around telling people "I got fired because I'm an ineffective manager."
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How can anyone produce positive changes in the amount of scripts they do??? No pharmacists have control in the number of people that come into their pharmacy everyday. Your business is based on your location. It doesn't matter who works, its the location of your pharmacy that attracts patients. If I need to pick up a RX, I usually go to the most convient pharmacy, I don't care who is working there...I just need to pick up my RX and go home. Who the pharmacist is does not matter. Even if Target warned her and said "your numbers are too low, you need to bring it up." What can she do about it? Use magic and make people come to her pharmacy? :laugh:

I am guessing that she got fired b/c they found someone that just graduated from pharmacy school and could work for a LOWER wage. They fired her b/c her wage was higher and they wanted to replace her with a pharmacist that just graduated from school and would settle for any low salary.
 
SHC1984 said:
How can anyone produce positive changes in the amount of scripts they do??? No pharmacists have control in the number of people that come into their pharmacy everyday. Your business is based on your location. It doesn't matter who works, its the location of your pharmacy that attracts patients. If I need to pick up a RX, I usually go to the most convient pharmacy, I don't care who is working there...I just need to pick up my RX and go home. Who the pharmacist is does not matter. Even if Target warned her and said "your numbers are too low, you need to bring it up." What can she do about it? Use magic and make people come to her pharmacy? :laugh:

I am guessing that she got fired b/c they found someone that just graduated from pharmacy school and could work for a LOWER wage. They fired her b/c her wage was higher and they wanted to replace her with a pharmacist that just graduated from school and would settle for any low salary.
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If it's not the manager's job to bring in more business, whose is it? This is a freakin business. All of my managers at restaurants, grocery stores, and other retail businesses were tasked with increasing sales.. why not in pharmacy?
 
type b pharmD said:
If it's not the manager's job to bring in more business, whose is it? This is a freakin business. All of my managers at restaurants, grocery stores, and other retail businesses were tasked with increasing sales.. why not in pharmacy?
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I just don't think a pharmacy manager has control over the number of scripts he or she does everyday. Its all based on luck and pharmacy location.

I personally would not want that kind of stress everyday...getting blamed for something thats based solely on LUCK alone is not a good sign of job security. LOL...I just want to work, go home and get paid 120k a year or better yet work from home. :laugh:
 
SHC1984 said:
I just don't think a pharmacy manager has control over the number of scripts he or she does everyday. Its all based on luck and pharmacy location.

I personally would not want that kind of stress everyday...getting blamed for something thats based solely on LUCK alone is not a good sign of job security. LOL...I just want to work, go home and get paid 120k a year or better yet work from home. :laugh:
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LUCK? How about customer service skills? I bet if that manager had helped and tried to make every single customers' pharmacy experience a great one, he would have had increasing sales numbers.
 
SHC1984 said:
How can anyone produce positive changes in the amount of scripts they do??? No pharmacists have control in the number of people that come into their pharmacy everyday. Your business is based on your location. It doesn't matter who works, its the location of your pharmacy that attracts patients. If I need to pick up a RX, I usually go to the most convient pharmacy, I don't care who is working there...I just need to pick up my RX and go home. Who the pharmacist is does not matter. Even if Target warned her and said "your numbers are too low, you need to bring it up." What can she do about it? Use magic and make people come to her pharmacy? :laugh:

I am guessing that she got fired b/c they found someone that just graduated from pharmacy school and could work for a LOWER wage. They fired her b/c her wage was higher and they wanted to replace her with a pharmacist that just graduated from school and would settle for any low salary.
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Go back and re-read my original post...including the part AFTER what you bolded and underlined. I am not talking about script count alone...I am talking about other metrics.These are things the Rx manager CAN control.
 
b*rizzle said:
Go back and re-read my original post...including the part AFTER what you bolded and underlined. I am not talking about script count alone...I am talking about other metrics.These are things the Rx manager CAN control.
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My bad. LOL...what are the other metrics used by Target? I have only worked there for 2 months in the summer so I am not aware of such metrics. Can you name them? thanks.

(five-minute challenge one of them? I think thats annoying and kind of useless! LOL..)
 
SHC1984 said:
My bad. LOL...what are the other metrics used by Target? I have only worked there for 2 months in the summer so I am not aware of such metrics. Can you name them? thanks.

(five-minute challenge one of them? I think thats annoying and kind of useless! LOL..)
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Things like partial fill rate, use of payroll hours, fill times, auto refill, how long it takes someone to wait on a patient at the register, risk compliance, etc....
 
I believe it was in the 80s that Target actually did close almost all of their instore pharmacies with the exception of a few stores in the Minneapolis market. From what I have heard all the pharmacists around the country were let go with almost little or no notice. I believe it was a recession then and pharmacy was a money loser for them at the time. It was a business decision. Later on they decided to reenter the pharmacy business. So yes, Target is definitely not a pharmacy driven company.
 
How many hours do you work a week and how much do you make each year after taxes?

just curious....
 
In Europe have a 'working time directive' which restricts hours to 48. However, can be opted out if necessary. Generally, most pharmacists work 9am - 5.30pm.
We do have pharmacies which a open 100 hours a week and these often have 14-16 hour shifts. Currently arguments over a pharmacist having a 'break' as european directive states must have 20 min break every six hours.
johnep
 
johnep34 said:
In Europe have a 'working time directive' which restricts hours to 48. However, can be opted out if necessary. Generally, most pharmacists work 9am - 5.30pm.
We do have pharmacies which a open 100 hours a week and these often have 14-16 hour shifts. Currently arguments over a pharmacist having a 'break' as european directive states must have 20 min break every six hours.
johnep
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Johnep, you are really informative. You are from UK right? How is it over there?
 
VerbalVibe said:
How many hours do you work a week and how much do you make each year after taxes?

just curious....
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I've heard from an R.Ph, MBA guy that you have to consider the mortgage payments, insurance payments, house and car payments, etc before noticing how much you actually bring home after your salary.
 
Pharmacy in UK is much the same as in US. However, generally wages are half those of US and house prices double. We have three bits of legislation following on from medical scandals that have finally decided me to quit next week:
1) Dispensing errors can result in a crinimal record.
2) We now have to sign on as 'responsible pharmacist' which means locums/reliefs have the responsibility but no power. Failure to sign on is a crinimal offense.
3) Continual Professional Development (CPD) has become mandatory but no time allowed or funding for the individual.

There is also the possibilty of remote supervision which is supposed to free the pharmacist to offer more clinical services. However, those services are unfunded at present. Remote supervision is seen by multiples as a way of cutting costs and by the govnmt as a means of driving down the dispensing fee.
johnep
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to make good money.

If the salary is what gives you motivation to succeed in a certain career field, and makes you strive to be the best you can be, then more power to ya. But you shouldn't do it if you don't enjoy it.

And to anyone who says they'd be a Pharmacist for $20K a year. I HIGHLY doubt that. You can be a Pharmacy Tech and make more than that.

I don't want to be filthy, millionaire rich. But I do want to live comfortably and have a nice house, car, and money to raise a family if I ever decide to. I mean, all this hard work should pay off in the form of money at some point, shouldn't it lol?
 
money is part of it. You should go into it if it looks like a perfect profession for you and you would love doing it also. But please when you say money is not part of it? you are kidding me.

If money is not part of it, why are you in school in the first place? it's all about survival.


You don't want to have 120k loan in debt and be making 10k/yr.
 
this thread became ridiculous very quickly. you're all kidding yourselves if you say wages had nothing to do with this career choice

as for the original q: i work at a VA hospital and it seems the low end of staff pharmacist pay is around $85k (great retirement, though), while the higher end of chain pharmacy is $120k.
 
SHC1984 said:
My fault, I must have misread your previous posts! :oops:
I am becoming more laid back myself...the more money you make the more stress you have. Pharmacy provides you with a fairly good salary. You will never be rich, but you will not be poor either...so I guess thats good enough. I think I prefer driving a less expensive car and having less stress in my life than the other way around! :laugh: Yeah, I would love to have every luxury in the world...but I come to realize that not everyone is that lucky in life..we all must just deal.

I hope you get into pharmacy school soon. keep me posted!
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Holy crap! I remember you and in ur "younger" days you did not have this kind of attitude at all! lol

I'm proud you have come around.
 
I know some entrepreneurial non-traditional types that make millions
 
While money certainly does not buy happiness, it does allow one to choose his/her own misery. Don't underestimate the importance of that :)
 
socalpharm86 said:
A bit of an extreme example there don't you think?

Anyone who chooses pharmacy as a pathway should already know they'll be adequately compensated. The difference between earning $50/h and $70/h shouldn't be a deal breaker if pharmacy is what you truly want to be doing.
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Your right, but I hope you realize that is the difference between 43,000 dollars in a year. 43,000 is an entry level salary for most jobs.
 
I've heard from some guy at school about a job offer for a pharmacist that was 186K. I don't know if anyone actually accepted it.
 
in retail? in hospital? I just want to get a general idea. Thank you!
 
BMBiology said:
in retail? in hospital? I just want to get a general idea. Thank you!
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For CVS, it depends on your metric. 5-6 percent raises were common. However for last year, raises were 0-2.5 percent due to economy/poor metrics. The raises at CVS depends heavily on how well you do on your metrics with a major focus on triple s scores, inventory management, GSR, and script budget.
 
Last year at a large retail chain other than CVS it was about a 2% increase. Raises have absolutely nothing to do with performance and everyone in the area gets the same increase.
 
The last two years have been just under 2% (hospital), which is the highest anyone is getting. On the upside, we're not laying anyone off though. I'm not complaining.
 
At the hospital i worked at, all pharmacy staff got around 2% base increase, i think they reserved an additional percent if you were considered meets or exceeds on performance metrics, even during 2008 and 2009. Pharmacy is still a hot field!
 
no raise this year. last year had <1% raise
 
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