Pharmacy??

[mdm227]

Is any one recently graduated from MCPHS Worcester Campus.
I would like to know how your experience was in those 2 year and 10 months.
What can you see in relate to those negative comments about the school?
Are those negative comments even true?

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[gwarm01]

Pharmacy?? Nahh.

 

[yongli]

Pharmacy?? Nahh.

Why would you say that? I've been admitted to pharmacy school this Fall. But reading all the comments from SDN made me reconsider it. Since you are a pharmacist, can you share your thoughts on that?

 

[gwarm01]

Why would you say that? I've been admitted to pharmacy school this Fall. But reading all the comments from SDN made me reconsider it. Since you are a pharmacist, can you share your thoughts on that?

I was just joking about the silly thread title, but there are serious issues to consider before pursuing this career. Stagnating pay, reduced job opportunities, ridiculous tuition, oversupply of new graduates. Yadda yadda yadda, you've heard it all before.

 

[trailerpark]

Walmart just cut pharmacist benefit pay again this year...


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[PAtoPharm]

Walmart just cut pharmacist benefit pay again this year...


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what were the cuts, if you don't mind me asking? I was thinking of getting an intern position with Wal-Mart when I start pharmacy school in the fall.

 

[trailerpark]

They ended Sunday premium. In 2015 I got $1,000 in Sunday premium so on my next paycheck I get 50% of that or 500 in my paycheck as severance for Sunday premium and then it's gone forever. Basically a 1k pay cut...


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[PAtoPharm]

They ended Sunday premium. In 2015 I got $1,000 in Sunday premium so on my next paycheck I get 50% of that or 500 in my paycheck as severance for Sunday premium and then it's gone forever. Basically a 1k pay cut...


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That sucks... so WM used to offer around $30-$50 worth of extra payment to work a Sunday? And now, it's just considered as working any other day? If that's the case, do you know if that policy is being implemented nationally (I.e., at every WM location)? The reason I ask is because it seems like there are always at least 4-6 open positions for staff pharmacists & managers to work at the local WMs in my area, so I wasn't sure if they were still offering the Sunday premium in less saturated areas.

BTW, didn't they recently make another change to how they pay general OT?

 

[Sine Cura]

Pharmacists (hourly at least) used to get $50 for every Sunday worked. This ended April 2 (at least in my area, northern California), as I can confirm I got $100 for 2 Sundays for the March 19-April 1 pay period and I got the lump sump payout for the loss of Sunday premium for the most recent pay period (April 2-April 15). You were supposed to acknowledge this change on your latest PASS form.

This change is similar to the elimination of Sunday pay for all hourly employees (that aren't hourly pharmacists), which was $1/hour for old-timers (hired before 2011) to compensate for increasing the hourly wage floor across the whole company, except that elimination of $1/hour occurred February 20. I went over this with my old-timer direct reports.

 

[PAtoPharm]

Pharmacists (hourly at least) used to get $50 for every Sunday worked. This ended April 2 (at least in my area, northern California), as I can confirm I got $100 for 2 Sundays for the March 19-April 1 pay period and I got the lump sump payout for the loss of Sunday premium for the most recent pay period (April 2-April 15). You were supposed to acknowledge this change on your latest PASS form.

This change is similar to the elimination of Sunday pay for all hourly employees (that aren't hourly pharmacists), which was $1/hour for old-timers (hired before 2011) to compensate for increasing the hourly wage floor across the whole company, except that elimination of $1/hour occurred February 20. I went over this with my old-timer direct reports.

Thanks for the info. So is the elimination of the Sunday premium a direct consequence of the oversupply? Or is that dumb question...

 

[Caffeine QAM]

Since you are a pharmacist, can you share your thoughts on that?

Many pharmacists have already expounded on the current state and direction of the pharmacy job marketplace within the forums. Most people are saying the same things over and over about how things worsen year after year, so there should be nothing surprising if you've been keeping up with the forums.

 

[trailerpark]

Yes it's nationwide and I'm not in a saturated area. And just so know Walmart is forcing everyone into salary so no more time and a half for OT.


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[PAtoPharm]

Yes it's nationwide and I'm not in a saturated area. And just so know Walmart is forcing everyone into salary so no more time and a half for OT.


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That sucks, especially since I've always heard that Walmart is the best retail company to work for as a pharmacist. Do you have any recommendations on other companies to work for, or is Walmart still probably the best retail employer? My area also has locations for Publix, Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie, Sam's Club, CVS (no thanks), Walgreens (eh?), Rite Aid (not for long?), a couple K-Marts, and Piggly Wiggly (ghetto supermarket chain with locations primarily throughout the southeast). Have pretty much all the chains nixed paying OT, shift differentials (e.g., Sunday premium), etc. as Walmart has done? Or is there another chain (not CVS) that you'd advise working for over Walmart?

The reason I ask is because I'm trying to figure out which company I'd like to work for as an intern, with the goal of doing whatever I can to secure a future Rph position with that company upon graduation.

Thanks....

 

[Caffeine QAM]

That sucks, especially since I've always heard that Walmart is the best retail company to work for as a pharmacist. Do you have any recommendations on other companies to work for, or is Walmart still probably the best retail employer? My area also has locations for Publix, Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie, Sam's Club, CVS (no thanks), Walgreens (eh?), Rite Aid (not for long?), a couple K-Marts, and Piggly Wiggly (ghetto supermarket chain with locations primarily throughout the southeast). Have pretty much all the chains nixed paying OT, shift differentials (e.g., Sunday premium), etc. as Walmart has done? Or is there another chain (not CVS) that you'd advise working for over Walmart?

The reason I ask is because I'm trying to figure out which company I'd like to work for as an intern, with the goal of doing whatever I can to secure a future Rph position with that company upon graduation.

Thanks....

I've heard that Costco is the best retail company to work for.

 

[Sine Cura]

At Walmart you don't get any PTO cashed out if you are salaried, unlike CVS. Walmart also takes mandatory counseling more seriously (it is explicitly built into the workflow) so if you don't like counseling on refills flagged as "new" because the "new" Rx is filled early or late relative to the last fill date, that's another thing to consider.

In California, with pharmacists being hourly you are at a disadvantage in scheduling working for Walmart because the Walmart workweek starts on Saturday 12:00 AM (why is a good question, as no one seems to comment on this), so what would be 5 and 5 in a given pay period with the workweek starting Sunday would be 4 and 6 (a big no-no for hourly associates), so if you work Saturday and Sunday you have to take two weekdays off.

 

[trailerpark]

At Walmart if you work the weekend you get Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday off.


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[Sine Cura]

That is entirely at the discretion of the market scheduler

 

[PAtoPharm]

I've heard that Costco is the best retail company to work for.

People in my town have been begging Costco for 5+ years to put a location here, but it doesn't seem like they have any plans to. Even with their recent cutbacks, do you think Walmart would be the best company to work for?

 

[PAtoPharm]

At Walmart if you work the weekend you get Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday off.


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If you tried to work every weekend, would you actually end up finishing the year having worked fewer days for the same salary (assuming you're salaried and not hourly)?

 

[PAtoPharm]

At Walmart you don't get any PTO cashed out if you are salaried, unlike CVS. Walmart also takes mandatory counseling more seriously (it is explicitly built into the workflow) so if you don't like counseling on refills flagged as "new" because the "new" Rx is filled early or late relative to the last fill date, that's another thing to consider.

In California, with pharmacists being hourly you are at a disadvantage in scheduling working for Walmart because the Walmart workweek starts on Saturday 12:00 AM (why is a good question, as no one seems to comment on this), so what would be 5 and 5 in a given pay period with the workweek starting Sunday would be 4 and 6 (a big no-no for hourly associates), so if you work Saturday and Sunday you have to take two weekdays off.

I live in the southeast, so from what I've heard, Walmart has switched their pharmacists to 100% salary. I guess I'm down to either Walmart, Publix, or Bi-Lo since there isn't a Costco or Kroger here.

 

[Caffeine QAM]

Even with their recent cutbacks, do you think Walmart would be the best company to work for?

No idea...I honestly don't know much about Wal-Mart. A friend and past-coworker of mine who worked at a stressful independent is now very happy at a Wal-Mart at a remote town in northern California (close to Oregon). Someone who's worked at Wal-Mart would be able to answer better.

Personally, if I was going to work in a retail setting, I would aim for non-"chain" outpatient pharmcies like Kaiser or VA where there are more likely to be opportunities to be involved in stuff outside of dispensing. Plus the pay and benefits are much better - at least for Kaiser compared to Wal-Mart. I've heard VA's pay/benefits are pretty good, but I don't know enough details to know whether they are better than Wal-Mart or not. Another factor to consider depending on your student debt status is that you'd also be eligible for the 10-year loan forgiveness.

 

[cj98]

And walmart cut holiday pay too

 

[TheBlaah]

No idea...I honestly don't know much about Wal-Mart. A friend and past-coworker of mine who worked at a stressful independent is now very happy at a Wal-Mart at a remote town in northern California (close to Oregon). Someone who's worked at Wal-Mart would be able to answer better.

Personally, if I was going to work in a retail setting, I would aim for non-"chain" outpatient pharmcies like Kaiser or VA where there are more likely to be opportunities to be involved in stuff outside of dispensing. Plus the pay and benefits are much better - at least for Kaiser compared to Wal-Mart. I've heard VA's pay/benefits are pretty good, but I don't know enough details to know whether they are better than Wal-Mart or not. Another factor to consider depending on your student debt status is that you'd also be eligible for the 10-year loan forgiveness.

While Kaiser is in GA, the pay in California for Kaiser is much higher because of their union. The kaiser in other states aren't unionized. While Kaiser still pays well, I don't think it's as much as retail (same applies to VA). Their benefits are still good though. Anyway, getting hired at Kaiser is also fairly difficult without some kind of "in".

 

[trailerpark]

Yup everyone's salary because Walmart doesn't want to pay drive time or especially time and a half OT to any pharmacist. They're really tightening the budget for pharmacist salary and usually only the manager is salaried at 80 hours per pay period and the staff are at 72 and most likely you'll get 80 but Walmart wants the option to drop you to lower during non busy times of the year.


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[PAtoPharm]

Yup everyone's salary because Walmart doesn't want to pay drive time or especially time and a half OT to any pharmacist. They're really tightening the budget for pharmacist salary and usually only the manager is salaried at 80 hours per pay period and the staff are at 72 and most likely you'll get 80 but Walmart wants the option to drop you to lower during non busy times of the year.


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Wow, that sucks. So maybe Publix is the better company to work for. But based on browsing their jobs page for pharmacists, it seems like 32 hrs/week is becoming the standard for them as well. I wonder if retail chains in saturated locations will begin hiring 5-6 pharmacists to each work only one 8-hour part time shift per week (I.e., still get 40 hrs worth of pharmacist time per week but not have to pay any of them benefits packages)?

 

[Sine Cura]

To the OP's question, do you really think enrolling 250+ students per class at the Worcester "campus" is a good idea for the pharmacy profession and quality of education? If you already experienced the land-grant university experience (large lecture sizes), then you probably won't mind, but it might be jarring if you came from a small private school. There is nothing really distinctive about its curriculum. Worcester may be a dump (like Stockton, CA is a dump... there are good places and bad places), and you would probably want a personal vehicle to get around. If you don't have an internship, you will be at a huge disadvantage to obtain full-time employment as a pharmacist in eastern MA unless you actually have solid connections (more "I know someone who does hiring/firing," not "I know someone who knows someone"). If you really want to do pharmacy, you could really do it somewhere else, but MCPHS isn't the worst.

Some recent opinions:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcphs-worcester.1103847/#post-16066748
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcphs-worcester-pharmd.1001222/page-9#post-15570342


Regarding Walmart benefits, you won't miss what you never had, so I wouldn't necessarily be concerned about that. I will say that you get more PTO (both salaried and hourly) than what was available in the past. For example, in the past (at least for hourly pharmacists), a new hire would get 2 weeks of vactaion after 1 year from the hire anniversary date.

Now, for salaried, you get up to 168 hours of PTO to start out (if you sign on 80 hours per pay period, and this is prorated based on your hire date), and this is (supposedly) available right away. On the other hand, there is no more automatic holiday pay and you actually have to use PTO to get paid on holidays where you don't work or the pharmacy is closed for the holiday.