Would you do a residency?

[ldiot]

I know it depends on the simple question if you want to work hospital vs retail but as a student I don't even know which I'd rather work and am looking for opinions.

I am just a first year student and have ~2 years retail experience. As I entered school I saw myself working in retail for a large chain because I was already comfortable in this environment, had no idea what it was like working in a hospital, and in terms of finances figured a residency was a major setback.

I am at my first hospital IPPE now and though the dispensing component seems less stressful than retail the clinical component doesn't really excite me as it does other students. I'm told by my advisor that hospital dispensing jobs are almost non existent and most hospital jobs are hybrid positions.

Basically what it comes down to is I am very comfortable in retail and mostly see myself working in retail. All I hear about all day every day in class is how clinical pharmacy is the future of pharmacy and how it is essentially pharmacy practice in its highest form. Yet clinical pharmacy doesn't excite me and is also a bit intimidating to be honest as a first year student. I am great at answering people's questions but am not really great at leading a conversation.

I know that if I do a residency I can also go into retail, but if I do into retail it's near impossible to transition into hospital which is why this decision is so difficult. Like I said before I think I'd actually enjoy a dispensing job in the hospital setting but the clinical aspect is just underwhelming for me and I am not interested in the apparent prestige of residency. I just don't want to lock myself into retail for life buy not carefully considering my options.

What makes it worse is that I am pretty much yet to meet a pharmacist that says they would rather work retail than hospital.

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[Sine Cura]

You are only a first-year. You can change your mind.

When people say pure hospital dispensing jobs are almost non-existent, in some cases the "hybrid" part might be as commonplace as ABX stewardship or anticoag alongside your distribution duties.

Also if you did an inpatient residency and apply to retail, that can and will be used against you ("Why are you applying to retail? You'll just leave at a moment's notice once a position relevant to your training opens up.")

Yes, general career outcomes in pharmacy are quite bifurcated (retail vs. everything else) and the challenge for most people dissatisfied with being on the bench in retail is not how to get into field management but how to escape the retail gravity well.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

You seem like you're over thinking things.
If you can do the work effectively, and enjoy the idea, go for it.

If I ever lose my current job I'm going to go after a residency or board certification

 

[gwarm01]

Hospital dispensing jobs don't exist anymore? That's news to me.

 

[Caffeine QAM]

Hospital dispensing jobs don't exist anymore? That's news to me.

I think OP is saying that he or she has been hearing that hospital pharmacists who purely QA products that leave the pharmacy are becoming less and less prevalent, which is true. A lot of places are implementing tech-check-tech practice which is more cost effective (and follows ASHP's practice advancement initiative visions). You don't need a 4-year graduate degree to check that the medication being filled matches that on the fill list. I have the impression that a lot of what attracted some people to pharmacy was the perception that it was an easy job because you just do dispensing QA all day...check that it's the correct medication, collect your paycheck. Even if that's what is was like in the past, it's not what it should be, and not what it is now, and even less so how it will be in the future.

 

[ldiot]

I was told by my advisor that pure QA is not really existent. Don't know if it's true but based on my first rotation it is. 3 clinical pharmacists there and 1 doing QA who was telling me about some list of high risk meds that she has to go follow up with or counsel on. Honestly not really sure what that entails... monitoring dosing makes sense but do they counsel patients on the I.V. that they are receiving as they sit there in the bed for a week? Discharge counseling would also make sense but I'm not sure what exactly they are counseling them on otherwise. I guess I'll find out this week since I will follow the resident around.

I know I was hospitalized for a week and every resident that came in just asked me to describe my symptoms and pain level. Though I think they were med residents

 

[Caffeine QAM]

I was told by my advisor that pure QA is not really existent. Don't know if it's true but based on my first rotation it is. 3 clinical pharmacists there and 1 doing QA who was telling me about some list of high risk meds that she has to go follow up with or counsel on. Honestly not really sure what that entails... monitoring dosing makes sense but do they counsel patients on the I.V. that they are receiving as they sit there in the bed for a week? Discharge counseling would also make sense but I'm not sure what exactly they are counseling them on otherwise. I guess I'll find out this week since I will follow the resident around.

I know I was hospitalized for a week and every resident that came in just asked me to describe my symptoms and pain level. Though I think they were med residents

Depends on the hospital. High risk meds makes me think of warfarin or tranplant medications that the patient would have to continue on at home... so in a sense, it is discharge counseling, but the best time to do the patient education is during their hospital admission, not right before discharge. So making sure they know what medication they're getting, why they need it, what they need to watch for, how to take it, why it's important not to miss any doses, why proper follow-up is important (no-show to follow ups increases risks of therapy failure). Every hospital does it differently. In many cases, pharmacists don't even do medication teaching, and the nurses handle it (oftentimes to poor effect, though not always). I think there's more attention on getting pharmacists to do teachings now, especially when the stakes are higher, such as transplant, heart failure, etc.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

I think OP is saying that he or she has been hearing that hospital pharmacists who purely QA products that leave the pharmacy are becoming less and less prevalent, which is true. A lot of places are implementing tech-check-tech practice which is more cost effective so hospitals can slash pharmacy budgets (and follows ASHP's practice advancement initiative lack of vision). Hospitals don't need to pay someone with a 4-year graduate degree to staff the pharmacy when you can get minimum-wage drug addicts to check that the medication being filled matches that on the fill list. I have the impression that a lot of what attracted some people to pharmacy was the perception that it was an easy job because you just do dispensing QA all day...check that it's the correct medication, collect your paycheck. Even if that's what is was like in the past, it's not what it should be, and not what it is now, and even less so how it will be in the future. Now that minimum wage workers can do the work that was traditionally done by pharmacists, who needs pharmacists to staff the hospital.

FTFY

I don't know but, tech-check-tech sounds like it would cause errors. I have met two types of pharmacy technicians:

(1) prepharmacy and pharmacy students.
(2) low SES people with nowhere else to go.

All the tech types who are not in school have come off as unreliable characters to me. One is a chronic alcoholic, another skips work all the time, another spends an hour to two applying to other jobs and another is a geriatric handyman (???) who works the late night shifts to get health insurance. There is no incentive to do tech work with the pay we get ($8 minimum!!!! $15 max even after 25 years of work!!!!) when you can get better pay elsewhere with less physical stress.

I hope I'm wrong. Unless my hospital is just that bad. How much do they pay the techs at the other hospitals?

 

[awval999]

When I think of staffing I think of order validation not checking medications.

Besides IV compounds the majority of medications are loaded in the PYXIS and the pharmacist doesn't check those.

No f'ing way would it be responsible for tech-check-tech for IV compounds.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

When I think of staffing I think of order validation not checking medications.

Besides IV compounds the majority of medications are loaded in the PYXIS and the pharmacist doesn't check those.

No f'ing way would it be responsible for tech-check-tech for IV compounds.

The alcoholic tech put too many meds in the wrong pockets. Now all meds going to the pyxis machines have to be checked by a pharmacist at our hospital.

 

[Caffeine QAM]

FTFY

I don't know but, tech-check-tech sounds like it would cause errors. I have met two types of pharmacy technicians:

(1) prepharmacy and pharmacy students.
(2) low SES people with nowhere else to go.

All the tech types who are not in school have come off as unreliable characters to me. One is a chronic alcoholic, another skips work all the time, another spends an hour to two applying to other jobs and another is a geriatric handyman (???) who works the late night shifts to get health insurance. There is no incentive to do tech work with the pay we get ($8 minimum!!!! $15 max even after 25 years of work!!!!) when you can get better pay elsewhere with less physical stress.

I hope I'm wrong. Unless my hospital is just that bad. How much do they pay the techs at the other hospitals?

I believe there are competency requirements for tech-check-tech. There should be a method for holding them accountable if they made QA mistakes, just as there are for pharmacists. Good technicians can easily be paid over $20/hour in California. By the way, not being paid what you want is a poor excuse for doing a poor job. People who feel that way are at risk for losing their jobs altogether.

The alcoholic tech put too many meds in the wrong pockets. Now all meds going to the pyxis machines have to be checked by a pharmacist at our hospital.

Your hospital needs barcode scanning.

 

[Caffeine QAM]

FTFY

I don't know but, tech-check-tech sounds like it would cause errors. I have met two types of pharmacy technicians:

(1) prepharmacy and pharmacy students.
(2) low SES people with nowhere else to go.

All the tech types who are not in school have come off as unreliable characters to me. One is a chronic alcoholic, another skips work all the time, another spends an hour to two applying to other jobs and another is a geriatric handyman (???) who works the late night shifts to get health insurance. There is no incentive to do tech work with the pay we get ($8 minimum!!!! $15 max even after 25 years of work!!!!) when you can get better pay elsewhere with less physical stress.

I hope I'm wrong. Unless my hospital is just that bad. How much do they pay the techs at the other hospitals?

By the way, just as there can be terrible technicians, there are terrible pharmacists as well. You make it sound as if hospitals are only able to either hire pharmacists or drug addicts, which is grossly inaccurate. The majority of technicians are not drug addits. Why should a hospital pay a pharmacist to check medications when a technician is just as capable?

There is no justification for requiring a 4-year graduate degree to match the name/concentration/form of the medication to that on the fill list. Employers are responsible for their hires, and if it turns out that they're hiring poor-performing drug addicts (which pharmacists can be as well), it's their responsibility to eliminate those employees.

 

[gwarm01]

Your hospital needs barcode scanning.

My hospital has this functionality turned off on Pyxis and for the life of me I can't think of a single legitimate reason why.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

By the way, just as there can be terrible technicians, there are terrible pharmacists as well. You make it sound as if hospitals are only able to either hire pharmacists or drug addicts, which is grossly inaccurate. The majority of technicians are not drug addits. Why should a hospital pay a pharmacist to check medications when a technician is just as capable?

There is no justification for requiring a 4-year graduate degree to match the name/concentration/form of the medication to that on the fill list. Employers are responsible for their hires, and if it turns out that they're hiring poor-performing drug addicts (which pharmacists can be as well), it's their responsibility to eliminate those employees.

Didn't mean to sound too snarky but I only have first-hand experience at the one hospital I work at. We techs all try our best but its hard to attract good workers with what our hospital pays.

And the alcoholic tech has defied conventional expectations.
The alcoholic tech has:

• Continually put the wrong meds in the wrong pyxis pockets (including controlled substances)
• Came into work drunk on several occasions
• Got caught drinking alcohol while delivering medications to the pyxis machines
• Passed out unconscious in the OR waiting room once
• Lost a controlled substance for a day-and-a-half (nurses found it lying on the floor)
• Got caught stealing meds from the pharmacy stock
• Got arrested for a DUI once

And that tech has not been fired. The only thing that has happened as a consequence is that we don't allow that tech to handle controlled substances anymore.

My hospital has this functionality turned off on Pyxis and for the life of me I can't think of a single legitimate reason why.

We do have barcode scanning, and yet the alcoholic tech has somehow managed to bypass this safety feature and still get the wrong meds into the pyxis machines.

 

[Kelp103]

FTFY

I don't know but, tech-check-tech sounds like it would cause errors. I have met two types of pharmacy technicians:

(1) prepharmacy and pharmacy students.
(2) low SES people with nowhere else to go.

All the tech types who are not in school have come off as unreliable characters to me. One is a chronic alcoholic, another skips work all the time, another spends an hour to two applying to other jobs and another is a geriatric handyman (???) who works the late night shifts to get health insurance. There is no incentive to do tech work with the pay we get ($8 minimum!!!! $15 max even after 25 years of work!!!!) when you can get better pay elsewhere with less physical stress.

I hope I'm wrong. Unless my hospital is just that bad. How much do they pay the techs at the other hospitals?

Most of our techs try pretty hard. Not saying they are all the greatest, and some work ethic has room for improvement, but we don't have any drunks... Sounds like that guy should've been fired a long time ago. :O or put into a program or something.

$20 prn (no benefits). Not sure what others get, but my retail job techs can get paid more than $15 (now that's after a REALLY long time, but $15 at 25 years is ridiculous). You can go work at Costco and make more than that. I would have a hard time attracting people too.

 

[gwarm01]

Didn't mean to sound too snarky but I only have first-hand experience at the one hospital I work at. We techs all try our best but its hard to attract good workers with what our hospital pays.

And the alcoholic tech has defied conventional expectations.
The alcoholic tech has:

• Continually put the wrong meds in the wrong pyxis pockets (including controlled substances)
• Came into work drunk on several occasions
• Got caught drinking alcohol while delivering medications to the pyxis machines
• Passed out unconscious in the OR waiting room once
• Lost a controlled substance for a day-and-a-half (nurses found it lying on the floor)
• Got caught stealing meds from the pharmacy stock
• Got arrested for a DUI once

And that tech has not been fired. The only thing that has happened as a consequence is that we don't allow that tech to handle controlled substances anymore.



We do have barcode scanning, and yet the alcoholic tech has somehow managed to bypass this safety feature and still get the wrong meds into the pyxis machines.

Give him a break! He was drunk!

 

[BenJammin]

I do not want to take a step back in my career so I would never do a residency.

 

[sunakuma]

I am curious, so if someone is interested in working in hospital, wouldn't the hiring team ask "why you did not do a residency if you are determined to work at hospital?" This especially is a hard question for new grad. Questions like "why do you think you qualify or a better candidate, when there are someone who did a PGY1 that we can choose from?"...

 

[TheBlaah]

I am curious, so if someone is interested in working in hospital, wouldn't the hiring team ask "why you did not do a residency if you are determined to work at hospital?" This especially is a hard question for new grad. Questions like "why do you think you qualify or a better candidate, when there are someone who did a PGY1 that we can choose from?"...

They do ask that (at least I was). You need to prepare a damn good answer for it too. You can't diss residencies for fear of offending someone, but at the same time you have to explain why you might be a better candidate than someone who did do a residency.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

I do not want to take a step back in my career so I would never do a residency.

I agree with this sentiment. Work history and professional connections trump any PGY-1,2,3,4,5,6,etc. My hospital was hiring for two clinical positions. Many people with PGYs applied, but the ones who got the jobs included a staff pharmacist already working in the hospital and a retail pharmacist with many years of work.

PGY reckt.

 

[bananaface]

I did a community pharmacy residency. I can see residency being helpful if you want to go into a hospital specialty, if you want to go to a work site fed by the program, if you want to pursue a hospital position and an associate professorship, or possibly if you are going to live in a saturated market are competing against new grads for hospital jobs and the market sucks bad enough your graduation year that you would not be getting a job in a hospital in your desired area without one.

There are hospitals that hire new grads with no residency. You just need to be geographically flexible and go where the jobs are, just like any other profession, if you want a particular type of position.

Snowballing student loans is one argument against residency. If you have a lot of debt, frankly you need to start earning and digging out of the hole as soon as possible. The cost of attendance at private and out of state schools puts you in a huge amount of debt and you need to make sound financial decisions if you are to get out of debt.

 

[gwarm01]

I did a community pharmacy residency. I can see residency being helpful if you want to go into a hospital specialty, if you want to go to a work site fed by the program, if you want to pursue a hospital position and an associate professorship, or possibly if you are going to live in a saturated market are competing against new grads for hospital jobs and the market sucks bad enough your graduation year that you would not be getting a job in a hospital in your desired area without one.

There are hospitals that hire new grads with no residency. You just need to be geographically flexible and go where the jobs are, just like any other profession, if you want a particular type of position.

Snowballing student loans is one argument against residency. If you have a lot of debt, frankly you need to start earning and digging out of the hole as soon as possible. The cost of attendance at private and out of state schools puts you in a huge amount of debt and you need to make sound financial decisions if you are to get out of debt.

How would you describe your community residency? What were your goals going in, and where did you end up after?

These programs aren't as well known as a traditional hospital residency, and I'd be curious to know a little about them.

 

[sakigt]

As the Pharmacist checker, if all youre doing is comparing what drug is in front of you to the label, youre DIW. (doing it wrong)

You can double check dosing, if you fill a bag for Xarelto, pull up the profile to make sure sc heparin wasnt accidently verified, check to see if once daily stuff is the IR or should it be XL....

We have some dinosaurs in our system that all they do is check but theyre being phased out. Soon everyone will be hybrid. At least I hope so. The pure clinical ones that have never work central are difficult to deal with sometimes. (I thought I asked for that Daptomycin stat! Its been 10 minutes! *rolls eyes*)

 

[njac]

I am curious, so if someone is interested in working in hospital, wouldn't the hiring team ask "why you did not do a residency if you are determined to work at hospital?" This especially is a hard question for new grad. Questions like "why do you think you qualify or a better candidate, when there are someone who did a PGY1 that we can choose from?"...

We do ask that.

And these days, more often than not the candidate applied for residencies and did not match.



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[njac]

The pure clinical ones that have never work central are difficult to deal with sometimes. (I thought I asked for that Daptomycin stat! Its been 10 minutes! *rolls eyes*)

This is why I like that I have 1-2 staffing shifts per month.

Also helps with building rapport with the inpatient staff, especially techs. Magically my stuff shows up quickly without me usually needing to call.


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[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

As the Pharmacist checker, if all youre doing is comparing what drug is in front of you to the label, youre DIW. (doing it wrong)

You can double check dosing, if you fill a bag for Xarelto, pull up the profile to make sure sc heparin wasnt accidently verified, check to see if once daily stuff is the IR or should it be XL....

We have some dinosaurs in our system that all they do is check but theyre being phased out. Soon everyone will be hybrid. At least I hope so. The pure clinical ones that have never work central are difficult to deal with sometimes. (I thought I asked for that Daptomycin stat! Its been 10 minutes! *rolls eyes*)

The clinical pharmacists in my hospital work three days doing clinical stuff, and two days staffing. They have to leave early on most days to decrease pharmacy expenses.

The staff pharmacists? They get to keep their hours. There's always meds that need to be checked, verified, etc.

I know staff pharmacists get paid for dispensing meds, but how do pure clinical types justify their pay. Is it from hosting pharmacy students during APPE, is it billing for their services, etc? I don't know how that business model works.

Do they bill medicaid or private insurance like the MD, PA, NP?

 

[ldiot]

The clinical pharmacists in my hospital work three days doing clinical stuff, and two days staffing. They have to leave early on most days to decrease pharmacy expenses.

The staff pharmacists? They get to keep their hours. There's always meds that need to be checked, verified, etc.

I know staff pharmacists get paid for dispensing meds, but how do pure clinical types justify their pay. Is it from hosting pharmacy students during APPE, is it billing for their services, etc? I don't know how that business model works.

Do they bill medicaid or private insurance like the MD, PA, NP?

Based on the info that my school feeds me hospitals get penalized by insurance for readmittance within 30 days of discharge, costing literally millions. Clinical pharmacists supposedly can reduce this by counseling saving the hospital money and justifying their pay. This is just one example of many. The clinical pharmacist doesn't directly bring in any revenue from what I can tell unless they are able to be the primary care provider in an ambulatory care setting under a collaborative practice agreement.

I personally don't completely buy it. By what percent do clinical pharmacist prevent readmittance? Does anyone even know? I'm sure the hospitals are watching this and if it was that great they wouldn't be sending the pharmacist home. There's no question that they add value in the hospital but I personally think there is more potential in clinical pharmacy for managing chronic conditions in the primary care setting simply because a pharmacist can bring in revenue while at the same time addressing the deficit in primary care physicians. I'm afraid, however, that NP and PA will fill this gap while pharmacists try to justify their clinical position as cost saving.

 

[KatleyS]

I think for my current work place (hospital, community ), if someone was applying for a job here, a residency would be highly desired, if not required. I also am in California which is a pretty saturated job market. However, I have also known a few pharmacists that were hired straight out of graduating pharmacy school, but ONLY because they interned with us for many years so we knew who we were hiring. Typically, new hires are people with residency training or people who came from another branch from our hospital system.

If you like retail, consider also exploring pharmacy compounding centers. Keep in mind, there's also home infusion pharmacy which I like to think of as somewhere in between dealing with outpatient and inpatient. Try to find some experience or opportunities beyond just plain vanilla retail or hospital. You might find a field that might suit you. Good luck.

 

[ldiot]

I think for my current work place (hospital, community ), if someone was applying for a job here, a residency would be highly desired, if not required. I also am in California which is a pretty saturated job market. However, I have also known a few pharmacists that were hired straight out of graduating pharmacy school, but ONLY because they interned with us for many years so we knew who we were hiring. Typically, new hires are people with residency training or people who came from another branch from our hospital system.

If you like retail, consider also exploring pharmacy compounding centers. Keep in mind, there's also home infusion pharmacy which I like to think of as somewhere in between dealing with outpatient and inpatient. Try to find some experience or opportunities beyond just plain vanilla retail or hospital. You might find a field that might suit you. Good luck.

Thank you. So far I feel like I'd be content with both plain vanilla chain retail and plain vanilla hospital but just don't have the experience or rotations yet to make a decision. Retail seems like it would pay higher and would have a far less learning curve for me (both in the drugs and the workflow) just because I have worked there for awhile. The downside is that it is repetitive and too busy, and can be a downright nightmare when things aren't going well. Hospital seems more relaxed but I'd consider the learning curve to be greater and the residency requirement and pay to be a major turn off. Not only do I not want to do a residency but I don't really want to join 5 clubs and tutor students just to have an acceptable CV.

I've also been to a LTC and though it seems like the easiest job a pharmacist could have I feel like I'd be checking the clock every 10 minutes. In retail 3 hours will fly by. I also really enjoyed working at at independent for a short rotation but I not sure about the profitability. I would certainly like to staff at an independent but once again it seems like these opportunities are far and few between.

Then you have speciality, home infusion, etc. that I just don't know anything about. I guess right now I'm leaning towards no residency but I should probably try to put myself in a position to apply for one incase I change my mind.

 

[gwarm01]

Why do people refer to vanilla as plain? It's a delicious and distinct flavor.

 

[confettiflyer]

I personally don't completely buy it. By what percent do clinical pharmacist prevent readmittance? Does anyone even know? I'm sure the hospitals are watching this and if it was that great they wouldn't be sending the pharmacist home. There's no question that they add value in the hospital but I personally think there is more potential in clinical pharmacy for managing chronic conditions in the primary care setting simply because a pharmacist can bring in revenue while at the same time addressing the deficit in primary care physicians. I'm afraid, however, that NP and PA will fill this gap while pharmacists try to justify their clinical position as cost saving.

One area is abx stewardship, it's more cost efficient having a few ID docs + pharmacists vs. an army of ID docs. We're better equipped given our formulary/shortage expertise and ability to conduct surveillance on usage since all orders, ID consult or not, pass through pharmacy. ID is a perineal weak spot for our prescribers.


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[RxSpartan]

Go shadow multiple different pharmacists in hospital settings which you think you MIGHT be interested in pursuing.

Shadowing multiple pharmacists, even if they are in the same role/location/specialty, will be beneficial because some will motivate and excite you whereas others will not. You don't want to turn down a potential career pathway simply because you shadowed somebody who wasn't enthusiastic about their field.

Read some articles about advancements in the field you're interested in pursuing. There's a high probability that you'll become bored with what you do and want to start contributing to high-level action items on the agenda.

If you still think you want to do retail after that, then just do it. Keep the hospital/clinical jobs open for those who are willing to go the extra mile to advance therapeutics and pharmacy practice.

I wish I could work retail but it bores me. I'll never pay off my loans with this upcoming paycut going from PGY1 to PGY2.

 

[Wickett]

[QUOTE="RxSpartan, post: 17839612, member:

If you still think you want to do retail after that, then just do it. Keep the hospital/clinical jobs open for those who are willing to go the extra mile to advance therapeutics and pharmacy practice.

[/QUOTE]

Way to be condescending as hell and discount 70% of the profession.

 

[Amicable Angora]

I know it depends on the simple question if you want to work hospital vs retail but as a student I don't even know which I'd rather work and am looking for opinions.

I am just a first year student and have ~2 years retail experience. As I entered school I saw myself working in retail for a large chain because I was already comfortable in this environment, had no idea what it was like working in a hospital, and in terms of finances figured a residency was a major setback.

I am at my first hospital IPPE now and though the dispensing component seems less stressful than retail the clinical component doesn't really excite me as it does other students. I'm told by my advisor that hospital dispensing jobs are almost non existent and most hospital jobs are hybrid positions.

Basically what it comes down to is I am very comfortable in retail and mostly see myself working in retail. All I hear about all day every day in class is how clinical pharmacy is the future of pharmacy and how it is essentially pharmacy practice in its highest form. Yet clinical pharmacy doesn't excite me and is also a bit intimidating to be honest as a first year student. I am great at answering people's questions but am not really great at leading a conversation.

I know that if I do a residency I can also go into retail, but if I do into retail it's near impossible to transition into hospital which is why this decision is so difficult. Like I said before I think I'd actually enjoy a dispensing job in the hospital setting but the clinical aspect is just underwhelming for me and I am not interested in the apparent prestige of residency. I just don't want to lock myself into retail for life buy not carefully considering my options.

What makes it worse is that I am pretty much yet to meet a pharmacist that says they would rather work retail than hospital.

You're not the only one.

 

[Wickett]

I know it depends on the simple question if you want to work hospital vs retail but as a student I don't even know which I'd rather work and am looking for opinions.

I am just a first year student and have ~2 years retail experience. As I entered school I saw myself working in retail for a large chain because I was already comfortable in this environment, had no idea what it was like working in a hospital, and in terms of finances figured a residency was a major setback.

I am at my first hospital IPPE now and though the dispensing component seems less stressful than retail the clinical component doesn't really excite me as it does other students. I'm told by my advisor that hospital dispensing jobs are almost non existent and most hospital jobs are hybrid positions.

Basically what it comes down to is I am very comfortable in retail and mostly see myself working in retail. All I hear about all day every day in class is how clinical pharmacy is the future of pharmacy and how it is essentially pharmacy practice in its highest form. Yet clinical pharmacy doesn't excite me and is also a bit intimidating to be honest as a first year student. I am great at answering people's questions but am not really great at leading a conversation.

I know that if I do a residency I can also go into retail, but if I do into retail it's near impossible to transition into hospital which is why this decision is so difficult. Like I said before I think I'd actually enjoy a dispensing job in the hospital setting but the clinical aspect is just underwhelming for me and I am not interested in the apparent prestige of residency. I just don't want to lock myself into retail for life buy not carefully considering my options.

What makes it worse is that I am pretty much yet to meet a pharmacist that says they would rather work retail than hospital.

Do what I did when I came into school unsure/only retail background. Work hard in school while you're still deciding, build up a CV that gives you a good chance to get a residency if that's the route you go.

Then, you can either (a) apply for residency, eyes alight with the prospect of 60 hr work weeks at 1/3 pay and mastering the art of Vanc dosing recs or (b) realize third year you're tired and swimming in debt and vomit at the thought of more schooling, YOLO the rest of your third year, work hard to build good relationships on your APPE rotations, then join the untouchables in the verifying monkey void upon graduation.

 

[njac]

One area is abx stewardship, it's more cost efficient having a few ID docs + pharmacists vs. an army of ID docs. We're better equipped given our formulary/shortage expertise and ability to conduct surveillance on usage since all orders, ID consult or not, pass through pharmacy. ID is a perineal weak spot for our prescribers.


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Perineal or perennial


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[Topcat15]

If you still think you want to do retail after that, then just do it. Keep the hospital/clinical jobs open for those who are willing to go the extra mile to advance therapeutics and pharmacy practice.

What on Earth is wrong with you? I work in a hospital doing "clinical pharmacy" (hate that term) and it's boring as hell. I wish I could go make more money in retail where things are actually interesting, but where I live those jobs are pretty much impossible to get unless you interned for 2+ years with a chain. That's cool if you have preferences, but maybe you could remember that other people have preferences as well.

 

[gwarm01]

What on Earth is wrong with you? I work in a hospital doing "clinical pharmacy" (hate that term) and it's boring as hell. I wish I could go make more money in retail where things are actually interesting, but where I live those jobs are pretty much impossible to get unless you interned for 2+ years with a chain. That's cool if you have preferences, but maybe you could remember that other people have preferences as well.

I was a clinical pharmacist for over two years and I don't think I ever did anything to advance the profession or therapeutics. ****! And here I thought it was my job to manage the patients in my unit.

 

[nervoushabits]

I know it depends on the simple question if you want to work hospital vs retail but as a student I don't even know which I'd rather work and am looking for opinions.

I am just a first year student and have ~2 years retail experience. As I entered school I saw myself working in retail for a large chain because I was already comfortable in this environment, had no idea what it was like working in a hospital, and in terms of finances figured a residency was a major setback.

I am at my first hospital IPPE now and though the dispensing component seems less stressful than retail the clinical component doesn't really excite me as it does other students. I'm told by my advisor that hospital dispensing jobs are almost non existent and most hospital jobs are hybrid positions.

Basically what it comes down to is I am very comfortable in retail and mostly see myself working in retail. All I hear about all day every day in class is how clinical pharmacy is the future of pharmacy and how it is essentially pharmacy practice in its highest form. Yet clinical pharmacy doesn't excite me and is also a bit intimidating to be honest as a first year student. I am great at answering people's questions but am not really great at leading a conversation.

I know that if I do a residency I can also go into retail, but if I do into retail it's near impossible to transition into hospital which is why this decision is so difficult. Like I said before I think I'd actually enjoy a dispensing job in the hospital setting but the clinical aspect is just underwhelming for me and I am not interested in the apparent prestige of residency. I just don't want to lock myself into retail for life buy not carefully considering my options.

What makes it worse is that I am pretty much yet to meet a pharmacist that says they would rather work retail than hospital.

Dear OP,

I was just like you. I'd always seen myself as a retail pharmacist. But then I had an experience that changed my life and I found a love for clinical pharmacy. I'm an ambulatory care specialist, and who knows, you might like it too! My suggestion to you is to prepare like you would if you knew that a residency is what you wanted to do. You're still VERY early in your career - you have the next 3 years to figure it out. Just don't shoot yourself in the foot and slack off on your extracurriculars or GPA because you think you know that retail is your calling right now. It very well could be...but I have had so many friends and students come through my clinic with the same thoughts and realized much too late that they wanted to do a residency but didn't volunteer enough or join an organization or gain work experience or whatever. KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN. IPPE and APPE rotations will help open your eyes to the world of pharmacy.

And just so you know - I'd take community over inpatient ANYDAY. Another side note: I didn't decide to do my first year of residency until I was on APPEs. My second year was the only one that was preplanned. I'd already accepted an offer from a chain and decided to apply to residency after an awesome rotation I had in an outpatient clinic.

 

[Wickett]

Dear OP,

I was just like you. I'd always seen myself as a retail pharmacist. But then I had an experience that changed my life and I found a love for clinical pharmacy. I'm an ambulatory care specialist, and who knows, you might like it too! My suggestion to you is to prepare like you would if you knew that a residency is what you wanted to do. You're still VERY early in your career - you have the next 3 years to figure it out. Just don't shoot yourself in the foot and slack off on your extracurriculars or GPA because you think you know that retail is your calling right now. It very well could be...but I have had so many friends and students come through my clinic with the same thoughts and realized much too late that they wanted to do a residency but didn't volunteer enough or join an organization or gain work experience or whatever. KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN. IPPE and APPE rotations will help open your eyes to the world of pharmacy.

And just so you know - I'd take community over inpatient ANYDAY. Another side note: I didn't decide to do my first year of residency until I was on APPEs. My second year was the only one that was preplanned. I'd already accepted an offer from a chain and decided to apply to residency after an awesome rotation I had in an outpatient clinic.

Yea the only residency I wavered on doing was an amb care one. Outpatient clinical is pretty awesome.

 

[confettiflyer]

Perineal or perennial


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