Pharmacist Salary Thread

www

labgella said:

Hi, Im from Colombia Im a PharmD, and I've been working in the R+D making solid dosage forms, but I'm a little sad because de salary, im earning less than 15K per year and with 2 year more of experience (5 years) I only can apply to earn 24K. And I want to get licenced in US, but first i want to learn english in US, its possible to study and work there?

And if is possible, I can work in a drugstore or lab, in a position that not requiere licence? while i get it. I ask it because Im planning to go to US in 2008 to finished my english studies and pay this with a job there, obviously I can't apply for a R+D position because the language, but a modest job while I get the licence would be really nice.

Thanks

Click to expand...

hi, this is a wrong thread for you. you might wanna contact the Board of Pharmacy of the state in which you wish to get your license.

kbv said:

i've learned several things since the day i posted this thread.

1. our profession is always in demand within the next 20-30 years. my pharm. manager told me.
2. wait until your school's job fair interview in the spring. otherwise, you gonna get bombarded with your interviewers' offer of employment.
3. it doesn't matter where you go. your starting salary for community pharmacy must be at least in the upper $ 50K, not less. hospital pharmacy is in the upper $ 40K.
4. never agree or even worse sign the contract. i'm sure the longer you wait, the more opportunity you get.

again, thanks everyone

Click to expand...

50k and 40k = 50000 and 40000 dollars. You mean to write upper $50 dollars and $40 dollars an hour. Monster could have given this salary info too....

Waiting until the job fair is alright and all but it is a better idea to network on your own also if you can, more opportunities and people you know the better off you are going to be. There are many more opportunities out there than you will see at the job fair. The profession will be in demand but that demand is lessening up in certain areas of the profession, they are not throwing huge bonuses at new grads in lots of varying locations anymore.
Longer you wait is not going always going to mean more opportunities, the bubble can burst, it is important to realize that. If you find a company you like and they offer you a good deal signing a contract can be good, nothing set in stone saying it is evil.

An old classmate sent me this as an email attachment:

.

I don't want to be in charge....so I guess nuclear sounds like a good bet...106k...nice...

The trouble with National averages is they are like real estate prices, it's all local. Who cares if the national average is $50.00, if they are paying $42.00 in Bumpuck LA or $60.00 in Los Angeles. If there is a shortage in your area, you will get a better sign on bonus, higher pay, more percs....

Old Timer said:

The trouble with National averages is they are like real estate prices, it's all local. Who cares if the national average is $50.00, if they are paying $42.00 in Bumpuck LA or $60.00 in Los Angeles. If there is a shortage in your area, you will get a better sign on bonus, higher pay, more percs....

Click to expand...

so, did you mean perks? or perks including percs

njac said:

so, did you mean perks? or perks including percs

Click to expand...

Some of us don't type as well as others.....

Make sure it's the 512's because those are the only ones that work...

purely regional

i got offered 60+/hr

2000 relocation

10K sign-on

for LA

ahhhh......the good life

I actually found the website this came from.....they have it for every state, too.

acetyl said:

Make sure it's the 512's because those are the only ones that work...

Click to expand...

This must be regional, too. Everyone wants Watson here, they say the Mallinckrodt's don't work.

I've worked as a pharm tech for just over a year now. In my neck of the woods I've come across many patients that believe the pink Teva DCN-100 do not work, while they feel that the white Teva DCN-100 works just fine.

It's a damn shame...it's kind of fun when you get to count the fluorescent pink ones...when you open the bottle up there is this pink luminescence (sp?) that almost blinds you at first, but it grows on you. If I ever am prescribed darvocet I'm going to request the pink ones That way I ever drop one I'll surely be able to find it.

As far as salaries go, no matter where we end up living we future pharmacists will end up doing just fine!

could you please post the link to where this came from? I know some people who would appreciate such info.

k.thx.bye.

here you go:

http://www.pharmacyonesource.com/members/surveys/salary/fall2007/default.asp?article_id=10644

what is the difference between staff pharmacist-hospital and clinical pharmacist, besides their average pay rate that is?

I'd imagine "staff" involves primarily order entry, IV infusion, etc. "Clinical" is likely describing those that do chart reviews, round, consult, etc.

andrewattheU said:

what is the difference between staff pharmacist-hospital and clinical pharmacist, besides their average pay rate that is?

Click to expand...

If it's a small hospital, all pharmacists perform clinical duties. I've only seen a true separation at larger hospitals.

At one hospital where I was on rotations, there was a clinical pharmacist stationed in the ICU who fielded questions, wrote TPN orders, & rounded in the ICU. The other clinical pharmacists answered telephone questions from doctors and nurses, and prepared chemo.

At another large hospital, the clinical pharmacists did a lot of reports and paper work. They had projects going on. One pharmacist was just responsible for computer reporting.

It's really going to vary hospital by hospital.

jawnly211 said:

purely regional

i got offered 60+/hr

2000 relocation

10K sign-on

for LA

ahhhh......the good life

Click to expand...

very nice. what part of LA may i ask and i am assuming it's with a large chain?

LA county/SF Valley..........

orange county is another story

east of LA (san bernardino/riverside) they are ALL hiring

far east LA (palm springs) they are giving out big time dollars

north of LA (palmdale/valencia) they are hiring

i think all of SD county is hiring too

to bad everyone and their momma's wants to move to OC..........there are waitlists for irvine/fullerton/etc........

That'd be awesome if it weren't for the ungodly cost of living in LA....

WVUPharm2007 said:

An old classmate sent me this as an email attachment:

.

I don't want to be in charge....so I guess nuclear sounds like a good bet...106k...nice...

Click to expand...

I envy you US pharmacist.

Take a look at canada's average wage for pharmacists.

http://jobfutures.ca/noc/3131.shtml

Interesting... I was under the impression that hospital staff pharmacist and clinical pharmacist made alot less (about 85k/year). This makes a residency and a clinical position much more appealing.

willxm said:

Interesting... I was under the impression that hospital staff pharmacist and clinical pharmacist made alot less (about 85k/year). This makes a residency and a clinical position much more appealing.

Click to expand...

What's really interesting is that in Canada, I think clinical pharmacists makes MORE than retail pharmacists...

WVUPharm2007 said:

That'd be awesome if it weren't for the ungodly cost of living in LA....

Click to expand...

yea, it sucks for recent grads who are fresh out of school..........

i graduated undergrad few years ago and worked a few years and was able to get a condo for about 300K back in 2001.........my sister lived there while i was in pharm school and was paying mortgage...........after i grad, im moving back into the condo since my sis just bought a million+ dollar house in irvine............

that being said.........my mortgage is only 1400/month...........condo appreciated to well over 600K now...........a 2 br 2 bath apt in my neighborhood is going for 2500-3000/month............

so yea, it is ungodly for some........but not everyone is starting from scratch, paying off loans, renting from a landlord.............

wow, thats really amazing about your property doubling that fast. sounds like you are living the good life!
1400/month seems low though. Can I get the details on the mortgage?

80K down payment

interest rates were super low after 9-11

280K loan at 4.5% interest

comes out to around 1400/month i owe to bank of america

Ben1988 said:

I envy you US pharmacist.

Take a look at canada's average wage for pharmacists.

http://jobfutures.ca/noc/3131.shtml

Click to expand...

I'm not sure of those stats. Although its from the government of Canada, I still find it hard to believe that those are the accurate rates. In large cities, pharmacists at least start at 40 some dollars, not to mention rural towns which pay much more. I guess those rates are pulled down by the maritime provinces.... but that means it must be pretty low over there then.... Anyways, if you look at the wages of other professions ie dentists, it doesn't look right....
Overall, Canada is not as high, but its not that far behind.

staff - work in basement filling thigns checking orders
clincial pharmacist - work more on floor, checking if doctor is correctly writing orders, monitor things and flirt with nurses.

I'm a rx manager within the LA county at CVS, so at $54.75/hr I guess I'm screwed and underpaid

It's ok I'm doing part time at Target at $52/hr.

Only areas I hear people getting $60/hr is at temp companies and kaiser

What is the initial salary a pharmacist makes in his/her first year? 5 cookies to the person who gives a valid answer.

Solidus said:

What is the initial salary a pharmacist makes in his/her first year? 5 cookies to the person who gives a valid answer.

Click to expand...

what state?

Solidus said:

What is the initial salary a pharmacist makes in his/her first year? 5 cookies to the person who gives a valid answer.

Click to expand...

trying using the search tool that is in the top right corner of your screen.......that topic has been discussed here a 1000 times........just curious , why are you worried about a pharmacist salary if you are prehealth?

Thinking about the field.

depends on the state but usually 90,000-98,000ish. go to bls.gov to check your state.

What other professions are you considering?

Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or becoming a Family Physician.

Clinical pharmacists make somewhere around $100-110k where I live. They are usually salaried.

Retail pharmacists (where I work) make around $55 an hour. So, a 40-hour workweek would equate to about $114k a year. Most choose to work overtime and make over $120k. There are a few that work four 12-hour shifts every week. If you do the math, that's $160k a year with overtime.

Yeah, My pharm mgr took 2 months off for a surgery this past year and still made 150 g's. He's not a workaholic either, rather the opposite.

so bascially its very well paid in the US?

mass said:

so bascially its very well paid in the US?

Click to expand...

If you work in the retail, the amount you get paid is less than the amount of time you spend dealing with some horrible customers.

i hear starting salaries in SF area goes up to $130K/year for retail pharmacists! (cha-ching). but then again, if you account the amount of money you spend dining out and paying ridiculous rent, 130K might not seem like as much as you would initially think.

anteater11 said:

If you work in the retail, the amount you get paid is less than the amount of time you spend dealing with some horrible customers.

Click to expand...

Ok, I got pulled in. I have to disaggree with this statement. Although, there are those on this forum that would agree with you. In my experience yes there are some "horrible" customers, but the majority of customers are not. The customers attitude is sometimes a relection of how well informed the customer is or how they have been treated. The problem is we always remember the customers that no matter what you do, they act like complete jerks. I do agree that you probably incounter "jerks" more often in retail than any other setting, but you cant allow these occurances to give you a bad attitude. On second thought, have a bad attitude, vow to never work retail, this will continue the need, increased wages, and flexibility of retail. (I said all of that and I want to work for the VA)

Pharmcdc said:

Ok, I got pulled in. I have to disaggree with this statement. Although, there are those on this forum that would agree with you. In my experience yes there are some "horrible" customers, but the majority of customers are not. The customers attitude is sometimes a relection of how well informed the customer is or how they have been treated. The problem is we always remember the customers that no matter what you do, they act like complete jerks. I do agree that you probably incounter "jerks" more often in retail than any other setting, but you cant allow these occurances to give you a bad attitude. On second thought, have a bad attitude, vow to never work retail, this will continue the need, increased wages, and flexibility of retail. (I said all of that and I want to work for the VA)

Click to expand...

If the majority of the customers were horrible then we would need quite a few more asylums

what annoys me more than annoying customerrs are managers who are way over their head and think they got anything to do pharmacy related, or pharmacists who spoils their customers so that they are used to their preferred treatment.

How many of you have heard of. . 15 minutes? 0_0, (name of pharmacist) does it for me in 5. . .

Pharmcdc said:

Ok, I got pulled in. I have to disaggree with this statement. Although, there are those on this forum that would agree with you. In my experience yes there are some "horrible" customers, but the majority of customers are not. The customers attitude is sometimes a relection of how well informed the customer is or how they have been treated. The problem is we always remember the customers that no matter what you do, they act like complete jerks. I do agree that you probably incounter "jerks" more often in retail than any other setting, but you cant allow these occurances to give you a bad attitude. On second thought, have a bad attitude, vow to never work retail, this will continue the need, increased wages, and flexibility of retail. (I said all of that and I want to work for the VA)

Click to expand...

I know! That is why i said "some" horrible customers. I guess what I am trying to say is that pharmacists just get paid okay considering the time and the hard work they put in. It is a okay paying job, not a GOOD paying job that you dont have to do anything for it. Sometimes, I hate people think that pharmacists make too much than they deserved without knowing what the pharmacists actually have to go through.

But, yea...that means "continue the need, increased wages, and flexibility of retail"

the way i look at it is that the worst paying job for a person with a pharmD would be retail (no offense to anyone working retail) which still pays 50-60/hr in so cal, but i'm shooting for a corporate job (pharmaceutical management on the research side) and going for a dual degree with a MBA.

I used to work mortgages and knowing that 50-60/hr can get me a mortgage (yes even in cali) in a reasonable amount of time compared to risking a crappy job straight out of college for a few years is enough security for me. also, there's the benefit of knowing you are actually doing something directly positive for society as compared to being a salesman or something like that

besides experience, and a pharmD degree, what does one need in order to become a pharmacy manager?

Nothing. . . Except for willingness obviously. My pharmacy manager only has his bachelors.

Gracie93402 said:

Nothing. . . Except for willingness obviously. My pharmacy manager only has his bachelors.

Click to expand...

Be careful when you say "only has his bachelors". Graduating with a pharmd does not equal a RPh with years of experience.