Advice 4 new pharmacist

[farm4real]

hello

I see there are a lot of experienced pharmacists on the board, and I would love some advice:

What are the main characterists or qualities that are sought for a pharmacist to be hired? I have spoken with some "new" pharmacists hired and my impression is that they know relatively little about pharmacology/pathology/pharmaceuticals etc. Actually, I am more shocked, but to be fair my sample size of new pharmacists is limited.

It seems that the quality of school or actual mastery of Pharmacy is not in any way correlated to the people getting offers......

My impression?

Or is there something I need to know that I am missing?

Personality characteristics?
Contacts?
Or ?

Thank you

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[steveysmith54]

Your question is too vague.

If you are looking for a retail position, you need good communication skills, effocient and be able to verify orders quickly, big bonus if you know how to push flu shots etc

If you want a clinical position, then you need strong clinical knowledge, be able to make clinical judgment, understand disease states etc...

 

[farm4real]

Your question is too vague.

If you are looking for a retail position, you need good communication skills, effocient and be able to verify orders quickly, big bonus if you know how to push flu shots etc

If you want a clinical position, then you need strong clinical knowledge, be able to make clinical judgment, understand disease states etc...

Thx

My question was vague, but the underlying idea:

There seems to be a strong disconnect between what a pharamacist "should" have and what the market actually is hiring....

Or is my impression wrong???

 

[Rouelle]

For retail, the chains generally feel that any ***** that can pass the law exam and NAPLEX have enough drug knowledge to practice. They are looking for someone who can meet the metrics and give the appearance of caring about the patient.

Hospital wants someone with more drug knowledge than that and who is easily trainable.

Both want someone who can get along with coworkers and not stir up a lot of drama.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

hello

I see there are a lot of experienced pharmacists on the board, and I would love some advice:

What are the main characterists or qualities that are sought for a pharmacist to be hired? I have spoken with some "new" pharmacists hired and my impression is that they know relatively little about pharmacology/pathology/pharmaceuticals etc. Actually, I am more shocked, but to be fair my sample size of new pharmacists is limited.

It seems that the quality of school or actual mastery of Pharmacy is not in any way correlated to the people getting offers......

My impression?

Or is there something I need to know that I am missing?

Personality characteristics?
Contacts?
Or ?

Thank you

Are you still in school? It sounds like it.

There is a vast difference between what you learn in school vs. what is applicable in the real world and work force. I'd say 50-60% (maybe 75%) of the crap they teach you in school is utterly useless.

 

[farm4real]

Are you still in school? It sounds like it.

There is a vast difference between what you learn in school vs. what is applicable in the real world and work force. I'd say 50-60% (maybe 75%) of the crap they teach you in school is utterly useless.

Actually, I am a foreign pharmacist and looking for an internship.... my conversations with interns, pharmacists and hr left me shocked, in that never has competency nor knowledge never seemed to be a factor.....

HRs will not even look at my resume, and the people who get hired seem to know relatively very little....

Thus my question is to try to understand what I am doing wrong...or what I should be doing better to get at least a look...

Frustrated as f@&$!

 

[sosoo]

hello

I see there are a lot of experienced pharmacists on the board, and I would love some advice:

What are the main characterists or qualities that are sought for a pharmacist to be hired? I have spoken with some "new" pharmacists hired and my impression is that they know relatively little about pharmacology/pathology/pharmaceuticals etc. Actually, I am more shocked, but to be fair my sample size of new pharmacists is limited.

It seems that the quality of school or actual mastery of Pharmacy is not in any way correlated to the people getting offers......

My impression?

Or is there something I need to know that I am missing?

Personality characteristics?
Contacts?
Or ?

Thank you

if you wanted to know more about pathology, u should ask an MD. and for pharmacology and pharmaceuticals, u should talk to a pharmacologist (a pharmacist with PhD). asking a retail pharmacist about these things is like quacking in a chicken coop. the chicken cannot quack a response or understand which cave u crawl out of.

 

[farm4real]

if you wanted to know more about pathology, u should ask an MD. and for pharmacology and pharmaceuticals, u should talk to a pharmacologist (a pharmacist with PhD). asking a retail pharmacist about these things is like quacking in a chicken coop. the chicken cannot quack a response or understand which cave u crawl out of.

Hmmmm...ok

So, basically pharmacists are not pharmacists? But way overpaid salesmen? Or

Seems to me a bit cynical, but ....

 

[rcodyfb16]

Hmmmm...ok

So, basically pharmacists are not pharmacists? But way overpaid salesmen? Or

Seems to me a bit cynical, but ....

Ironic that you would use the term cynical. I'd say your interpersonal skills might need some work.

 

[farm4real]

Ironic that you would use the term cynical. I'd say your interpersonal skills might need some work.

???

Maybe?

But ad hominem attack are not very helpful

Really, looking for insight is all

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Really, looking for insight is all

What credentials do you actually have as a foreign pharmacist? (PharmD, Bachelors of Pharmacy, etc)

HRs aren't looking at you because you don't have credentials to be an intern (it appears). You have to be enrolled in a PharmD program in the US to be an "intern". They probably are scratching their heads at you trying to bypass the rules. You need to contact your state board and figure out what your options are to become a licensed pharmacist in the US. Or else you can just be a pharmacy technician....

 

[RxPreceptor]

Contacts are a big determination. In regards to pharmacology knowledge, I would have to agree with others that much material learned is not useful in a sense of practicing in a community setting (i.e. drug info that does not apply to patient, absence of lab values, better alternatives which are not covered by insurance, etc.). However, being able to simplify & communicate these drug knowledge competencies to a complete stranger & unknown education level is pretty important when relevant.

Yeah, unfortunately, an RPh who can multi-task (be brief enough in counseling & questions) whilst keeping up with metrics & managing techs is going to be a better candidate vs. an RPh who delves deeply & analytically into counseling & drug info questioning (you know getting to that point of reading off every side-effect of a drug & % of occurrence). More often than not, if you are trying to probe someone in retail about how much clinical knowledge she/he has, that person is most likely ignoring you & focusing on 3+ different tasks at hand whilst balancing metrics (it does seem unfortunate that retail far from an ideal environment for teaching interns).

 

[sosoo]

???

Maybe?

But ad hominem attack are not very helpful

Really, looking for insight is all

really, your original post was clearly insulting the pharmacists u spoke with. and then u insult the "quality of schools." correct me if im wrong.. as a foreigner u come in clueless, u ask questions, and then come online to insult them.. what insight were u aiming for?

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

???

Maybe?

But ad hominem attack are not very helpful

Really, looking for insight is all

You started it by saying that native-trained pharmacists were not up to par with you (sorry, but pathology serves no purpose in the pharmacy field). I highly doubt you are even competent to work retail with that negative attitude of yours.

 

[hye345]

Contacts are a big determination. In regards to pharmacology knowledge, I would have to agree with others that much material learned is not useful in a sense of practicing in a community setting (i.e. drug info that does not apply to patient, absence of lab values, better alternatives which are not covered by insurance, etc.). However, being able to simplify & communicate these drug knowledge competencies to a complete stranger & unknown education level is pretty important when relevant.

Yeah, unfortunately, an RPh who can multi-task (be brief enough in counseling & questions) whilst keeping up with metrics & managing techs is going to be a better candidate vs. an RPh who delves deeply & analytically into counseling & drug info questioning (you know getting to that point of reading off every side-effect of a drug & % of occurrence). More often than not, if you are trying to probe someone in retail about how much clinical knowledge she/he has, that person is most likely ignoring you & focusing on 3+ different tasks at hand whilst balancing metrics (it does seem unfortunate that retail far from an ideal environment for teaching interns).

This. I've worked with pharmacists who are incredibly book-smart and articulate, but who have difficulty managing/directing their team, or take more than 10 minutes to go over a medication with a patient, or get stuck with an insurance issue for 15+ minutes when such a task can very easily be delegated to a technician. I feel like pharmacy schools trained us to be excellent hospital/ambulatory care pharmacists, but not so much retail...

 

[lord999]

If his/her qualification is French, that's the norm. Pathology in the French and Wallonia can be dealt with by pharmacists as well as physicians (it's a joint specialty). Compared with the forum in terms of direct training, all of us on this Board are frankly far "undereducated" in comparison. However, the Americans have built systems that even total incompetents can work in due to the labor shortage. Knowledge means nothing, so long as the job is done safely enough.

That said, be careful about saying we Americans are not qualified. I'd take a random sample of hospital pharmacists around my area over Paris Sud or Poincaire any day of the week in terms of competency and productivity (as well as who I would want mixing the hard stuff). Just because we talk about Cosmo, the latest NFL/NBA/MLS games, or our interesting government all the time, when the chips are down, the Americans are productive about their work. Having direct experience with overseas pharmacists in their native environments, I cannot say the same for Europa. I definitely would not tolerate Europa's community pharmacist stereotype attitudes toward their patients.

If you are not US, Mexican, or Canadian trained, its difficult to get an intern license (and has to be done prior to application in almost all cases). If you have one, then it's probably a geography matter.

 

[ldiot]

You already have a license, so the assumption that employers make is that you already have the baseline drug/clinical knowledge to get the job done. Because of this, they are focusing on other qualities, unless you are applying for a specialty position or a purely clinical job.

 

[panicatthepharmacy]

pharmacologist (a pharmacist with PhD)

A pharmacologist is not necessarily a pharmacist.

 

[GrapePropel]

Actually, I am a foreign pharmacist and looking for an internship.... my conversations with interns, pharmacists and hr left me shocked, in that never has competency nor knowledge never seemed to be a factor.....

HRs will not even look at my resume, and the people who get hired seem to know relatively very little....

Thus my question is to try to understand what I am doing wrong...or what I should be doing better to get at least a look...

Frustrated as f@&$!

Dude how did you miss the memo? pharmacy is now saturated. That means tons of cheap labor. None of the chains care for foreigners any more when they can get easy domestic students that can speak flawless English. You are at a severe disadvantage if you think you are going to be able to get a job here in the US easily. Have you considered moving to U.A.E. or Qatar or some place pharmacists are still in demand?

 

[farm4real]

Dude how did you miss the memo? pharmacy is now saturated. That means tons of cheap labor. None of the chains care for foreigners any more when they can get easy domestic students that can speak flawless English. You are at a severe disadvantage if you think you are going to be able to get a job here in the US easily. Have you considered moving to U.A.E. or Qatar or some place pharmacists are still in demand?

🙂

Did not miss the memo, and my English is flawless (born and raised here in USA)!

Really want to stay in US due to family here....

Really, need advice on how to actually get hiring managers to look at my resume without immediately round-filing it...

 

[farm4real]

You started it by saying that native-trained pharmacists were not up to par with you (sorry, but pathology serves no purpose in the pharmacy field). I highly doubt you are even competent to work retail with that negative attitude of yours.

Negative attitude??? Really just an observation...

Let's assume you are right, that a 2.0 gpa and a diploma mill degree are perfectly acceptable.... then is no one worried about the profession??

If my doctor had a 2.0 and a diploma mill degree, I would think twice. My dentist as well.....

I make no claim of perfection, I am only wondering why mastery of Pharmacy , in which I include basic pathology, is not considered a qualification for a pharmacist.

And no, there are great pharmacists being trained, but a quick look at naplex and mpje scores make me have pause...

Thx

 

[farm4real]

You already have a license, so the assumption that employers make is that you already have the baseline drug/clinical knowledge to get the job done. Because of this, they are focusing on other qualities, unless you are applying for a specialty position or a purely clinical job.

Good point... thx

 

[farm4real]

If his/her qualification is French, that's the norm. Pathology in the French and Wallonia can be dealt with by pharmacists as well as physicians (it's a joint specialty). Compared with the forum in terms of direct training, all of us on this Board are frankly far "undereducated" in comparison. However, the Americans have built systems that even total incompetents can work in due to the labor shortage. Knowledge means nothing, so long as the job is done safely enough.

That said, be careful about saying we Americans are not qualified. I'd take a random sample of hospital pharmacists around my area over Paris Sud or Poincaire any day of the week in terms of competency and productivity (as well as who I would want mixing the hard stuff). Just because we talk about Cosmo, the latest NFL/NBA/MLS games, or our interesting government all the time, when the chips are down, the Americans are productive about their work. Having direct experience with overseas pharmacists in their native environments, I cannot say the same for Europa. I definitely would not tolerate Europa's community pharmacist stereotype attitudes toward their patients.

If you are not US, Mexican, or Canadian trained, its difficult to get an intern license (and has to be done prior to application in almost all cases). If you have one, then it's probably a geography matter.

Well, my comment was not about all us-trained pharmacist, and the recent naplex/ mjpe scores seem to back me up a bit

Please tell me a bit more about the differences you see between us trained and foreign trained pharmacists.... I would love the insight (seriously, not looking to argue, I am looking to learn)

Thank you