Any other interns have this problem?

[Elle928]

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sorry in advance..this is long lol.

I intern with CVS over my summer and winter breaks. However, whenever i get back, it seems like all i do is ring up. Sometime if im lucky, ill be in production. Now ive been working in the pharmacy for cvs since i was in high school, so its not like i dont know how to do anything. We are very very short on help and the techs all run to production and drop off, and when customers come in, look at me expecting me to take over pick-up. ( we dont get assigned who takes over what)

Now dont get me wrong, getting an intern's pay to stand there and ring up prescriptions is fine lol...but Im really not learning anything. I dont mind taking pick-up...just not all the time. The pharmacist is usually too swamped to even know whats going on and when ive brought it up, she tells me that she'll help me when it slows down...but we do 500+ prescriptions a day...its never slow! and we're always short on help.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Any advice? Should I just suck it up?

 

[Old Timer]

sorry in advance..this is long lol.

I intern with CVS over my summer and winter breaks. However, whenever i get back, it seems like all i do is ring up. Sometime if im lucky, ill be in production. Now ive been working in the pharmacy for cvs since i was in high school, so its not like i dont know how to do anything. We are very very short on help and the techs all run to production and drop off, and when customers come in, look at me expecting me to take over pick-up. ( we dont get assigned who takes over what)

Now dont get me wrong, getting an intern's pay to stand there and ring up prescriptions is fine lol...but Im really not learning anything. I dont mind taking pick-up...just not all the time. The pharmacist is usually too swamped to even know whats going on and when ive brought it up, she tells me that she'll help me when it slows down...but we do 500+ prescriptions a day...its never slow! and we're always short on help.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Any advice? Should I just suck it up?

I assume your mouth works as well as your fingers type. Pull the pharmacist aside and let them know you want to do more....

 

[PrincessSparkle]

ive talked to both pharmacists, the lead tech, and the district pharmacist. Their main concern is getting customers in and out quickly because of how short staffed we are.

 

[Old Timer]

ive talked to both pharmacists, the lead tech, and the district pharmacist. Their main concern is getting customers in and out quickly because of how short staffed we are.

If they trained you to do more, they could get customers out faster...

 

[rxlove]

Now dont get me wrong, getting an intern's pay to stand there and ring up prescriptions is fine lol...but Im really not learning anything. I dont mind taking pick-up...just not all the time.

I'm not an intern yet (will be next summer) but I work full-time as a tech. I agree that it is so frustrating when no one will help at the registers. We have just started to implement workflow (each person has a scheduled two hour time at each of the stations) because it is unfair that one person gets stuck down on the registers for their whole shift with no back up. So, while I don't have much advice, I feel your pain.

However, I was thinking about your comment about not learning anything, and that surprises me. It seems like pick-up window would be the best opportunity of all of the work stations to counsel patients about side effects, dtd interactions, answer their questions, etc. What would you really be learning as an intern at the filling and drop off stations that you don't already know as a tech?

 

[laepharmD]

I completely feel your pain. I had the same problem at Rite Aid even spoke to both pharmacists and I was stuck at the register but lucky you because I was just making 8.50 hourly. Because the technicians been there for years and we were always busy, I decided I was going to learn. I would forcibly put myself by the computer and tell a tech to watch me. AT pick up there is only so much you can do because youCANNOT give consultation unless you are a pharmacist. but I would enter in patient info and look up drugs for stock and count. Yes when we had customers come up they would look at me like I'm the only person who knows how to use a register, but think about how important it really is for you to learn. Put yourself in the equation of filling scripts.

 

[J ROD]

I would do the drive thru and pick up at the same time while keying Rxs along with the techs.....

we dont have assigned spots.

I just do it all because we are short staff like all retail.

Just tell them that you are entering Rxs today. Remember you will have to be a manager one day as a pharmacist.

Personally, I like the pick up. I do most of the counseling away. Since I am fresh out of school, I have alot more clinical knowledge than most of my pharmacist. Plus, it frees them up.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Don't know how far along in school are you, but if you have already learned something, that pick up is a great place to be since you can counsel and answer OTC questions and therefore use a lot more of your clinical knowledge and if you don't know something, you can listen to the pharmacist answer the question. Do you think you will learn that much more when you are counting in fives in the fill station? Typing the scripts would be helpful to learn brand/generic names and typical dosing, yes, so try to do that... but filling is not where you want to be.

 

[Elle928]

hmm maybe i should just try to force myself at the computer? lol. Ive only finished a year of school, so theres not a whole lot i can tell the patients if they have questions, and usually theres pressure to keep the checkout line moving because im usually the only one at the register. It just sucks that i cant do much else because most of the other techs have been there longer, and the ones that havent been there too long...well idk why they dont move out of production...and why no-one makes them move..eeeeeek.

 

[Sparda29]

I think it's just CVS. When I do drop off at Costco, I actually enjoy it more since I can find the Rxs much much quicker. At CVS, I'm spending a good 1-2 minutes digging through the bins to find an Rx, only for the customer to then say that they only have 1 Rx (they don't know about their Readyfill scripts) or they're supposed to have another Rx.

Reason why is, Costco doesn't use alphabetized bins. There are like 500 small little mailbox like things, and they all have a location code. You scan the script, and then you scan the location code that you place it in.

Then when someone comes to pick up, you type in their name, and the location code pops up.

 

[sakigt]

Ive only been doing this for a month, so bear with me.

As an Intern I feel like the best spots to learn are Production and Pick Up. Those two spots plus stalking the Pharmacist when it is slow will do wonders. Im a rising second year so its been a great help when customers ask "Is that my blood pressure pill?" or "Is that the generic of ___?"

Im sure later on it wont be as helpful but for now I think its congruent with my knowledge level.

 

[owlegrad]

Ive only been doing this for a month, so bear with me.

As an Intern I feel like the best spots to learn are Production and Pick Up. Those two spots plus stalking the Pharmacist when it is slow will do wonders. Im a rising second year so its been a great help when customers ask "Is that my blood pressure pill?" or "Is that the generic of ___?"

Im sure later on it wont be as helpful but for now I think its congruent with my knowledge level.

I feel like I learn the most at Drop off and Pick up. Drop off is great for learning things like normal doses, sig codes, as well as brand/generic (and insurance 👎). Pick up is great for the reasons you spelled out above. Production is great for learning to count by five. If there is anything else to learn at production, I have not come across it yet. I guess a minimal amount of reinforcing brand/generic, as well as learning what comes in dose packages (which doesn't seem like terribly important information to me).

 

[bacillus1]

Well, at least you don't have to do dropoff and pickup and production at the same time at a relatively busy store.

I guess talk to the pharmacist you work with and tell them that you're there to learn, and you'd learn more alternating at other stations. Sometimes you might have to run to dropoff when the regular dropoff person is on a bathroom break and then stay there. That's how it sometimes works at my store when we do have multiple people working.

 

[Quiksilver]

If they trained you to do more, they could get customers out faster...

bingo.


sounds like someone needs to sell themselves more and be a little more proactive around the pharmacy.

 

[busygirl]

Now dont get me wrong, getting an intern's pay to stand there and ring up prescriptions is fine lol...but Im really not learning anything. I dont mind taking pick-up...just not all the time. The pharmacist is usually too swamped to even know whats going on and when ive brought it up, she tells me that she'll help me when it slows down...but we do 500+ prescriptions a day...its never slow! and we're always short on help.


I went from being the senior tech at a Walgreens doing about the same vol. in MI to being a pharm cashier at a Longs in HI so I know how you feel! Let your pharmacist know at a slow moment that you would like to do more - if you still feel as though you are learning anything take the initiative and counsel the patients that do come by as you feel comfortable. Every chain has their own OS so unless you end up working for CVS down the line - it's not necessarily going to help you out. Also, pick up shifts filling in for other stores if you can - it will help you to get a feel for whether or not all CVS stores are about the same.