Benefits of working in a doctor's office versus working in a pharmacy

[mrp0pularrr]

State your opinions.

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[Forthegood]

Depends on the doctor, the type of practice, the job description for the MDs office and clinical or retail pharmacy for the other. In general, I'd go with the MD... if you are wanting to go into medicine.

 

[Astarael]

Are you trying to become a doctor or a pharmacist? If you want to be a doctor, work in a clinic; if you want to be a pharmacist, work in the pharmacy.

 

[orthomyxo]

I've never worked in a doctor's office, but let me be the first to say that retail pharmacy is awful. Being a tech is just about the most boring job you can think of, and you get yelled at by people all day for doing your job right. Clinical pharmacy is basically the same thing, except you can actually kill people if you screw up. Go for the MD, it can't possibly be worse and I bet the pay is comparable or even better.

 

[lftbndlbrnchblk]

What, doctors don't need to know about meds? The pharmacy will give you a greater understanding of what patients go through beyond the doctor visit.

I did both at the same time for a while, but the pharmacy gig I did for a lot longer before quitting (almost 3 years from freshman year to junior year). I learned next to nothing in the doctor's office except how to run a doctor's office, which I don't plan on doing and was something that didn't solidify my desire to be a doc. Plus, I didn't even think his letter was as good as the doc I shadowed who actually taught me stuff. As a pharmacy tech, I learned about meds, dosage forms, interactions, mechanisms of action, diseases the meds were treating, private insurance, Medicare, state-federal "insurance," this health care system, etc etc. I did not have a marginalized role in the doctor's office, I was in the thick of things. But THAT job was boring as hell. I learned nothing useful.

Adcoms loved that I took the time to explore medicine from different viewpoints and not just from the doctor's point-of-view.

 

[GlamDoc]

What, doctors don't need to know about meds? The pharmacy will give you a greater understanding of what patients go through beyond the doctor visit.

I did both at the same time for a while, but the pharmacy gig I did for a lot longer before quitting (almost 3 years from freshman year to junior year). I learned next to nothing in the doctor's office except how to run a doctor's office, which I don't plan on doing and was something that didn't solidify my desire to be a doc. Plus, I didn't even think his letter was as good as the doc I shadowed who actually taught me stuff. As a pharmacy tech, I learned about meds, dosage forms, interactions, mechanisms of action, diseases the meds were treating, private insurance, Medicare, state-federal "insurance," this health care system, etc etc. I did not have a marginalized role in the doctor's office, I was in the thick of things. But THAT job was boring as hell. I learned nothing useful.

Adcoms loved that I took the time to explore medicine from different viewpoints and not just from the doctor's point-of-view.

Occasionally (or more than occassionally) getting treated like crap is a part of the job. Hey, the sooner you learn to deal with difficult patients, the better. You do learn quite a bit from a tech job. If not anything, at least many, many drug names/usage.

 

[orthomyxo]

Occasionally (or more than occassionally) getting treated like crap is a part of the job. Hey, the sooner you learn to deal with difficult patients, the better. You do learn quite a bit from a tech job. If not anything, at least many, many drug names/usage.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that you learn drug mechanisms, but I guess it isn't a bad thing to know the top 200 and what they're used for. It's also nice to see why your prescription takes 20 minutes to get filled when everyone thinks it's "just putting some pills in a bottle." You also start to realize that pharmacists basically know everything.

 

[Forthegood]

The mechanisms we have to learn are pretty straight-forward. It seems like a good opportunity to learn the material on your own, while you are exposed to it... just like med school.

 

[Rocher]

I've never worked in a doctor's office, but let me be the first to say that retail pharmacy is awful. Being a tech is just about the most boring job you can think of, and you get yelled at by people all day for doing your job right. Clinical pharmacy is basically the same thing, except you can actually kill people if you screw up. Go for the MD, it can't possibly be worse and I bet the pay is comparable or even better.

I've gotta disagree about the pharmacy being boring. I'm sure it depends on where you are at. I have been a pharmacy tech at Walgreen's for almost 6 years.. Not boring at all, in fact most of the time it's extremely fast paced..You do get yelled by customers at times but who doesn't that deals with the public? Do you think physicians are exempt from that?

Not too sure about clinical pharmacy however..