Beyond Retail?

[aliskiren]

After talking to other interns and students ahead of me in class I thought of a question. People always tell you there are so many options when it comes to pharmacy but are there really? I know residencies open up lots of doors as do fellowships but what about people who just get by in school. Aren't residencies tougher to get these days? Same for fellowships? Is it fair to say that there are many options if you have a good gpa/resume to make you stand out otherwise retail seems to be the only option. By looking at requirements for some residencies you need a certain GPA and X amount of reccomendation etc. Am I way off with this thinking? Just curious of what you guys think.

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[PharmDstudent]

I'm not really sure exactly what your question is.

I knew a pharmacist who floated a little bit for CVS (he wanted a little more money to play with). He moved away in July/August to take a position as the pharmacy director of a new satellite hospital. It took him about five years to become a DOP without a residency or fellowship.

He started out by working for a hospital as a staff pharmacist. Throughout his time with the hospital, he would push himself to learn more. His first move was into the IV room, but he didn't stop there. He moved into "higher" positions that required more responsibility until he couldn't go any "higher" at that hospital. If I remember correctly, his last position dealt with transplant patients' medications.

His goal was to move up to the top position at a hospital pharmacy, so he had to move to another hospital that had an opening for him.