Blacklisted after internship?

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21PharmD

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hey guys, i just finished my first year in pharmacy school and have been working an internship position for a major retail chain for about 2 weeks now. I have been doing ok with everything until the lack of structure in the program lead me to come in one day with a bad attitude. After blowing my stack at a tech, I was then pulled aside by the pharmacist and questioned about my attitude. The next day the store manager requested to speak with me, which i thought for sure would be my ultimate termination. I told him i was frustrated that sometimes there would be nothing for me to do for hours at a time, which he agreed should not be happening. It eventually went ok, but now i fear being blacklisted from the company because of this situation. There now seems to be a lot of tension at work, and im beginning to question my options. I spoke with the pharmacist and told them that i hope that this one incident doesnt taint my evaluation, they agreed it wouldnt but i think they, as well as all the techs are still very upset with me. I would appreciate your thoughts on the severity of this situation as well how you think i could progress from this.
 
21PharmD said:
hey guys, i just finished my first year in pharmacy school and have been working an internship position for a major retail chain for about 2 weeks now. I have been doing ok with everything until the lack of structure in the program lead me to come in one day with a bad attitude. After blowing my stack at a tech, I was then pulled aside by the pharmacist and questioned about my attitude. The next day the store manager requested to speak with me, which i thought for sure would be my ultimate termination. I told him i was frustrated that sometimes there would be nothing for me to do for hours at a time, which he agreed should not be happening. It eventually went ok, but now i fear being blacklisted from the company because of this situation. There now seems to be a lot of tension at work, and im beginning to question my options. I spoke with the pharmacist and told them that i hope that this one incident doesnt taint my evaluation, they agreed it wouldnt but i think they, as well as all the techs are still very upset with me. I would appreciate your thoughts on the severity of this situation as well how you think i could progress from this.
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Losing your temper at work is never a good idea.. that type of outburst might mark you as lacking professionalism. But I doubt it was brought up to the level of district or regional manager so it doesn't matter. The store manager has little influence on the pharmacy side of things so I doubt word will spread much. If you stayed with that company, odds are you won't even be working after school in that district.
 
it wasn't so much a case of me losing my temper, but rather me having a suttle attitude which i agree was not right. I am not trying to absolve myself of what i did but i showed an attitude to a tech to which they yelled at me quite loudly which made it seem far more significant than it was. In any case, im most concerned with receiving a bad evaluation from the pharmacist who pulled me aside based on this incident. I mean it is clear that she is unhappy with me, im just questioning whether it would be best for me to leave or to stay on. once again thanks for the input!
 
21PharmD said:
it wasn't so much a case of me losing my temper, but rather me having a suttle attitude which i agree was not right. I am not trying to absolve myself of what i did but i showed an attitude to a tech to which they yelled at me quite loudly which made it seem far more significant than it was. In any case, im most concerned with receiving a bad evaluation from the pharmacist who pulled me aside based on this incident. I mean it is clear that she is unhappy with me, im just questioning whether it would be best for me to leave or to stay on. once again thanks for the input!
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Let this be a lesson you will never forget as long as you live.

Always treat your techs with utmost respect.
 
Who are you as an intern to yell at a technician?
 
Always treat your techs with utmost respect.
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Listen to this man. He is very wise, usually.....😉
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Yup, I totally agree with this...techs are still an integral part of your team...so try not piss them off!
 
Sounds like you need anger management... why would you yell at someone you're not even mad at... I'd be pretty upset too. I think you may want to apologize and explain yourself to everyone and hope that eventually they will no longer fear being terrorized by you.

You reap what you sow.
 
In any case
 
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Why didn't you just answer the tech in a truthful manner? "Why are you strolling the OTC shelves?" : "Oh, I'm just trying to learn the names and dosages of drugs; there's really nothing else to do, do you need some help with something?"

You don't have to get your panties in a bunch about it. There's also no reason to give attitude. If there's nothing to do and you want something to do, then ask the pharmacist.

In retail, you're going to encounter people who are much worse than your co-workers. If you deal with these customers with attitude or anger, then you are no good pharmacist.
 
21PharmD said:
obviously, you guys are missing the point. How does having a suttle attitude equate to "yelling at a technician"? It was small little things instead of large outbursts. It came to a climax when the tech was asking what it was i was doing walking the otc shelves, i told them "it shoulnt concern you" in no flattering manner. they then yelled at me for my attitude. That was when the pharmacist took me aside as stated before. The next day the store manager took me aside to talk with me about the situation. This it seems has gotten much larger than it should have. There seems to be a lot of new tension between me and my co-workers. This coupled with the fact that I rely on these people for training has lead to an ever so awkward environment. Now that i have provided proper contex my question is would it be in the best interest for me to continue with this internship or begin drafting my letter of resignation? Thanks for all the responses!
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Just quit dude... you obviously are probably too good to work there with those people not willing to bow down to your highness. You deserve so much better... after all, you're a highly educated P2...how dare they treat you that way.
 
First off, there is no such thing as a blackmail list for most major chains (not one that I know of at least). The only way you can be "blackmail" is if you get terminated and chains put you on the "do not hire again" list.

Second of all, there will always be down time in the pharmacy. My advice is enjoy it. Personally nobody cares if you are hard working or not as an intern (although you should always be) because it does zip for you when you graduate. However if you want to be busy, there are more than enough things to do including facing the drugs, dusting the shelves, doing inventory count, etc. Maybe that is why the tech asked you why you are in the OTC aisle? (Not something a pharmacy staff member would usually be unless aiding a customer).
 
Points well taken, but with all that said is it time to quit or risk getting fired and getting a poor evaluation. I hate that it has come to this point, but it has and now its time to contemplate what would now be in the best interest of myself as well as the pharmacy.
 
It sounds like you're just looking for an excuse to quit.

Make amends.
 
Old Timer said:
Listen to this man. He is very wise, usually.....😉
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Since you studiously avoid meeting me when you pass through town, I have no idea if you are wide or not.:meanie:

Wise I can discern from your posts.....
 
21PharmD said:
Points well taken, but with all that said is it time to quit or risk getting fired and getting a poor evaluation. I hate that it has come to this point, but it has and now its time to contemplate what would now be in the best interest of myself as well as the pharmacy.
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Have you even tried apologizing? And honestly doing it?

I think you can learn a better lesson my apologizing and serving yourself up a slice of humble pie...rather than just quiting. I don't think that solves anything.

You've learnt your lesson...now work to earn their trust back.
 
SpirivaSunrise said:
Have you even tried apologizing? And honestly doing it?

I think you can learn a better lesson my apologizing and serving yourself up a slice of humble pie...rather than just quiting. I don't think that solves anything.

You've learnt your lesson...now work to earn their trust back.
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I concur, just apologize and be sincere when doing so, and things will start to get better. I know its hard eating humble pie, but everyone has to do it one time or another in their lives. Everything will probably start to get better after that.

HTH
 
SpirivaSunrise said:
Have you even tried apologizing? And honestly doing it?

I think you can learn a better lesson my apologizing and serving yourself up a slice of humble pie...rather than just quiting. I don't think that solves anything.

You've learnt your lesson...now work to earn their trust back.
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Nuh - uh!!! It's much easier to just run from problems..than facing it. Just gotta keep hiding.... why man up????? That's too much work.
 
21PharmD said:
obviously, you guys are missing the point. How does having a suttle attitude equate to "yelling at a technician"? It was small little things instead of large outbursts. It came to a climax when the tech was asking what it was i was doing walking the otc shelves, i told them "it shoulnt concern you" in no flattering manner. they then yelled at me for my attitude. That was when the pharmacist took me aside as stated before. The next day the store manager took me aside to talk with me about the situation. This it seems has gotten much larger than it should have. There seems to be a lot of new tension between me and my co-workers. This coupled with the fact that I rely on these people for training has lead to an ever so awkward environment. Now that i have provided proper contex my question is would it be in the best interest for me to continue with this internship or begin drafting my letter of resignation? Thanks for all the responses!
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Regardless if you quit or not, you should apologize to the tech you blew up on or gave attitude to.

From reading your earlier posts, the attitude might have been caused by the "lack of structure" you highlighted. It is obvious there is something structural in the pharmacy you dislike. If that is the case, speak to your pharmacy supervisor or preceptor regarding your concerns. Blowing up on a pharmacy staff or customer will only make things worse.
 
People see through what you think may be subtle. Treat everyone with respect from now on because theyve all been there longer and dont have time for boyhood antics.
 
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Just adopt the attitude that you are no better than anyone else and go from there. If you learn to treat your coworkers and customers well your life in retail will be so much easier. A little kindness goes a long way.
 
And, no, I would not quit. Just do a much better job in the future. If you quit every time you make a blunder you will never keep a steady job.
 
Apologize, keep coming in to work, keep yourself busy doing something, keep your head down, finish the month. And move onward...with having learned a few lessons.
 
Unfortunately many of the posters on here are quick to jump to conclusions as to why I acted the way i did. It may very well have been the result of a culture of undisciplined and unprofessional behavior in the pharmacy. I am personally offended when techs display a complete disregard to the dignity of patients in the pharmacy while expressing disparaging remarks concerning their appearance and ethnicity. Equally disturbing is the profane and sexually explicit language that have made the pharmacy an uncomfortable place to work. If you can condone and defend this type of wreckless behavior in your pharmacy, then I guess we have different expectations for the pharmacy profession.
 
21PharmD said:
Unfortunately many of the posters on here are quick to jump to conclusions as to why I acted the way i did. It may very well have been the result of a culture of undisciplined and unprofessional behavior in the pharmacy. I am personally offended when techs display a complete disregard to the dignity of patients in the pharmacy while expressing disparaging remarks concerning their appearance and ethnicity. Equally disturbing is the profane and sexually explicit language that have made the pharmacy an uncomfortable place to work. If you can condone and defend this type of wreckless behavior in your pharmacy, then I guess we have different expectations for the pharmacy profession.
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Hmm... you didn't bring this up at all in your earlier posts. You said nothing about improper behavior by the techs or the pharmacy being an uncomfortable working environment. Both of these things you should have brought up with the store manager when he brought you aside, or the pharmacist earlier. You can do so in a diplomatic way, i.e. "I feel uncomfortable with the large amount of swearing..." or "It bothers me when the techs say negative things about Asians or homosexuals or people with purple hair..."

And leaving out important information when asking for advice doesn't let the advice-giver give you good suggestions...
 
Did I read that right? You've only been interning for 2 weeks and your already getting into problems with staff? 2 weeks in I was so green and nervous, I definitely didn't have any problems with staff because I was so eager to learn.

You need to check your attitude at the door and come in prepared to learn, in a multitude of ways. Realize that everyone is different. Cut the PC crap, you are going to hear people making sometimes crude remarks because thats the way people are, especially when you are working with the public as well as in a stressful environment (and even with health care providers!). Realize that sometimes your going to hear things that make you uncomfortable. There is nothing you can really do to change this.

If you have this idealistic world of pharmacy and expect everyone to be on their 100 % best behavior at all times, over a 12 hour shift, you are going to have a personal meltdown within 5 years and suffer burn out. You have to be light-hearted to be a good pharmacist, and you have to learn to get along with the techs and treat them as your equal. Learn to accept the way your techs are. Let things slide off your shoulder instead of dwelling on things or else you are going to hate this job.

I would recommend www.theangrypharmacist.com for you to get a more realistic idea of what retail pharmacy is like. You need to mentally prepare yourself because it is not the pretty picture painted in pharmacy school.

Sources: 8 years of sales/retail experience and 1 year of internship experience.
 
21PharmD said:
Unfortunately many of the posters on here are quick to jump to conclusions as to why I acted the way i did. It may very well have been the result of a culture of undisciplined and unprofessional behavior in the pharmacy. I am personally offended when techs display a complete disregard to the dignity of patients in the pharmacy while expressing disparaging remarks concerning their appearance and ethnicity. Equally disturbing is the profane and sexually explicit language that have made the pharmacy an uncomfortable place to work. If you can condone and defend this type of wreckless behavior in your pharmacy, then I guess we have different expectations for the pharmacy profession.
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I love the techs I work with and always treat them well...

the thing to consider is that they aren't coming from the same educational background that you did. They may not be the brightest and they may not know how to act professionally. there are two ways you can handle it; you can be douche on a power trip, Dr. PharmD or you could be firm but gentle at the same time.

Lets not even forget that you are an intern and that is essentially a tech; you are not their superior yet. Most of them know more then you do at this point. So its not your place to make a stand on the issue. Your job is to bring these issues up to your superiors in a professional manner.

techs really help to maintain sanity
 
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/member.php?u=18809821PharmD:
As a technician I'll try and provide some insight to how techs can view interns.
Over the last 12 yrs as a tech I've encountered MANY personalities. The ones that irritate techs (me especially) most are the ones that are arrogant, condescending, 'know-it-alls', prudes, judgmental, bossy, nosey, or lazy.

If there is still an air of tension looming in the pharmacy, I would suggest apologizing to the technician you snapped at. And even try to 'pseudo' suck up to the techs... what I mean by that is... when you find yourself twiddling your thumbs ask the 'alpha' tech if there is anything they need help doing. If you're willing to do 'tech' work (not saying that you don't already) you will earn the respect of your coworkers.

With regard to being blacklisted... that's a bit extreme. It seems more likely that they won't make snap judgments about you and they're waiting to see how you mend fences.

With regard to disparaging comments that you find unacceptable, I agree. In a perfect world we shouldn't say such things; however, we don't live in a perfect world. I admit it.. I'm human. If a patient's foul odor has offended my nose, I'm likely to mention it. I have also been known to comment on ignorance/stupidity/rude patients. These comments should never be audible to the public.

Lastly, with regard to your comment about 'taboo' topics in the pharmacy: If you have a problem with topics such as sex (various topics) you may want to reconsider working with people. I'm serious. Maybe you could find a pharmacy in an Amish community, but I'm not sure that even that would be a free of SEX talk. Now if this SEX talk is profoundly graphic or exceptionally offensive, you need to say something right then and there. I would suggest avoiding any sort of judgmental verbiage, and simply say that you'd like to change the topic of conversation because you're uncomfortable.

Foul language... LMFAO! I really shouldn't comment on swearing, because I'm definitely guilty. It's not something I am proud of, but I sure as heck don't plan on behaving like someone other than myself.

You really shouldn't let one small conflict have such an affect on you. Everyone has one of those 'irritable' days. Make the most of the situation and try and keep your outbursts to a minimum. If you think you've irked someone, wait for them to cool off and make a point of apologizing--EVEN if you think you were completely justified in what you said. Outbursts are not the way of addressing conflict (as I'm sure you're well aware of.) I've found that speaking one on one away from the rest of the coworkers is better received.

I hope my ramblings are at least partially helpful.
Best of luck!
 
Loquacious said:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/member.php?u=18809821PharmD:
As a technician I'll try and provide some insight to how techs can view interns.
Over the last 12 yrs as a tech I've encountered MANY personalities. The ones that irritate techs (me especially) most are the ones that are arrogant, condescending, 'know-it-alls', prudes, judgmental, bossy, nosey, or lazy.

If there is still an air of tension looming in the pharmacy, I would suggest apologizing to the technician you snapped at. And even try to 'pseudo' suck up to the techs... what I mean by that is... when you find yourself twiddling your thumbs ask the 'alpha' tech if there is anything they need help doing. If you're willing to do 'tech' work (not saying that you don't already) you will earn the respect of your coworkers.

With regard to being blacklisted... that's a bit extreme. It seems more likely that they won't make snap judgments about you and they're waiting to see how you mend fences.

With regard to disparaging comments that you find unacceptable, I agree. In a perfect world we shouldn't say such things; however, we don't live in a perfect world. I admit it.. I'm human. If a patient's foul odor has offended my nose, I'm likely to mention it. I have also been known to comment on ignorance/stupidity/rude patients. These comments should never be audible to the public.

Lastly, with regard to your comment about 'taboo' topics in the pharmacy: If you have a problem with topics such as sex (various topics) you may want to reconsider working with people. I'm serious. Maybe you could find a pharmacy in an Amish community, but I'm not sure that even that would be a free of SEX talk. Now if this SEX talk is profoundly graphic or exceptionally offensive, you need to say something right then and there. I would suggest avoiding any sort of judgmental verbiage, and simply say that you'd like to change the topic of conversation because you're uncomfortable.

Foul language... LMFAO! I really shouldn't comment on swearing, because I'm definitely guilty. It's not something I am proud of, but I sure as heck don't plan on behaving like someone other than myself.

You really shouldn't let one small conflict have such an affect on you. Everyone has one of those 'irritable' days. Make the most of the situation and try and keep your outbursts to a minimum. If you think you've irked someone, wait for them to cool off and make a point of apologizing--EVEN if you think you were completely justified in what you said. Outbursts are not the way of addressing conflict (as I'm sure you're well aware of.) I've found that speaking one on one away from the rest of the coworkers is better received.

I hope my ramblings are at least partially helpful.
Best of luck!
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Amen, pretty much what I was trying to get at.

Always try to stay busy even when its slow. I've been floating at a busy pharmacy the past couple weeks. At one this week it was rather slow and we had 2 techs and another intern besides me. I pointed out to the tech that I had noticed there were some inventory discrepancies and if she'd like me to do at least inventory fast movers for them. She seemed thrilled that I was willing to do that for them because inventory was a big problem that they normally did not have the manpower to bring under control. I'm sure I earned some respect in that regard.

Your never too good to not answer the phone, count, do inventory, or ring up customers. At most stores they generally have me do data entry and physician/insurance contacting, but if I'm caught up on my end or the techs are busy I will try to help with other tasks. Be a tech, but learn to be a pharmacist as well.
 
Buddy you're a little young to be burning bridges at this point in your academic career. Be a man, apologize and mean it. You'll be surprised how far that will go.
 
Losing your temper is one thing, being confronted about it by management is another.

Everyone has bad days. Recognize it and apologize to the coworker first, before they have a chance to complain about it.
 
You might want to spend time developing two major skills.

1 - Thicker skin. If words can bring about strong emotions - when they are simply being used - not aimed at you - you need thicker skin. I occasionally use vulgar language (byproduct of USMC). Sure I apologize when I slip - but if anyone actually told me it made them feel uncomfortable or complained to my supervisor about it, I'd likely place you in the "keep at a distance" category. That is the place for coworkers that cannot be trusted - and are likely to cause more issues than they solve. Trust me - you don't want to be that coworker.

2 - Personal presence. This is something that will develop as you develop more confidence in yourself. You need to be aware of the temperament of the people around you. Along the same vein - you should also be aware of how you feel - such that you can avoid losing your cool again.
 
It's really tough, but if someone is doing something that bugs you, nicely ask them to stop. If you put up an attitude instead of explaining yourself, then no one is going to understand what you're uncomfortable about, and it's going to make people think you're a jerk.

Like I said, it's tough to ask someone to stop doing something that annoys you, but it's one of the most valuable skills you can learn.

Some of my past coworkers hated rude customers and always talked crap about them. I didn't agree with their dislike of rude customers, so I told them my perspective...
 
What the heck is a "suttle attitude?" Even "subtle attitude" doesn't make a whole lot of sense...
 
Your have 2 problems here:
1. Your encounter with the tech when asked about your walking the "OTC section". Perhaps you need to develop some social skills or communication techniqes. If you are bored and looking thru the OTC section, say you are learning because many interns and even newly graduated RPhs do not know all the OTC products, which Drs still write on prescription pads.
2. Your later posting as to responders quickly jumping to the wrong conclusion because we did not know since you had not initially divulged, that there were other ethnic, social issues. That was poor on your part for not initially saying that that was the reason for upsetting you. If those things upset you, you should have brought that up to your Pharmacy manager. Profane language, making observations about people's looks and actions, and comments about people's ethnicity are a way of life. We can not see or make those observations. But you can say if those things are not what you appreciate. There are ways to make your beliefs known. Treating a tech badly does not offset others behavior=one does not balance the other.
In the future, if profane langauage and comments on behavior are going to be your main concern; then short of leaving Pharmacy, perhaps you might be more selective in the type of environment you or practice-closed facilities with no observable patients, pharmacies affliated with religious institutions, mail order pharmacies were you work alone, or PMB's.
 
Relax- you will not be blacklisted from whatever retail pharmacy you work at. However, you should apologize to the entire staff that was working when you behaved like an immature brat.

Sounds harsh? Well possibly, but I'm not completely in the wrong either. Do you have any really annoying customers who ask you why they have to wait a WHOLE 15 minutes for the prescription when all the pharmacist has to do is slap a label on it and put it in a bag? No one enjoys being belittled by the people they work with or work for. Regardless of what you may say I have a feeling not everyone you work with took to your outburst well.

Always treat your colleagues with respect. Even though your outburst may not have been directed at any one individual person, you disrespected the entire team. If you don't like your current position then quit.
 
Hey everyone,
I am a fourth year pharmacy student now, and I have had a termination in the past that has been eating me since then. Here is the what happened:
When I was in my second year of pharmacy school, I have joined this top #2 (I don't want to mention the name of the company) retail pharmacy as an intern. As a person I am very friendly and was willing to do any job my co-workers and the pharmacist ask me to do. I used talk minimally and mind my business. Right from the day I have joined, how much ever humble I was, my techs were not respecting me. Moreover, I had problems with the computer system sometimes, when I was doing data entry, so my pharmacist used to ask, sometimes yell at me that " are u done or not". This was happening only after 2 weeks of my entering the company. I used to work only 6 hrs a week, and I have finished all the CDs and the reading material that they gave for the system. But in the store, if i make a small delay or mistake in entering data or something else, they (including my RPh) used to make a big issue out of it. This got worse day by day to a point where I lost my self confidence. I am a good student and had a good knowledge of drugs and understanding of what I was doing. Later, after 3 months of working there, I got terminated. Since then, I haven't got an opportunity to work any where.
I have tried to get into the company again by attending the On-campus interviews for that company, but i haven't been succeeded. Also, I am putting the 3months experience that I have got on my resume.

Please advice me on,
1. What do you think of putting the 3 months experience on my resume for future interviews
2. Do you think that I have been blacklisted for this company🙁. Is getting terminated definitely means, blacklisting.
Any suggestions are appreciated and thanks in advance.

BTW, this was my first and last job that I ever did. Now I am progressing well through my rotations.
 
pharmacygaint said:
Hey everyone,
I am a fourth year pharmacy student now, and I have had a termination in the past that has been eating me since then. Here is the what happened:
When I was in my second year of pharmacy school, I have joined this top #2 (I don't want to mention the name of the company) retail pharmacy as an intern. As a person I am very friendly and was willing to do any job my co-workers and the pharmacist ask me to do. I used talk minimally and mind my business. Right from the day I have joined, how much ever humble I was, my techs were not respecting me. Moreover, I had problems with the computer system sometimes, when I was doing data entry, so my pharmacist used to ask, sometimes yell at me that " are u done or not". This was happening only after 2 weeks of my entering the company. I used to work only 6 hrs a week, and I have finished all the CDs and the reading material that they gave for the system. But in the store, if i make a small delay or mistake in entering data or something else, they (including my RPh) used to make a big issue out of it. This got worse day by day to a point where I lost my self confidence. I am a good student and had a good knowledge of drugs and understanding of what I was doing. Later, after 3 months of working there, I got terminated. Since then, I haven't got an opportunity to work any where.
I have tried to get into the company again by attending the On-campus interviews for that company, but i haven't been succeeded. Also, I am putting the 3months experience that I have got on my resume.

Please advice me on,
1. What do you think of putting the 3 months experience on my resume for future interviews
2. Do you think that I have been blacklisted for this company🙁. Is getting terminated definitely means, blacklisting.
Any suggestions are appreciated and thanks in advance.

BTW, this was my first and last job that I ever did. Now I am progressing well through my rotations.
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Im sorry, but can you clarify the circumstances that lead to your termination. Did things gradually get worse up until the point of termination or was it a random termination? You said after 3 months you were terminated, did they wait till the end of the program to terminate you? Did they provide an explanation for why they terminated you?
 
21PharmD said:
Im sorry, but can you clarify the circumstances that lead to your termination. Did things gradually get worse up until the point of termination or was it a random termination? You said after 3 months you were terminated, did they wait till the end of the program to terminate you? Did they provide an explanation for why they terminated you?
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First of all they were complaining about the fact that I could only work for 6 hrs a week. I was trying to get better with the computer system and was learning to resolve insurance issues. I was doing OK till that point. Then one day (I think week 9 of my working there), the pharmacy team leader comes in and when I was scanning the med bottle, I did not have the matching NDC with the bottle I grabbed (mistakenly I was scanning another bottle that I have grabbed for another label ), so I asked that RPh if they changed the manufacturer, thinking that if I need to reenter the NDC number in the system, and the RPh came and corrected my mistake. After that week, the RPh (the team leader) told the DM and my regular pharmacist that I am not progressing as they expected, and so they are going to watch me for 2 more weeks and then decide if they want to keep me or not. On week 11, I did everything well, except that I grabbed amixicillin 250 mg for suspension, instead of 500 mg, I think (my mistake). When the pharmacist caught that mistake, she was yelling at me saying that I do not need you, if you are going to put me at risk of loosing my license. That is it, next week I was out. But I have observed one thing, when the regular techs made the same mistakes for 3 to 4 times, the pharmacist was just trying to correct them by letting them know what they did, where as when it came to me, she and other techs were trying to establish me as an air head. I didn't understand this discrimination.
Could it be their higher expectations for pharmacy students? 🙄
BTW, I have joined the company as the regular intern, not the summer internship.
 
pharmacygaint said:
First of all they were complaining about the fact that I could only work for 6 hrs a week. I was trying to get better with the computer system and was learning to resolve insurance issues. I was doing OK till that point. Then one day (I think week 9 of my working there), the pharmacy team leader comes in and when I was scanning the med bottle, I did not have the matching NDC with the bottle I grabbed (mistakenly I was scanning another bottle that I have grabbed for another label ), so I asked that RPh if they changed the manufacturer, thinking that if I need to reenter the NDC number in the system, and the RPh came and corrected my mistake. After that week, the RPh (the team leader) told the DM and my regular pharmacist that I am not progressing as they expected, and so they are going to watch me for 2 more weeks and then decide if they want to keep me or not. On week 11, I did everything well, except that I grabbed amixicillin 250 mg for suspension, instead of 500 mg, I think (my mistake). When the pharmacist caught that mistake, she was yelling at me saying that I do not need you, if you are going to put me at risk of loosing my license. That is it, next week I was out. But I have observed one thing, when the regular techs made the same mistakes for 3 to 4 times, the pharmacist was just trying to correct them by letting them know what they did, where as when it came to me, she and other techs were trying to establish me as an air head. I didn't understand this discrimination.
Could it be their higher expectations for pharmacy students? 🙄
BTW, I have joined the company as the regular intern, not the summer internship.
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Im sorry you had this crappy experience. It seems to me that there is a double standard when it comes to technicians and interns. I was much like you willing to do everything the techs asked of me until they started abusing that privilege. They ended up always blowing up at me for everything I did and did not do. And when I responded to one of the techs I get pulled aside by the pharmacist that can barely speak english let alone teach in it. As to your questions I think it would be best to leave the job that you got terminated from off your resume, since you were only there for 11 weeks. If you are running out of things to put on your resume you can always put the rotations you are doing in 4th year. In terms of blacklisting, im not sure but I think they have a "do not rehire" clause, that is used for people who leave the company on bad terms. But let me ask you this, you said that after being terminated that you were unable to work as an intern anywhere. What places have you applied to and what were their responses? Knowing what you know now, would you have quit the job before you got terminated? I wish you the best of luck with your 4pd and hope those scumbags that gave you a hard time don't cause you to lose your confidence.
 
Your pharmacy was not willing to help you learn. Here at my pharmacy, we get new interns that doesn't even know as much as they techs. However, we slowly teaches them as if they're a new tech. I don't usually care if they're interns because if they can't type rx, fills, or even bill insurances, they are still learning like technicians. I think your pharmacy was too quick to judge and too quick to get rid of you. With that said, I won't not bother trying to find jobs with them. Go look somewhere else, but remember not to treat your interns in the future that way. Everyone needs to learn how to WORK in pharmacy, that takes time.
 
21PharmD said:
Im sorry you had this crappy experience. It seems to me that there is a double standard when it comes to technicians and interns. I was much like you willing to do everything the techs asked of me until they started abusing that privilege. They ended up always blowing up at me for everything I did and did not do. And when I responded to one of the techs I get pulled aside by the pharmacist that can barely speak english let alone teach in it. As to your questions I think it would be best to leave the job that you got terminated from off your resume, since you were only there for 11 weeks. If you are running out of things to put on your resume you can always put the rotations you are doing in 4th year. In terms of blacklisting, im not sure but I think they have a "do not rehire" clause, that is used for people who leave the company on bad terms. But let me ask you this, you said that after being terminated that you were unable to work as an intern anywhere. What places have you applied to and what were their responses? Knowing what you know now, would you have quit the job before you got terminated? I wish you the best of luck with your 4pd and hope those scumbags that gave you a hard time don't cause you to lose your confidence.
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From this experience, I think I should have quit, before termination, because I knew the situation was not going to get any better, but I still had hope that I could keep my job.

I am not encouraging you to quit now, but weigh the chances of you getting terminated, and think if it would be wise to quit now.
BTW, when I put this experience on my resume, do you think that they might have given bad feedback about me to the companies that I have applied, when my previous employer was contacted. All this is pretty fuzzy to me.
Also, as you mentioned, gossiping about co-workers in their absence and talking vulgarly was always there at my workplace and surprisingly the pharmacist was also part of it.
 
To OP and Pharm: I'm sorry you both had such a poor experience. A lot of the times, the people within the pharmacy doesn't think of working together as colleagues. Because of seniority or rumors, they feel they can step on others or gossip. I'm surprised they wouldn't treat an intern better, because interns are very useful and can help fill in the gaps between a very busy pharmacist and duties a tech cannot legally fulfill. But yeah, I'm feeling ya. Recently I started interning at a new store and they seem to 1) call me by the wrong name (not a big deal, I'm not bothered by that but I mean, but professionally it just shows me the type of people they are.. because I would take the effort to remember other's name; and if I forgot it, I would ask again and apologize because I am just getting acquainted), 2) I would also do everything needed and help as much as I can, but I feel like they are starting to take advantage or have me do things when others didn't feel like doing, 3) there is actually another intern there that started recently for a short rotation but didn't know I was working with the company for quite some time and decided to be very rude to me at first, before knowing I could offer this intern help. Anyway, this intern began to be step all over me and make me look bad in front of the other pharmacists in a goal to get a working position, but failed miserably.

The point is, you're going to run into these types of people, and they'll make you feel like crap and worthless. But you have to hold up your self value and know that you tried your best, you have your own set of values, and you are not going to be degraded by them. So they think you're slow, who wasn't slow at first when they started? You have to go the extra mile. Stay 10 min after your shift and work on some more typing. No pharmacists is going to tell you to get out of the pharmacy when your shift already ended (of course, do clock out first). Doing little things like this will help you get prepared for your future role as a pharmacist. Of course you're doing this to help the store/pharmacy too, but you're doing this to help yourself the most.
 
Sorry if I go off topic on this. Of course the OP's action was wrong but I was a little concerned when he mentioned the store manager talking to him (I'm very sure it's more like scolding him). What kinda of pharmacist/pharmacy manager would let a store manager did that? I'm a very new pharmacist but I know if my intern did something wrong, I would be the one who discipline the intern, not the some front end store manager who knows nothing about pharmacy.
 
Way to go!!! 👍 That's right.... you don't need them! And you should have run from that problem long ago!! Why face uncomfortable situations in life.... Running away is the best way!! At least that's why Forrest Gump did.."I felt like running."

Now that you don't work there...they will probably go out of business. They need you more than you need them!!! Good Job Dude! 👍
 
StaviZFingerZ said:
Way to go!!! 👍 That's right.... you don't need them! And you should have run from that problem long ago!! Why face uncomfortable situations in life.... Running away is the best way!! At least that's why Forrest Gump did.."I felt like running."

Now that you don't work there...they will probably go out of business. They need you more than you need them!!! Good Job Dude! 👍
Click to expand...

Damn... I missed it - what was the resolution?
 
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