Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison pharmacist

[Pharmist1720]

Anybody have experience working for the Federal Prison System? Just wondering what type of job it is? Salary, benefits, student loan repayment, and day to day work flow? Thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jkemmer2]

Anybody have experience working for the Federal Prison System? Just wondering what type of job it is? Salary, benefits, student loan repayment, and day to day work flow? Thanks.

I had an APPE rotation at a federal prison last March. Work flow will depend on the level of medical need of the facility's inmates. My site was fairly low medical need and treated outpatient conditions only, so it pretty much functioned as a typical retail pharmacy, with one pharmacist and one tech employed there, and only open weekdays. I'm assuming the medical centers with high needs inmates will have more pharmacist staffing with varying schedules. It was pretty laid back, as there are no insurance issues since it's a pretty set formulary, and there seemed to be more responsibilities with misc. paperwork rather than just filling prescriptions (it's the government, what do you want...). The physician's office was just down the hall from the pharmacy, so it was really easy to contact him for any issues. The pharmacist administered vaccines for inmates as well, so occasionally you may be alone in a room with an inmate (though they're pretty chill because unless you're a the high security places, they really just want to get out of there and won't do anything to jeopardize that). The computer systems are kind of convoluted because pharmacy and medical records are on two different programs, but I figured it out before too long. Overall, you need to be more independent and really organized since there seemed to be a lot of random regulatory stuff to worry about.

The document on this page (and the site in general) has some info about the benefits for federal workers. (free healthcare for your family, retire with benefits after 20 years...) Of course, you have to do some very thorough background checks and there is extensive training and a physical test to pass as well.

http://www.usphs.gov/profession/pharmacist/secrets.aspx


I thought about applying for the position posted for Kentucky since I'm already living in the area, but have decided not to. Best of luck to you! 🙂

 

[Ghost-Writer]

Great information. I'm interested in this. I think most pharmacists may not want to work with such patients, which may make it a favorable situation. That 20-year retirement, and the hours are really appealing!