Can someone talk some sense into me?

[SexyPlexi]

I have been offered a full time day shift at the hospital pharmacy closest to my house! The hours are 7-3 M-F and every third weekend. The pharmacy is huge! There were about 10-12 pharmacists on when I interviewed and all sorts of cool rooms for the IVs and other stuff and a carousel that drugs fly by on.

It looked pretty neat. Obviously I would be taking about a 40% pay cut from what I am doing now (sitting in an office - completely unrelated to pharmacy) and it's so early and I surely won't get holidays off since it's hospital...

But I can't pass up an opportunity like this, right? And no more commuting or traffic and I would get to wear scrubs every day...and surely it would be more interesting than what I do now. Plus this is really the only place my application is lacking. So once experience and a LOR from a pharmacist gets added in my app should be fairly awesome.

I think I am just having cold feet because I have been at this job for 6 years (TODAY) and I don't like change.

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[RxWildcat]

You'll be glad you did, especially if your current job is boring.

 

[SexyPlexi]

LOL

I swear I would never make it through school without you guys. After how last semester went I am totally nervous to go through pharm school...but I know it will be worth it.

 

[PharmDstudent]

Why do you need to work there full-time? What's wrong with every third weekend? At least you wouldn't be broke!

 

[SexyPlexi]

They offered me either PRN or this

 

[PharmDstudent]

They offered me either PRN or this

I worked PRN when I was a hospital pharmacy tech, and there were always more than enough shifts that I could have picked up on the weekends or in the evenings. What did they tell you about the PRN position?

 

[SexyPlexi]

Well at first all they had was PRN. Then they took me on a tour and in my second interview they had decided to open up a full time day position for me that was originally going to open in the fall. The thing is that I already work 40 hours a week and I really can't juggle 2 jobs and my husband's company...plus when school starts back I definitely will only have time for one job. So I figure this is a good opportunity. Money will be less, but I think my husband can probably make up for it. Plus as an intern it's $20-25 an hour there.

 

[RxWildcat]

$25/hr for an intern?? Is this for a first year or a grad intern?

 

[SexyPlexi]

He said intern. He said it doubles when you become an intern.

Starting at $11 an hour but once I get certified and then once I get promoted to Tech level II - there are 2 opportunities for raises

 

[Allure]

You should ask to work PRN if you can, like every other weekend. 40% cut in paid is a lot and not a lot of people can take that cut.

 

[PharmDstudent]

You can't work full-time while you're in pharmacy school. It's not healthy or something like that. So why do you need to work full-time in a hospital pharmacy if you're just going to work PRN while you're in pharmacy school?

I need a solid rationale here besides for the experience. You're losing money, you haven't gotten into pharmacy school *yet*, and you're not going to be working full-time while in pharmacy school.

 

[SexyPlexi]

Right, I know I won't be working full time in pharmacy school. ~10-15 hrs a week, right?

I guess my rationale is the experience and to get my foot in the door at a hospital (the hospital I would most want to work for). SO you think I would be crazy to give up my cushy office job, huh? hmmm...

And you think I should do PRN?

Maybe...maybe...now I feel really confused.

I mean, yeah having the extra money would be easier. Being able to study at work when times get crazy is very helpful. And my job right now is flexible with my school schedule...

maybe you are right...

 

[SexyPlexi]

I wonder if I worked PRN and put the 40% I WOULD have been losing in a savings account for when I'm in school...


gas IS almost $4 a gallon...

AHHH I'm so torn

 

[Allure]

It won't be hard to get a job at the hospital once you're a pharmacist.

I thought the same thing you do now (get my foot in the door) when I got my job at the hospital except I didn't have to think hard about accepting it or not. I'm glad I got the experience, but I would never want to work with them now because I started out knowing NOTHING and 50% of the techs I worked with have been there for over 30 years. In their eyes, I was this incompetent student. It would feel weird for me to come back there and work after I graduate.

If I were you, I'd tell them that I want to work PRN, every other weekend or something like that.

 

[SexyPlexi]

Do you think it would make me look bad if I turned it down?

I could probably do PRN over the summer but once school starts I feel so bogged down with studying and lab reports, etc. I just don't think I could do all that much then.

 

[PharmDstudent]

Well... I'll take another stab at it.

Pre-pharm classes have to come first. It's too competitive right now to let your grades slack. As long as you have experience and solid LORs, it doesn't matter how many hours per week you work in a pharmacy. I would say that you need a few months of experience in a pharmacy so that you can write about your experience thoroughly or talk about it in an interview with confidence. Besides that, a full-time pharmacy tech job is just a job like any other job.

Honestly, I don't know of any full-time pharmacy technicians who have gotten into pharmacy school. Maybe they weren't focusing on their grades or application enough. I don't really know why exactly, because I wasn't on a decision committee, but a full-time pharmacy tech job is not a crutch for lower grades or a sub-par application.

 

[PharmDstudent]

Do you think it would make me look bad if I turned it down?

No. They already offered you the PRN position.

 

[njac]

you'll be working prn anyway once school starts.

Why not see about the prn position and then when school starts quit your other job and you can pick up more hours at the hospital.

 

[SexyPlexi]

Yeah I think I will do PRN for now. I can handle it over the summer and I'll be making more money instead of less. Then I'll reevaluate in the fall.

Thanks you guys!

 

[tussionex]

Yeah I think I will do PRN for now. I can handle it over the summer and I'll be making more money instead of less. Then I'll reevaluate in the fall.

Thanks you guys!

work PRN....especially if you're going to school fulltime.
your director will appreciate your dedication to your studies, and you wont be killing yourself