cute4runner said:
What is most challenging? What are the working hours? Roles and responsbilties - in which depts? How are the benefits? What is the range of your pay? Do you have to work on the weekends? If so, what are the hours? What are the relationships like among pharmacist/physicians/nurses/etc? What did you do after your residency?
Thank you very much
I will adress your questions one by one and number them, so here goes:
1) Most challenging is just that you are giving up a pharmacist pay and you are a student for another 2 years. But it's easier, b/c with each rotation you get more confidence and it gets easier and easier. You become faster and better at finishing assignments and projects.
2) Roles and responsibilites are the same as those of a pharmacist, you can write in the chart, answer drug info questions and dispense. Your preceptor tells you what to do and what needs to be done. Typically you will work all day and then meet with ur preceptro for 30 min to an hour to discuss pts, and what followup you need to do. You need to do a lot of projects, assignments, presentations. But that really depends on what rotation u are on. For say Drug Info rotation, you are doing a lot of projects, but say for critical care, much less, b/c that is more clinical.
3) Benefits are the same as full time employee, pay is about $40000 a year, give or take $2000.
4) You absolutely have to work on the weekends, it's like staffing requirements, but really depends on the residency. It can be as little as one weekend per month or as much as every other weekend. Now you don't get time off the week, you just go straight through when you are doing weekends.
5) Working hours vary from residency to residency, place to place. From what I am familiar with, in Detroit area, you are looking at minimum 40 hrs a week, proably more like 40-60, sometimes over 60, but not too often. And that is only work hours, I am not talking about time you gotta do at home, for your projects, assignments, lectures and so forth. Also some rotations are easier than others. But the minimum expectation is at least 40 hrs a week. However in Kzoo area you are working straight 40 hr/week, very rarely more than that, but it depends which hospital in that area too.
6) Relationships are good b/w pharmacists and nurses/physicains. If you are good and you give them good info, they won't even question you, they will just take whatever you tell them. If you screw up then they might q what you are reccommending. But overall, I dont' find the docs difficult or anything like that.
7) As an added bonus I will throw this in:
Being a specialist (meaning finishing 2 residencies, general and specialty) has pros and cons.
Pros
-no weekends
-always up on the floors, doing more cerebral work, not just filling and entering in central pharmacy
-get to go to conferences, professional meetings
-ability to do research, write articles, be a reviewer for an article
-teaching opportunities, both as a lecturer and as a preceptor
-arguably more respect than a typical pharmacist
-arguably better job satisfaction (person dependent)
Cons
-2 years of pay that is 1/2 of that of a typical pharmacist
-being in the school mode
-always have to do extra projects, eg. presentations, lectures, guidelines and so forth
-salaried
-Will proably work 50+ hr a week oppose to a 40 hr that a staff pharmacist does
-Really depends on the place though
The choice is up to you.
Best of luck.
