Consulting Pharmacists & those able to prescribe

[booga]

So, I've sort of come to the conclusion that I would very much like to pursue a career in pharmacy. I've been working as a tech for the past 3 years, trying to save up enough money to go to college and I've fallen in love. Granted, I hate retail settings (who doesn't?!), I sort of have an aim with what I'd like to do and was wondering if anyone might be able to give me a timeline:

I'll go to school at a 2 year with science intensive courses catered to the pharmacy schools' (around here) prepharm requirements, then finish up the last 2 years at a proper university; it's cheap, and I'm on my own, as I have been for years and years (which is why I've put school off for such a long while!). Anyway, while I'm doing and considering all this, I'd really like to know if anyone has experience with PharmD prescribing. My ultimate goal would be to consult and/or prescribe at an HIV/AIDs clinic. The PharmD who is my boss said that you have to have an extra year of residency, which is no big deal, and some other certifications in order to prescribe. Can anyone go into detail about what that might include in their state? I'm not wholly committed to staying in my current state (NC) and would move if a pleasing job offer happened its way upon me, or if it was significantly easier to become licensed to prescribe/consult or what have you.

Thanks in advance, for any answers or clarifications for me!

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[owlegrad]

So, I've sort of come to the conclusion that I would very much like to pursue a career in pharmacy. I've been working as a tech for the past 3 years, trying to save up enough money to go to college and I've fallen in love. Granted, I hate retail settings (who doesn't?!), I sort of have an aim with what I'd like to do and was wondering if anyone might be able to give me a timeline:

I'll go to school at a 2 year with science intensive courses catered to the pharmacy schools' (around here) prepharm requirements, then finish up the last 2 years at a proper university; it's cheap, and I'm on my own, as I have been for years and years (which is why I've put school off for such a long while!). Anyway, while I'm doing and considering all this, I'd really like to know if anyone has experience with PharmD prescribing. My ultimate goal would be to consult and/or prescribe at an HIV/AIDs clinic. The PharmD who is my boss said that you have to have an extra year of residency, which is no big deal, and some other certifications in order to prescribe. Can anyone go into detail about what that might include in their state? I'm not wholly committed to staying in my current state (NC) and would move if a pleasing job offer happened its way upon me, or if it was significantly easier to become licensed to prescribe/consult or what have you.

Thanks in advance, for any answers or clarifications for me!

I don't.

Can't speak for any other states, but in FL you need a "collaborative care agreement" with a physician. Under that you agree to follow a particular protocol, you are not just prescribing w/e you think is appropriate. I have no first hand experience in the matter, but my gut says it sounds over-rated.

This topic may be better served in the pharmacy section, just a thought. I have no idea what a consulting pharmacist is, so I cannot help you there.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

A consulting pharmacist is one who normally works with nursing homes or long term/chronic care facilities. They do chart reviews and consult the nurses and prescribing physicians on the appropriate use and management of the patients' medication. It normally involves a lot of geriatric pharmacy.

website for the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists

http://www.ascp.com/articles/what-consultant-pharmacist



I'm in a similar situation... I am currently an intern at a retail grocery chain I really like, but I'm a member of my school's ASCP student organization. This area is really saturated with consultant pharmacists, but the HIV/AIDs thing is a little different than the whole geriatric, long term care thing. It's a pretty saturated and competitive specialty to get into because it's such an interesting job with great working conditions and benefits, but I wouldn't mind staying in retail if my current company offered a job after graduation. If you're really interested in doing it... I would suggest going to a pharmacy school with good networking opportunities because it is one area of pharmacy where you especially need to make connections to possibly get your foot in the door.

 

[booga]

Okay - I suppose that helps a little bit. The only pharmacy school around here that's public and not costly is UNC, which is great but super-duper competitive. I suppose I'll just start out with the pre-pharmacy requirements and decide where to go from there.

I'm not sure about geriatric to be completely honest. I love old people, but I've dealt with enough in retail.

Now, if the retail job offered a nice package, I might consider it, but as it stands, presently, it's just a reference I can use on applications. I hate the "use and abuse" mentality of a lot of retail chains with their Rx programs.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

Okay - I suppose that helps a little bit. The only pharmacy school around here that's public and not costly is UNC, which is great but super-duper competitive. I suppose I'll just start out with the pre-pharmacy requirements and decide where to go from there.

I'm not sure about geriatric to be completely honest. I love old people, but I've dealt with enough in retail.

Now, if the retail job offered a nice package, I might consider it, but as it stands, presently, it's just a reference I can use on applications. I hate the "use and abuse" mentality of a lot of retail chains with their Rx programs.

Yeah I mean UNC would be nice, and I'm sure you probably wouldn't want to pay Campbell's tuition OR live out there where it's located. Would you consider applying to other schools besides UNC? There's quite a few people from North Carolina at Mercer, even though it's more expensive... it's kind of close by. Also I'm not sure if South Carolina, UGA, and UT favor in-state students, but their out of state tuition is probably similar to private schools or maybe even less.