First job: pharm or medicine? S/O to pharmacy techs and medical scribes

[futuredocMJM]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this website, but I am in desperate need of advice as I currently find myself at crossroads.

A little info about myself:
I am currently a freshman Biology (pre-medical) major in my second semester at a university in Atlanta, GA. I graduated from a medical magnet program (competitive application process, rigorous curriculum, taught by/researched with/interned with MDs as a part of being magnet) in high school last year. During high school, I took a pharmacy technician training course offered there, but I was sort of lazy about becoming certified after completing the course. Hence, I have just earned certification last month, a little over a year since the class. I applied to a few retail pharmacies in the area, and as of today, have been hired at Walgreens (part time, have yet to actually discuss pay, but I'm thinking it would be within $9-12/hr). This would be my first job ever.

Now, bear in mind that I absolutely LOVE medicine. I have always aspired to become a physician, more specifically an ER surgeon/physician; it's my ultimate goal in life. On the other hand, I have had internship experience at a hospital pharmacy during high school, and it's safe to say that I dislike pharmacy, at least in a hospital setting. REALLY, REALLY BORING.

So here's the thing: I have an opportunity to interview with PhysAssist this Thursday (2 days from now), regarding a Medical Scribe position at a reputable, well-known hospital here in Atlanta. From the research I've done so far about scribes, I feel much more excitement toward that job rather than Walgreens CPhT. I know that in the long-run, having the actual direct interaction with doctors and patients and being able to see "behind-the-scenes" action in an ER setting will benefit me far more than pharmacy would. But I need some advice on which job I should choose, considering the pros and cons of each...

Certified Pharmacy Technician
Pros:

• better pay: I would get around $2 more vs. scribe wage
• proximity: Walgreens is about 7 mins away from me vs. hospital being about 20 mins on a good day
• i am actually certified, also registered with GA Board of Pharmacy

Cons:

• wouldn't enjoy it as much
• not as good as having Medical Scribe on my resume, apps for medical school
• doesn't exactly pertain to medicine/becoming a doctor
• many people say Walgreens treats their employees badly (don't know so much about that yet)

Medical Scribe
Pros:

• enables me to actually experience what it would feel like in the future as an ER doc
• networking/establishing strong connections with healthcare professionals, doctors
• would aid in medical school as far as learning goes

Cons:

• from what I've researched/seen on this exact forum, many undergrad premed students who are medical scribes have had their grades suffer due to the high demand, also with the classes getting much harder the farther you go
• only 2-3 shifts per week as part time

This is all I can think of for now. I do also have the option of doing Walgreens for maybe 2 yrs give or take, and then going on to become a Medical Scribe. I don't know, what do you all think?

Thank you all in advance.

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[frosted_flake]

I am a CPhT, but I only use it for volunteering purposes. I work as an EMT.
Pharmacy is just too boring for my taste. I need some excitement to get through the day.

 

[futuredocMJM]

Thanks Emily! I definitely understand the boring part. But what do you mean for volunteering purposes?

 

[frosted_flake]

I don't work as a pharmacy technician. I would pull my hair out if I had to count pills and mix creams all day long.
A family friend is a Pharmacist and I go help out sometimes just for fun at the hospital he works at. It helps me stay current on brand/generic names and helps me realize that people take way too much medicine.
Truthfully, I just do it for sh*ts and giggles, no other reason 🙂
EDIT:
I only became a CPhT when I took a semester off school to avoid burnout, I was bored and I missed school so I decided to get a certification.

 

[futuredocMJM]

Oh I see. What are you studying, if I may ask?

 

[frosted_flake]

I PMed you 🙂

 

[ciestar]

I'm a pharm tech at cvs. The work is very monotonous, counting pills all day long. But i get to do more than that so it breaks up the day.

But working in retail teaches you a ton of patience.

 

[futuredocMJM]

I'm a pharm tech at cvs. The work is very monotonous, counting pills all day long. But i get to do more than that so it breaks up the day.

But working in retail teaches you a ton of patience.

Patience? How so, exactly? Like with customers that come in/drive-thru?

 

[ciestar]

Patience? How so, exactly? Like with customers that come in/drive-thru?

Not so much. I just deal with a LOT of difficult patients and you learn quickly how keep a cool head and be patient and realize you're going to deal with difficult patients for the rest of your life. (nice grammar there, ). In a way, you also learn to prioritize everything a bit. That's just from my experience.

 

[pharm B]

I think you'd find the scribe position much more interesting. I can't say I've done it, but I assume you would learn more just by paying attention to what's going on there than you would as a tech at a retail pharmacy.

I enjoyed my time as a tech in a fast-paced retail chain while I was in undergrad, but I didn't learn much there. They expect you to perform and don't care if you're just there to bolster your resume.

 

[futuredocMJM]

Not so much. I just deal with a LOT of difficult patients and you learn quickly how keep a cool head and be patient and realize you're going to deal with difficult patients for the rest of your life. (nice grammar there, ). In a way, you also learn to prioritize everything a bit. That's just from my experience.

Lol, I would definitely need that skill then. I can get pretty hot-headed

 

[futuredocMJM]

I think you'd find the scribe position much more interesting. I can't say I've done it, but I assume you would learn more just by paying attention to what's going on there than you would as a tech at a retail pharmacy.

I enjoyed my time as a tech in a fast-paced retail chain while I was in undergrad, but I didn't learn much there. They expect you to perform and don't care if you're just there to bolster your resume.

Wow, very true. Thank you 🙂

 

[Patros]

If you're interested in working in the ER, do that now. I haven't worked as a scribe, but I have worked as a retail pharm tech for 3 years. I was initially considering working as a pharmacist, but my experience as a pharm tech is the main reason I chose medicine over pharmacy.

Retail pharmacy is where the worst parts of retail meet the worst parts of healthcare. As a pharmacy tech, you're at the bottom of the totem pole and you will take the brunt of the BS that happens every day. You have to deal with frustrated and impatient customers/patients all day; people who believe they have power over you, and intend to vent their frustrations on the person who has to take it with a smile, aka you. At the same time, you have to deal with the pharmacist, who is constantly harping on you to push services/products because corporate is on his/her tail to meet quotas. Your boss won't care about you, your colleagues (mostly pharmacy interns) don't want to hear about your pre-med aspirations, and the customers definitely don't have the inclination to be nice. Like ciestar said, you need to have a lot of patience. Moreover, you need very thick skin. During my entire experience, I felt like a minimum-wage slave who was stuck in the gears of a business machine.

Worst of all, there is no intellectual ownership of the work you do. You can rarely say, "I did this because it was the right thing to do." Instead, you better follow the protocol to the letter, or else you're going to get chewed out by someone. As soon as I got a paid job in lab research, I jumped ship and never looked back.

Don't think it'll help your application either. Most physicians in interviews didn't take me seriously when I said I learned a lot from pharmacy. One of them even rolled their eyes at me, and another said "I didn't think the pharmacy is a tough place." So do the thing that interests you most and is most relevant to your career aspirations. A salary difference of $2/hour is chump change compared to getting personal satisfaction.

 

[futuredocMJM]

If you're interested in working in the ER, do that now. I haven't worked as a scribe, but I have worked as a retail pharm tech for 3 years. I was initially considering working as a pharmacist, but my experience as a pharm tech is the main reason I chose medicine over pharmacy.

Retail pharmacy is where the worst parts of retail meet the worst parts of healthcare. As a pharmacy tech, you're at the bottom of the totem pole and you will take the brunt of the BS that happens every day. You have to deal with frustrated and impatient customers/patients all day; people who believe they have power over you, and intend to vent their frustrations on the person who has to take it with a smile, aka you. At the same time, you have to deal with the pharmacist, who is constantly harping on you to push services/products because corporate is on his/her tail to meet quotas. Your boss won't care about you, your colleagues (mostly pharmacy interns) don't want to hear about your pre-med aspirations, and the customers definitely don't have the inclination to be nice. Like ciestar said, you need to have a lot of patience. Moreover, you need very thick skin. During my entire experience, I felt like a minimum-wage slave who was stuck in the gears of a business machine.

Worst of all, there is no intellectual ownership of the work you do. You can rarely say, "I did this because it was the right thing to do." Instead, you better follow the protocol to the letter, or else you're going to get chewed out by someone. As soon as I got a paid job in lab research, I jumped ship and never looked back.

Don't think it'll help your application either. Most physicians in interviews didn't take me seriously when I said I learned a lot from pharmacy. One of them even rolled their eyes at me, and another said "I didn't think the pharmacy is a tough place." So do the thing that interests you most and is most relevant to your career aspirations. A salary difference of $2/hour is chump change compared to getting personal satisfaction.

What a reply, thanks! Yeah I definitely think it would make more sense doing the scribe, but what if it's too early? What if my grades were to suffer now, as a freshman?

How would it look if I worked at Walgreens for 2 years, and then went on to become a scribe?

 

[Patros]

What a reply, thanks! Yeah I definitely think it would make more sense doing the scribe, but what if it's too early? What if my grades were to suffer now, as a freshman?

How would it look if I worked at Walgreens for 2 years, and then went on to become a scribe?

In my opinion, you should be doing something apart from classes, always. In my case, I was volunteering, or working part-time, or working in a research lab, in addition to a relatively heavy course load (~20 credits) through various stages of undergrad. With good time management and study habits, I think doing ~2 shifts per week plus 12-15 credits is feasible, especially if you can schedule fewer classes on those days.

Working at Walgreens and then scribing is fine, but I would be careful about planning too far into the future. You never know if you will still get that job down the line. Before you make any decisions, make sure you know what the time commitments for both jobs are, and how scheduling will work.

 

[futuredocMJM]

In my opinion, you should be doing something apart from classes, always. In my case, I was volunteering, or working part-time, or working in a research lab, in addition to a relatively heavy course load (~20 credits) through various stages of undergrad. With good time management and study habits, I think doing ~2 shifts per week plus 12-15 credits is feasible, especially if you can schedule fewer classes on those days.

Working at Walgreens and then scribing is fine, but I would be careful about planning too far into the future. You never know if you will still get that job down the line. Before you make any decisions, make sure you know what the time commitments for both jobs are, and how scheduling will work.

Yeah, I'll admit right now I'm sort of lacking with EC's/volunteering. During HS I had 364 hours of community service (with both healthcare and non-health), but I'm not so sure that matters anymore. I may have a research lab assistant opportunity this coming Fall semester with a professor, so that could work.

What sorts of volunteering would grab attention/make a difference?

 

[ciestar]

Volunteering that makes a difference to you, makes a difference.
Don't do it to make yourself look better, do it for you. Volunteer in something you're genuinely interested in.

 

[Pacna]

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[futuredocMJM]

So I've done both. My first 1.5 years of college I was a CPhT at Walgreen's (I was really good, boss could depend on me to save us when we were backed up). I am now a scribe in the ER. Here's my take on it

CPhT - knowing medications is great. Working with insurance, answering phones, explaining med issues to patients/nurses/other techs is great for being able to communicate effectively and concisely. But what's important here is that responsibility for the final prescription, while technically under the pharmacists' initials, is YOUR responsibility. You interpret and enter data, you pull the correct med, you fill it accurately, you sell it, and you are the primary point of contact for people. That's important.
I will not that Walgreen's paid extremely well for me (3$/hr more than scribe) and I'm actually taking a very long vacation this summer thanks to all the money I was able to save.

Scribe - You will learn medicine here. You will establish a good relationship with the physicians you work for. You will see people who are actually sick, you will see pathology you wouldn't see until med school, you will be a part of a team for patient care which is where you want to end up anyway as a physician, you will be great at charting (invaluable for med school), you will experience death of patients. Altogether great introductory experience for medical school. For me, pay isn't great.

If I were you, I would try and do both if you can. I could have stayed with Walgreen's if I wanted but I wasn't going to gain anything else by staying, I was ready for something new which is why I left. But I DID gain a LOT of great experience while I was there. Interviewing for my scribe position they told me I need to handle stress, and I just thought back to the times where I had 50 foot line of patients at my counter, a line in drive-thru, several prescriptions to fill for the people that were already in my waiting area, and it's just me and the RPh. Nothing will be quite as stressful as those times were.

Thanks for your reply! I couldn't agree more; I have decided to work as a CPht for now and hope to continue until about junior year. After that, I'll do the scribing. If you don't mind me asking, what years did you do each?

 

[BAMFMD18]

Hi! This is actually my very first post (sorry, thought I would throw that out there!) Anyways, I graduated college in May 2012 and have been working as a pharmacy tech at Target since September 2012. I'm going to medical school in July and honestly, I've really enjoyed my time at the pharmacy and I think it's going to help out tremendously when it comes to the dreaded pharmacology during your M2 year. People often think it's just counting pills, but you'll understand how prescriptions are written in prescriber language (TPOQIDPRNN/V...), what medications are used for, what the generic name is, what common dosages make sense, normal day supplies, what insurance will cover, how to save patient's money, basic drug interactions, off label uses, major side effects, the laws of controlled medications (for example, Adderall/Ritalin/Morphine Rx's and the list of rules each script must have), DEA regulations, and a huge list of other things! Also, you'll develop a huge respect for your fellow healthcare providers...that being pharmacists...arguably the least respected, yet one of the most important providers. The amount of mistakes and interactions they catch (missed by doctors) that could seriously injure and even kill patients is scarily high! They are not just pill counters. My point is that you'll develop respect and appreciation for another field of healthcare that's extremely important; honing in on your inter-professional skills and teamwork. This is a point I brought up extensively in my AMCAS application, secondaries, interviews and it helped me out a ton! Once you (as the MD/DO) write a script, it goes to the pharmacy, so respecting and understanding the process will be HUGE in making everyone's life easier (from the doc/nurse to the patient to the pharmacist, tech, EVERYONE). I think you should definitely consider this when deciding to give up your position as a pharmacy tech!

Ok, I'll definitely agree with you, retail is a beast and it's challenging. People assume getting medication is like getting a cheeseburger at McDonalds, it should take 3 minutes. NO it's medicine...it can kill you! 20 minutes for medication is FAST! You have to deal with all kinds of people, but hey, that's healthcare! We deal with angry people constantly (I saved a man $50 once and he called me an dingus), people who have no coverage (medicine is expensive), difference cultural/religious affiliations, socio-economic status, etc etc. You learn how to deal with tons of deal going through challenging life experiences, that's important! You'll develop communication skills which will go a long way. Also, interesting fact, the most disrespectful and awful guests are DOCTORS (I've gotten in numerous fights with doctors and one complained and called me "the stupid pharmacy pip-squeak" to the store manager because I wouldn't break the law for him). Finding a nice and understanding doctor is sadly hard to find. So you'll learn how to NOT treat others and hopefully stay humble throughout the process.

Anyways, I could go on forever about this. Luckily you're young and in a position where you have time to strengthen your application. I would maybe suggest trying to keep them both for a while and see what you like better! But being in a pharmacy when you want to be a doctor is not going to be looked at negatively or hurt your chances, do what feels right for you! There's a lot of strengths in staying in the pharmacy that you may not be aware of right now. It's all about what you make of the situations you're in. Best of luck and message me if you have any questions!

 

[scruggs92]

I've been a scribe for about 7 months now, and it has been great experience. I just graduated, but when I was in school I was able to maintain good grades. When the ER is slow, you can even get some homework/studying done haha. You get to see a lot of crazy stuff during your shifts. Developing relationships with the doctors is great as well. I feel that I could ask almost every doctor (MDs and DOs) for a letters of rec. It's also good to see how each doctor acts around the patients. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[mct2762]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this website, but I am in desperate need of advice as I currently find myself at crossroads.

A little info about myself:
I am currently a freshman Biology (pre-medical) major in my second semester at a university in Atlanta, GA. I graduated from a medical magnet program (competitive application process, rigorous curriculum, taught by/researched with/interned with MDs as a part of being magnet) in high school last year. During high school, I took a pharmacy technician training course offered there, but I was sort of lazy about becoming certified after completing the course. Hence, I have just earned certification last month, a little over a year since the class. I applied to a few retail pharmacies in the area, and as of today, have been hired at Walgreens (part time, have yet to actually discuss pay, but I'm thinking it would be within $9-12/hr). This would be my first job ever.

Now, bear in mind that I absolutely LOVE medicine. I have always aspired to become a physician, more specifically an ER surgeon/physician; it's my ultimate goal in life. On the other hand, I have had internship experience at a hospital pharmacy during high school, and it's safe to say that I dislike pharmacy, at least in a hospital setting. REALLY, REALLY BORING.

So here's the thing: I have an opportunity to interview with PhysAssist this Thursday (2 days from now), regarding a Medical Scribe position at a reputable, well-known hospital here in Atlanta. From the research I've done so far about scribes, I feel much more excitement toward that job rather than Walgreens CPhT. I know that in the long-run, having the actual direct interaction with doctors and patients and being able to see "behind-the-scenes" action in an ER setting will benefit me far more than pharmacy would. But I need some advice on which job I should choose, considering the pros and cons of each...

Certified Pharmacy Technician
Pros:

• better pay: I would get around $2 more vs. scribe wage
• proximity: Walgreens is about 7 mins away from me vs. hospital being about 20 mins on a good day
• i am actually certified, also registered with GA Board of Pharmacy

Cons:

• wouldn't enjoy it as much
• not as good as having Medical Scribe on my resume, apps for medical school
• doesn't exactly pertain to medicine/becoming a doctor
• many people say Walgreens treats their employees badly (don't know so much about that yet)

Medical Scribe
Pros:

• enables me to actually experience what it would feel like in the future as an ER doc
• networking/establishing strong connections with healthcare professionals, doctors
• would aid in medical school as far as learning goes

Cons:

• from what I've researched/seen on this exact forum, many undergrad premed students who are medical scribes have had their grades suffer due to the high demand, also with the classes getting much harder the farther you go
• only 2-3 shifts per week as part time

This is all I can think of for now. I do also have the option of doing Walgreens for maybe 2 yrs give or take, and then going on to become a Medical Scribe. I don't know, what do you all think?

Thank you all in advance.

Scribe all the way! I'm a scribe and it is hands down one of the most beneficial things I've ever done. One major pro that you didn't mention is the shadowing. Working as a scribe is essentially getting paid to shadow. You will probably get near 1,000 hours of shadowing while working as a scribe. You kill two birds with one stone. I have learned so so much working here. A lot of the docs really take the time to teach you if they know you are going to med school. Good luck!