For those of you working retail and hospital...

[MdBrndPhrmcst]

For those of you who are working retail and hospital.... do you think a new grad can/should work both coming right out of pharm school..

ex: working at Walgreens mon-fri and then working a shift at the hospital on the weekend or visa versa...

do you think a new grad will be able to handle learning these two environments at once? Lets assume the person has no experience....

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[sdn1977]

hmmmm - that would be me??? I work both environments, but I do neither one full time.

I don't know your area, but it would be hard to find a M-F job as a new grad in either setting unless you want to work graveyard - but that's just my area.

Can you do both? Absolutely!!! In fact, I'd encourage you to do both until you really know what you want to do so you don't lose your clinical skills (which can happen when you become a robotic behind the counter retail pharmacist which can happen easily from lots of different pressures).

No experience?? You probably won't be given much opportunity to work in any clinical setting alone until you get some experience. So, you're likely to be the "second" pharmacist checking tech work & doing "routine" hospital work. This is not bad if you view it as a learning experience - everyone needs to start somewhere!

But - as a new grad - my recommendation, for whatever its worth, is to obtain a job in the field of interest you want - hospital or retail & work full time for at least a year. Work relief in the other environment only a couple of days a month so you don't burn out. You want good references from every employer you have, so its worth giving each one your very best & thats hard to do if you're working 60 hrs/wk.

 

[SELDANE]

Being able to work both hospital and retail pharmacy helps prevent "burnout" and it increases your marketability. I would highly recommend staying current with both. It is much more likely to see full time hospital pharmacists working relief in retail than fulltime retail pharmacists working relief in the hospital setting.

 

[MdBrndPhrmcst]

thanks for the info guys.. i actually am going to be completing a residency..and i think any extra staffing will be done at the hospital i'll work at. Hopefully my problem next year will be whether to supplement my clinical specialist position salary with a hospital or retail salary.. ( i know its unlikely..but let a kid dream)