Hospital experience

[nplx]

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Hi everyone,

I want to build a solid hospital experience because I believe this would give me an advantage in the long run. I am kinda confused about the options, though. Which hospital position would provide me the experience that i want?

Inpatient Hospital
Outpatient Hospital
Staff/clinical Hybrid Hospital

What is the main difference between them? As far as I know, outpatient hospital is like a retail pharmacy, where you have to deal with insurance companies. Inpatient is where you work with other pharmacists(usually in a basement) and dont have to deal with anything other than nurses and doctors. Am I correct?

I would appreciate your opinion!

 

[nplx]

Hi everyone,

I want to build a solid hospital experience because I believe this would give me an advantage in the long run. I am kinda confused about the options, though. Which hospital position would provide me the experience that i want?

Inpatient Hospital
Outpatient Hospital
Staff/clinical Hybrid Hospital

What is the main difference between them? As far as I know, outpatient hospital is like a retail pharmacy, where you have to deal with insurance companies. Inpatient is where you work with other pharmacists(usually in a basement) and dont have to deal with anything other than nurses and doctors. Am I correct?

I would appreciate your opinion!

Guys any opinion would be appreciated!!!

 

[owlegrad]

Perhaps you will get more responses from people who are in your shoes. Moving to appropriate forum.

For what it is worth, outpatient means retail pharmacy, inpatient means in a hospital (yes, often the basement), and "clinical" basically anything that is not dispensing. Hybrid would be anything that mixes dispensing with cognitive services.

 

[Indypharm]

There is quite a myriad of hospital experiences. I work in a long term acute care facility. We are a 71 bed hospital that serves very complex cases. Think people who should really still be in an ICU setting.
The pharmacy is even on the 2nd floor and we have a window! I have learned so much here. I would recommend getting any hospital experience you can. It will help you not only learn your drug names, but what they are used for, how they are prepared etc.

Perhaps you will get more responses from people who are in your shoes. Moving to appropriate forum.

For what it is worth, outpatient means retail pharmacy, inpatient means in a hospital (yes, often the basement), and "clinical" basically anything that is not dispensing. Hybrid would be anything that mixes dispensing with cognitive services.

 

[SortingItOut]

I'll give you what I have learned so far as a student and a recent grad. A veteran can correct me if I'm wrong or even add to what I said.

Inpatient Hospital
Staff pharmacists (If a position just says "Inpatient pharmacist," I assume it is a staff position.) - They fill orders, answer drug info questions, and carry out interventions. If a clinical pharmacist isn't at that hospital (some smaller hospitals don't have clinical pharmacists), they carry out chart reviews to some extent. When I say chart review, think MTM.

Clinical pharmacist - If you are lucky, First shift - 8 hours - Monday through Friday. No on-call. No weekends. Clinical pharmacists interact with patients and review charts.

Hybrid shifts - I always figured it was a clinical pharmacist who also had to pay their dues by working as a staff pharmacist ("in the basement") during an occasional weekend, or even weekday shift.

Outpatient Hospital (Good example: VA Medical Hospital)
Staff pharmacist - Plays a retail role. Depending on the hospital's organization, you may not have many insurance plans to work with - which has its plusses and minuses.

Clinical pharmacist - Similar hours to the clincial pharmacist position described above. Provides MTM and more intense counseling on disease states than the retail environment can provide.

Hybrid - I don't know if hybrid shifts exist (clinical plus retail), but I wouldn't be surprised.

Are you a student or a new pharmacist?

As a student, you may want to talk to your school's experiential education office to ask them where you might want to look for internships, given your broad interest at the moment.

If you are a new pharmacist, go for staff positions or think about applying for the ASHP Match program. I don't want to discourage you from applying for clinical pharmacist positions. Very rarely does a new pharmacist become a clinical pharmacist with no hospital pharmacist experience and/or residency though.

 

[nplx]

I'll give you what I have learned so far as a student and a recent grad. A veteran can correct me if I'm wrong or even add to what I said.

Inpatient Hospital
Staff pharmacists (If a position just says "Inpatient pharmacist," I assume it is a staff position.) - They fill orders, answer drug info questions, and carry out interventions. If a clinical pharmacist isn't at that hospital (some smaller hospitals don't have clinical pharmacists), they carry out chart reviews to some extent. When I say chart review, think MTM.

Clinical pharmacist - If you are lucky, First shift - 8 hours - Monday through Friday. No on-call. No weekends. Clinical pharmacists interact with patients and review charts.

Hybrid shifts - I always figured it was a clinical pharmacist who also had to pay their dues by working as a staff pharmacist ("in the basement") during an occasional weekend, or even weekday shift.

Outpatient Hospital (Good example: VA Medical Hospital)
Staff pharmacist - Plays a retail role. Depending on the hospital's organization, you may not have many insurance plans to work with - which has its plusses and minuses.

Clinical pharmacist - Similar hours to the clincial pharmacist position described above. Provides MTM and more intense counseling on disease states than the retail environment can provide.

Hybrid - I don't know if hybrid shifts exist (clinical plus retail), but I wouldn't be surprised.

Are you a student or a new pharmacist?

As a student, you may want to talk to your school's experiential education office to ask them where you might want to look for internships, given your broad interest at the moment.

If you are a new pharmacist, go for staff positions or think about applying for the ASHP Match program. I don't want to discourage you from applying for clinical pharmacist positions. Very rarely does a new pharmacist become a clinical pharmacist with no hospital pharmacist experience and/or residency though.

Thanks for all the feedbacks. I passed the board, and am waiting for my cpje result, hopefully will be licensed by the end of September. I started looking into job market and got confused about what direction i should take. I did my internship in both hospital and retail setting. All my preceptors told me that I should go for a hospital job and gain clinical experience. That way I would have more choices in the future. They said if i start with retail then I am stuck for a while. Either I have to continue with retail or wait 5+ years to find a hospital job.

 

[nplx]

Thanks for all the feedbacks. I passed the board, and am waiting for my cpje result, hopefully will be licensed by the end of September. I started looking into job market and got confused about what direction i should take. I did my internship in both hospital and retail setting. All my preceptors told me that I should go for a hospital job and gain clinical experience. That way I would have more choices in the future. They said if i start with retail then I am stuck for a while. Either I have to continue with retail or wait 5+ years to find a hospital job.

Are you saying even if it is a Staff position in a Hospital(inpatient or outpatient) this would still be considered as a hospital experience?? From my understanding a clinical pharmacist someone who doesn't dispense, meets with patients and review their meds, and regimens. I don't think I would get a clinical position in the beginning, and I wouldn't want to!! All I want is that when I want to get a hospital position(inpatient or outpatient) I could show them that I have the experience that they require. Most hospital positions requires at least 2 years of hospital experience. I am not sure what they exactly mean by that. Outpatient hospital? inpatient hospital?

 

[nplx]

Perhaps you will get more responses from people who are in your shoes. Moving to appropriate forum.

For what it is worth, outpatient means retail pharmacy, inpatient means in a hospital (yes, often the basement), and "clinical" basically anything that is not dispensing. Hybrid would be anything that mixes dispensing with cognitive services.

Thanks for the reply, I couldnt find more appropriate forum than this.

 

[owlegrad]

Are you saying even if it is a Staff position in a Hospital(inpatient or outpatient) this would still be considered as a hospital experience?? From my understanding a clinical pharmacist someone who doesn't dispense, meets with patients and review their meds, and regimens. I don't think I would get a clinical position in the beginning, and I wouldn't want to!! All I want is that when I want to get a hospital position(inpatient or outpatient) I could show them that I have the experience that they require. Most hospital positions requires at least 2 years of hospital experience. I am not sure what they exactly mean by that. Outpatient hospital? inpatient hospital?

When a job says 2 years experience they usually mean relevant experience. So if it is a staff job, they mean two years staffing (inpatient). If it is an outpatient job, they mean they want you to have 2 years experience outpatient.

 

[xNeenax]

INPATIENT HOSPITAL FTW!!
ftw= for the win, I learned that all by my self 😀


What about a nuclear pharmacist?

 

[PharmaTope]

I'll give you what I have learned so far as a student and a recent grad. A veteran can correct me if I'm wrong or even add to what I said.

Inpatient Hospital
Staff pharmacists (If a position just says "Inpatient pharmacist," I assume it is a staff position.) - They fill orders, answer drug info questions, and carry out interventions. If a clinical pharmacist isn't at that hospital (some smaller hospitals don't have clinical pharmacists), they carry out chart reviews to some extent. When I say chart review, think MTM.

Clinical pharmacist - If you are lucky, First shift - 8 hours - Monday through Friday. No on-call. No weekends. Clinical pharmacists interact with patients and review charts.

Hybrid shifts - I always figured it was a clinical pharmacist who also had to pay their dues by working as a staff pharmacist ("in the basement") during an occasional weekend, or even weekday shift.

Outpatient Hospital (Good example: VA Medical Hospital)
Staff pharmacist - Plays a retail role. Depending on the hospital's organization, you may not have many insurance plans to work with - which has its plusses and minuses.

Clinical pharmacist - Similar hours to the clincial pharmacist position described above. Provides MTM and more intense counseling on disease states than the retail environment can provide.

Hybrid - I don't know if hybrid shifts exist (clinical plus retail), but I wouldn't be surprised.

Are you a student or a new pharmacist?

As a student, you may want to talk to your school's experiential education office to ask them where you might want to look for internships, given your broad interest at the moment.

If you are a new pharmacist, go for staff positions or think about applying for the ASHP Match program. I don't want to discourage you from applying for clinical pharmacist positions. Very rarely does a new pharmacist become a clinical pharmacist with no hospital pharmacist experience and/or residency though.

FYI those "clinical pharmacist" positions are RARE. most hospitals have 1 or 2 MAX clinical pharmacists. they also DO HAVE CALL. that whole m-f thing has been lately disappearing and fast. hospitals are cutting down the man power. clinical pharm is not 8 hours. in fact, a lot of places have you as "salary" meaning you will work more than 40 hours without any extra pay. you will see positions advertised as clinical, but they turn out to be strictly staffing positions only.

 

[pharm B]

FYI those "clinical pharmacist" positions are RARE. most hospitals have 1 or 2 MAX clinical pharmacists. they also DO HAVE CALL. that whole m-f thing has been lately disappearing and fast. hospitals are cutting down the man power. clinical pharm is not 8 hours. in fact, a lot of places have you as "salary" meaning you will work more than 40 hours without any extra pay. you will see positions advertised as clinical, but they turn out to be strictly staffing positions only.

A lot of this is anecdotal and hardly universal.

Several hospitals in my area have multiple clinical pharmacists who do not staff AT ALL. Their sole purpose is clinical management of patients. I don't think any of the ones I know have call (three different hospital systems). What's been disappearing isn't M-F, but the 7-on/7-off schedule. The pharmacist at the end of his 7 days on is usually pretty sharp, but when he takes a week off, it takes him a while to catch up on his patient list and other aspects of his job. The pharmacist who's back every Monday stays sharp.

Don't get me wrong: 7-on/7-off sounds pretty sweet if you're young and single! You work exactly half the year!

As far as being salaried but working over 40 hours? 🙄 Welcome to the real world. Getting your payscale upgraded to salary is usually a sign that you can expect the occasional long hours. At least it's a pharmacist's salary.

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

As far as being salaried but working over 40 hours? 🙄 Welcome to the real world. Getting your payscale upgraded to salary is usually a sign that you can expect the occasional long hours. At least it's a pharmacist's salary.

Aint that the truth. I am currently salary but its not a Pharm salary so it pretty much sucks having to work to finish the job without regard for the clock...

 

[nplx]

Some agencies are asking what would be your hourly rate expectation for the position. They say they will negotiate with the company to get that amount. I have no idea what are the current rates for a retail and a hospital pharmacist pharmacist in CA. Could you give me some rough idea??

 

[nplx]

I dont understand why my post has been moved, dont see the number of reviews

 

[owlegrad]

I dont understand why my post has been moved, dont see the number of reviews

You were not getting any responses, so I moved your thread. Now you have lots of responses. You didn't do anything wrong, I just wanted you to get some responses. Also, at the time I moved it I thought this was a prepharmacy post, didn't realize you are just awaiting your license. Sorry about that.

Do you want it moved back?

 

[nplx]

Perhaps you will get more responses from people who are in your shoes. Moving to appropriate forum.

For what it is worth, outpatient means retail pharmacy, inpatient means in a hospital (yes, often the basement), and "clinical" basically anything that is not dispensing. Hybrid would be anything that mixes dispensing with cognitive services.

Could you tell me which appropriate forum? Looks like you have moved my post. Does that mean currently no one sees it or it is somewhere else??

 

[owlegrad]

Could you tell me which appropriate forum? Looks like you have moved my post. Does that mean currently no one sees it or it is somewhere else??

Haha, everyone sees it. All I did was move it based on where I thought you would get the most responses, which seemed to work.

 

[nplx]

You were not getting any responses, so I moved your thread. Now you have lots of responses. You didn't do anything wrong, I just wanted you to get some responses. Also, at the time I moved it I thought this was a prepharmacy post, didn't realize you are just awaiting your license. Sorry about that.

Do you want it moved back?

I just found my post under pre-pharmacy, so as you said I think it might be a good idea to move it back because I would like to hear from the people who are currently practicing. Thank you!

 

[owlegrad]

I just found that my post under pre-pharmacy, so as you said I think it might be a good idea to move it back because I would like to hear from the people who are currently practicing. Thank you!

Sure, I can do that friend.

 

[nplx]

Sure, I can do that friend.

Thanks a lot!