hospital pharmacist

[pharmd 08902]

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Hello all, i am looking for some advice. I have been working for a retail chain in NJ for more than 5 years. I have a steady store for a good amount of time and feel secure in my position. I won't go into how much I dislike retail, as it has been talked to death on this forum.
I have been considering move to hospital setting, knowing well my chances are slim to none. I put in about 15 applications and finally received 1 interview call. I know my chances of getting the job are not very good but am still going through with the interview
My questions:
1) what is the current rate in NJ for hospital pharmacists
2) should I dust off my old dipiro and read up before the interview? If yes, what should I concentrate on?
3) could this be a bad hospital where no one wants to work? Why would they interview a retail pharmacist if there are residency trained pharmacists looking for staffing jobs? Any notorious offenders come to mind?

 

[Lnsean]

Jesus...hoping to hear from other people as well. I've been in retail for 5 years and in NJ also...and the market here is bad. Did you apply online using indeed and monster? Just curious as to how you landed the interview. I'm really only interested in IT Pharmacy on the hospital side and that's like impossible to get into from retail.

 

[bacillus1]

Someone on the hospital salary thread said 90k. I believe it. I've seen a max of slightly over 100k. NJ pharmacy salaries seem to be worse than Philly/Baltimore, though cost of living is more expensive.

 

[gwarm01]

Hello all, i am looking for some advice. I have been working for a retail chain in NJ for more than 5 years. I have a steady store for a good amount of time and feel secure in my position. I won't go into how much I dislike retail, as it has been talked to death on this forum.
I have been considering move to hospital setting, knowing well my chances are slim to none. I put in about 15 applications and finally received 1 interview call. I know my chances of getting the job are not very good but am still going through with the interview
My questions:
1) what is the current rate in NJ for hospital pharmacists
2) should I dust off my old dipiro and read up before the interview? If yes, what should I concentrate on?
3) could this be a bad hospital where no one wants to work? Why would they interview a retail pharmacist if there are residency trained pharmacists looking for staffing jobs? Any notorious offenders come to mind?

It could be a bad hospital, or you could just be lucky. I don't live in NJ so I don't know the rates, but from what I hear you should expect something in the $40/hr range to start. This may seem like a huge drop from retail, but the quality of life will make up for it and once you get some experience you can more easily jump to another hospital.

I don't know what if any resource you should study before going in. I would emphasize a willingness to ask questions and learn from more experienced staff, always check a reference before verifying a med order you are unfamiliar with, and never be afraid to consult with a physician if you are concerned with an order.

Jesus...hoping to hear from other people as well. I've been in retail for 5 years and in NJ also...and the market here is bad. Did you apply online using indeed and monster? Just curious as to how you landed the interview. I'm really only interested in IT Pharmacy on the hospital side and that's like impossible to get into from retail.

You should follow his lead and get an inpatient job. You'll never get that IT job without experience.

Someone on the hospital salary thread said 90k. I believe it. I've seen a max of slightly over 100k. NJ pharmacy salaries seem to be worse than Philly/Baltimore, though cost of living is more expensive.

Yeah, that's in line with what I've heard. I started at 96k in South Florida 3 years ago. Some areas just suck for pay.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Jesus...hoping to hear from other people as well. I've been in retail for 5 years and in NJ also...and the market here is bad. Did you apply online using indeed and monster? Just curious as to how you landed the interview. I'm really only interested in IT Pharmacy on the hospital side and that's like impossible to get into from retail.

You would probably need to relocate just about anywhere. Not sure how the market is on the East Coast, but in one of the major health systems on the West Coast, there are only about one or two dozen IT pharmacists.

 

[pharmd 08902]

Jesus...hoping to hear from other people as well. I've been in retail for 5 years and in NJ also...and the market here is bad. Did you apply online using indeed and monster? Just curious as to how you landed the interview. I'm really only interested in IT Pharmacy on the hospital side and that's like impossible to get into from retail.

indeed. Did nothing special, have a basic 1 page retail Rph resume.
May be I am their entertainment for the day?

 

[farmadiazepine]

Which hospital? PM me.

 

[farmadiazepine]

$45/hr to $55/hr depending which hospital you are working in in Northern NJ

 

[Lnsean]

indeed. Did nothing special, have a basic 1 page retail Rph resume.
May be I am their entertainment for the day?

Keep us updated. It's nice to see someone making that journey out of the retail wworld...lol

 

[isensestress]

2) should I dust off my old dipiro and read up before the interview? If yes, what should I concentrate on?

Go to the hospital website and check out what specialties they have. Are they big in cardio, neuro, onc, peds etc. Then read about those subjects.

 

[farmadiazepine]

My advice, you don't have to do anything to prepared. You will learn everything on the job if you are willing to learn. No point in spending your time reviewing things. Honest to God, it's pointless. The job will teach you everything. Once you are working, you will know what you need to learn more of. For example, I have been out of school for 5 years now, and here I am doing vancomycin kinetics and aminoglycoside kinetics. I didn't bother reviewing it before I started working. I couldn't even tell you a side effect of vancomycin or know if it was renally dosed or not. The job taught me everything. Then, 8 months I realized I needed to review kinetics and I am now attempting to apply it to practice.

 

[lane one]

They know you've been in retail for awhile so I don't think they would expect you to be some clinical expert. I made a similar transition and most questions were based on decision making and leadership skills. Good luck.

 

[KatleyS]

Hello all, i am looking for some advice. I have been working for a retail chain in NJ for more than 5 years. I have a steady store for a good amount of time and feel secure in my position. I won't go into how much I dislike retail, as it has been talked to death on this forum.
I have been considering move to hospital setting, knowing well my chances are slim to none. I put in about 15 applications and finally received 1 interview call. I know my chances of getting the job are not very good but am still going through with the interview
My questions:
1) what is the current rate in NJ for hospital pharmacists
2) should I dust off my old dipiro and read up before the interview? If yes, what should I concentrate on?
3) could this be a bad hospital where no one wants to work? Why would they interview a retail pharmacist if there are residency trained pharmacists looking for staffing jobs? Any notorious offenders come to mind?

Don't use Dipiro to brush up as preparation for hospital staff pharmacy. It is VERY rare that I've ever cracked one open for the job. Also, Dipiro is very out of date in terms of treatment guidelines because they change so rapidly from year to year. If you feel you must study something, look up/familiarize yourself with some of the top IV drugs and IV compounding basics like drug dilutions, reconstitution, sterile compounding, etc. If you get hired at the hospital, you'll most likely have a lot of learning to do about IV's on the job. But I doubt during the interview that they will ask you anything Dipiro-related.

I have seen hospitals take retail trained pharmacists before, but mostly because they had really good working personalities: easy to get along with, calm in a crisis situation, does the work and doesn't leave crap behind for other people. I'll admit I don't see many retail oriented pharmacists in hospital though, but the few people I knew had those qualities.

Sometimes, residency trained pharmacists interview poorly, too and can come off as too arrogant or foolish during the interview.

 

[gwarm01]

Don't use Dipiro to brush up as preparation for hospital staff pharmacy. It is VERY rare that I've ever cracked one open for the job. Also, Dipiro is very out of date in terms of treatment guidelines because they change so rapidly from year to year. If you feel you must study something, look up/familiarize yourself with some of the top IV drugs and IV compounding basics like drug dilutions, reconstitution, sterile compounding, etc. If you get hired at the hospital, you'll most likely have a lot of learning to do about IV's on the job. But I doubt during the interview that they will ask you anything Dipiro-related.

I have seen hospitals take retail trained pharmacists before, but mostly because they had really good working personalities: easy to get along with, calm in a crisis situation, does the work and doesn't leave crap behind for other people. I'll admit I don't see many retail oriented pharmacists in hospital though, but the few people I knew had those qualities.

Sometimes, residency trained pharmacists interview poorly, too and can come off as too arrogant or foolish during the interview.

Yeah some residents interview very poorly. It's the ones that either think they know everything or think they are supposed to act like they do that makes everyone roll their eyes.

 

[pharmd 08902]

Although I don't mind the paycut so much, I am concerned about losing the hospital job. If the hospital goes through a cut in budget, I would be screwed. I would be the first one to go.
This is a major dilemma I am facing. I would be leaving a steady job, for an uncertain future. Losing the hospital job would leave me with a very uncertain future in a saturated NJ market.
I haven't heard from any other hospitals, my current retail wouldn't hire me back, nor any of the competitiors.
Staying at my current job would at least provide me with 120k stable job.
1)How likely is a hospital to go through budget cuts?
2)what would you do? (Keep in mind my chances of getting another pharmacist job is not good. I cannot move as spouse has a good job + we have have a mortgage)
I would rather have a job in retail, however bad, then no job at all
This is probably the biggest dilemma pharmacists are facing right now. Even though we may have jobs, we don't have many other options, especially for retail Rph.

 

[KatleyS]

I don't know about this hospital you're applying to, but if you've worked at least a year in any place, you will have some new network contacts, potential new opportunities (because you've learned a new computer system), and now you have hospital experience under your belt. That could be worth something in the future, but it's up to you. Keep in mind, I don't know NJ market forces at all, especially when it comes to pharmacy. If you decide to stay in retail, try to look for opportunities to make life easier for you there. Good luck to you.

 

[gwarm01]

How likely a hospital is to go through budget cuts depends on so many factors. No one can answer that question for you.

If you want out of retail, this is your chance. There is no guarantee you will like this job or that you won't lose it in the future, but there is no guarantee that you will never lose your current job either.

Once you get a couple of years of experience it will be much easier to get hospital jobs. If it was me, I would take the chance.

 

[lane one]

Second that previous two posts. Yes budget cuts are possible, but you're only low man on the totem pole until someone else is hired. Worst case scenario, you get laid off after 6mo. and you get to add valuable hospital experience to your CV.