hospital pharmacy

[SinderellaVamp]

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I am a junior in college and have been thinking of going into Pharmacy lately. However, I have been reading some forums where pharmacists are saying how horrible their jobs are as retail pharmacists and all that talk makes me unsure about pursing Pharmacy as a career. How do the responsibilities and day to day routines of hospital pharmacists differ from those of retail pharmacists? How difficult is it to land a job in a hospital?

 

[AngryRPh]

Staff hospital RPh's generally enter orders from the floors and perform basic dispensing and verification functions. You also work in the IV room and handle chemo preparations. They also answer questions from RN's and occasionally MD's.

Clinical hospital RPh's field more questions from the MD's, and may be on rounds with the family practice or IM services. The clinical RPh's are more likely to be doing TPN and kinetics calculations if the hospital is large enough. You may also be performing dispensing and verification functions.

The down side to the clinical position is that many hospitals will want you to have had 1 year of primary care or specialized residency training. The demand for hospital RPh's varies by region. If you don't mind living in an "underserved area" such as a small town, it may be easier to find a job. I don't think the shortage will be around much longer based on the job openings in many cities and practice settings. I hope this helps.