Hospital Staffing Pharmacists and Residencies

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Chris co2012

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All the major hospitals in my area (semi-big city) have made the decision to only hire residents. So even staffing pharmacists will need a PGY-1.

As a student, my goal at graduation is finding a staffing pharmacist position in a very small town hospital (no particular preference where). Am I going to have to worry about the elimination of pharmacists without residencies?

I mean, at this point, my degree has ALREADY been outdated and I haven't even graduated yet.
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Can you elaborate some on what you mean by your degree already being outdated?
 
Chris co2012 said:
All the major hospitals in my area (semi-big city) have made the decision to only hire residents. So even staffing pharmacists will need a PGY-1.

As a student, my goal at graduation is finding a staffing pharmacist position in a very small town hospital (no particular preference where). Am I going to have to worry about the elimination of pharmacists without residencies?

I mean, at this point, my degree has ALREADY been outdated and I haven't even graduated yet.
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It will likely be an issue in larger teaching hospitals or more progressive hospitals in big cities. I don't think it will be an issue for you in a small town hospital. While a PGY-1 may make you a more solid candidate for the position I think there are still oportunities for plain old staffer positions in the hospital setting for new grads.
 
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Like others have said, I don't think it'll be a big deal in a small town. Small town hospitals generally have trouble finding PharmDs who want to move there and won't mind that you don't have a residency.
 
Chris, where are you (general area)? Here in the Midwest, lots of places were going PGY only until they realized how dramatically this shrunk their potential hiring pool, and how many good candidates they were missing by doing this, so they've gone back to "the best candidate".
 
I work in a small town and am the only residency-trained pharmacist at my site. That said, everyone working here either had been out of school 5-6 years before they were hired except for me. You are expected to know a LOT when you work in a small town hospital because there is no ID or CCU or peds pharmacist to defer questions to. You are it. I get a few recruitment calls for other area hospitals and they all want experienced hospital pharmacists and/or a PGY trained pharmacist.

JME.
 
rph3664 said:
Chris, where are you (general area)? Here in the Midwest, lots of places were going PGY only until they realized how dramatically this shrunk their potential hiring pool, and how many good candidates they were missing by doing this, so they've gone back to "the best candidate".
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You also have to remember that most of the pharmacists who do residencies are those know-it-all a**holes with little true compassion for the patient. (Edit: Before I get completely slammed for this, I'll go ahead and say that not all residents are like this... but you know most are.)
 
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I will hire an a-hole residency trained pharmacist before a dumb ass who thinks residency trained pharmacists are compassion-less, know-it-all a-holes.

hth
 
Its Z said:
I will hire an a-hole residency trained pharmacist before a dumb ass who thinks residency trained pharmacists are compassion-less, know-it-all a-holes.

hth
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I guess you missed the word "most." It was in that particular post TWICE.

BTW, good to know I'm not the only immature one here, huh? :rolleyes: </sarcasm> But your point is heard loud and clear, and I understand what you're saying.
 
"I guess you missed the word "most." It was in that particular post TWICE."


This doesn't help you much. Why do you think this?! Why?!
 
RX86 said:
"I guess you missed the word "most." It was in that particular post TWICE."


This doesn't help you much. Why do you think this?! Why?!
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I don't know. It could be because the people who do have residencies are those who have major ego issues and look down upon everybody else. It could be because they constantly slam retail over and over as if retail pharmacists are REAL pharmacists. Or it could be because the residency is the progressive movement that pharmacists complained for to make themselves feel like physicians. And yes, I've said it before... we're not physicians. However, it seems like in today's world, pharmacists want to be pretend-physicians.

But that's my perspective. RPh's (you know, those people you're better than because you have a doctorate) have been staffing hospital pharmacies forever. So now, their degrees are outdated and so are they. Only pharmacist residents mean something, apparently.
 
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All4MyDaughter said:
Baseless generalizations, anyone?

-A4MD, compassionless, egotistical, know-it-all, ahole, resident pharmacist who abuses Medicaid to have babies and drives a cocaine loaded Escalade
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Fixed.
 
At my last job, we had a residency-trained clinical person who was an egotistical a-hole who acted like the rest of us were something you'd scrape off the bottom of your shoe, but she would have acted like that regardless of what she did for a living.

Several years before that, we had a newly graduated Pharm.D. who hadn't even taken boards yet, and he tried to tell our oldest pharmacist, who graduated in 1966 and has since retired, that he (Mr. 1966) didn't know what he was talking about because he didn't have a Pharm.D. Mr. 1966, who's normally a really laid back guy, totally lit into him.

And that's nothing compared to a tech who thinks they know more than you do.
 
Chris co2012 said:
But that's my perspective. RPh's (you know, those people you're better than because you have a doctorate) have been staffing hospital pharmacies forever. So now, their degrees are outdated and so are they. Only pharmacist residents mean something, apparently.
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Not to sound like an arrogant a-hole, but you do know that we are all RPhs and that RPh is a designation, not a degree, right?

It's too bad that you had such poor experiences with residency trained pharmacists, but the bitterness doesn't flatter you, bro.
 
spacecowgirl said:
Not to sound like an arrogant a-hole, but you do know that we are all RPhs and that RPh is a designation, not a degree, right?

It's too bad that you had such poor experiences with residency trained pharmacists, but the bitterness doesn't flatter you, bro.
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Agreed. Drop the attitude because it's not going to help you in the workplace. Also, most of the residency-trained pharmacists on this forum have actually been nice to you and tried to help you. Don't expect that to continue if you keep acting this way.
 
spacecowgirl said:
Not to sound like an arrogant a-hole, but you do know that we are all RPhs and that RPh is a designation, not a degree, right?

It's too bad that you had such poor experiences with residency trained pharmacists, but the bitterness doesn't flatter you, bro.
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What are you talking about?!?!?! You mean you do not graduate pharmacy school with you RPh degree? When the hell did this happen? Why do they always have to change things!
 
Dalteparin said:
Agreed. Drop the attitude because it's not going to help you in the workplace. Also, most of the residency-trained pharmacists on this forum have actually been nice to you and tried to help you. Don't expect that to continue if you keep acting this way.
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Residency trained pharmacists are crap! To add to all thats been said, I have also heard they take candy from babies, do not like puppies, and are just plain mean. I mean how can you trust someone who doesn't like puppies?
 
spacecowgirl said:
Not to sound like an arrogant a-hole, but you do know that we are all RPhs and that RPh is a designation, not a degree, right?

It's too bad that you had such poor experiences with residency trained pharmacists, but the bitterness doesn't flatter you, bro.
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Right, but you would never accept that designation as just that - an RPh. I guarantee that if somebody asked if you were an RPh, you wouldn't say yes. You'd say, "Well, I'm a 'Pharm.D.'... residency trained."

...yes you would. Yes, yes... you would. Don't even argue with me, you would. And you knew damn well that I didn't mean that RPh's graduated with that as a degree. You even admit that you're being arrogant.
 
Chris co2012 said:
Right, but you would never accept that designation as just that - an RPh. I guarantee that if somebody asked if you were an RPh, you wouldn't say yes. You'd say, "Well, I'm a 'Pharm.D.'... residency trained."

...yes you would. Yes, yes... you would. Don't even argue with me, you would. And you knew damn well that I didn't mean that RPh's graduated with that as a degree. You even admit that you're being arrogant.
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Quit while you're ahead. Or at least not too far in the hole you're digging. The fact that you assume that you know anything about anyone else, so much that you can "guarantee" how they think and will behave, THAT is arrogance. Your behavior is inappropriate, misguided and very unbecoming.
 
I love watching puppy videos on YouTube, don't tell anyone.
 
Our profession is going down hill really fast if schools are cranking out kids like that..
 
We got our dog when she was about 4 months old, which was perfect as her foster parents had already trained her. I think she hung the damn moon, I love her so much. Can't wait to see how she is with the baby :love:
 
Its Z said:
Our profession is going down hill really fast if schools are cranking out kids like that..
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First the "diploma mills" now they are turning out residency-trained sappy pharmacists who cry every single time they watch this video

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysKAVyXi0J4[/YOUTUBE]
 
spacecowgirl said:
We got our dog when she was about 4 months old, which was perfect as her foster parents had already trained her. I think she hung the damn moon, I love her so much. Can't wait to see how she is with the baby :love:
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My female mutt is sooo sweet with the baby. I figured she would be because she was our daughter's pet. Our toy poodle is scared of the baby, so we have to watch him.
 
spacecowgirl said:
I love watching puppy videos on YouTube, don't tell anyone.
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We looked at pictures of puppies after rounds yesterday. One of the medical residents is having a really hard time with how depressing the oncology service can be for some people, so we used cute puppies to cheer her up. Puppies are magical like that.
 
I just saw a post on another board from a nurse with 12 years' experience who said that if she left her job, for whatever reason, it would be almost impossible for her to find another job, at least a similar job at the same pay, because many hospitals are only hiring newly graduated BSNs. The 2- or 3-year RN certificate isn't useful any more, and LPNs are being relegated to nursing homes and doctor's offices (until the hospitals realize that CNAs just can't do their job - seen THAT more than once!). So, it isn't just us.
 
rph3664 said:
I just saw a post on another board from a nurse with 12 years' experience who said that if she left her job, for whatever reason, it would be almost impossible for her to find another job, at least a similar job at the same pay, because many hospitals are only hiring newly graduated BSNs. The 2- or 3-year RN certificate isn't useful any more, and LPNs are being relegated to nursing homes and doctor's offices (until the hospitals realize that CNAs just can't do their job - seen THAT more than once!). So, it isn't just us.
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Yeah, my mother has been a nurse for over two decades at the same hospital. She has the AA in nursing, but she has WAY more experience than any of these new nurses coming on board.

I was on a rotation one time with an RPh... er... sorry... a Mr. with a BS in pharmacy, and he looked at me one day and said, "So, you think when you graduate with a Pharm.D. that you're going to be better than me?"

That was when I realized how much bullish*t the PharmD is. I didn't ask to be a doctor... I asked to be a pharmacist. The progression isn't stopping. And it's all because of politics.
 
I always take my time to help them out and answer questions. We aren't all mean. I find that most general staffing pharmacists get mad because I don't work evenings/weekends/holidays. That is really all they care about, the schedule. As soon as we ask if anyone wants to help doing clinical projects, preceptor students, or to round with a team, they want nothing to do with it.

I don't dislike retail pharmacists either...all of my good friends from school went into retail. They all make more money than me, but I have a better schedule.
 
MountainPharmD said:
Residency trained pharmacists are crap! To add to all thats been said, I have also heard they take candy from babies, do not like puppies, and are just plain mean. I mean how can you trust someone who doesn't like puppies?
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O noes, you got me! How did you figure out that I only post here when my foot is sore from kicking puppies???
 
Jeez, you can cut the tension with a knife! :laugh:
 
Chris co2012 said:
Right, but you would never accept that designation as just that - an RPh. I guarantee that if somebody asked if you were an RPh, you wouldn't say yes. You'd say, "Well, I'm a 'Pharm.D.'... residency trained."

...yes you would. Yes, yes... you would. Don't even argue with me, you would. And you knew damn well that I didn't mean that RPh's graduated with that as a degree. You even admit that you're being arrogant.
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I would say "Yes" to RPh. I would say "Yes" to PharmD. But then I would quickly add, "I'm also a f*ing Lieutenant and my name is Dan. Get down! Shut up!"
 
Pharmacy Kid said:
I would say "Yes" to RPh. I would say "Yes" to PharmD. But then I would quickly add, "I'm also a f*ing Lieutenant and my name is Dan. Get down! Shut up!"
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Well, if you're that proud of a Call of Duty player, then good for you.
 
Pharmacy Kid said:
I would say "Yes" to RPh. I would say "Yes" to PharmD. But then I would quickly add, "I'm also a f*ing Lieutenant and my name is Dan. Get down! Shut up!"
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So you boys are from arkansas....ive been through there..little rock is a fine town.
 
P4s at my school have been hired at hospitals without a residency and like I have said in another thread, a residency is my plan C behind a hospital and retail job. I'm not buying the residency hype on this forum and neither are my classmates for what it's worth.
 
BenJammin said:
P4s at my school have been hired at hospitals without a residency and like I have said in another thread, a residency is my plan C behind a hospital and retail job. I'm not buying the residency hype on this forum and neither are my classmates for what it's worth.
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Thank goodness! :smuggrin:

It seems like a residency would set you up really well for a small-town hospital pharmacist position. The way spacecowgirl makes it sound, you're the go-to person for all aspects of pharmacy, so why not get the prep for that position?

I will admit, I'm still on the fence occasionally about whether to pursue a residency or try to find/take a staff job right out of school.

Anyone who has asks, "so you think you're better than me?" to a pharmacy student has a chip on their shoulder and an axe to grind. I'd just placate them since you're getting the degree that all schools are giving now. If they gave me a WizPharm or PharMaster, it'd all be the same: I'd be a pharmacist.
 
pharm B said:
Anyone who has asks, "so you think you're better than me?" to a pharmacy student has a chip on their shoulder and an axe to grind.
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You wouldn't say that if you'd had that happen to you several (or more) times. :rolleyes:
 
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