How confident were you as a new pharmacist hire?

[MIRPh]

Hi,
So I'm a new RPh looking for a job in retail. I interned in retail as an intern. I am anxious bcoz as an intern I was not given enough training and experience in insurance issues/rejects nor any info about verification of scripts (done by the RPh). The store was always understaffed and I had to do the tech's job more than an intern's.
My fear is ,when employed, I'll be just expected to know all there to be done as a RPh and I'll be in hell.
Have any of you had similar experiences as a new RPh?? Have have you worked this out? Do employers in retail give enough training to familiarize pharmacists?
Thanks.

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[farmadiazepine]

Depending which chain you work for, the answer will vary. At least for the chain I work for, there is no real training when you are an intern becoming a licensed pharmacist. The only time an RPh will get formal training is if you are a new hire who is already a licensed pharmacist. When we were interns, we had a week or so of "boot camp" as I like to call it in which we were in a class room setting and had various scenarios thrown upon us and told what expectations were of us.

If you didn't receive any training as an intern, and now became a pharmacist, you are going to be learning on the job. You are going to be finding out something new every day hopefully.

The best advice I can give you is to know your fellow pharmacists, because they are the people to call when you have a question. On my first day as a pharmacist, I called my preceptor of four years to ask her even the most basic question, and as dumb as it may have seemed to her, she gladly answered it. Then anytime I had an issue that day, I would call other RPh's I knew and they would be more than willing to help me out. The best thing to have done as an intern is not only work at a home store, but to go to almost every other store in the district a few times to meet all the pharmacists, work with them, and get to know them. Then when you are an RPh, they all like you and don't mind helping you no matter how busy they might be.

Good luck!

 

[MIRPh]

Yes,farmadiazepine. Thanks so much for ur input. In fact, I am a licensed RPh who will be a prospective new hire in retail. So I hope I get some training. I am counting on that.

On another note, can any of you experienced pharmacists shed light on what interview questions to expect for a new RPh in retail?? I would really appreciate it? Thanks.

 

[LazyMooch]

Question 1: Do you have a PharmD and are you licensed?
Question 2: Do you have a felony conviction?

That is all. (just kidding-ish)

 

[PharmGirl31]

There's a lot of behavioral questions - kind of like those questions you get before entering pharmacy school
- Tell me a time when you went above and beyond for a patients
- How do you make sure you meet customer expectation
- Why go into pharmacy? Why our company?
- Why should we hire you
- Situation when you have to deal with angry customer

Those kind of questions.

 

[PharmGirl31]

To be honest, I didn't have a lot of confident being a tech and pharmacy intern, I didn't feel ready to be a pharmacist at all. But certainly after passing the state exam and looking at my $100k-worth-of-debt license that was printed off the printer, my confident scale went up to 90%

 

[winter32842]

Hi,
So I'm a new RPh looking for a job in retail. I interned in retail as an intern. I am anxious bcoz as an intern I was not given enough training and experience in insurance issues/rejects nor any info about verification of scripts (done by the RPh). The store was always understaffed and I had to do the tech's job more than an intern's.
My fear is ,when employed, I'll be just expected to know all there to be done as a RPh and I'll be in hell.
Have any of you had similar experiences as a new RPh?? Have have you worked this out? Do employers in retail give enough training to familiarize pharmacists?
Thanks.

I am in the same boat. I am doing my rotations right now. I have experience in hospital pharmacy and have very little experience in retail pharmacy.

My advice would be to pick a busy store that has at least more than 1 pharmacist per shift.

 

[Hebes123]

I also did my internship in a place where we had very little face-to-face interactions with customers, so I never learned how to counsel. I also didn't learn about the insurance problems. When I got my license and began looking for a job I was so low in self-confidence I was really surprised when I got an interview with a chain. The questions were how could I increase Rx counts and how do I deal with stress. The boss was mainly concerned about how fast I can work basically. There was also a couple of questions on customer service too. I trained for 2 weeks after the interview and I felt even worse during training, because the customers always asked for the other pharmacist and when they asked me anything, my mind would go blank and I would turn helplessly to the other pharmacist. After two weeks, I was placed alone in a store with a technician and a cashier. The first few days my mind kept going blank during counseling questions. But I kept going home and reading pharmacy magazines and articles, especially on which OTC's are best. After a few days I started being able to answer people more confidently. Also we have access to clinical pharmacology website at work and it is very useful for reminding myself drug facts and brand names.
As for the insurance problems I let the technician deal with it. I can only do basic insurance. I don't even try to learn, because I prefer to have the customer wait for a long time than get tied up in doing it myself and then not have time to check prescriptions and answer questions. I never feel shy in telling the customer I don't know how to solve their insurance problem, I will ask the technician to help them.
I hope this advice helps. First focus on getting a job, then go home and brush up on your knowledge. Every pharmacy has medication guides/pamphlets that print out with each drug. You can just flip through it if you forget.
Oh and when it comes to legal issues and I can't remember what's right, I call the pharmacy manager. He's always very helpful.

 

[Farcus]

I also did my internship in a place where we had very little face-to-face interactions with customers, so I never learned how to counsel. I also didn't learn about the insurance problems. When I got my license and began looking for a job I was so low in self-confidence I was really surprised when I got an interview with a chain. The questions were how could I increase Rx counts and how do I deal with stress. The boss was mainly concerned about how fast I can work basically. There was also a couple of questions on customer service too. I trained for 2 weeks after the interview and I felt even worse during training, because the customers always asked for the other pharmacist and when they asked me anything, my mind would go blank and I would turn helplessly to the other pharmacist. After two weeks, I was placed alone in a store with a technician and a cashier. The first few days my mind kept going blank during counseling questions. But I kept going home and reading pharmacy magazines and articles, especially on which OTC's are best. After a few days I started being able to answer people more confidently. Also we have access to clinical pharmacology website at work and it is very useful for reminding myself drug facts and brand names.
As for the insurance problems I let the technician deal with it. I can only do basic insurance. I don't even try to learn, because I prefer to have the customer wait for a long time than get tied up in doing it myself and then not have time to check prescriptions and answer questions. I never feel shy in telling the customer I don't know how to solve their insurance problem, I will ask the technician to help them.
I hope this advice helps. First focus on getting a job, then go home and brush up on your knowledge. Every pharmacy has medication guides/pamphlets that print out with each drug. You can just flip through it if you forget.
Oh and when it comes to legal issues and I can't remember what's right, I call the pharmacy manager. He's always very helpful.

you joking?

 

[Quiksilver]

It took me about an hour to snap into the zone and start being comfortable with being the go-to guy. After a day, I'm feeling bored with the new job. The only difference between being an intern and a pharmacist is checking scripts. Once that is mastered, its pretty much the same thing I'm used to.

Counseling isn't rocket science, you just say a bunch of stuff about the drug. If you were breathing and had a pulse in pharmacy school, you should remember a couple things to say about each drug. If for nothing else, read the slip that comes along with the drug.

Same goes for recommendations, you should have 1-2 drugs per OTC problem picked out in your head already.

 

[MIRPh]

Thanks to u all for giving me great tips and also a confidence boost that I really can do this inspite of my fears. The only post that worried and puzzled me is by Farcus
Why the " you joking?" comment ,Farcus??
Do u mean to say my limited intern experience is a rare thing and that almost all new grads/RPhs r really competent with their new RPh duties?
Pls. clarify.
Anyways ,thanks guys.