Is anyone else planning on pharmacy as a fallback back in case MD/DO doesn't workout?

[baggywrinkle]

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Originally posted by musiclink213
i never thought pharmaciists were lesser in any way than doc's. honestly, i've always thought of them as 2 completely different jobs, each with it's own set of rules and stressers. the reason i never wanted to go into pharmacy is because i like being able to interact with different people on a daily basis, and be the one who can diagnose something and treat it. Yes, pharmacists also save lives, if they give the wrong dose or don't check or anything, so in that sense, they also hold the patients lives in their hands, but that;s not the kind of role i want.

if i don't get into an allopathic school, it's D.O. for me. not because it's necessarily a backup, i just want to be a doctor any way i can. i want that knowledge, and i don't really care if it's an MD or DO after my name.

Well goodonya mate. You'll be a fine physician, of this I am sure.
You may well end up in Kirksville Missouri yourself then

Not all of us find appeal in asking people to turn their head and cough

 

[Machination]

If medical school doesn't work out, how many people would go to dental school? They traditionally accept applicants with lower numbers, and in many ways dentistry tops medicine (especially in the stress department).

 

[baggywrinkle]

Originally posted by Machination
If medical school doesn't work out, how many people would go to dental school? They traditionally accept applicants with lower numbers, and in many ways dentistry tops medicine (especially in the stress department).

I know three pharmacists that went on to dental school, and all were very happy. One in particular still does both.

 

[jayski2030]

So, now that we've gotten all of the "who's smarter" stuff out of the way, what are people's plans if they don't get in to med school?

 

[SteveL]

Originally posted by Bridaddy
This is nothing compared to what I have to put up with, having diabetes. The insulin I get is already in pre-filled vials, I pay cash, all the have to do is print a label and hand it to me. It usually takes the same 20 minutes you are talking about.

I ask for a 3/10 cc, 30 guage syringe, and I have to tell the guy (the same guy, everytime), no, that 1/2cc, I want 3/10. No, thats 28 guage, I want 30 guage. Then I have him tell me they don't have any, when I can see the box right behind him.

When I try to get needles for my insulin pen, they try to give me syringes. Then they get a box of needles, but its the wrong guage.

In the state that I live, you don't need a prescription for syringes/needles. So I'm having to argue with random people that I don't need a prescription to buy them. They treat me like I'm a heroin addict, eventhough I have the perforated fingers to prove I test my BS daily.

Test strips, I say I want "a 100 box of "ultra" test strips. This takes about 5 minutes for them to figure out which ones I'm talking about.

On the odd case that my prescription for insulin ran out, they won't give me another vial until they can get in touch with my doctor. I'm like "its not an antibiotic, I'm not going to be cured after this last vial".

There has been 1 pharmists that I've found that isn't like this, and now will go to any lengths to ONLY go to this pharmacy. One thing to consider, is that this wonder pharmist was an American, while everyone else was foreign.

On some techs behalf: They see about 300 people a day, and you want them to remember you personally, what size needed, gauge needle, and type of stips you get? Sure. I know as an intern I DO strive to do as much as I can in terms of remembering people's names and drugs, etc, but it's just not possible all the time. Also, I DO agree that they should know what the box of strips look like as well as the differences in needles/syr.

Also, some pharmacists will not give you insulin and bill your insurance because IT'S THE LAW. We can't bill your insurance if you have no script to fill....that's illeagal in a lot of ways. You're right, though, many pharmacists, especially ones who know you, will just give you the insulin at your normal co-pay and bill the insurance once they get the script...which is not only illeagal, but they are potentially putting their licence on the line and could possibly LOSIE THEIR JOB to do you the simple favor of saving money. Truly a thankless profession. If you just want to buy the insulin cash, then there is never a problem with that. We just hand them the box and let them go on their way.

Most pharmacies do, however, like to run a label not only because most things, even insulin, should get a label before leaving the pharmacy so as to not make the pharmacy liable. We also like to run a label because many systems work on a computer-operated inventory control system. Meaning that if you want to come in again and get that insulin and have it be here period, then let me run the label so it will order more.

Working in retail for such a short time has made me realize not only how thankless the profession is (which is a shame), but how impatient people are. I mean...c'mon....20 minutes? Holy ****?!?! Are you kidding me....just wait and be happy you have someone who cares about you no matter how pissy you are. And hey...if you don't want to wait, CALL IT IN...is it that hard? I have people get mad at me because I helped the next person in line while their script is getting checked, and they get mad because she got hers first. I just smile and say "well, she called hers in yesterday so she didn't have to wait. Here is our rapid refill #, feel free to call anytime you want and get it filled, then you won't have to wait either."

I'm done ranting, sorry.I normally never get like this...

 

[baggywrinkle]

Originally posted by SteveL
On some techs behalf: They see about 300 people a day, and you want them to remember you personally, what size needed, gauge needle, and type of stips you get? Sure. I know as an intern I DO strive to do as much as I can in terms of remembering people's names and drugs, etc, but it's just not possible all the time. Also, I DO agree that they should know what the box of strips look like as well as the differences in needles/syr.

Also, some pharmacists will not give you insulin and bill your insurance because IT'S THE LAW. We can't bill your insurance if you have no script to fill....that's illeagal in a lot of ways. You're right, though, many pharmacists, especially ones who know you, will just give you the insulin at your normal co-pay and bill the insurance once they get the script...which is not only illeagal, but they are potentially putting their licence on the line and could possibly LOSIE THEIR JOB to do you the simple favor of saving money. Truly a thankless profession. If you just want to buy the insulin cash, then there is never a problem with that. We just hand them the box and let them go on their way.

Most pharmacies do, however, like to run a label not only because most things, even insulin, should get a label before leaving the pharmacy so as to not make the pharmacy liable. We also like to run a label because many systems work on a computer-operated inventory control system. Meaning that if you want to come in again and get that insulin and have it be here period, then let me run the label so it will order more.

Working in retail for such a short time has made me realize not only how thankless the profession is (which is a shame), but how impatient people are. I mean...c'mon....20 minutes? Holy ****?!?! Are you kidding me....just wait and be happy you have someone who cares about you no matter how pissy you are. And hey...if you don't want to wait, CALL IT IN...is it that hard? I have people get mad at me because I helped the next person in line while their script is getting checked, and they get mad because she got hers first. I just smile and say "well, she called hers in yesterday so she didn't have to wait. Here is our rapid refill #, feel free to call anytime you want and get it filled, then you won't have to wait either."

I'm done ranting, sorry.I normally never get like this...

One of the secrets to a happy pharmacy is to cherry pick through your clientele and make it a point to run the really miserable ones off....

Then make it a point to remember your fav peoples names. It took me about three years to get to this point in my place. You should see how their faces light up when you greet them by name
out of all those hundreds of people

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Well, at WVU, the average GPA to get into Pharm school was 3.63, the average for med school was 3.59 (I think).

Personally, I don't want to be a pharmacist in the traditional sense. I want to (will) go to graduate school after my PharmD and go for a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry. Discovering drugs and such. Then I can log on here and tell all of the idiot MD/DO people that they aren't as smart as me because >I< got a Ph.D.

🙄

Seriously though, there are lots of opportunities for post-graduate education in pharmacy - Walgreens is not the endgame.

 

[rgporter]

So very true. If one were not accepted to medical school (even if one were) there are worse alternatives than pharmacy. I was pre-pharm before I was pre-med, and I think that is where I will go if I am not accepted. People get all worked up because they think that all there is to pharmacy is the "lick and stick" professional they see kooked up in a cubicle at the grocery store.

 

[baggywrinkle]

Originally posted by rgporter
So very true. If one were not accepted to medical school (even if one were) there are worse alternatives than pharmacy. I was pre-pharm before I was pre-med, and I think that is where I will go if I am not accepted. People get all worked up because they think that all there is to pharmacy is the "lick and stick" professional they see kooked up in a cubicle at the grocery store.

I just don't get it. I have done both hospital and retail. Both are gratifying in their own way. Lick&stick is just the backround noise that puts food on the table in the same way that turn your head and cough does for physicians. Working directly with the public at a community health level is not rocket science but it can challenge even the brightest among you with ringers out of left field. Just today I spent considerable time on the phone with an anxious mother wondering if she should baker act her adult daughter or not. They don't teach that in school folks.

 

[tackett26]

this is the best question ever

You come to the counter, I am on the phone with a drunk dude who wants the phone number to the grocery store next door. After I instruct him on the virtues of 411, you tell me your doctor was to phone in your prescription to me Your Doctor hasn’t, and you’re unwilling to wait until he does Being in a generous mood, I call you doctors office and am put on hold for 5 minutes, then informed that your prescription was phoned in to my competitor on the other side of town. Phoning the competitor, I am immediately put on hold for 5 minutes before speaking to a clerk, who puts me back on hold to wait for the pharmacist. Your prescription is then transferred to me, and now I have to get the 2 phone calls that have been put on hold while this was being done. Now I return to the counter to ask if we’ve ever filled prescriptions for you before. For some reason, you think that “for you” means “for your cousin” and you answer my question with a “yes”, whereupon I go to the computer and see you are not on file.

The phone rings.

You have left to do something very important, such as browse through the monster truck magazines, and do not hear the three PA announcements requesting that you return to the pharmacy. You return eventually, expecting to pick up the finished prescription…..

The phone rings.

…….only to find out that I need to ask your address, phone number, date of birth, if you have any allergies and insurance coverage. You tell me you’re allergic to codeine. Since the prescription is for Vicodin I ask you what codeine did to you when you took it. You say it made your stomach hurt and I roll my eyes and write down “ no known allergies” You tell me……

The phone rings.

……you have insurance and spend the next 5 minutes looking for your card. You give up and expect me to be able to file your claim anyway. I call my competitor and am immediately put on hold. Upon reaching a human, I ask them what insurance they have on file for you. I get the information and file your claim, which is rejected because you changed jobs 6 months ago. An ******* barges his way to the counter to ask where the bread is.

The phone rings.

I inform you that the insurance the other pharmacy has on file for you isn’t working. You produce a card in under 10 seconds that you seemed to be unable to find before. What you were really doing was hoping your old insurance would still work because it had a lower copay. Your new card prominently displays the logo of Nebraska Blue Cross, and although Nebraska Blue cross does in face handle millions of prescription claims every day, for the group you belong to, the claim should go to a company called Caremark, whose logo is nowhere on the card.

The phone rings.

A lady comes to the counter wanting to know why the cherry flavored antacid works better than the lemon cream flavored antacid. What probably happened is that she had a milder case of heartburn when she took the cherry flavored brand, as they both use the exact same ingredient in the same strength. She will not be satisfies though until I confirm her belief that the cherry flavored brand is the superior product. I file your claim with Caremark, who reject it because you had a 30 day supply of Vicodin filled 15 days ago at another pharmacy. You swear to me on your mother’s….

The phone rings.

……..life that you did not have a Vicodin prescription filled recently. I called Caremark and am immediately placed on hold. The most beautiful woman on the planet walks buy and notices not a thing. She has never talked to a pharmacist and never will. Upon reaching a human at Caremark, I am informed that the Vicodin prescription was indeed filled at another of my competitors. When I tell you this, you say you got hydrocodone there, not Vicodin. Another little part of me dies.

The phone rings.

It turns out that a few days after your doctor wrote your last prescription, he told you to take it more frequently, meaning that what Caremark thought was a 30-day supply is indeed a 15 day supply with the new instruction. I call your docotr’s office to confirm this and am immediately placed on hold. I call Caremark to get an override and am immediately placed on hold. My laser printer has a paper jam. It’s time for my tech to go to lunch. Caremark issues the override and your claim goes through. Your insurance saves you 85 cents off the regular price of the prescription.

The phone rings.

At the cash register you sign….

The phone rings.

…….the acknowledgement that you received a copy of my HIPAA policy and that I offered the required OBRA counseling for the new prescriptions. You remark that you’re glad that your last pharmacist told you you shouldn’t take over the counter Tylenol along with the Vicodin, and that the acetaminophen you’re taking instead seems to be working pretty well. I break the news to you that Tylenol is simply a brand name for acetaminophen and you don’t believe me. You fumble around for 2 minutes looking for your checkbook and spend another 2 minutes making a check for four dollars and sixty seven cents. You ask why the tablets look different than those you got at the other pharmacy. I explain that they are from a different manufacturer. Tomorrow you’ll be back to tell me they don’t work as well.

Now Imagine this wasn’t you at all, but the person who dropped off their prescription three people ahead of you, and you’ll start to have an idea why…..your prescription takes so damn long to fill.

 

[DrYoda]

.

 

[GlamDoc]

Steps in refilling a prescription:

1) technician looks you up in the computer, finds your prescription

2) Sends reimbursement request to your insurance company online

3) waits

4) waits

5) gets approval back online

6) prints out labels

7) goes to get drug from shelf, counts it out

8) may/may not stick the label on the bottle (apparently there's a special way we pharmacists do this, and not every state thinks a technician can be trained to handle this very important step)

9) waits for pharmacist to get off the phone (had to clarify an unreadable prescription)

10) tells pharmacist the refill is ready to check

11) pharmacist gets a call from Grandma Jones, wanting to know if it's OK that she hasn't had a stool today, or should she go to the emergency room for an enema? It takes 5 minutes or so to convince Grandma that you really don't HAVE to have a stool every day.

12) pharmacist starts checking refill

13) pharmacist gets a call from Dr. Smith's nurse, who's sending a very sick patient to your pharmacy, and doesn't want them to have to wait for their prescription to be filled, so they're calling it in as the patient drives over. Pharmacist stops checking your refill to jot down the verbal prescription order.

14) pharmacist finally finishes checking your refill and hands it to the technician, who is busy preparing another prescription for checking

15) the technician finishes setting up the new prescription, but the phone rings again, and it's the technician's job to answer it

16) finally, the technician tells you it's ready and rings it up on the register

👍👍

I'm a tech, and I'm telling you THIS happens. A 15-20 minute wait time REALLY does take 15-20 minutes b/c most of the time we're not just sitting around twiddling our thumbs... just waiting for a prescription to be dropped off. We have to process multiple other prescriptions for patients who come back after their wait time is over, ring out the bazillion customers that come to pick up stuff when we're busy trying to get a ton of other things done at once. And worse, the phone rings every two seconds. Efficiency at multitasking is key in pharmacy, and after working behind the counter for a while now, I have great respect for everyone in the field. 🙂

 

[MsKrispyKreme]

What are pharmacists? Those CVS Sales Associates who count pills? 😕

 

[tackett26]

What are pharmacists? Those CVS Sales Associates who count pills? 😕

Exactly! I'm paid six figures to count pills---You make me sound like a damned pez machine!

 

[Zrchrn]

Most epic thing ever....<shakes head in awe>.

 

[c5212]

Pharmacy must be god awful boring.

yeah, i just can't find anything about pharmacy that is amazingly interesting or fulfilling--- not hating on pharmacists, we really need them- but - i personally don't find the field interesting 😳

 

[Analog]

Can the bumping of 6 year old threads please stop its really confusing

it doesn't matter how hurt you are over this thread tacket they won't read this

 

[MsKrispyKreme]

Exactly! I'm paid six figures to count pills---You make me sound like a damned pez machine!

That would be an insult to pez dispensers everywhere...

 

[Zrchrn]

yeah, i just can't find anything about pharmacy that is amazingly interesting or fulfilling--- not hating on pharmacists, we really need them- but - i personally don't find the field interesting 😳

That's fine, just as long as you keep in mind that many of us do. Also people should keep in mind that pharmacy isn't just retail. It's true that a lot of pharmacists are stuck behind the counter, but recent changes in the practice mean that a lot of dispensing duties will go to machines and pharmacists will be called upon to go to more clinical positions.

A big reason why so many people don't fully understand the scope of the pharmacy practice is that it is too often done in the background. A physician might step out, consult a pharmacist about treatment, then step back in and write the prescription. The patient never notices the pharmacist did anything and the pharmacists never gets to see the benefits of his help. That's changing, but for now, that is the case.

Can the bumping of 6 year old threads please stop its really confusing

it doesn't matter how hurt you are over this thread tacket they won't read this

Haha, would you prefer if people just started a new thread on the same topic? Or would you in the case come on just to say "search the forums it's been discussed"? If it is causing you personal anxiety you should just avoid reading threads you've seen before/unsubscribe them so you don't have to get the emails. There are worse things done/said on the internet the the revival of necrothreads. I find it a little inspiring, it's the thought that even after fading into oblivion, you still have a chance to come back!!!! 😀

 

[tackett26]

Can the bumping of 6 year old threads please stop its really confusing

it doesn't matter how hurt you are over this thread tacket they won't read this

Clearly, I get tons of responses when a reply to old threads. Why stop now.

 

[orthomyxo]

One thing I know for sure is that pre-meds are a helluva lot smarter than pre-pharms. Not even in the same ballpark. I speak from experience.

Let the games begin!!!!! Yeeeeeeeeeeehaw!

:troll:

You do know that pre-med and pre-pharm are pretty much the same exact thing? I speak from experience; I'm a pre-pharm right now and I'm switching to pre-med.

 

[mcattitude]

You know what really chaps my ass? When people treat "alumni" as a singular noun. It isn't. Alumni is the nominative plural of the masculine Latin noun, alumnus. Thus, alumni means students, not student. If you want to refer to someone as a student of a particular institution, say: "He was an alumnus at ____ OR she was an alumna at _____." I guess Latin really is a dead language.

Knowledge of latin FTW!

---
http://y-rocket.blogspot.com/

 

[tackett26]

Knowledge of latin FTW!

---
http://y-rocket.blogspot.com/

Not so fast. Grammatical errors in English results in a point deduction.

 

[Dissected]

You come to the counter, I am on the phone with a drunk dude who wants the phone number to the grocery store next door......


........ Tomorrow you’ll be back to tell me they don’t work as well.

Now Imagine this wasn’t you at all, but the person who dropped off their prescription three people ahead of you, and you’ll start to have an idea why…..your prescription takes so damn long to fill.

What a great post. That was really entertaining.

 

[tackett26]

What a great post. That was really entertaining.

Why thank you. I aim to please. Though I must give credit where credit is due. I got it from "the angry pharmacist" blog. 😀

 

[kikiu]

In My Opinion:
The vast majority of pharmacists could have made it to medical school with their intelligence. However, obviously, they picked being a pharmacist since they have different values and they are smart enough to look at what would make THEM happy. Being a doctor is NOT for everybody (My mom is a PT who graduated with almost a 3.9 from college, highly involved, etc...She had many professors tell her she definitely had the ability to go to med school...but she did not WANT to. Fast forward over 20+ years, she is thrilled with her life.)

I think we all should respect everybody's different priorities and recognize that we ALL are working at improving the health for our country.

 

[PharmaTope]

You come to the counter, I am on the phone with a drunk dude who wants the phone number to the grocery store next door. After I instruct him on the virtues of 411, you tell me your doctor was to phone in your prescription to me Your Doctor hasn’t, and you’re unwilling to wait until he does Being in a generous mood, I call you doctors office and am put on hold for 5 minutes, then informed that your prescription was phoned in to my competitor on the other side of town. Phoning the competitor, I am immediately put on hold for 5 minutes before speaking to a clerk, who puts me back on hold to wait for the pharmacist. Your prescription is then transferred to me, and now I have to get the 2 phone calls that have been put on hold while this was being done. Now I return to the counter to ask if we’ve ever filled prescriptions for you before. For some reason, you think that “for you” means “for your cousin” and you answer my question with a “yes”, whereupon I go to the computer and see you are not on file.

The phone rings.

You have left to do something very important, such as browse through the monster truck magazines, and do not hear the three PA announcements requesting that you return to the pharmacy. You return eventually, expecting to pick up the finished prescription…..

The phone rings.

…….only to find out that I need to ask your address, phone number, date of birth, if you have any allergies and insurance coverage. You tell me you’re allergic to codeine. Since the prescription is for Vicodin I ask you what codeine did to you when you took it. You say it made your stomach hurt and I roll my eyes and write down “ no known allergies” You tell me……

The phone rings.

……you have insurance and spend the next 5 minutes looking for your card. You give up and expect me to be able to file your claim anyway. I call my competitor and am immediately put on hold. Upon reaching a human, I ask them what insurance they have on file for you. I get the information and file your claim, which is rejected because you changed jobs 6 months ago. An ******* barges his way to the counter to ask where the bread is.

The phone rings.

I inform you that the insurance the other pharmacy has on file for you isn’t working. You produce a card in under 10 seconds that you seemed to be unable to find before. What you were really doing was hoping your old insurance would still work because it had a lower copay. Your new card prominently displays the logo of Nebraska Blue Cross, and although Nebraska Blue cross does in face handle millions of prescription claims every day, for the group you belong to, the claim should go to a company called Caremark, whose logo is nowhere on the card.

The phone rings.

A lady comes to the counter wanting to know why the cherry flavored antacid works better than the lemon cream flavored antacid. What probably happened is that she had a milder case of heartburn when she took the cherry flavored brand, as they both use the exact same ingredient in the same strength. She will not be satisfies though until I confirm her belief that the cherry flavored brand is the superior product. I file your claim with Caremark, who reject it because you had a 30 day supply of Vicodin filled 15 days ago at another pharmacy. You swear to me on your mother’s….

The phone rings.

……..life that you did not have a Vicodin prescription filled recently. I called Caremark and am immediately placed on hold. The most beautiful woman on the planet walks buy and notices not a thing. She has never talked to a pharmacist and never will. Upon reaching a human at Caremark, I am informed that the Vicodin prescription was indeed filled at another of my competitors. When I tell you this, you say you got hydrocodone there, not Vicodin. Another little part of me dies.

The phone rings.

It turns out that a few days after your doctor wrote your last prescription, he told you to take it more frequently, meaning that what Caremark thought was a 30-day supply is indeed a 15 day supply with the new instruction. I call your docotr’s office to confirm this and am immediately placed on hold. I call Caremark to get an override and am immediately placed on hold. My laser printer has a paper jam. It’s time for my tech to go to lunch. Caremark issues the override and your claim goes through. Your insurance saves you 85 cents off the regular price of the prescription.

The phone rings.

At the cash register you sign….

The phone rings.

…….the acknowledgement that you received a copy of my HIPAA policy and that I offered the required OBRA counseling for the new prescriptions. You remark that you’re glad that your last pharmacist told you you shouldn’t take over the counter Tylenol along with the Vicodin, and that the acetaminophen you’re taking instead seems to be working pretty well. I break the news to you that Tylenol is simply a brand name for acetaminophen and you don’t believe me. You fumble around for 2 minutes looking for your checkbook and spend another 2 minutes making a check for four dollars and sixty seven cents. You ask why the tablets look different than those you got at the other pharmacy. I explain that they are from a different manufacturer. Tomorrow you’ll be back to tell me they don’t work as well.

Now Imagine this wasn’t you at all, but the person who dropped off their prescription three people ahead of you, and you’ll start to have an idea why…..your prescription takes so damn long to fill.

awesome post!

 

[riverjib]

I'm beginning a post-bacc pre med program in January. If my grades don't hold up, I was thinking of applying to pharmacy schools to have something to fallback on. Pharm schools are less competetive, and the job pays well/flexible hours/etc. Is it common for people to use pharmacy school as an alternate route?

Huh? How is pharmD an alternate route to medicine?

 

[JJMrK]

No need to bump this, as it's 7 years old.