Is there anyone on this forum that actually likes being a pharmacist?

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

I'm just curious?

I graduated with a degree in biomedical science and was undecided for the longest time on what I wanted to do. I took a medical toxicology class during undergrad and discovered that I love the science. When I decided to apply to pharmacy school I knew about the saturation but I didn't mind potentially having to move to a less desirable area and I made sure not to apply to any of the diploma mill schools (I currently attend UHCOP).

When I was active duty in the military I worked in the pharmacy as well as with physicians so I know what the work entails.

The pharmacy forum has the reputation of being populated by bitter users but then again it seems as though only a select few people post on a regular basis.

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[mentos]

There are plenty of us who are happy in our current positions, but there's no chance that a new grad will have the same opportunity because we're not going anywhere until the gravy train runs dry.

 

[BC_89]

I'm just curious?

I graduated with a degree in biomedical science and was undecided for the longest time on what I wanted to do. I took a medical toxicology class during undergrad and discovered that I love the science. When I decided to apply to pharmacy school I knew about the saturation but I didn't mind potentially having to move to a less desirable area and I made sure not to apply to any of the diploma mill schools (I currently attend UHCOP).

When I was active duty in the military I worked in the pharmacy as well as with physicians so I know what the work entails.

The pharmacy forum has the reputation of being populated by bitter users but then again it seems as though only a select few people post on a regular basis.

Many enjoy what they do despite what a handful have to say. The problem is far to many new graduates are tilting the yearly finances of the seasoned pharmacists by the willingness to work for less compensation with a higher grad plus loan + private loan scenario. Since congress accepted an unlimited cap on grad plus loans in 2006, pharmacy schools have tripled with higher tuition rates for the same degree.

If you're a veteran that has not dipped into the Post 9/11 GI Bill in undergrad then you will be fine as the debt to income ratio will not apply to you. If your past MOS was related in pharmacy then you are a front runner with veteran status to work for the VA if you so desire. You don't fit in to the typical pharmacy graduate presuming you graduate with no debt and work as an intern while keeping your past connections.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

Many enjoy what they do despite what a handful have to say. The problem is far to many new graduates are tilting the yearly finances of the seasoned pharmacists by the willingness to work for less compensation with a higher grad plus loan + private loan scenario. Since congress accepted an unlimited cap on grad plus loans in 2006, pharmacy schools have tripled with higher tuition rates for the same degree.

If you're a veteran that has not dipped into the Post 9/11 GI Bill in undergrad then you will be fine as the debt to income ratio will not apply to you. If your past MOS was related in pharmacy then you are a front runner with veteran status to work for the VA if you so desire. You don't fit in to the typical pharmacy graduate presuming you graduate with no debt and work as an intern while keeping your past connections.

I understand this and im already aware of my career chances, but it really does seem like most pharmacist online loath the profession not just the overabundance of pop up schools. I see a lot of pharmacist who seem to have zero respect for their profession and others in it. Comments like they don't deserve to be called doctors (anyone with a doctorate level degree is called doctor no matter the field). In essence i'm talking about pharmacist self hate.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

Professors at UHCOP let the students know about the saturation and ways to stand out and be competitive. Our dean speaks about the diploma mill schools and they let us know about the current state of pharmacy. So no one is really trying to hide anything from us.

Im guessing those pharmacist that im talking about just don't post on online forums.

 

[Actinomycin]

Professors at UHCOP let the students know about the saturation and ways to stand out and be competitive. Our dean speaks about the diploma mill schools and they let us know about the current state of pharmacy. So no one is really trying to hide anything from us.

Im guessing those pharmacist that im talking about just don't post on online forums.

IMHO pharmacy currently is very different than law where graduating from Harvard vs 200 ranked school makes a big difference. Whether you graduate from UHCOP or a diploma mill, at the end of the day it is your license, personality and who you are that is getting you the job. I imagine the average salary will be quite similar from a for profit school that opened last year and a 100 year school. I also dont anticipate this changing much given how many strong students end up going to not the strongest schools because of proximity, family reasons, etc. You also have nerds at some good schools who get in but dont have the personality and other traits to make it in the real world.

Back to your original question, in my experience I find pharmacists that I meet in real life just as bitter as pharmacists on this forum. Every once in a while I find someone who is really happy because -

1. They found a unicorn job (whether in hospital, industry, managed care) where they have it great
2. They are in retail but at a great store (but then they are worried about how long before it changes)
3. Just a generally very happy positive person who uses pharmacy to make the dollars but has a great life outside and would be happy doing just about anything

So yes every once in a while I do run into pharmacists who are happy. What I can also tell you is that in 2000, that was most pharmacists I met and now it is like 1 in 5 (in the real world). I imagine in another 10 years, it will be even less

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

IMHO pharmacy currently is very different than law where graduating from Harvard vs 200 ranked school makes a big difference. Whether you graduate from UHCOP or a diploma mill, at the end of the day it is your license, personality and who you are that is getting you the job. I imagine the average salary will be quite similar from a for profit school that opened last year and a 100 year school. I also dont anticipate this changing much given how many strong students end up going to not the strongest schools because of proximity, family reasons, etc. You also have nerds at some good schools who get in but dont have the personality and other traits to make it in the real world.

Back to your original question, in my experience I find pharmacists that I meet in really life just as bitter as pharmacists on this forum. Every once in a while I find someone who is really happy because -

1. They found a unicorn job (whether in hospital, industry, managed care) where they have it great
2. They are in retail but at a great store (but then they are worried about how long before it changes)
3. Just a generally very happy positive person who uses pharmacy to make the dollars but has a great life outside and would be happy doing just about anything

So yes every once in a while I do run into pharmacists who are happy. What I can also tell you is that in 2000, that was most pharmacists I met and now it is like 1 in 5 (in the real world). I imagine in another 10 years, it will be even less.

Fair enough, but I do think being dissatisfied with the current state of pharmacy and how the big chains treat you is different from not liking the job itself. Doing anything solely for money is never a good idea.

Im going to have to disagree with you on the diploma mill school Vs. a more established school though. Reputation of these schools do matter with these employers especially to those that wont take students from certain schools. A lot of these schools have students that aren't prepared and have abysmal NAPLEX first time pass rates.

 

[Actinomycin]

Fair enough, but I do think being dissatisfied with the current state of pharmacy and how the big chains treat you is different from not liking the job itself.

Not sure how you differentiate the two. The current state and how big chains treat you define the job. They can get away with it because of the saturation in the field. 20 years ago or 10 years ago, they couldnt because they would not have had another pharmacist if the current pharmacist left unhappy with the conditions. Now they will find a dozen.

How the chains treat you defines your job if you are employed with one of the chains and a majority of pharmacists work there.

 

[mentos]

Fair enough, but I do think being dissatisfied with the current state of pharmacy and how the big chains treat you is different from not liking the job itself. Doing anything solely for money is never a good idea.

Im going to have to disagree with you on the diploma mill school Vs. a more established school though. Reputation of these schools do matter with these employers especially to those that wont take students from certain schools. A lot of these schools have students that aren't prepared and have abysmal NAPLEX first time pass rates.

The majority of employers don't care which pharmacy school you went to.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

The majority of employers don't care which pharmacy school you went to.

That runs counter to what you guys say on this forum though.

 

[Sine Cura]

These are not mutually exclusive statements:

• Diploma mills (most 0-6 programs, some 3-year programs) generally graduate subpar pharmacists (if they even graduate and pass their licensing exams)
• The majority of employers don't care where you graduate from

 

[King2440]

News flash: All schools are turning into “diploma mill” schools, even your prestigious UHCOP. You guys still had empty seats in March/April of last year and I assume the same this year.

Nowadays, school doesn’t matter. More so personality and experience. I’ve had so many students that cannot communicate or have never stepped foot in a pharmacy and in most cases, both!

You said you worked with physicians prior to pharmacy school. Have you ever worked in a retail chain setting? (If lucky enough, that is where you will end up)

 

[confettiflyer]

Love my job, it’s intellectually challenging and I feel valued by my employer and my colleagues (the physicians, nurses, RD’s, NP’s, etc...)

I also acknowledge that a lot of this is the result of timing and luck.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[Chrish]

Corporate slave here..

Love the money that this career has afforded me. Love the schedule even more.. Can’t think of any other career where you are off almost half of the days per year and can still make this much.

As for actual work, I don’t have any strong feeling toward it. Some days it sucks but most days it’s tolerable. I don’t love or hate it. Overall my perspective is pretty neutral.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

IMHO pharmacy currently is very different than law where graduating from Harvard vs 200 ranked school makes a big difference. Whether you graduate from UHCOP or a diploma mill, at the end of the day it is your license, personality and who you are that is getting you the job. I imagine the average salary will be quite similar from a for profit school that opened last year and a 100 year school. I also dont anticipate this changing much given how many strong students end up going to not the strongest schools because of proximity, family reasons, etc. You also have nerds at some good schools who get in but dont have the personality and other traits to make it in the real world.

Back to your original question, in my experience I find pharmacists that I meet in real life just as bitter as pharmacists on this forum. Every once in a while I find someone who is really happy because -

1. They found a unicorn job (whether in hospital, industry, managed care) where they have it great
2. They are in retail but at a great store (but then they are worried about how long before it changes)
3. Just a generally very happy positive person who uses pharmacy to make the dollars but has a great life outside and would be happy doing just about anything

So yes every once in a while I do run into pharmacists who are happy. What I can also tell you is that in 2000, that was most pharmacists I met and now it is like 1 in 5 (in the real world). I imagine in another 10 years, it will be even less

Agreed. But I also want to point out that many of the pharmacists who are "happy" in #1 and #3 aren't happy because of their job as a pharmacist but because of their circumstances. For example in #1, I can make an argument that all non-traditional "pharmacy" jobs such as those in industry aren't jobs that only a pharmacist can do, but an MD or MBA can do that job as well. So can these pharmacists say that they truly enjoy "being a pharmacist" when they are not even practicing in that capacity? If so, then I would say that I truly enjoy "being a pharmacist" if I graduated pharmacy school but now make a living selling ice cream on the beach.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

News flash: All schools are turning into “diploma mill” schools, even your prestigious UHCOP. You guys still had empty seats in March/April of last year and I assume the same this year.

Nowadays, school doesn’t matter. More so personality and experience. I’ve had so many students that cannot communicate or have never stepped foot in a pharmacy and in most cases, both!

You said you worked with physicians prior to pharmacy school. Have you ever worked in a retail chain setting? (If lucky enough, that is where you will end up)

I guess you skipped over the part where I wrote ive worked in a pharmacy as a tech when I was active duty. The UHCOP class of 2019 had 130 graduates with 10 reporting that they were unemployed. The rest went to retail, Military, Hospital, or residency. I wont need luck to find a retail job, just drive and a willingness to relocate to an underserved and or rural area.

 

[rxkrafted]

I work inpatient hospital pharmacy side and I love it. I am very comfortable with my position here but the problem is when you want to move somewhere and have to compete against hundreds to thousands of other applicants because your chances are slim unless you have an inside connection there. The times that we do post job openings, they are already being reserved for a "friend" for a current employee that they recommended.
In my opinion, I think many of us who are already secured at our own jobs are not bitter about our position but just annoyed at how many people are still trying to pursue pharmacy without doing their research. What pharmacy school you attend does not matter at all unless the employer happens to be a die-hard alumni or something lol. Depending on where you want to work, it really comes down to who you know and if positions are even opened. Then you have schools charging you 2-3x the tuition amount that you can even pay off nowadays but I don't even want to get into that..

 

[rxkrafted]

I guess you skipped over the part where I wrote ive worked in a pharmacy as a tech when I was active duty. The UHCOP class of 2019 had 130 graduates with 10 reporting that they were unemployed. The rest went to retail, Military, Hospital, or residency. I wont need luck to find a retail job, just drive and a willingness to relocate to an underserved and or rural area.

Even with retail, it isn't easy as it was years ago... Many interns did not even get job offers after graduation and the company selected a few to keep for just floater positions until something opened up. If you want a job after graduation, you're going to have to work while in school and keep a great relationship with the employer. Even with that, that'll just give you a chance and not anything guaranteed.

 

[Sine Cura]

I see a lot of pharmacist who seem to have zero respect for their profession and others in it. Comments like they don't deserve to be called doctors (anyone with a doctorate level degree is called doctor no matter the field). In essence i'm talking about pharmacist self hate.

You mean people don't like preening narcissists who would rather fixate on a title rather than accomplish anything worthwhile

This is not a meritocratic profession. Connections matter even more now.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Im going to have to disagree with you on the diploma mill school Vs. a more established school though. Reputation of these schools do matter with these employers especially to those that wont take students from certain schools. A lot of these schools have students that aren't prepared and have abysmal NAPLEX first time pass rates.

1. You're a student so what do you know about "reputation" in the real world besides what your professors feed you? (besides the fact that most of what they say are lies)

2. Sure, there are employers who don't take students from certain schools, but I think it's fair to say that in recent years (just not 2018 or 2019), the employment rate for diploma mill grads is at least 50%. What does this mean? It means that a good chunk of pharmacists in the workforce (and pharmacists who are/will be in a position to hire) come from diploma mills or "non-elite" schools. If anything, these guys are MORE likely to hire alumni from their own schools than alumni from other schools because they have that "chip on the shoulder" mentality. People on this sub always talk about diploma mill grads in a "us vs them" way but do you not think they read SDN too and hire out of spite?

3. By the way, UHCOP is not a top tier school by any means so just wanted to clear that up. UT Austin is the flagship school in Texas.

 

[mentos]

That runs counter to what you guys say on this forum though.

You can search through all of the messages I've ever posted in this forum. I have always said it doesn't matter which pharmacy school you go to. This is pharmacy, not law or business. There's no such thing as a "prestigious" pharmacy school. The #1 ranked pharmacy school UCSF had terrible CPJE results compared to other schools, so that shows you how meaningless the school rankings are.

Some people on SDN will tell you that residencies will value school reputation. Well residencies are not employers; they are temp agencies. Sure, a small minority will stay on and be hired full time. But the majority will have to look for a new job somewhere else.

I find it hilarious that a pharmacy student is telling us pharmacists that we are wrong about school reputation.

 

[DrVader]

I'm just curious?

I graduated with a degree in biomedical science and was undecided for the longest time on what I wanted to do. I took a medical toxicology class during undergrad and discovered that I love the science. When I decided to apply to pharmacy school I knew about the saturation but I didn't mind potentially having to move to a less desirable area and I made sure not to apply to any of the diploma mill schools (I currently attend UHCOP).

When I was active duty in the military I worked in the pharmacy as well as with physicians so I know what the work entails.

The pharmacy forum has the reputation of being populated by bitter users but then again it seems as though only a select few people post on a regular basis.

I look at the field of pharmacy much like the book All Quiet on the Western Front. For those who haven't read it or that it has been a long time, it is a book about WW1 from the view of a German veteran. His teachers told him how glorious WW1 was and that German would win it. The war was, of course, a nightmare for the German people and soldiers. The main character Paul Baumer saw his best friends killed or commit suicide. Paul Baumer does come back to Germany to confront the same professor who taught such propaganda. To find his professor is a hypocrite who urges others to fight but won't himself.

The field of pharmacy has gone through the same transformation. It was a bright and good career in the 90s and early 00s and has since turned into such as hell hole. All of my professors at my schools were either MDs, PhDs or PharmDs who never wanted to work in retail. These people knew nothing about the reality of actual pharmacy work. I can't believe how much time, I spent doing therapeutics cases or kinetics calculation, learning pharmacology or memorizing drug structures, basically playing doctor. Becoming a pharmacist today is like going to a fine culinary school to be a master chef only to end of working at McDonald's. Today's pharmacist knows they were sold a lie but are bound to this profession due to student loans and the current culture of worshiping certifications.

 

[confettiflyer]

School reputation is all local anyway. For me, it’s pretty much 1) UCSF 2) everyone else.

I don’t really have any time to read into “we’re most prestigioussseeesseserrrr” pissing matches.

I just precept whoever is coming in... most of the time I forget what school they’re from, anyway.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[lord999]

Fair enough, but I do think being dissatisfied with the current state of pharmacy and how the big chains treat you is different from not liking the job itself. Doing anything solely for money is never a good idea.

Im going to have to disagree with you on the diploma mill school Vs. a more established school though. Reputation of these schools do matter with these employers especially to those that wont take students from certain schools. A lot of these schools have students that aren't prepared and have abysmal NAPLEX first time pass rates.

There are certain schools that have that reputation period (Texas Southern is a public school that has a bad reputation around your area), but people are not choosy between most of the schools, the personality matters more in almost all circumstances out of government and the university systems (UT actually favors grads from Florida of all things).

It's a generational matter of happiness. Most of the now elder pharmacists that I know (most have retired) are genuinely happy about the way things turned out for them, because they started in a similar market in the late 1970s and 1980s and their lives genuinely improved, but survivor bias is high. Those who came out before 2008 were genuinely happy even in retail because the schooling was cheap, money was good but not great, and they were wanted. I'd say the line is about 2008-2009 before you started to see people who had no experience whatsoever go into pharmacy for the money without thinking about the work, which what do you expect.

I'm personally happy because I have a unicorn job, but I already knew from my family's history in the business what I knew not to do for a living in pharmacy. I wasn't going to work classical chain unless I had to (especially Osco, RiteAid, and ThriftyWhite) and if I did, I would make corporate ASAP. And oddly, I wouldn't work the Catholic Health System (CHW, now Dignity around my area) because of age discrimination. To work toward something I wanted to do was as motivating as avoiding a short-term happiness situation. People who don't know themselves or what their limits are will get them tested here, pharmacy is not an easy job.

This generation has not been tested yet with actually bad work conditions. Anyone who graduated in the late 90s to early 00's had a taste of that, but it's been a pretty swell time afterwards up to last year, but we're all going to have a late-70s experience yet again. It's going to be a situation where you'll be happy or you'll be dead in this profession.

Also, and I'm not being sarcastic, many of us on this board (including me) do vent here as there's no outlet at work for it. It's a more negative experience but it's only one side.

For instance, I'm pretty pissed off this week as I had to give a supervised sample under warrant due to looking for the couple who left a specific kind of mess on the Deputy Undersecretary's Desk during Thanksgiving week without having to grace to clean it up properly (and it's not her if you're wondering, they tested her first apparently). Those fascists at Office of Security and Preparedness got a warrant Monday to test everyone on that floor that week, and I just happened to be there to help out with a report. I responded when giving the sample that the last time I had to do that, they were trying to trace a person who left the messes in all the public meeting rooms, but it turned out that the person himself was responsible for them (and that is why I never sit down at meetings in Central Office and wear white gloves when having to work on the fifth floor). Did they test themselves (yes, they did)?

Report: VA IG ousted over indecent acts

The Department of Veterans Affairs is staying silent following a media report that its former watchdog resigned for masturbating in front of others, including teachers.

www.militarytimes.com

So, if you can't be happy, you can at least have a sense of humor over the job. I'm happy and have a sense of humor, because of the humanity around me. The agent certainly had neither nor did he want to be in a position to supervise the collection of that sample. For all its faults, pharmacy isn't dirty work, and I pity those who have to deal with the dirt (both literal and figurative).

 

[APN-59 rph]

From APN-59 rph
When I first graduated I did a little time in a nuclear pharmacy..That has been the only really interesting experience I have had in the Rph. biz... The school was interesting but had essentially nothing to do with the actual job..( I never worked in a hospital pharmacy). I have always described the job as "fairly well compensated high speed drudgery". NOW it is devolving into a dog eat dog fight for a job doing high speed drudgery for whatever someone will pay. Fortunately I have had other REALLY challenging/interesting jobs. Pharmacy provided the big pay (at least for a wage slave). NOW? If you STILL insist on this "career" well, good luck to ya..[/QUOTE]

 

[RxEvileye]

I have been very happy with pharmacy as a career so far. Even most retail settings I have been in as a tech or intern have been mostly good and I would have been somewhat happy still with not being in a clinical position.

Of course there is truth to a lot said in this forum, but sometimes I wonder if some people troll here just to try and decrease the number of applicants to the pharmacy school they want to go to, or decrease the number of people in the job market overall. I try to do the opposite and answer questions, help others, etc.

 

[PharmDizzle]

I love being a pharmacist, but admittedly I did 2 years of residency and then stayed on at my PGY2 site knowing exactly what I was getting into. I can’t speak to jobs in the retail world, but our residents have consistently landed good jobs after graduation. I’m extremely happy with my job and will probably be afraid to ever leave it because I just don’t know if I’ll find anything as good.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

I'm just curious?

I graduated with a degree in biomedical science and was undecided for the longest time on what I wanted to do. I took a medical toxicology class during undergrad and discovered that I love the science. When I decided to apply to pharmacy school I knew about the saturation but I didn't mind potentially having to move to a less desirable area and I made sure not to apply to any of the diploma mill schools (I currently attend UHCOP).

When I was active duty in the military I worked in the pharmacy as well as with physicians so I know what the work entails.

The pharmacy forum has the reputation of being populated by bitter users but then again it seems as though only a select few people post on a regular basis.

I enjoy being a pharmacist. Of course, I'm not working in a traditional pharmacy job. I work for Big Blue stocking shelves as a Pharmacy Stocking Pharmacist. I should be at $12 bucks an hour by this summer if everything goes well. It is a low stress job and I even get to listen to podcasts sometimes when the boss isn't around.

Additionally I had to hide my PharmD from my resume as I would have not been hired at this current job (or i assume many others) if I left it on. I also don't tell any of my coworkers that I am a pharmacist for similar reasons.

 

[TranslationalRPh]

Love being a pharmacist. Graduated during the boom and work in a nontraditional setting.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

I enjoy being a pharmacist. Of course, I'm not working in a traditional pharmacy job. I work for Big Blue stocking shelves as a Pharmacy Stocking Pharmacist. I should be at $12 bucks an hour by this summer if everything goes well. It is a low stress job and I even get to listen to podcasts sometimes when the boss isn't around.

Additionally I had to hide my PharmD from my resume as I would have not been hired at this current job (or i assume many others) if I left it on. I also don't tell any of my coworkers that I am a pharmacist for similar reasons.

Welcome back Modest Anteater!

 

[RxPreceptor]

Welcome back Modest Anteater!

Sounds about right

 

[gwarm01]

Ah, well, the thing about that..

It's not that I don't like being a pharmacist, but I wouldn't be upset if a company like Apple suddenly decided they needed someone to help design pharmacy related software and offered me a job.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I have been lucky to be afforded awesome opportunities. I no longer practice pharmacy in any traditional sense but I had "unicorn" jobs when I did. And I genuinely liked them and felt like I was using my education and that my contributions were recognized and valued.

I still use my education and experience but in a different capacity now. Pharmacy has given me a great living and for that I am thankful. I know I'm the exception, not the rule. It saddens me to see what has happened in such a relatively short time.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

I enjoy being a pharmacist. Of course, I'm not working in a traditional pharmacy job. I work for Big Blue stocking shelves as a Pharmacy Stocking Pharmacist. I should be at $12 bucks an hour by this summer if everything goes well. It is a low stress job and I even get to listen to podcasts sometimes when the boss isn't around.

Additionally I had to hide my PharmD from my resume as I would have not been hired at this current job (or i assume many others) if I left it on. I also don't tell any of my coworkers that I am a pharmacist for similar reasons.

You are trolling me and I only want serious answers.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

1. You're a student so what do you know about "reputation" in the real world besides what your professors feed you? (besides the fact that most of what they say are lies)

2. Sure, there are employers who don't take students from certain schools, but I think it's fair to say that in recent years (just not 2018 or 2019), the employment rate for diploma mill grads is at least 50%. What does this mean? It means that a good chunk of pharmacists in the workforce (and pharmacists who are/will be in a position to hire) come from diploma mills or "non-elite" schools. If anything, these guys are MORE likely to hire alumni from their own schools than alumni from other schools because they have that "chip on the shoulder" mentality. People on this sub always talk about diploma mill grads in a "us vs them" way but do you not think they read SDN too and hire out of spite?

3. By the way, UHCOP is not a top tier school by any means so just wanted to clear that up. UT Austin is the flagship school in Texas.

I Never said it was a top tier school, I said it was not a pop up diploma mill. Besides that, UHCOP actually is a top pharmacy school in Texas along with UT, look up our stats.

Also, our professors don't lie to us about the market.

 

[Chrish]

but sometimes I wonder if some people troll here just to try and decrease the number of applicants to the pharmacy school they want to go to, or decrease the number of people in the job market overall. I try to do the opposite and answer questions, help others, etc.

The number of people who read this forum is insignificant.. Whether new schools open or not; whether more people apply or not, the fact is irreversible damage has been done to this profession. Some of what is written here may seem “dramatic” to some people but it’s not that far from truth.

Are new graduates not gonna have a job? No, they can still get the job but they won’t have any stability of hours/ schedule. Their salary will be lower (already happening). They will be either forced to float or made manager at the store that no one else wants to take over.

Things are pretty grim, at least in retail setting.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

I have been very happy with pharmacy as a career so far. Even most retail settings I have been in as a tech or intern have been mostly good and I would have been somewhat happy still with not being in a clinical position.

Of course there is truth to a lot said in this forum, but sometimes I wonder if some people troll here just to try and decrease the number of applicants to the pharmacy school they want to go to, or decrease the number of people in the job market overall. I try to do the opposite and answer questions, help others, etc.

The underlined is why im not too mad at the obvious hyperbole in this forum.

 

[owlegrad]

That runs counter to what you guys say on this forum though.

Can you show me even one such post? I don’t recall ever seeing any.

 

[ChairSpin]

same story in every field. if you like it, and it fits your needs..go for it!

 

[lord999]

Can you show me even one such post? I don’t recall ever seeing any.

Agreed, owlegrad graduated from what is considered to be the best pharmacy school in the Southeast (in spite of the abuse) and does not usually open doors. I think like most in the forum that going to horrendous schools like Midwestern, Chapman, or Cal Northstate does not exactly help, but even alumni like me managed to get himself a fine graduate education at the best school for the subject and several people from my school placed rather well. There are very few places that care beyond an open, unrestricted license.

UH is a fine school, but Texas has historically been a bad market for pharmacists, even in the boom. I would be concerned about finding employment, and I would really work at establishing a decent reputation as a go-to worker and not worrying about whether or not we're happy. It's whether or not you're happy with your choice.

That said, I am from the era that I really do enjoy even chain pharmacy, because I care as much as my patients do about their health and act accordingly. I wrote this years ago here, and it's more true today:

We are the healthcare profession equivalent of Purgatory, suffering the consequences for our sins, never achieving the promised land (medicine), nor descending into the inferno (nurses), but always hopeful that there's a better deal than what we have and knowing that there is a reason for our suffering even if we don't know precisely what. You're in a profession that's neither terrible enough that only the strong survive, passionate enough that it can reinvent itself, intelligent enough to prove itself unique except for the tasks that everyone else loathes (drug preparation and dispensing), or courageous enough to take the risk of doing things for the right reasons even if they risk professional judgment. Pharmacy is a profession that has never been a full profession, and the work circumstances are such that they are good enough for you to stay and not terrible enough to move on. Scale that up, and that's why the future of pharmacy is and will be always the same as its present, concerned for an individual and comfortable livelihood with limited on-the-job responsibility and almost none outside the job. Anyone who does not really find solace in that never satisfied always looking will move on. The moment you understand that these limitations are as much your professional peers as well as yourself, you can start making peace with not only the direction, but the progression of the problems in pharmacy and that life is too short to worry about something that is a structural problem.

 

[Hels2007]

I am very happy with where my PharmD got me, but mine is as non-traditional a route as they come. As far as the actual pharmacist job, I have done part-time or per-dime for a very long time, and I genuinely enjoyed it 2002-2009 or so. It was OK 2009-2014. And since late 2014, it's been slowly turning hellish within the same exact district of the same exact chain. My friend at a major hospital in NYC has been complaining about the job for all the years I have known her (going on 13, I think?) but never enough to change... she is a clinical pharmacist, but hospital politics gets to her. My other friend works for the county (mix of LTC and outpatient) and she is super happy (after a decade and a half of retail) but many of her colleagues complain and say it was way better back when.

That pharmacy is not nearly as good an area of employment as it used to be 10+ years ago is a fact. Whether you get mad at people for stating it or not will not change the fact.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

Agreed, owlegrad graduated from what is considered to be the best pharmacy school in the Southeast (in spite of the abuse) and does not usually open doors. I think like most in the forum that going to horrendous schools like Midwestern, Chapman, or Cal Northstate does not exactly help, but even alumni like me managed to get himself a fine graduate education at the best school for the subject and several people from my school placed rather well. There are very few places that care beyond an open, unrestricted license.

UH is a fine school, but Texas has historically been a bad market for pharmacists, even in the boom. I would be concerned about finding employment, and I would really work at establishing a decent reputation as a go-to worker and not worrying about whether or not we're happy. It's whether or not you're happy with your choice.

That said, I am from the era that I really do enjoy even chain pharmacy, because I care as much as my patients do about their health and act accordingly. I wrote this years ago here, and it's more true today:

We are the healthcare profession equivalent of Purgatory, suffering the consequences for our sins, never achieving the promised land (medicine), nor descending into the inferno (nurses), but always hopeful that there's a better deal than what we have and knowing that there is a reason for our suffering even if we don't know precisely what. You're in a profession that's neither terrible enough that only the strong survive, passionate enough that it can reinvent itself, intelligent enough to prove itself unique except for the tasks that everyone else loathes (drug preparation and dispensing), or courageous enough to take the risk of doing things for the right reasons even if they risk professional judgment. Pharmacy is a profession that has never been a full profession, and the work circumstances are such that they are good enough for you to stay and not terrible enough to move on. Scale that up, and that's why the future of pharmacy is and will be always the same as its present, concerned for an individual and comfortable livelihood with limited on-the-job responsibility and almost none outside the job. Anyone who does not really find solace in that never satisfied always looking will move on. The moment you understand that these limitations are as much your professional peers as well as yourself, you can start making peace with not only the direction, but the progression of the problems in pharmacy and that life is too short to worry about something that is a structural problem.

Why do you guys assume that I wouldn't understand the job market in my own state of residence? Im already aware of how I feel about pharmacy and what I have to do be able to have more job prospects. I'm a veteran planning on commissioning after I get my PharmD. The reason why I made this thread is because it seems as though yall went into pharmacy because it was supposedly easy money and not because you actually cared about being pharmacists.

There are more trolls on this side of SDN getting their membership revoked and then making new profiles to spend all day saying the same crap. The criticism given on this forum to prepharms is most of the time not even constructive.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

I am very happy with where my PharmD got me, but mine is as non-traditional a route as they come. As far as the actual pharmacist job, I have done part-time or per-dime for a very long time, and I genuinely enjoyed it 2002-2009 or so. It was OK 2009-2014. And since late 2014, it's been slowly turning hellish within the same exact district of the same exact chain. My friend at a major hospital in NYC has been complaining about the job for all the years I have known her (going on 13, I think?) but never enough to change... she is a clinical pharmacist, but hospital politics gets to her. My other friend works for the county (mix of LTC and outpatient) and she is super happy (after a decade and a half of retail) but many of her colleagues complain and say it was way better back when.

That pharmacy is not nearly as good an area of employment as it used to be 10+ years ago is a fact. Whether you get mad at people for stating it or not will not change the fact.

Most of you should learn to actually read a post. No one is denying saturation or that pharmacy was better in the past. I simply asked does anyone actually like their job.

 

[Hels2007]

Most of you should learn to actually read a post. No one is denying saturation or that pharmacy was better in the past. I simply asked does anyone actually like their job.

How about YOU learn to read? See a quote in my earlier post? No? Then why the hell do you assume I responded exclusively to the first post and not the entire thread?

 

[BC_89]

Most of you should learn to actually read a post. No one is denying saturation or that pharmacy was better in the past. I simply asked does anyone actually like their job.

You need to look carefully at what many on here are telling you.

1) Many love what they do (most I see on here that regret it from the start are new grads). That part has been answered on here. The rest is for your own review

2) Majority have shifted their train of thought on their job due to saturation and having to meet metrics that could have been avoided if it were not for the oversupply. This puts unnecessary stress on ones job and family.

If the point was to simply ask about if people like their job and not include the "why" or "why not" then this thread would have no potential or the interest of what you may and may not know

 

[confettiflyer]

A lot of my friends stopped posting on here because it was just a bitch fest about the job market. Blah blah blah. I think I disappeared for a while during that time.

So I think SDN is more representative of whiners than actual RPh’s who enjoy their jobs.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[mentos]

Why do you guys assume that I wouldn't understand the job market in my own state of residence?

Umm maybe because you're not working as a pharmacist? Do you have any job offers lined up?

Most of you should learn to actually read a post. No one is denying saturation or that pharmacy was better in the past. I simply asked does anyone actually like their job.

I answered your question in the very first reply. You are the one who should learn how to read.

 

[Sine Cura]

****, I thought the actual point of the OP was to talk crap about negative Nancies on this forum.

 

[BenJammin]

Nope. Hate being a pharmacist. That's why I got out.

 

[Nguyen]

Inpatient pharmacist here. I love my job. Every day there's something challenging to do and new to learn- EVERY DAY is a different day, it is NEVER the same! I also enjoy interacting with APPE/IPPE students and residents. I teach them something, they teach me something.