Landing a hospital pharmacist job as a new graduate?

[Hedgehog32]

I'm a P4 student who will be graduating pharmacy school in May, and I was just wondering if anyone could provide insight on a landing a hospital staff pharmacist position as a new graduate. At my age, I would rather not complete a residency, and even though I realize this will make getting a hospital position much more difficult, I'm also single and have no kids and am willing to move anywhere in the country for a job. By the time I graduate in May, I will have gained over 2 years of experience working as an intern for a local hospital network (I primarily have inpatient experience, but I've also worked shifts in the hospital network's outpatient/retail pharmacies as well).

Will not completing a residency first significantly hurt my chances of finding a hospital position as a new grad? Will my intern experience plus my willingness to move anywhere help my chances? Am also willing (and might even prefer) to work a 7-on-7-off nights schedule, or any other less desirable shift to get my foot in the door somewhere.

Thanks

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[Dred Pirate]

I'm a P4 student who will be graduating pharmacy school in May, and I was just wondering if anyone could provide insight on a landing a hospital staff pharmacist position as a new graduate. At my age, I would rather not complete a residency, and even though I realize this will make getting a hospital position much more difficult, I'm also single and have no kids and am willing to move anywhere in the country for a job. By the time I graduate in May, I will have gained over 2 years of experience working as an intern for a local hospital network (I primarily have inpatient experience, but I've also worked shifts in the hospital network's outpatient/retail pharmacies as well).

Will not completing a residency first significantly hurt my chances of finding a hospital position as a new grad? Will my intern experience plus my willingness to move anywhere help my chances? Am also willing (and might even prefer) to work a 7-on-7-off nights schedule, or any other less desirable shift to get my foot in the door somewhere.

Thanks

background on me - I used to hire pharmacists in my hospital - but recently changed to a staff position. I have NO residency - graduated 15 years ago.
If you do not want to do a residency you have two options.
1. Hope you made a great impression where you are interning. Ask your manager there if you would have a chance at a position without a residency? Depending on your area this could go either way. We hired a couple interns in the past - but now we will not hire a new grad unless they have at a minimum a PGY-1. I am not saying I agree with this, but that is what the higher-ups tell us.
2. Find a small hospital in the middle of nowhere to cut your teeth. This is what I did, and what several people I know did who did not have a residency.

I would never put a new grad into a night position where you are alone (or at the very minimum relatively isolated)- this is where the 5HIT goes down and you have minimal back up. You often have to cover everything from NICU, to ECMO, to codes, to trauma, etc. You simply will not have the experience to do this unless you take a very basic ops position where all you do is product check. There are positions like this in the big huge academic hospitals, but those are the first positions that are going to be eliminated by tech check tech, bar code, etc - plus you will have basically zero advancement if you settle for one of these positions.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

I'm a P4 student who will be graduating pharmacy school in May, and I was just wondering if anyone could provide insight on a landing a hospital staff pharmacist position as a new graduate. At my age, I would rather not complete a residency, and even though I realize this will make getting a hospital position much more difficult, I'm also single and have no kids and am willing to move anywhere in the country for a job. By the time I graduate in May, I will have gained over 2 years of experience working as an intern for a local hospital network (I primarily have inpatient experience, but I've also worked shifts in the hospital network's outpatient/retail pharmacies as well).

Will not completing a residency first significantly hurt my chances of finding a hospital position as a new grad? Will my intern experience plus my willingness to move anywhere help my chances? Am also willing (and might even prefer) to work a 7-on-7-off nights schedule, or any other less desirable shift to get my foot in the door somewhere.

Thanks

Intern experience does not equal work experience as a pharmacist so you have essentially zero experience as a new grad. Like Dred says, the only way for you to get a job is if you made a good impression/networked/got lucky with timing while on your rotations or moved to some BFE hospital where they are desperately looking for someone (good luck finding out where though, if I were looking for a job myself I wouldn’t even know where to start).

You also have to consider not just your short-term prospects but your long-term prospects if you wanted to move, change jobs etc. There are plenty of posts on this sub and Reddit about seasoned, non-residency trained hospital pharmacists being passed over for clinical roles or new positions in favor of fresh PGY-1 grads because they don’t have that residency credential. So it’s pretty obvious to me nowadays that if you don’t do a residency as a new grad that you’re committing career suicide.

 

[Hedgehog32]

background on me - I used to hire pharmacists in my hospital - but recently changed to a staff position. I have NO residency - graduated 15 years ago.
If you do not want to do a residency you have two options.
1. Hope you made a great impression where you are interning. Ask your manager there if you would have a chance at a position without a residency? Depending on your area this could go either way. We hired a couple interns in the past - but now we will not hire a new grad unless they have at a minimum a PGY-1. I am not saying I agree with this, but that is what the higher-ups tell us.
2. Find a small hospital in the middle of nowhere to cut your teeth. This is what I did, and what several people I know did who did not have a residency.

I would never put a new grad into a night position where you are alone (or at the very minimum relatively isolated)- this is where the 5HIT goes down and you have minimal back up. You often have to cover everything from NICU, to ECMO, to codes, to trauma, etc. You simply will not have the experience to do this unless you take a very basic ops position where all you do is product check. There are positions like this in the big huge academic hospitals, but those are the first positions that are going to be eliminated by tech check tech, bar code, etc - plus you will have basically zero advancement if you settle for one of these positions.

I appreciate the advice. Unfortunately, the hospital I worked as an intern at has their own residency program (both PGY-1 and PGY-2), and a year or two ago they instituted a strict policy of only hiring residency graduates. Another intern who worked at the same hospital just graduated this past May from pharmacy school, and even though she worked for the hospital network for 10 years as a tech before going to pharmacy school, they wouldn't even give her a PRN/part-time position unless she completed a residency first. So I would say that there's zero chance of me getting hired locally without completing a residency first.

It sounds like it's definitely going to be hard to find a hospital position as a new grad, so I guess location flexibility is going to be key. Do you happen to know of any states with rural areas that might be desperate enough to hire a new grad? I understand that there are also rural IHS positions, but one of the members here said they interviewed at over 20 sites and didn't get a single offer.

 

[rxkrafted]

Pretty much what Dred said. Your intern experience does not reciprocate to other hospitals so you'll more likely have a shot at the hospital you interned at. With that said, you already know the market is very saturated so you'd have to be very lucky for them to even have a position for you if they wanted to hire you anyways... They couldn't even hire you as a per diem if their per diems are barely being used so its gonna be tough.
You got into this field pretty late so it'll be difficult to land a hospital position even in the middle of nowhere because you'll still be competing against residency-trained pharmacists seeking jobs.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Intern experience does not equal work experience as a pharmacist so you have essentially zero experience as a new grad. Like Dred says, the only way for you to get a job is if you made a good impression/networked/got lucky with timing while on your rotations or moved to some BFE hospital where they are desperately looking for someone (good luck finding out where though, if I were looking for a job myself I wouldn’t even know where to start).

You also have to consider not just your short-term prospects but your long-term prospects if you wanted to move, change jobs etc. There are plenty of posts on this sub and Reddit about seasoned, non-residency trained hospital pharmacists being passed over for clinical roles or new positions in favor of fresh PGY-1 grads because they don’t have that residency credential. So it’s pretty obvious to me nowadays that if you don’t do a residency as a new grad that you’re committing career suicide.

Unfortunately, the hospital network I work as an intern for has their own residency program, so they recently instituted a strict policy of only hiring pharmacists who have completed residencies. Also, all my rotations were completed locally, so unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to fall back on networking to land a position (although I've earned A's on all my rotations so far). I know that completing a residency is the safest path to take considering how bad the job market is, but I would honestly rather go live in the middle of nowhere for a year or two than do a residency, especially after seeing how overworked the residents are at the hospital I work as an intern at.

 

[rxkrafted]

I appreciate the advice. Unfortunately, the hospital I worked as an intern at has their own residency program (both PGY-1 and PGY-2), and a year or two ago they instituted a strict policy of only hiring residency graduates. Another intern who worked at the same hospital just graduated this past May from pharmacy school, and even though she worked for the hospital network for 10 years as a tech before going to pharmacy school, they wouldn't even give her a PRN/part-time position unless she completed a residency first. So I would say that there's zero chance of me getting hired locally without completing a residency first.

It sounds like it's definitely going to be hard to find a hospital position as a new grad, so I guess location flexibility is going to be key. Do you happen to know of any states with rural areas that might be desperate enough to hire a new grad? I understand that there are also rural IHS positions, but one of the members here said they interviewed at over 20 sites and didn't get a single offer.

Realistically your chances are slim to none. You are still competing against residency-trained pharmacists and people with experience even in rural areas. Your best bet would be maybe a per diem position in a rural area and try to work retail part-time to keep a steady income.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Pretty much what Dred said. Your intern experience does not reciprocate to other hospitals so you'll more likely have a shot at the hospital you interned at. With that said, you already know the market is very saturated so you'd have to be very lucky for them to even have a position for you if they wanted to hire you anyways... They couldn't even hire you as a per diem if their per diems are barely being used so its gonna be tough.
You got into this field pretty late so it'll be difficult to land a hospital position even in the middle of nowhere because you'll still be competing against residency-trained pharmacists seeking jobs.

Dang, so it looks like my chances are going to be slim even for getting a hospital position in a rural area? Has it gotten to the point that residency-trained graduates are applying for middle-of-nowhere positions?

I mentioned in my response to Dred that the hospital network I work as an intern for has their own residency program and recently implemented a policy of only hiring residency grads (they wouldn't even hire an intern who worked for them for 10 years as a tech prior to going to pharmacy school), so I don't think I'll have any options locally.

 

[rxkrafted]

Yep. I have several residency-trained pharmacists who had to take positions in rural areas because they couldn't find jobs in more desirable places. Last time I checked, there were over 1400 residency programs. Think about how many residents they push out every year and think about how many hospital positions open up every year. Get that number then add all those residency-trained pharmacists who were unable to find a job in a hospital like they wanted in previous years. That's your competition. Not saying you don't have a chance. Chances are slim and you need to network. I hope you were close to your pharmacy director at your hospital because if he really likes your work ethics, he can help you by putting in a good word for you.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Yep. I have several residency-trained pharmacists who had to take positions in rural areas because they couldn't find jobs in more desirable places. Last time I checked, there were over 1400 residency programs. Think about how many residents they push out every year and think about how many hospital positions open up every year. Get that number then add all those residency-trained pharmacists who were unable to find a job in a hospital like they wanted in previous years. That's your competition. Not saying you don't have a chance. Chances are slim and you need to network. I hope you were close to your pharmacy director at your hospital because if he really likes your work ethics, he can help you by putting in a good word for you.

I am on good terms with the PIC at the hospital I've worked most of my intern shifts at, so I shouldn't have any problem with getting a favorable LOR from them.

I had no idea there were ~1400 residency programs out there. I figured it would be competitive to land a position as a non-residency-trained new grad, but I didn't expect it would be that difficult. I guess I had just hoped that my willingness to move and work anywhere would mean I'd be likely to find a position *somewhere*, but I guess even that's wishful thinking at this point.

Part of my reluctance to do a residency can be attributed not only to my age (30+), but also to the fact that I've witnessed how overworked the residents at my hospital network are. Even though the prospect of moving to BFE isn't what I'd call appealing, it's still preferable to putting myself through what I've seen the local residents experience.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Unfortunately, the hospital network I work as an intern for has their own residency program, so they recently instituted a strict policy of only hiring pharmacists who have completed residencies. Also, all my rotations were completed locally, so unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to fall back on networking to land a position (although I've earned A's on all my rotations so far). I know that completing a residency is the safest path to take considering how bad the job market is, but I would honestly rather go live in the middle of nowhere for a year or two than do a residency, especially after seeing how overworked the residents are at the hospital I work as an intern at.

I don’t understand why so many people use the “residents are overworked” excuse to not apply for residency. Residency is only ONE year (maybe 2) of your 30+ professional working years as a pharmacist. A small sacrifice to make in the grand scheme of things. It’s not like signing up for MD residency where you have to do 3-4 years of residency followed by 3 years of fellowship/subspecialty training before practicing as a full-fledged doctor.

 

[itaos]

I don’t understand why so many people use the “residents are overworked” excuse to not apply for residency. Residency is only ONE year (maybe 2) of your 30+ professional working years as a pharmacist. A small sacrifice to make in the grand scheme of things. It’s not like signing up for MD residency where you have to do 3-4 years of residency followed by 3 years of fellowship/subspecialty training before practicing as a full-fledged doctor.

If I knew that I had to do a pharmacy residency to get a hospital position after 4 years of school, I 100% would have gone to med school and done the 3 years of residency for psych or IM. This was my thought process more than a decade ago.

To the OP your lack of residency will certainly limit you in many places, so apply far and wide to increase your chances.

 

[Hedgehog32]

I don’t understand why so many people use the “residents are overworked” excuse to not apply for residency. Residency is only ONE year (maybe 2) of your 30+ professional working years as a pharmacist. A small sacrifice to make in the grand scheme of things. It’s not like signing up for MD residency where you have to do 3-4 years of residency followed by 3 years of fellowship/subspecialty training before practicing as a full-fledged doctor.

For me, I think it's the fact that I'm older than most pharmacy students and am just ready to get on with my life and career. Also, I worked a lot during my P3 year and was miserable and exhausted most of the time, and after seeing how much/how hard the residents had to work, I just really don't think I can bring myself to voluntarily sign up for another (possibly even worse) year of that.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

You'd rather work 7 on/off nights for the foreseeable future than tough it out for a year in residency?

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

For me, I think it's the fact that I'm older than most pharmacy students and am just ready to get on with my life and career. Also, I worked a lot during my P3 year and was miserable and exhausted most of the time, and after seeing how much/how hard the residents had to work, I just really don't think I can bring myself to voluntarily sign up for another (possibly even worse) year of that.

Work+ studying during school is different from pulling long hours from residency in that everything you do during residency is streamlined to a degree (extra projects you take home, etc are for your own learning/development as a practitioner), while your internship during school has almost no relevance to what you’re being taught in school. I personally found it less mentally draining during residency due to the fact that I am not being tugged in multiple directions (that is not to downplay that residency IS taxing).

 

[Hedgehog32]

You'd rather work 7 on/off nights for the foreseeable future than tough it out for a year in residency?

To be honest, I think I would like working a 7 on/7 off schedule (although I doubt I'd be considered for a third shift position as a new grad, as someone pointed out above), simply because the prospect of having 7 days off in a row sounds really nice, and because I'd still have some time on work days to do at least one or two things I enjoy (exercise, for example). So in general, I think I'd prefer working some variation of a 7 on/7 off schedule even if I had the option to work a standard M-F 9-5 shift.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Work+ studying during school is different from pulling long hours from residency in that everything you do during residency is streamlined to a degree (extra projects you take home, etc are for your own learning/development as a practitioner), while your internship during school has almost no relevance to what you’re being taught in school. I personally found it less mentally draining during residency due to the fact that I am not being tugged in multiple directions (that is not to downplay that residency IS taxing).

I guess I was just hoping to be able to get on with my life at this point. There are also a few things I've been putting off that I'd finally like to do for myself (a significant surgery is one of them) that I won't have the time or money to do during residency. Again, maybe my age has something to do with it, but when I think about the whole prospect of doing a residency... I just can't get motivated for some reason, even if it would be the safest route to take.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Randomly just thought to add this -- is LTC pharmacy just as competitive to break into without a residency on one's CV as hospital pharmacy?

 

[rxkrafted]

Just out of curiosity .. but did you enter pharmacy school without considering retail pharmacy?

 

[Hedgehog32]

Just out of curiosity .. but did you enter pharmacy school without considering retail pharmacy?

Ironically, I actually started pharmacy school with the expectation that I'd end up in retail pharmacy, but after I got my inpatient intern job during my P2 year (and subsequently didn't work in retail since my hours for that job were plentiful), I just naturally started gravitating towards wanting to pursue a career in hospital pharmacy. Most of my intern hours were actually worked on weekends as part of a skeleton crew (one pharmacist/one tech structure) at a smaller hospital, and over time I realized that I'd be content with the kind of job my supervising pharmacist has. That's one reason I'm open to working shifts that may be considered less desirable to most people (in addition to the fact that the prospect of working a more "condensed" schedule in exchange for an equivalent amount of time off -- e.g., 7 on/7 off -- naturally appeals to me).

Also, at the time I started the intern job, the strict policy of only hiring residency grads had not been implemented yet; in fact, just a few months prior to my start date, a c/o 2018 grad who had worked during school as an intern for the same organization had been hired for a second shift position. At the time, the pharmacy director at the hospital I worked most of my hours at had talked about how the weekend pharmacist would probably be retiring around the time I graduated and talked about having me take over for him (this would've been a part-time job at first, which I would've been fine with), but not long after that, the higher-ups implemented the residency grads-only policy.

So yeah, the TL;DR of it is that I grew to desire a hospital position as I worked in the setting as an intern, and at the time it looked like I might've had a decent chance of being offered a PT position upon graduation before the strict hiring policy change was implemented. So that's where I am now in terms of being willing to relocate anywhere for a hospital/LTC position for any shift.

 

[zelman]

Has it gotten to the point that residency-trained graduates are applying for middle-of-nowhere positions?

I interviewed for several PGY1 residencies after getting my BCPS certification. I didn’t get one. The job market is bad.

 

[angelsplight]

Where I am, in order to even get a staff pharmacist per diem job, you have to either:

1. Did interning at that specific hospital and made enough of an impression that they want to hire you upon graduation.
2. Did a minimum PGY-1 residency
3. Worked retail as a pharmacist, not intern, for at least 3-5 years.
4. Nepotism

Yes the requirements are painful now.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Where I am, in order to even get a staff pharmacist per diem job, you have to either:

1. Did interning at that specific hospital and made enough of an impression that they want to hire you upon graduation.
2. Did a minimum PGY-1 residency
3. Worked retail as a pharmacist, not intern, for at least 3-5 years.
4. Nepotism

Yes the requirements are painful now.

Are you in a rural area? Just curious

 

[Hedgehog32]

I interviewed for several PGY1 residencies after getting my BCPS certification. I didn’t get one. The job market is bad.

You mean you actually interviewed and were turned down for residency positions despite having BCPS certification? Or did you mean to say that you applied for positions requiring residency and were turned down for those?

 

[Hedgehog32]

What about temporary/short-term contract positions at rural hospitals? Could these be a way to gain experience? If so, does anyone know of any contracting companies to get in touch with?

 

[zelman]

You mean you actually interviewed and were turned down for residency positions despite having BCPS certification? Or did you mean to say that you applied for positions requiring residency and were turned down for those?

The former.

 

[zelman]

What about temporary/short-term contract positions at rural hospitals? Could these be a way to gain experience? If so, does anyone know of any contracting companies to get in touch with?

Most want at least a year of recent inpatient experience. I don’t know if they’ll accept non-pharmacist experience.

 

[Sabril]

most of my intern hours were actually worked on weekends as part of a skeleton crew (one pharmacist/one tech structure) at a smaller hospital, and over time I realized that I'd be content with the kind of job my supervising pharmacist has.

What do you find appealing about working for a hospital? what's about home infusion? I mean it's not all gravy but it's mostly a pharmacist and one or two techs all day long. Job prospects aren't too sunny but few things in pharmacy are nowadays.

 

[Dred Pirate]

What do you find appealing about working for a hospital? what's about home infusion? I mean it's not all gravy but it's mostly a pharmacist and one or two techs all day long. Job prospects aren't too sunny but few things in pharmacy are nowadays.

I enjoy actually using my knowledge and being respected by other medical professionals. I have worked retail full time inn the past, and moonlighted for several years after working in a hospital. Is it perfect? of course not, but it sure beats dealing with customers all day long and feeling like a hamster on a wheel.

I wouldn't mind working home infusion as a sort of twilight career, but I would be afraid it would pigeon hole me too much. Probably a little on the boring side for me, but sometimes boring isn't bad.

 

[Hedgehog32]

What do you find appealing about working for a hospital? what's about home infusion? I mean it's not all gravy but it's mostly a pharmacist and one or two techs all day long. Job prospects aren't too sunny but few things in pharmacy are nowadays.

Honestly, it's really all the elements of hospital pharmacy combined (variety of subject matter applied, lack of dealing with customers, work setting, schedule, etc.) that make it appealing to me. I would definitely consider opportunities in home infusion (as well as LTC positions). Since I've never worked in home infusion, it just didn't occur to me to mention it as a possibility (I also figured the job market would be extremely saturated in that field as well).

 

[Litha]

Randomly just thought to add this -- is LTC pharmacy just as competitive to break into without a residency on one's CV as hospital pharmacy?

I can comment on this as someone who recently broke into inpatient after working LTC for 3 years.

LTC is better than retail because it removes you from the patient. You get fairly decent hours, a chair, lunch breaks, interaction with other pharmacists, a little bit of variety with IV antibiotics and TPNs, no dress code and significantly less phone and insurance requirements. There are cons too obviously, but overall it is better than retail, meaning yes it's competitive. LTC is appealing because it can give you a leg up to move into a hospital job in the future, or it will be a somewhat easygoing job that you could retire in.

LTC pharmacists aren't required to complete a residency or have board certification. In fact, none of the pharmacists I worked with during my time there had residencies or much experience anywhere other than retail. I was a new grad when I was hired; I think they actually prefer the younger RPhs with more energy and resilience. You definitely can't be lazy in LTC, there is always something to do before the run can go out. On call can be a bitch, but as long as the burden is spread around evenly it is tolerable.

tldr; LTC is not as competitive as hospital pharmacy, but it still isn't easy to get into. A residency is not required. Overall, it's a fairly decent job and I would probably still be there had CVS not purchased and destroyed my former employer.

 

[Hedgehog32]

I can comment on this as someone who recently broke into inpatient after working LTC for 3 years.

LTC is better than retail because it removes you from the patient. You get fairly decent hours, a chair, lunch breaks, interaction with other pharmacists, a little bit of variety with IV antibiotics and TPNs, no dress code and significantly less phone and insurance requirements. There are cons too obviously, but overall it is better than retail, meaning yes it's competitive. LTC is appealing because it can give you a leg up to move into a hospital job in the future, or it will be a somewhat easygoing job that you could retire in.

LTC pharmacists aren't required to complete a residency or have board certification. In fact, none of the pharmacists I worked with during my time there had residencies or much experience anywhere other than retail. I was a new grad when I was hired; I think they actually prefer the younger RPhs with more energy and resilience. You definitely can't be lazy in LTC, there is always something to do before the run can go out. On call can be a bitch, but as long as the burden is spread around evenly it is tolerable.

tldr; LTC is not as competitive as hospital pharmacy, but it still isn't easy to get into. A residency is not required. Overall, it's a fairly decent job and I would probably still be there had CVS not purchased and destroyed my former employer.

Thanks for the information. Do you have any tips on landing an LTC job as a new grad? Should I just apply to job postings all over the country? Also, should I not bother applying to jobs until I've graduated and gotten licensed?

Thanks again

BTW, I'm guessing you would recommend passing on jobs posted by Omnicare (since you mentioned that CVS destroyed your former employer)?

 

[mustang sally]

I think if you're willing to move anywhere, you still have a chance. Granted I graduated 7 years ago and things were tight back then, so who knows?

I work in a rural area, and I think you would have a chance here as long as you're able to make a good impression during interviews.

 

[Hedgehog32]

I think if you're willing to move anywhere, you still have a chance. Granted I graduated 7 years ago and things were tight back then, so who knows?

I work in a rural area, and I think you would have a chance here as long as you're able to make a good impression during interviews.

Thanks for posting; that's encouraging to hear. If you don't mind, can I ask what state or region you're in?

 

[Dred Pirate]

I think if you're willing to move anywhere, you still have a chance. Granted I graduated 7 years ago and things were tight back then, so who knows?

I work in a rural area, and I think you would have a chance here as long as you're able to make a good impression during interviews.

with the internet it is a lot easier to find them, but will take time. Just pull up google maps and find a place that looks a long ways from anywhere - for example - google list of nebraska hospitals - then go to the web site of each hospital until you find an opening. PS - Nebraska sucks

 

[Hedgehog32]

with the internet it is a lot easier to find them, but will take time. Just pull up google maps and find a place that looks a long ways from anywhere - for example - google list of nebraska hospitals - then go to the web site of each hospital until you find an opening. PS - Nebraska sucks

LOL, I'm certainly not in a position to dispute that last point. That's one reason I would be open to consideration of (and would actually prefer) a 7 on/7 off position, because at least I'd have every other week off to venture into civilization for at least a few days, although I understand that new grads wouldn't qualify for an overnight position.

 

[Hedgehog32]

BTW, if a job posting description states that 1-2 years of hospital pharmacy experience (though not specifically "pharmacist experience" is used) is required, is that an indication that they will consider intern experience to fulfill the requirement?

 

[rxkrafted]

BTW, if a job posting description states that 1-2 years of hospital pharmacy experience (though not specifically "pharmacist experience" is used) is required, is that an indication that they will consider intern experience to fulfill the requirement?

Most likely won't consider intern experience as 1-2 year hospital pharmacy experience because as a hospital intern, you mainly fulfill the role of a technician and not a pharmacist.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Most likely won't consider intern experience as 1-2 year hospital pharmacy experience because as a hospital intern, you mainly fulfill the role of a technician and not a pharmacist.

That's what I figured, unfortunately. I've noticed that a few positions posted by hospitals in rural areas (e.g., AZ, NM, other southwest states) state that no work experience is required (although it is, of course, "preferred"). I'm guessing that those kinds of positions will be my best bet?

 

[Sabril]

I would never put a new grad into a night position where you are alone (or at the very minimum relatively isolated)- this is where the 5HIT goes down and you have minimal back up. You often have to cover everything from NICU, to ECMO, to codes, to trauma, etc. You simply will not have the experience to do this unless you take a very basic ops position where all you do is product check. There are positions like this in the big huge academic hospitals, but those are the first positions that are going to be eliminated by tech check tech, bar code, etc - plus you will have basically zero advancement if you settle for one of these positions.

My friend was hired as a prn. previously she has only done retail. After a couple weeks, they made her staff the ER alone with no training. Luckly she didn't harm no one but was written up for something. I think that was nuts.

 

[angelsplight]

Are you in a rural area? Just curious

NYC

I pretty much applied to any and every hospital upon graduation and was ignored. Finally sorta heard back when it turned out I had relatives working at one of those hospitals or friends doing residencies or working there about the situation regarding hiring.

 

[Hedgehog32]

NYC

I pretty much applied to any and every hospital upon graduation and was ignored. Finally sorta heard back when it turned out I had relatives working at one of those hospitals or friends doing residencies or working there about the situation regarding hiring.

Sorry to hear you had such a hard time landing a position. Did you only apply to hospital positions in/around NYC, or did you apply to rural hospitals as well?

I've heard that there are still hospitals in rural southwestern states (AZ, NM, etc.) that are still hiring new grads into hospital positions, but I'm not sure if that's actually true.

 

[angelsplight]

Sorry to hear you had such a hard time landing a position. Did you only apply to hospital positions in/around NYC, or did you apply to rural hospitals as well?

I've heard that there are still hospitals in rural southwestern states (AZ, NM, etc.) that are still hiring new grads into hospital positions, but I'm not sure if that's actually true.

No clue. I applied only in NYC cause I wanted to stay back in the city. I'm working at an independent now so I didn't really have much of a hard time landing a position but if you set your expectations high for only aiming for a hospital position without the credentials to back it up, you will definitely be struggling.

 

[Hedgehog32]

No clue. I applied only in NYC cause I wanted to stay back in the city. I'm working at an independent now so I didn't really have much of a hard time landing a position but if you set your expectations high for only aiming for a hospital position without the credentials to back it up, you will definitely be struggling.

Looks like I'll have to find out the hard way. I guess my only hope will be if I get on at a rural hospital somewhere.

 

[sakigt]

I broke into hospital ED/crit care 6 years ago and now for my replacements they aren't really considering anyone without residency, even if they have years of experience.

 

[Hedgehog32]

I broke into hospital ED/crit care 6 years ago and now for my replacements they aren't really considering anyone without residency, even if they have years of experience.

So in other words, even if I get 3+ years of hospital experience, there's a good chance I won't ever be able to find another job since I don't have the residency bulletpoint on my resume?

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

So in other words, even if I get 3+ years of hospital experience, there's a good chance I won't ever be able to find another job since I don't have the residency bulletpoint on my resume?

Yes. Did you not read my post above?

 

[Hedgehog32]

Yes. Did you not read my post above?

Yeah I did. I guess I'm just in a state of denial over here. I'm trying to convince myself to apply to residencies, but it's like.... blllleeeeeeehhhhhh

 

[Sabril]

Yeah I did. I guess I'm just in a state of denial over here. I'm trying to convince myself to apply to residencies, but it's like.... blllleeeeeeehhhhhh

I mean unless time and money to apply are a problem to you, or if you are absolutely certain you'll match when applying, I'll apply by the deadline and worry about it if I get an interview. If you don't get anything then there you go- no regrets ever again. Are you that sure that you'll match even at your own hospital?

 

[Hedgehog32]

I mean unless time and money to apply are a problem to you, or if you are absolutely certain you'll match when applying, I'll apply by the deadline and worry about it if I get an interview. If you don't get anything then there you go- no regrets ever again. Are you that sure that you'll match even at your own hospital?

Maybe, they're big on nepotism and that sort of thing (they interview all students who rotate there and apply for their residency). Of course, what happens if I get both an acceptance to a residency program as well as a job offer (or the prospect of one) to work at a hospital as a new grad? I would really be hard-pressed to choose to do a residency over starting FT work, especially if I had an offer in-hand.