Let's list the GOOD things about a pharmacy career!

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Xenophylia

Xenophylia

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After some reflection, I don't have any to contribute. Just wanted to see if anyone else could come up with something. Anything?
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You don't take work home, unless you have to be on call.

You clock in and clock out, so you get paid every minute that you work + overtime - unless you're salaried.

Don't have to touch people.
 
Unless you count the stress you bring home, primarily from working retail. Plus you touch people if you give vaccines. And many PIC positions are technically management so are salaried. Nice try though. Next?
 
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Oh wait, I thought of one! There is the almost orgasmic bliss you get telling middle management a*holes to "suck it" on your last day as a retail pharmacist. Been there. It's soooooo sweet!

Granted- ya gotta be a retail pharmacist first to experience that. That part I don't recommend.
 
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Xenophylia said:
Unless you count the stress you bring home, primarily from working retail. Plus you touch people if you give vaccines. And many PIC positions are technically management so are salaried. Nice try though. Next?
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I don't work retail so yeah.
 
My salary, even at 30 hours/week is still significantly higher than the average American household. I do have loans but I'm not overly anxious about my debt because I know I can afford the payments. Whenever I want a new luxury purchase I can make sure I pick up the 1-3 shifts needed to offset the cost. I work retail but don't take any work/stress home with me unless it's a particularly bad day. Oh, I had stable employment through the pandemic.

I don't plan on the profession being stable enough for me to work my entire career as a pharmacist, but for right now it's not that bad.
 
Free access to database (depends on employer) and play around with, read up on, think about drugs more in depth (real world uses)
Get to play with robots/automation units (ok, this is location specific)...appealing for people into technology
Meh, vaccinating people is ok with me...not like we have to get all up and personal as far as the touching goes!

Use to be able to say job stability/able to move to and from positions easily/readily if needed (ex) spouse/SO's job not so stable/economy sensitive)
 
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WorthlessOxygen said:
My salary, even at 30 hours/week is still significantly higher than the average American household. I do have loans but I'm not overly anxious about my debt because I know I can afford the payments. Whenever I want a new luxury purchase I can make sure I pick up the 1-3 shifts needed to offset the cost. I work retail but don't take any work/stress home with me unless it's a particularly bad day. Oh, I had stable employment through the pandemic.

I don't plan on the profession being stable enough for me to work my entire career as a pharmacist, but for right now it's not that bad.
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I was going to say something similar....along the lines of despite having a good amount of student loan debt, there is nothing to worry about if you are in it for the long run (good pay)...don't have to worry about money too much, lose sleep/hair/stress the F out like some people if you can get in the right mindset and look at the big picture of finances (just use some common sense/practicality/don't make foolish investments/go on shopping benders)
 
I didn’t go to Pharmacy school but was a Chemistry major in college. I didn’t want to get a PhD or go into research so besides those there were not too many other options. Pharmacy would have been cool to go into for the knowledge base itself but I ended up in another career.
 
While my hospital job is stressful and I take on a lot of work that should be done by other departments (and work long hours and have a lot of on call hours) I do make many interventions that have a large impact on the quality of patient care. It can be hard to remind yourself of that in the day to day grind but learning new things and knowing I do a good job helps me stay motivated. But there are many bad days too, no denying that, like all jobs have.
 
Xenophylia said:
After some reflection, I don't have any to contribute. Just wanted to see if anyone else could come up with something. Anything?
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This would depend on your work environment or the type of pharmacy. I work at a well-established indie with great techs so life is pretty good. $130k pay with benefits isn't too bad compared to the amount of work I put in lol. There is also a potential that I can buy a pharmacy or two in the future so that's that.
 
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Rouelle said:
If you’re fully employed to the extent that you want to be, it truly is one of the easiest ways out there to make > $100K per year.
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Looking at friends and family members making $90k+ sitting on their butts at home makes me question this. Besides, $100k was good money 15 years ago. Nowadays unless you live in flyover country it's simply middle class money.
 
Making >160k a year to work 35 hours a week. I get crazy busy but never stressed out. I don’t take work home with me. When I leave the hospital I leave everything there. Actually seeing healthcare make a positive difference in people’s lives (although I see a lot of depressing crap too). Loans paid off, mortgage under 1k a Month. So little financial stress. Great working relationships with doctors and nurses (many I consider some of my best friends outside of work).
 
Dred Pirate said:
Making >160k a year to work 35 hours a week. I get crazy busy but never stressed out. I don’t take work home with me. When I leave the hospital I leave everything there. Actually seeing healthcare make a positive difference in people’s lives (although I see a lot of depressing crap too). Loans paid off, mortgage under 1k a Month. So little financial stress. Great working relationships with doctors and nurses (many I consider some of my best friends outside of work).
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What part of the country do you work at where you can make $160k working 35 hours at a hospital? haha
 
iamapharmacist said:
What part of the country do you work at where you can make $160k working 35 hours at a hospital? haha
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Southeast. But to clarify. Night shift (16k diff plus work 70 get paid for 80). Base pay 142k plus holiday pay and bonus. Also been here 15 years so near the top of the pay scale.
 
Dred Pirate said:
Southeast. But to clarify. Night shift (16k diff plus work 70 get paid for 80). Base pay 142k plus holiday pay and bonus. Also been here 15 years so near the top of the pay scale.
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So graveyard shift for 15 years?! I'm impressed.
 
Rouelle said:
If you’re fully employed to the extent that you want to be, it truly is one of the easiest ways out there to make > $100K per year.
Click to expand...

True for anyone who graduated before 2018 or so but not anymore. Market rate is around $50/hr with only 32 hours guaranteed which is about 86k.
 
mentos said:
True for anyone who graduated before 2018 or so but not anymore. Market rate is around $50/hr with only 32 hours guaranteed which is about 86k.
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www.ziprecruiter.com

Q: What Is the Average Pharmacist Salary by State in 2021?

Pharmacist Salaries by State. What is the average annual salary for a Pharmacist job by State? See how much a Pharmacist job pays hourly by State. Washington is the highest paying state for Pharmacist jobs. Illinois is the lowest paying State for Pharmacist jobs.
www.ziprecruiter.com www.ziprecruiter.com

I am hoping that this list isn't true... lol
 
iamapharmacist said:
www.ziprecruiter.com

Q: What Is the Average Pharmacist Salary by State in 2021?

Pharmacist Salaries by State. What is the average annual salary for a Pharmacist job by State? See how much a Pharmacist job pays hourly by State. Washington is the highest paying state for Pharmacist jobs. Illinois is the lowest paying State for Pharmacist jobs.
www.ziprecruiter.com www.ziprecruiter.com

I am hoping that this list isn't true... lol
Click to expand...

Average includes everyone with high salaries who graduated decades ago. Those high salaries are no longer offered.
 
1. The end of the career
2. Simple, achievable career path for most meaning low barrier to entry (also a bad part)
3. The good pharmacist days of the past and the ones coming.
 
The main reason I'm still working is for the Mega and regular backdoor Roth + HSA = $67k into tax advantaged investment accounts. They are really starting to snowball now and making way more than my salary.
 
I object to referring to this as a career. Here, I see Lord having a career. Anyone else? It is a decent job. Nothing to brag about. You get days off during the week but you work every other weekend.
 
Funny. A lot of the things people are mentioning (salary, quality of life, benefits) are really not there anymore. Gone are the days of yearly raises (and in some cases raises period). A lot of positions are only part time, ,so forget about benefits.. And salaries are stagnant or decreasing. And forget about quality of life where the majority of jobs are- big chain retail. You'll spend your days off dreading your next day on. In order to seize any quality of life you have to hope for a unicorn job. And you're probably more likely to meet a REAL unicorn than get one of those anymore....
 
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