Looking to get out of clinical pharmacy and into retail

[rawlithium]

Hi everyone, I've been a clinical pharmacist for 2 years, got a job right out of pharmacy school at a small town community hospital and became one of the staff. I've done vancomycin/aminoglycoside dosing, warfarin monitoring, parenteral nutrition, etc. But I'm looking for a career change and wanting to move to a bigger city and do retail, eventually I want to open up my own independent pharmacy. I don't have much retail experience besides a short stint moonlighting at an independent retail place and my APPE rotations. I've kept up with my CE and stuff to keep my immunization certification active. So does anyone have any advice for me? I've been applying to jobs for a little less than a month and still I haven't heard back from anyone. Should I put my APPE rotations on my resume? Thanks everyone!

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[npage148]

Ask your friends to vouch for you and talk to the district managers. They are always looking for people despite you not seeing any job postings. The turnover is there, just need the in

 

[croquemonsieur]

Girl please.

 

[rxmommy7]

Huh? Why?


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[ornithoptor]

I am sure many people would rather be surprised at this move; especially many retail pharmacists are interested moving into hospital setting without success.
That being said, have you considered doing outpatient retail first? This might offer a layer of protection without exposure to extreme risks of working retail nowadays.


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[Sine Cura]

TBH unless you know someone you probably will not have much luck with either chain retail or outpatient in a health system, like Kaiser or Dignity Health or whatever analogues exist east of the Rockies.

 

[Rukn]

Switch jobs with me

Let's see how you survive one day at the crackhouse with crackheads pissing and defecating all over themselves

 

[mustang sally]

This is like the opposite of every thread ever. Keep looking and I'm sure you'll find something. I like the outpatient pharmacy idea. Good luck!

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Switch jobs with me

Let's see how you survive one day at the crackhouse with crackheads pissing and defecating all over themselves

Way easier than the know-it-all, union protected nurses and stab-you-in-the-back colleagues you get in hospital. The politics are insane. I love retail. You work hard, you get respect. Your coworkers are your allies. There are no politics to navigate. You go in and do your job. Do it well and nobody hassles you. I've talked to my boss like 3 times in the last year. You get paid more, too.

I do not regret winding up in retail at all.

 

[Sine Cura]

Retail with union-protected techs would be an absolute nightmare

 

[Rukn]

Way easier than the know-it-all, union protected nurses and stab-you-in-the-back colleagues you get in hospital. The politics are insane. I love retail. You work hard, you get respect. Your coworkers are your allies. There are no politics to navigate. You go in and do your job. Do it well and nobody hassles you. I've talked to my boss like 3 times in the last year. You get paid more, too.

I do not regret winding up in retail at all.

You don't work where I work my friend.

Co Workers fight another here, you don't get any credit for working hard, you're boss is a fvcking ***** who visits every week and doesn't know sh1t and isn't qualified (this guy isn't even an RPH)

The store manager is too cheap to get an armed guard even though there are shootings inside this crackhouse.

Wouldn't mind working for whoever you work for but I'm on my way out of here anyway

 

[WVUPharm2007]

You don't work where I work my friend.

Co Workers fight another here, you don't get any credit for working hard, you're boss is a fvcking ***** who visits every week and doesn't know sh1t and isn't qualified (this guy isn't even an RPH)

The store manager is too cheap to get an armed guard even though there are shootings inside this crackhouse.

Wouldn't mind working for whoever you work for but I'm on my way out of here anyway

That sounds like ass. I'd move on, too.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

You don't work where I work my friend.

Co Workers fight another here, you don't get any credit for working hard, you're boss is a fvcking ***** who visits every week and doesn't know sh1t and isn't qualified (this guy isn't even an RPH)

The store manager is too cheap to get an armed guard even though there are shootings inside this crackhouse.

Wouldn't mind working for whoever you work for but I'm on my way out of here anyway

Well, at least you will have street cred as a hip hop artist if you ever want to pursue that job path.


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[Digsbe]

I'd much rather do retail and make 30k more a year than live in a basement looking at labs and being cursed by nurses. Not all clinical pharmacy jobs are unicorn position. To be honest I think my favorite pharmacy practice I've worked in so far is in specialty retail pharmacy (apart from clinical pharmacy at the VA which is a unicorn job).

 

[PharmDBro2017]

I'd much rather do retail and make 30k more a year than live in a basement looking at labs and being cursed by nurses. Not all clinical pharmacy jobs are unicorn position. To be honest I think my favorite pharmacy practice I've worked in so far is in specialty retail pharmacy (apart from clinical pharmacy at the VA which is a unicorn job).

Touche. I'd much rather make 130k and not deal with insurance or get cursed by the general public/deal with them whatsoever, or have to hold my bladder for hours straight.... but it goes both ways .

 

[Digsbe]

Touche. I'd much rather make 130k and not deal with insurance or get cursed by the general public/deal with them whatsoever, or have to hold my bladder for hours straight.... but it goes both ways .

You still get cursed sometimes since you also fill regular prescriptions too. But in my experience they always have 2+ pharmacists working and ample tech support.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

You still get cursed sometimes since you also fill regular prescriptions too. But in my experience they always have 2+ pharmacists working and ample tech support.

Retail has ample tech support? Where do you work....seems like there are very few and far between with decent tech numbers these days.

 

[Digsbe]

Retail has ample tech support? Where do you work....seems like there are very few and far between with decent tech numbers these days.

PM me if you want details, but where I'm at specialty sites are adequately staffed and treated very well.

 

[BidingMyTime]

The grass is always greener on the other side. There are plusses and minuses to both retail and hospital, the plusses are slightly more on the hospital side, which is why hospital pays considerably less in most places. Everyone is different, and some people's personalities will like the retail side better, and some the hospital side better. But both are work and jobs, if they weren't, they'd be hobbies and people would do it for free.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Touche. I'd much rather make 130k and not deal with insurance or get cursed by the general public/deal with them whatsoever, or have to hold my bladder for hours straight.... but it goes both ways .

I got techs for all that insurance nonsense and pee whenever I please.

General public is a bitch, I'll grant you...but still better than nurses...

 

[quickpic007]

Way easier than the know-it-all, union protected nurses and stab-you-in-the-back colleagues you get in hospital. The politics are insane. I love retail. You work hard, you get respect. Your coworkers are your allies. There are no politics to navigate. You go in and do your job. Do it well and nobody hassles you. I've talked to my boss like 3 times in the last year. You get paid more, too.

I do not regret winding up in retail at all.

Yeah, rph-rph backstabbing common in hospital. I also have not spoken to DM since 2016 in retail, it is great!!

Retail with union-protected techs would be an absolute nightmare

#riteaidlife

 

[rawlithium]

I'd much rather do retail and make 30k more a year than live in a basement looking at labs and being cursed by nurses. Not all clinical pharmacy jobs are unicorn position. To be honest I think my favorite pharmacy practice I've worked in so far is in specialty retail pharmacy (apart from clinical pharmacy at the VA which is a unicorn job).

Thank you for saying that! Yes, clinical pharmacist jobs are not all that they are chalked up to be. My job is pretty thankless and unrewarding to me, even though I am fortunate enough to have started out in a more nurturing enviornment than most places.

 

[aznkukuboi]

I work both retail and hospital. I would take hospital shift any day over my retail.

 

[bacillus1]

I'm pretty sure this is a troll thread. Do NOT feed the troll.

 

[Rouelle]

I got techs for all that insurance nonsense and pee whenever I please.

Maybe I don't do retail right, but I also pee whenever I want. I don't get the "must-hold-it-in" crowd.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Hell, i just took a dump at a 5500 rx store. Was tempted to bring the wireless and do a pcq call while on the throne.

 

[KARM12]

Way less layers of BS in retail than hospital. If you like having more independence, retail is actually better because you are often the only pharmacist there. That being said, I prefer doing hospital work because I would rather deal with nurses over the general public.

 

[rockpharm]

If you want to open an independent someday, I would highly recommend trying to get more work experience in an independent/small regional chain so that you can get a better understanding of pharmacy business background. Typical chains give you relatively no experience when it comes to the business aspects of pharmacy.

 

[AHossain]

.


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[Chodronfan]

If you want to open an independent someday, I would highly recommend trying to get more work experience in an independent/small regional chain so that you can get a better understanding of pharmacy business background. Typical chains give you relatively no experience when it comes to the business aspects of pharmacy.

Yes! Second this! Retail is awesome money in my region vs. hospital but if you want to open an independent pharmacy you won't learn much at McPharmacy. The place I gleaned a lot about budgeting was actually a little 340b pharmacy. Good luck!

 

[6GodPharm]

I don't know why everyone is so high on working in hospitals. You make much more in retail. Sometimes 60-80k a year more. I'd rather deal with crack heads than nurses and the politics in hospitals. In retail you run a good store and you are the man. In the hospital you aren't ****. Plus I'd probably get fired for choking out a nurse. I can't stand them when they call the pharmacy. I can't imagine what I would do if I was in walking distance.

 

[NYCGuy86]

I don't know why everyone is so high on working in hospitals. You make much more in retail. Sometimes 60-80k a year more. I'd rather deal with crack heads than nurses and the politics in hospitals. In retail you run a good store and you are the man. In the hospital you aren't ****. Plus I'd probably get fired for choking out a nurse. I can't stand them when they call the pharmacy. I can't imagine what I would do if I was in walking distance.

Don't worry, nurses can't stand calling the pharmacy either .

 

[rawlithium]

Yes! Second this! Retail is awesome money in my region vs. hospital but if you want to open an independent pharmacy you won't learn much at McPharmacy. The place I gleaned a lot about budgeting was actually a little 340b pharmacy. Good luck!

Are independent retail places would be willing to train pharmacists to do more in management?

 

[rawlithium]

Still haven't even gotten an interview even though I've applied to a bunch of places :-(
I wonder if it's my resume? Should I put my clinical duties on a resume for retail?

 

[gwarm01]

Still haven't even gotten an interview even though I've applied to a bunch of places :-(
I wonder if it's my resume? Should I put my clinical duties on a resume for retail?

That's a rough one. People almost never go from clinical to retail, so your resume is definitely going to throw up some red flags. If you put all of these clinical duties people may think you are just looking to get out of your current job but would take another hospital position as soon as it is available.

Have you considered getting a per diem retail gig for a while? That can show retail on your resume and might open some doors for you.

 

[Lnsean]

Way easier than the know-it-all, union protected nurses and stab-you-in-the-back colleagues you get in hospital. The politics are insane. I love retail. You work hard, you get respect. Your coworkers are your allies. There are no politics to navigate. You go in and do your job. Do it well and nobody hassles you. I've talked to my boss like 3 times in the last year. You get paid more, too.

I do not regret winding up in retail at all.

This right here. The thing that turns me off about hospital pharmacy is all the bs backstabbing and gossip. I did a couple rotations and as soon as 1 person left...the group starts talking **** about that person. It rotates depending on who is on break/off/away. I was just a student on rotation and the techs there would tell me all these gossip and sht that was going on and l was looking at her like "I dun really care...I'm not gonna be here in 5 weeks." It seems like the crowded nature of a basement pharmacy department with no windows breeds this kind of toxic environment. I don't miss this at all. If I had to do hospital pharmacy...it better be on the floors at a satellite pharmacy or rounding with docs.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

This right here. The thing that turns me off about hospital pharmacy is all the bs backstabbing and gossip. I did a couple rotations and as soon as 1 person left...the group starts talking **** about that person. It rotates depending on who is on break/off/away. I was just a student on rotation and the techs there would tell me all these gossip and sht that was going on and l was looking at her like "I dun really care...I'm not gonna be here in 5 weeks." It seems like the crowded nature of a basement pharmacy department with no windows breeds this kind of toxic environment. I don't miss this at all. If I had to do hospital pharmacy...it better be on the floors at a satellite pharmacy or rounding with docs.

Let's be real... the retail pharmacies I've interned have all been this same way too. The only difference is your stuck in that box with one window getting microwaved all day. The majority of pharmacy technicians are women, and I think the stats (last time I checked) showed the majority of pharmacists are women too. Women are going to talk **** and cause drama, that's just a given. Always appears to be the technicians who cause the drama though.


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[Lnsean]

Let's be real... the retail pharmacies I've interned have all been this same way too. The only difference is your stuck in that box with one window getting microwaved all day. The majority of pharmacy technicians are women, and I think the stats (last time I checked) showed the majority of pharmacists are women too. Women are going to talk **** and cause drama, that's just a given. Always appears to be the technicians who cause the drama though.


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I've noticed that it is much much much less in retail...because it's more about you and the techs vs the general public. Most of the time, you're the only pharmacist there...and you're lucky if you have 2-3 techs at all...and it's an open environment where customers and other people can hear you...so there's much less gossiping. It still happens but to a much less extent than say in the basement of a huge building with no windows and various rooms and compartments that get people talking.

In retail...it's an open layout...many people can see in...and it discourages alot of these activities. In hospital dispensing...it's a closed layout...and I think this promotes a toxic working environment...just my 2 cents.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

The advantage of being worked to dust at CVS...no time for backroom **** talking.

The camaraderie is much stronger in a retail setting.

 

[VA77]

Let's be real... the retail pharmacies I've interned have all been this same way too. The only difference is your stuck in that box with one window getting microwaved all day. The majority of pharmacy technicians are women, and I think the stats (last time I checked) showed the majority of pharmacists are women too. Women are going to talk **** and cause drama, that's just a given. Always appears to be the technicians who cause the drama though.


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Jesus. I thought I was the only one who thought this. Is it a fcking drama land with an award at the end of the day. That is the majority of the reason I'm leaving my most resonate position mostly because of this reason. Leave your personal problems at home and and bring your business problems here. Otherwise, nobody gives a damn...

 

[owlegrad]

I have said before that there is a Law of Conservation of Drama. In retail the drama is mostly external (slower stores have more internal drama to make up the gap though) whereas nonretail jobs the drama is more internal. In any case when the drama is internal you can mostly participate or not participate as you see fit.

I am not sure where the drama comes from if you work from home. I guess you have to get your fix from your personal life/Facebook?

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[rawlithium]

That's a rough one. People almost never go from clinical to retail, so your resume is definitely going to throw up some red flags. If you put all of these clinical duties people may think you are just looking to get out of your current job but would take another hospital position as soon as it is available.

Have you considered getting a per diem retail gig for a while? That can show retail on your resume and might open some doors for you.

I've had some retail experience in the past, but only worked PRN. I should go ahead and put it on my resume. Thanks!

 

[alphabetsoup2]

I've had some retail experience in the past, but only worked PRN. I should go ahead and put it on my resume. Thanks!

If you're still in the same area, maybe you can call up your former retail manager and ask if they know of any opportunities?