My "tiff" with SDN Pharmacy Forum....

Started by JamesL1585
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JamesL1585

JamesL1585

TheAntiSavior?
15+ Year Member
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Hey guys, I haven't posted in quite sometime... Ive been active in this forum just browsing for the past several years as pharm school has been very hectic for me.

So I'm within a year of graduating at this point, and I have a lot on my mind about post graduation. Things including, where I'll be employed, how I'll find a way to manage to be happy as a pharmacist (for as long as I can), how much $*@N$(# debt I'll be in, and most importantly my salary and how I'm going to pay for my debt.

If you browse through the current forums these days, half the post are about jobs, job security, managing money, paying off debt, and enjoying the money that you make.

I remember a time when people use to really patronize and sometimes blatently attack people for wanting to talk about the elephant in the room thats not really an elephant in a room. That is SALARY OF A PHARMACIST (Dun Dun Dunnnnn). Whats the big deal? Is it beating a dead horse? Probably. But who cares if thats what people want to talk about?

Me personally, I came to pharmacy school not caring about money even though I knew they made a good living. Unfortunately, my mom passed away in pharm school (my support system financially and emotionally), and my piece of s(&$ father has been less than supportive. So me being a student, looking into the future and planning way ahead (because thats what I do), I feel if I wanted to ask how much people make people should have 2 responses. A. Ignore me if you dont feel like its something you want to be in, or B. Just tell me. I just dont see why salary is such a big deal!!?? Debt scares me. Job security scares me. Salary.... COMFORTS ME. So either people should choose to help comfort other people and answer their questions like they do any other question or just stay out of the situation and stop ridiculing people.

But, to end up and summarize. I will say that over the past 6 months to a year it has gotten better especially since many students like myself are freaking out and its becoming more acceptable to talk about it. For those of you who are pharmacist who offer financial advice, opinions, and answer questions I must say I have read ALL the posts and I as a student REALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Appreciate it. For those of you who give people a hard time and make it a forbidden topic, please, try to be respectful as sometimes people ask questions to get comfort.

Sorry. Very long, but being a long time member, I dare to say whatever the hell I want. Just like everyone else. And if you ridicule me I will ignore you. Thanks!
 
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I read the title of your post and I thought "Drama!! Gotta read it!":corny: But your post wasn't as angry as I thought it would be. I've never really noticed people not wanting to talk about salary here.

Anyway, Sorry to hear about your circumstances though. I hear the pharmacist demand in Chicago is in the dumps so when you start searching, make sure you consider jobs outside of the Chicagoland area.
 
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WVU= You're always helpful. You're the man. And you're filthy stinkin rich!!!! Damn son!! haha.

WVUPharm2007 said:
I'm projecting about $130k this year.

There.

Happy?
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Thanks! I appreciate that.
awval999 said:
110k
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Actually, I had no intention of stayin in Chicago post grad, I'm actually doing my first rotation at a hospital back home in Louisiana which I plan to work my butt off at so they can possibly consider hiring me. I hear in Louisiana (Baton Rouge specifically), the market is actually still in demand, I think bonuses are here and there even. But thats the thing.... going from Chicago to Baton Rouge. 😱. Sucks. I'm not really a fan of the south anymore since I've been exposed to the midwest and east coast....


Smiles425 said:
I read the title of your post and I thought "Drama!! Gotta read it!":corny: But your post wasn't as angry as I thought it would be. I've never really noticed people not wanting to talk about salary here.

Anyway, Sorry to hear about your circumstances though. I hear the pharmacist demand in Chicago in the dumps so when you start searching, make sure you consider jobs outside of the Chicagoland area.
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I shouldn't disclose my salary but good friend of mine who's a DOP has a base salary of $197,000 and bonus $35,000 this year.
 
Just so you guys know... I'm really not trying to turn this into a how much you make thread... moreso bringing attention to the "conservatives" that restrict certain conversation. That kind of goes for anything. I know for the most part the Pharm forum really is good at mentoring and just generally answering questions and having good topic discussion, but the best use of this forum would be to keep the discussions open to any topic. So people don't have to feel ashamed to ask about whatever matter they may have.
 
54ish/hour part time

The whole taboo around discussing salary is just a tool used by management to prevent discussions about equal and fair pay between workers. Don't tell Bob how much you make becasue he'll find out he's paid 5k less and demand a raise or he'll be more likely to jump ship when he realizes he's taken advantage of
 
~135k in a great hospital in my hometown, staff, nightshift 7 on/7 off, started approx 2 months ago.

grad in 2010; it took a while to land it, but i love it and hope to retire from there... 🙂

would change careers before working retail, but that's just me!
 
$109k for a 9-530 job, no weekends in a home infusion pharmacy. Do have to take call, but that will add ~10k to the usual wage.
 
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57.50/hr retail, will make around 160k in 2011 working avg of 50 hours/wk (practically unlimited OT opportunity).
 
Dr Wario said:
57.50/hr retail, will make around 160k in 2011 working avg of 50 hours/wk (practically unlimited OT opportunity).
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Very nice, congrats. Where abouts are you working/living if you don't mind me asking? I know when I left Orlando last summer Walgreens in the area was offering lots of OT. I knew several Pharmacists pulling in close to 200k with the extra hours.
 
TonyRx said:
Very nice, congrats. Where abouts are you working/living if you don't mind me asking? I know when I left Orlando last summer Walgreens in the area was offering lots of OT. I knew several Pharmacists pulling in close to 200k with the extra hours.
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+1 but they're all Wags third shift pharmacists. None of our day timers ever pick up overtime on the weekends.
 
TonyRx said:
Very nice, congrats. Where abouts are you working/living if you don't mind me asking? I know when I left Orlando last summer Walgreens in the area was offering lots of OT. I knew several Pharmacists pulling in close to 200k with the extra hours.
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Well my individual situation is somewhat unique to my store. We are a fairly busy pharmacy (3200/wk) but only have 2 pharmacists. The store has pretty rough customers and was in pretty bad shape when my partner and I took over. We started out by sacrificing rph hours for tech hours (am I really worth six techs?) increased the business of the store by about 25% and now have so much money for payroll we literally cannot spend it all. It also doesn't hurt that my partner is a former DM and knew another way the company calculates payroll budget besides that standard tech/script count and instead uses a % of gross sales. By this formula, every month we are $7k below our payroll budget so we can slap on extra rph/tech hours whenever we want.
 
Farmercyst said:
Start 7/1 at Wags. ~$63/hr Nor Cal, just south of OR.
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Awesome. Coastal or near I-5?

Regardless, I always found that area to be pretty nice. But very rural. I wouldn't mind it much as I have a bunch of friends in Southern Coastal Oregon and of course the new golf Mecca Bandon Dunes is right there.
 
New grad "clinical" rph: 40-ish/hour.

npage148 said:
54ish/hour part time

The whole taboo around discussing salary is just a tool used by management to prevent discussions about equal and fair pay between workers. Don't tell Bob how much you make becasue he'll find out he's paid 5k less and demand a raise or he'll be more likely to jump ship when he realizes he's taken advantage of
Click to expand...

Yeah, now I'm depressed looking at the big $$$. Even with retail in my region the highest I've heard from classmates is 56/hour (not night shift). I'm fortunate to have my first pick of jobs, and the market really sucks right now for retail and hospital, but seeing people really making money is a little disappointing. I could probably ask for a raise if I do well though.
 
I'm not in it for the money, but seeing salary quotes like this is an encouragement, if that makes sense. 😉
 
It's ridiculous that a pharmacist makes just as much money as a family physician. To be honest, pharmacists should make around what nurses make. Even 70K is a lot of money to pay a pharmacist.
 
hwks09 said:
It's ridiculous that a pharmacist makes just as much money as a family physician. To be honest, pharmacists should make around what nurses make. Even 70K is a lot of money to pay a pharmacist.
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Shut up.
 
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hwks09 said:
It's ridiculous that a pharmacist makes just as much money as a family physician. To be honest, pharmacists should make around what nurses make. Even 70K is a lot of money to pay a pharmacist.
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No it's not. The loans most pharmacy students take out these days are too high to be paid back on a 70K salary. Plus you only need an associates degree to be a RN, whereas a PharmD takes at least six years. If you're going to compare pharmacists to nurses, CRNAs are more on the same level education-wise, and if you think of it that way a pharmacist's salary is justified.
 
hwks09 said:
It's ridiculous that a pharmacist makes just as much money as a family physician. To be honest, pharmacists should make around what nurses make. Even 70K is a lot of money to pay a pharmacist.
Click to expand...

I'm noticing hwks09 posts and I'm starting to suspect that he is a professional troll. I can't believe no one has called him out on it yet

...Or maybe he just really hates his profession
 
Its Z said:
Totally awesome.

Gold beach is up the road. Definitely do the Jet boat up the Rogue river..

I would love to settle down in that area.
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I'm hoping to, but probably not gonna stick with WAGs too long. VA and a couple hospitals in town. I'd rather go that route, but WAGs was hiring, the other two, not so much. Just bidin' my time.
 
I agree with hwks09, pharmacists are paid too much. No reason I need to make 120k, I would say that 70k is what I think we should make. There is no reason you can't pay back 100k in loans on a 70k salary. It may take a while and you won't be able to have your BWM but 50+/hour is outrageous. I open my paycheck and I'm always amazing I can get away making it knowing what I do. The only reason we make that much now is due to retail boom with a shortage. Once it even closely corrects itself we'll see pay stagnation or even cuts as companies hire new grads at a lower rate.
 
Farmercyst said:
I'm hoping to, but probably not gonna stick with WAGs too long. VA and a couple hospitals in town. I'd rather go that route, but WAGs was hiring, the other two, not so much. Just bidin' my time.
Click to expand...

heh...I got a call from a recruiter for a DOP position in Crescent City...pretty good size hospital. I was so tempted.
 
npage148 said:
I agree with hwks09, pharmacists are paid too much. No reason I need to make 120k, I would say that 70k is what I think we should make. There is no reason you can't pay back 100k in loans on a 70k salary. It may take a while and you won't be able to have your BWM but 50+/hour is outrageous. I open my paycheck and I'm always amazing I can get away making it knowing what I do. The only reason we make that much now is due to retail boom with a shortage. Once it even closely corrects itself we'll see pay stagnation or even cuts as companies hire new grads at a lower rate.
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so you don't believe your education and the value you provide in your daily professional work are worth what you're getting paid?
 
npage148 said:
I agree with hwks09, pharmacists are paid too much. No reason I need to make 120k, I would say that 70k is what I think we should make. There is no reason you can't pay back 100k in loans on a 70k salary. It may take a while and you won't be able to have your BWM but 50+/hour is outrageous. I open my paycheck and I'm always amazing I can get away making it knowing what I do. The only reason we make that much now is due to retail boom with a shortage. Once it even closely corrects itself we'll see pay stagnation or even cuts as companies hire new grads at a lower rate.
Click to expand...

Some people have 200K in loans. What about those students?

I don't think 50+/hr is ridiculous at all. If you look at some of the neighborhoods where pharmacists have to work, it makes sense.
 
crazybob said:
Some people have 200K in loans. What about those students?

I don't think 50+/hr is ridiculous at all. If you look at some of the neighborhoods where pharmacists have to work, it makes sense.
Click to expand...

Student loan has nothing to do with how much one should get paid. If a student decides to go to an Ivy league with no scholarship and take out a $200,000 student loan to get a degree in Latin doesn't mean that student should get paid enough salary to repay the student loan.

That's why this is insane for pharmacy education to cost more than $200K.

Chit, my pharmacy education at a private institution cost me $66,000 and I graduated with $50K loans. And when I graduated, 40K-60K per year was about the going rate for salary.
 
Its Z said:
Chit, my pharmacy education at a private institution cost me $66,000 and I graduated with $50K loans. And when I graduated, 40K-60K per year was about the going rate for salary.
Click to expand...
How interesting that all of those figures are double nowadays, if not more.
 
Ackj said:
How interesting that all of those figures are double nowadays, if not more.
Click to expand...

Yeah considering that people tend to have undergrad loans on top of pharmacy school loans.

Also, they live far enough away from home and have to get an apartment, pay bills, buy food, get gas for commuting, etc.
 
Its Z said:
Student loan has nothing to do with how much one should get paid. If a student decides to go to an Ivy league with no scholarship and take out a $200,000 student loan to get a degree in Latin doesn't mean that student should get paid enough salary to repay the student loan.

That's why this is insane for pharmacy education to cost more than $200K.

Chit, my pharmacy education at a private institution cost me $66,000 and I graduated with $50K loans. And when I graduated, 40K-60K per year was about the going rate for salary.
Click to expand...

I agree that salary is not determined by student loans but, to be fair, when you went to school bread cost a nickel and a movie ticket let you into the theater for the entire day. :meanie:
 
I also feel that you always contribute more than you are paid in a company in some capacity. otherwise it doesn't make business sense. If you are a surgeon getting paid 300k a year then you had better be doing more than 300k worth of work in a hospital in some capacity.

As a pharmacist you are saving more costs in the healthcare system by being a second check (or initial clinical advice in some cases) as well as overseeing insurance transactions that sure as hell make more than 100k a year for the pharmacy you work at (with very few exceptions). You will almost never make more than you are truly worth as an employee in a successful business; that's an economic fact. It's in the textbooks and everything :meanie:

So don't undercut yourself. You have 4-8+ years of education to do this job. Insurance agents have a diploma and can make 100k+ a year and all they do is sign a lot of paperwork and occasionally look at a house or car. It's the type of work you do and the money you pull in and the value you have for yourself. CEO's make millions of dollars and they make the big decisions but they don't do the most work out of the company in terms of labor. They just have the bigger impact in saving money for the company.

If you want to make 70k then I'm sure that some pharmacies will be willing to take the remaining balance of your check :laugh:
 
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JamesL1585 said:
Hey guys, I haven't posted in quite sometime... Ive been active in this forum just browsing for the past several years as pharm school has been very hectic for me.

So I'm within a year of graduating at this point, and I have a lot on my mind about post graduation. Things including, where I'll be employed, how I'll find a way to manage to be happy as a pharmacist (for as long as I can), how much $*@N$(# debt I'll be in, and most importantly my salary and how I'm going to pay for my debt.

If you browse through the current forums these days, half the post are about jobs, job security, managing money, paying off debt, and enjoying the money that you make.

I remember a time when people use to really patronize and sometimes blatently attack people for wanting to talk about the elephant in the room thats not really an elephant in a room. That is SALARY OF A PHARMACIST (Dun Dun Dunnnnn). Whats the big deal? Is it beating a dead horse? Probably. But who cares if thats what people want to talk about?

Me personally, I came to pharmacy school not caring about money even though I knew they made a good living. Unfortunately, my mom passed away in pharm school (my support system financially and emotionally), and my piece of s(&$ father has been less than supportive. So me being a student, looking into the future and planning way ahead (because thats what I do), I feel if I wanted to ask how much people make people should have 2 responses. A. Ignore me if you dont feel like its something you want to be in, or B. Just tell me. I just dont see why salary is such a big deal!!?? Debt scares me. Job security scares me. Salary.... COMFORTS ME. So either people should choose to help comfort other people and answer their questions like they do any other question or just stay out of the situation and stop ridiculing people.

But, to end up and summarize. I will say that over the past 6 months to a year it has gotten better especially since many students like myself are freaking out and its becoming more acceptable to talk about it. For those of you who are pharmacist who offer financial advice, opinions, and answer questions I must say I have read ALL the posts and I as a student REALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Appreciate it. For those of you who give people a hard time and make it a forbidden topic, please, try to be respectful as sometimes people ask questions to get comfort.

Sorry. Very long, but being a long time member, I dare to say whatever the hell I want. Just like everyone else. And if you ridicule me I will ignore you. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I am expecting to make 130, 000 dollars. salary 121,000 dollars. so 130,000 with ot. not too bad.
 
Wow seeing all these healthy salaries makes me less hesitant about taking out big loans for pharm school. 👍
 
~ 48/hr as Clinical / Staff at a small community hospital. My wife is a pahrmacist for WAG and she is at 56/hr. Those numbers are a little misleading however. New grads working for WAG in Chicago are being offered only 24 hours/wk, although WAG has agreed to let thos people qualify for benefits. Even in remote parts of Illinois the most WAG is offering is 32 hr/wk. This actually brings the starting salaries down closer to 80K per year...and this is all before the new (4) schools in Illinois have even graduated a class.

A pharmacists salary is still good...assuming you have enough experience to get the jobs that pay well.
 
1ive2die said:
Wow seeing all these healthy salaries makes me less hesitant about taking out big loans for pharm school. 👍
Click to expand...

you have to remember that these people have already graduated and have jobs... you can't really make predictions on what is going to happen 4,5,6+ years from now, and i wouldn't bet my loan money on it.

plus, it's a voluntary sample of pharmacists who are willing to post their salary... people with a higher salary might be more apt to share it with others.

i would take out the minimum you need to survive, but of course make sure you KNOW it's enough. it would also be bad to low ball your estimate and end up stressing about bills and food during school, but i wouldn't take out party money, go shopping, etc.
 
selo said:
I am expecting to make 130, 000 dollars. salary 121,000 dollars. so 130,000 with ot. not too bad.
Click to expand...
You're still pre-pharmacy. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

EDIT: nevermind, looks like you just didn't change your status...
 
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