Next career move? Confused as can be

[ROFLumilast]

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Ok so I recently got let go by my company over some ridiculous irrelevant crap (they were looking to get rid of people, let go of 3 people in august). So now im stuck as to where to work next. Im kinda tired of retail, but dont know if I can handle the switch to hospital, plus I didnt do a residency and dont know if theyd consider someone without much hospital experience. I cant do conventional retail ever again though in my life. So what are my options?

My background -- I graduated in 07, worked 6 months at walgreens, hated every day of it, then worked at Bioscrip specialty pharmacy for about 1.5 years, and worked mainly in HIV. It was nice because it had some degree of clinical involvement, the physicians I worked with were very nice and kept things very informal (first name basis, called them directly on their cell phone, etc) and I had a good degree of support staff (5 pharmacists and 10 techs, I never had to answer the phone or ring up anybody.) Also my schedule was good, open 7 to 7, rotated though 4 shifts, 7-3, 9-5, 10-6, 11-7 and then worked one saturday a month.

At first, I loved the clinical side of my job, we had a good team of management and directors but recently everything changed, new director and at the end of the day, the company just constantly kept reminding you how it was all about $$ and business and I hated that aspect, that all that mattered were the numbers rather than providing better patient care. I got sick of it after a while and my negative attitude at work began to show. Eventually they gave me the boot.

My question is, how is the transition into hospital? I would love to continue working in HIV since that is now my area of expertise however I know without a residency, the positions available without a residency are near impossible. I also think after reading alot of other posts on transition to hospital that being in the dispensing role wouldnt be that bad and you get to do some clinical work, I didnt see it as that, thought it was just order entry and send meds up to a floor (thats what it seemed like on rotations and when I worked at a hosp as an intern, seemed boring). Hows the hiring freeze affecting hospital positions? Especially at this time since ALL the damn new grads are looking for jobs, just wonderful. Oh and I wouldnt able to start till Nov 1st which kinda sucks too.

 

[Passion4Sci]

So basically your inability to suck it up and do your job at Bioscrip, because you didn't like their monetary attitude (can't blame them) caused you to get fired?

and my negative attitude at work began to show. Eventually they gave me the boot.

That can't be the job you just got let go from though, right? Since you said it was irrelevant, and being unprofessional certainly is not irrelevant.

Ok so I recently got let go by my company over some ridiculous irrelevant crap

Either you have been let go twice this year, once due to you leaving essentially (A poor work attitude just because you didn't like their business policy) and then once due to "irrelevant crap", or you Negative Nancy'd your way out of a job and now you're wondering where to go. If I was THAT bothered by my employer, I'd start looking on the down-low for another job and then quit instead of letting my work become affected to the extent that they'd fire me. This is unprofessional work ethic at its best.

I'm not a pharmacist yet so I don't know where you should go, and what I am going to say, you can take with whatever grain of salt you wish to... but having a negative attitude at work just because you don't like management, the company's policies, or anything else is so juvenile. You should've seen that your shifts were good, that you enjoyed the support staff of 5 pharmacists and 10 techs (holy $h!t) and that it was engaging, interesting material (that you were enjoyed) and lived with the horrible management. I guess you learned that lesson the hard way.

I volunteer at a large hospital and we are not actively hiring, but there is no freeze per se. We have two residents full-time right now who are waiting to sit for CPJE but have passed NAPLEX and they have been offered conditional employment offers, so it's certainly possible to be hired somewhere... And I don't think you'll have a hard time competing with a fresh Pharm.D - I surmise explaining how you got fired from Bioscrip and have no references there might be difficult, unless you've got an ally or someone in there that'll vouch for you or something.

I really hope for your sake MountainPharmD doesn't see this thread, cos it'd light him off. LOL.

 

[IWantTheGenetic]

A few hospitals in NYC are looking for second shift pharmacists and are willing to train. Check out indeed.com

 

[BustyPharmD]

Ok so I recently got let go by my company over some ridiculous irrelevant crap (they were looking to get rid of people, let go of 3 people in august). So now im stuck as to where to work next. Im kinda tired of retail, but dont know if I can handle the switch to hospital, plus I didnt do a residency and dont know if theyd consider someone without much hospital experience. I cant do conventional retail ever again though in my life. So what are my options?

My background -- I graduated in 07, worked 6 months at walgreens, hated every day of it, then worked at Bioscrip specialty pharmacy for about 1.5 years, and worked mainly in HIV. It was nice because it had some degree of clinical involvement, the physicians I worked with were very nice and kept things very informal (first name basis, called them directly on their cell phone, etc) and I had a good degree of support staff (5 pharmacists and 10 techs, I never had to answer the phone or ring up anybody.) Also my schedule was good, open 7 to 7, rotated though 4 shifts, 7-3, 9-5, 10-6, 11-7 and then worked one saturday a month.

At first, I loved the clinical side of my job, we had a good team of management and directors but recently everything changed, new director and at the end of the day, the company just constantly kept reminding you how it was all about $$ and business and I hated that aspect, that all that mattered were the numbers rather than providing better patient care. I got sick of it after a while and my negative attitude at work began to show. Eventually they gave me the boot.

My question is, how is the transition into hospital? I would love to continue working in HIV since that is now my area of expertise however I know without a residency, the positions available without a residency are near impossible. I also think after reading alot of other posts on transition to hospital that being in the dispensing role wouldnt be that bad and you get to do some clinical work, I didnt see it as that, thought it was just order entry and send meds up to a floor (thats what it seemed like on rotations and when I worked at a hosp as an intern, seemed boring). Hows the hiring freeze affecting hospital positions? Especially at this time since ALL the damn new grads are looking for jobs, just wonderful. Oh and I wouldnt able to start till Nov 1st which kinda sucks too.

Do you think you should take some time off and re-evaluate if you should be a pharmacist? You should start thinking about attitude and professionalism. I can't believe I have to tell YOU (a pharmacist) about it.

You want to do hospital now. What happens when they fire you for something irrelevant too? To me it sounds like you have selective hearing and that's what has gotten you into your current situation.

If I was your manager I'd fire you too for having a pi$$ poor negative attitude. You should quit pharmacy and go to another a profession because it’s obvious you’re not happy and that's all that matters.

 

[J ROD]

Try home infusion. I work in a hospital and you would probably not like the job of a hospital pharmacist unless you really like keying in orders.

Most of the clinical stuff is done by the "clinical" (residency trained) pharmacists. Some smaller areas will still let experienced pharmacists do the "clinical" stuff.

To me, all pharmacists should be "clinical" to some extent...

 

[ffpickle]

So basically your inability to suck it up and do your job at Bioscrip, because you didn't like their monetary attitude (can't blame them) caused you to get fired?

That can't be the job you just got let go from though, right? Since you said it was irrelevant, and being unprofessional certainly is not irrelevant.

Either you have been let go twice this year, once due to you leaving essentially (A poor work attitude just because you didn't like their business policy) and then once due to "irrelevant crap", or you Negative Nancy'd your way out of a job and now you're wondering where to go. If I was THAT bothered by my employer, I'd start looking on the down-low for another job and then quit instead of letting my work become affected to the extent that they'd fire me. This is unprofessional work ethic at its best.

I'm not a pharmacist yet so I don't know where you should go, and what I am going to say, you can take with whatever grain of salt you wish to... but having a negative attitude at work just because you don't like management, the company's policies, or anything else is so juvenile. You should've seen that your shifts were good, that you enjoyed the support staff of 5 pharmacists and 10 techs (holy $h!t) and that it was engaging, interesting material (that you were enjoyed) and lived with the horrible management. I guess you learned that lesson the hard way.

I volunteer at a large hospital and we are not actively hiring, but there is no freeze per se. We have two residents full-time right now who are waiting to sit for CPJE but have passed NAPLEX and they have been offered conditional employment offers, so it's certainly possible to be hired somewhere... And I don't think you'll have a hard time competing with a fresh Pharm.D - I surmise explaining how you got fired from Bioscrip and have no references there might be difficult, unless you've got an ally or someone in there that'll vouch for you or something.

I really hope for your sake MountainPharmD doesn't see this thread, cos it'd light him off. LOL.

You're kind of an *******.

You're just applying to pharm school now and you go around telling practicing pharmacists that they're juvenile, etc.? Writing several paragraphs, telling people they have an inability to "suck it up," etc.

Good luck in the real world.

 

[nafcillin]

Passion4Sci - God forbid you get in a job you don't like. The OP didn't even go into details about what went on but you just went off assumptions. Yuck, you are sickening.
and same to Busty. You all love to preach about professionalism while acting like *******s to other members.

OP - what is the job market like in your area? are you able to get references from your previous employer? Home infusion or mail order both seem like good options. Or else you could take a strictly staff position at a hospital or overnight, just to get your foot in the door.

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

Ok so I recently got let go by my company over some ridiculous irrelevant crap (they were looking to get rid of people, let go of 3 people in august). So now im stuck as to where to work next. Im kinda tired of retail, but dont know if I can handle the switch to hospital, plus I didnt do a residency and dont know if theyd consider someone without much hospital experience. I cant do conventional retail ever again though in my life. So what are my options?

My background -- I graduated in 07, worked 6 months at walgreens, hated every day of it, then worked at Bioscrip specialty pharmacy for about 1.5 years, and worked mainly in HIV. It was nice because it had some degree of clinical involvement, the physicians I worked with were very nice and kept things very informal (first name basis, called them directly on their cell phone, etc) and I had a good degree of support staff (5 pharmacists and 10 techs, I never had to answer the phone or ring up anybody.) Also my schedule was good, open 7 to 7, rotated though 4 shifts, 7-3, 9-5, 10-6, 11-7 and then worked one saturday a month.

At first, I loved the clinical side of my job, we had a good team of management and directors but recently everything changed, new director and at the end of the day, the company just constantly kept reminding you how it was all about $$ and business and I hated that aspect, that all that mattered were the numbers rather than providing better patient care. I got sick of it after a while and my negative attitude at work began to show. Eventually they gave me the boot.

My question is, how is the transition into hospital? I would love to continue working in HIV since that is now my area of expertise however I know without a residency, the positions available without a residency are near impossible. I also think after reading alot of other posts on transition to hospital that being in the dispensing role wouldnt be that bad and you get to do some clinical work, I didnt see it as that, thought it was just order entry and send meds up to a floor (thats what it seemed like on rotations and when I worked at a hosp as an intern, seemed boring). Hows the hiring freeze affecting hospital positions? Especially at this time since ALL the damn new grads are looking for jobs, just wonderful. Oh and I wouldnt able to start till Nov 1st which kinda sucks too.

Where in NYC do you live exactly? Do you have a NJ license? At a LTC where I work I have an opening coming up, PM me for more details.

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

Pre-pharmers and pharmacy students telling licensed pharmacists who have walked the walk how to act professionally (like how the professors at pharmacy school preach professionalism and paint a false picture of the profession), that i never understood

 

[Passion4Sci]

I've been in a job I didn't like.

The Army.

I wore a lot of hats I ****ing hated, and you know what? I didn't whine and moan and try to quit. Yeah, there ARE ways of "quitting" the Army. It's not as easy as it is in the "real world" perhaps, but it happens.

There's a BIG difference between not liking your job and being a juvenile and unprofessional employee.

And ffpickle, being in the application phase of pharmacy school's got nothing to do with life experience. I've held a lot of jobs since I turned 16 and even in the ones I hated I acted professionally and with dignity and integrity. ESPECIALLY in the Army. Good lord. You think I LIKED being in Iraq for 15 months? Not that you'd know anything about service.

Quitting a job just because you don't like the work (and worse yet, letting your dislike of the employer or whatever taint your work performance) demonstrates a very immature mentality. Might as well call the god damn waaahmbulance.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Pre-pharmers and pharmacy students telling licensed pharmacists who have walked the walk how to act professionally (like how the professors at pharmacy school preach professionalism and paint a false picture of the profession), that i never understood

This assumes that a person cannot learn how to be a professional before going into pre-pharmacy?

What fantasy world do you live in?

You'd think with all the non-traditional routes into pharmacy, someone having life/work experience before going to pharmacy school would be understood.

I'm not a 19 year-old kid chastising OP for being stupid. I'm a 27, almost 28 year-old person who has participated in two wars and has held many jobs he did not like for a long time and can recognize unprofessional people when he sees them. I've seen it all in terms of lazy ass hats, and OP rings the bell pretty loud.

Quitting a job is one thing. Letting your feelings about the employer and its business practices affect your work (which in turn affects other people who have nothing to do with your feelings, for example) is entirely different. The professional way to handle that situation would've been to look for other work while performing to expectations in the current employment situation, no matter how horrible it is for a corporation to care more about the bottom line than the pt.

To say that Op's actions are perfectly acceptable seems to bespeak a lack of work experience for oneself. I can't believe ANYONE who has held a management position EVER in their life would recommend such a horrible plan of action. In letting himself get fired, essentially, OP burnt his bridges with a company he worked with for a good deal of his pharmacy career. This was not intelligent. I don't need to have slides in pharmacy school read to me (quoting Mikey) in order to know that.

God dammit where is Old Timer or MountainPharmD. The people who actually have a set. I love this country to death and have put my life on the line to defend her honor on many an occasion, but this sort of attitude makes me sick.

 

[BMBiology]

You have to take the goods with the bads. You are never gonna find a perfect fit. The problem I see now is that you are limited in what you know. That is going to be tough when you start to apply for a job. In addition, they would want to speak to your former employer. That is another hurdle.

The first step you should take is to mend some fences with your former employer. If retail is not for you and you can't find another specialty pharmacy, then community pharmacy is a reasonable option.

Didn't you sense they were going to give you the boot? Did you start to look for a position while you were still with the company?

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

This assumes that a person cannot learn how to be a professional before going into pre-pharmacy?

What fantasy world do you live in?

You'd think with all the non-traditional routes into pharmacy, someone having life/work experience before going to pharmacy school would be understood.

I'm not a 19 year-old kid chastising OP for being stupid. I'm a 27, almost 28 year-old person who has participated in two wars and has held many jobs he did not like for a long time and can recognize unprofessional people when he sees them. I've seen it all in terms of lazy ass hats, and OP rings the bell pretty loud.

Quitting a job is one thing. Letting your feelings about the employer and its business practices affect your work (which in turn affects other people who have nothing to do with your feelings, for example) is entirely different. The professional way to handle that situation would've been to look for other work while performing to expectations in the current employment situation, no matter how horrible it is for a corporation to care more about the bottom line than the pt.

To say that Op's actions are perfectly acceptable seems to bespeak a lack of work experience for oneself. I can't believe ANYONE who has held a management position EVER in their life would recommend such a horrible plan of action. In letting himself get fired, essentially, OP burnt his bridges with a company he worked with for a good deal of his pharmacy career. This was not intelligent. I don't need to have slides in pharmacy school read to me (quoting Mikey) in order to know that.

God dammit where is Old Timer or MountainPharmD. The people who actually have a set. I love this country to death and have put my life on the line to defend her honor on many an occasion, but this sort of attitude makes me sick.

Did I ever imply that what the OP did in his/her previous job was acceptable? Honestly neither you or I know enough about the situation to really judge the person's actions, honestly from my work experience as a pharmacist professionalism goes both ways, yes the same attributes should also apply to the people in the management positions. The way to handle it as an employee is a personal choice, but I personally would just do my job and shut up and leave if i didn't like it.

seriously, calm the **** down.

 

[ffpickle]

This assumes that a person cannot learn how to be a professional before going into pre-pharmacy?

What fantasy world do you live in?

You'd think with all the non-traditional routes into pharmacy, someone having life/work experience before going to pharmacy school would be understood.

I'm not a 19 year-old kid chastising OP for being stupid. I'm a 27, almost 28 year-old person who has participated in two wars and has held many jobs he did not like for a long time and can recognize unprofessional people when he sees them. I've seen it all in terms of lazy ass hats, and OP rings the bell pretty loud.

Quitting a job is one thing. Letting your feelings about the employer and its business practices affect your work (which in turn affects other people who have nothing to do with your feelings, for example) is entirely different. The professional way to handle that situation would've been to look for other work while performing to expectations in the current employment situation, no matter how horrible it is for a corporation to care more about the bottom line than the pt.

To say that Op's actions are perfectly acceptable seems to bespeak a lack of work experience for oneself. I can't believe ANYONE who has held a management position EVER in their life would recommend such a horrible plan of action. In letting himself get fired, essentially, OP burnt his bridges with a company he worked with for a good deal of his pharmacy career. This was not intelligent. I don't need to have slides in pharmacy school read to me (quoting Mikey) in order to know that.

God dammit where is Old Timer or MountainPharmD. The people who actually have a set. I love this country to death and have put my life on the line to defend her honor on many an occasion, but this sort of attitude makes me sick.

I don't give a flying **** how old you are or how many people you slaughtered in war...it's still presumptuous for someone who hasn't even been accepted to Pharmacy school to tell a pharmacist how to do their job, especially without knowing all the facts. Knowing facts doesn't seem to matter to you though. As long it is what you know, then it is fact, right?

It's analagous to someone just trying out for the army telling a sergeant about professionalism in the army.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3COB5g4RyYY[/YOUTUBE]

...I figure that fit in here somewhere...

 

[J ROD]

Nice!!

Time to grow up! He's 40 and a man!

 

[MustLoveDrugs]

Ok so I recently got let go by my company over some ridiculous irrelevant crap (they were looking to get rid of people, let go of 3 people in august). So now im stuck as to where to work next. Im kinda tired of retail, but dont know if I can handle the switch to hospital, plus I didnt do a residency and dont know if theyd consider someone without much hospital experience. I cant do conventional retail ever again though in my life. So what are my options?

My background -- I graduated in 07, worked 6 months at walgreens, hated every day of it, then worked at Bioscrip specialty pharmacy for about 1.5 years, and worked mainly in HIV. It was nice because it had some degree of clinical involvement, the physicians I worked with were very nice and kept things very informal (first name basis, called them directly on their cell phone, etc) and I had a good degree of support staff (5 pharmacists and 10 techs, I never had to answer the phone or ring up anybody.) Also my schedule was good, open 7 to 7, rotated though 4 shifts, 7-3, 9-5, 10-6, 11-7 and then worked one saturday a month.

At first, I loved the clinical side of my job, we had a good team of management and directors but recently everything changed, new director and at the end of the day, the company just constantly kept reminding you how it was all about $$ and business and I hated that aspect, that all that mattered were the numbers rather than providing better patient care. I got sick of it after a while and my negative attitude at work began to show. Eventually they gave me the boot.

My question is, how is the transition into hospital? I would love to continue working in HIV since that is now my area of expertise however I know without a residency, the positions available without a residency are near impossible. I also think after reading alot of other posts on transition to hospital that being in the dispensing role wouldnt be that bad and you get to do some clinical work, I didnt see it as that, thought it was just order entry and send meds up to a floor (thats what it seemed like on rotations and when I worked at a hosp as an intern, seemed boring). Hows the hiring freeze affecting hospital positions? Especially at this time since ALL the damn new grads are looking for jobs, just wonderful. Oh and I wouldnt able to start till Nov 1st which kinda sucks too.

I know you said you haven't done a residency... Does that mean you'd be opposed to doing one now? There are several PGY-2 HIV residencies available now in addition to the more general ID specialty.

You've only been out of school for ~2 years... I've been out for a little over 1 year, and I feel like there's no time like the present for a change of scenery if that's truly what you're seeking.

I'm not sure what "the hiring freeze" has done across the country. At least in my area, employees with direct patient interaction haven't been affected as much as other hospital employees so jobs are still out there and available for pharmacists.

 

[ROFLumilast]

Wow I didnt think id get flamed here for asking for advice from "fellow" pharmacists. And then worst thing is to get told "you should think about switching fields." Who are these people on here to tell someone they dont know from a hole in the wall what is right or wrong for them. And from pre-pharmacy students who havent been out there in the real world practicing full time. Its a lot different when youre in school vs post grad.

As for my last job, if you didn't work there, you didn't know. And everything im writing here I dont want to sound more "unprofessional" or immature so I wont go and badmouth my previous company. Dont go jumping to assumptions about one's "professionalism" or work ethic based on a paragraph. I only stated that things didnt work out between my previous employer and myself and before I made plans to get out, I got the boot. It happens, and you have to move on. Take the lessons learned. And as an FYI, I do have references in that company that I can use and I didnt leave on exactly cut throat cant ever speak again terms.

I am not opposed to doing a residency, just dont know if my poor grades in pharmacy school would allow me to land a residency position. Plus my personal life situation with family would make it a bit difficult to take a pay cut but it can be feasible, however moving out of NY would not be an option unless absolutely desperate. And someone is going to probably make a reference btwn my poor grades in school and my proposed "poor work ethic" and say how these type of individuals should be the ones that should have never gotten in pharmacy school in the first place let alone graduate and make our profession look bad.

Everyone here seems to make it sound like theyve got it all figured out and theyre perfect and theyre never confused, never hit a bump in the road or at a crossroads, sometimes you dont always know whats the best move for you. Its not a crime, its called being human and having the right to be uncertain at times. I just thought people here might be able to provide sound advice but I got every side of it.

To those that were able to provide unbiased help, thank you.

 

[MustLoveDrugs]

Wow I didnt think id get flamed here for asking for advice from "fellow" pharmacists. And then worst thing is to get told "you should think about switching fields." Who are these people on here to tell someone they dont know from a hole in the wall what is right or wrong for them. And from pre-pharmacy students who havent been out there in the real world practicing full time. Its a lot different when youre in school vs post grad.

As for my last job, if you didn't work there, you didn't know. And everything im writing here I dont want to sound more "unprofessional" or immature so I wont go and badmouth my previous company. Dont go jumping to assumptions about one's "professionalism" or work ethic based on a paragraph. I only stated that things didnt work out between my previous employer and myself and before I made plans to get out, I got the boot. It happens, and you have to move on. Take the lessons learned. And as an FYI, I do have references in that company that I can use and I didnt leave on exactly cut throat cant ever speak again terms.

I am not opposed to doing a residency, just dont know if my poor grades in pharmacy school would allow me to land a residency position. Plus my personal life situation with family would make it a bit difficult to take a pay cut but it can be feasible, however moving out of NY would not be an option unless absolutely desperate. And someone is going to probably make a reference btwn my poor grades in school and my proposed "poor work ethic" and say how these type of individuals should be the ones that should have never gotten in pharmacy school in the first place let alone graduate and make our profession look bad.

Everyone here seems to make it sound like theyve got it all figured out and theyre perfect and theyre never confused, never hit a bump in the road or at a crossroads, sometimes you dont always know whats the best move for you. Its not a crime, its called being human and having the right to be uncertain at times. I just thought people here might be able to provide sound advice but I got every side of it.

To those that were able to provide unbiased help, thank you.

There's no real cut off in terms of how low you can go... GPA requirements vary from site to site, and some don't have GPA requirements at all. I don't personally know anyone who has matched with a GPA <2.5, but I'm sure stranger things have happened.

 

[BMBiology]

Oh and I wouldnt able to start till Nov 1st which kinda sucks too.

How come you have to wait until Nov 1st to start?