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Options after pharmd??

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BKpharm

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  1. Pharmacy Student
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I m wondering what r my options after having a pharmd... Where i would feel more like a health care professional and not working in burger king? Thanks
 
Options? In this market, keep dreaming. Get ready to work at Burger King and salute every customer with a "Have it your way!" .
 
I m wondering what r my options after having a pharmd... Where i would feel more like a health care professional and not working in burger king? Thanks

If you wanted to be a really serious healthcare professional, you should have become a doctor...on the other hand, if and when you become a doctor, you may wish otherwise. 😛
 
If you wanted to be a really serious healthcare professional, you should have become a doctor...on the other hand, if and when you become a doctor, you may wish otherwise. 😛

As they say, the grass looks greener on the other side until you cross the fence.
 
Probably depends on where you live but in Cali chances for a residency are slim for the mediocre. You need lots of toppings on your 3.9 for that.

I recently read an editorial by Fellowhip/Pharm D who was complaining of being belittled by the Pharm D's with PHDs. Fellowships criteria are none the less upper elite.

MPH is trending as a dual degree with the Pharm D. I have no idea what the actual demand is for such a background. I wouldn't go on the random puff pieces published by higher ed. But that is just me.

The MBA could help but you better hurry up cuz I hear they are a dime a dozen now and the demand could fall through.

Maybe a masters in bioinformatics?

Big box retail is designed like a fast food joint. I wonder why they haven't implemented a mascot yet? Take out the pick up bins and put in the shakes and fries. Maintenance meds are triaged through the central fill and mailed and the retail sites fill antibiotics with appropriate fast food menu items for optimal absorption. If you fill a milkshake and a TCN you get written up.

I can't stomach big box but I love working the independents, until they sell out and they always sell out. They are practically extinct in my neck of the woods.
 
If you wanted to be a really serious healthcare professional, you should have become a doctor...on the other hand, if and when you become a doctor, you may wish otherwise. 😛

PharmD = Doctor of Pharmacy
 
U r right but after working like this in big retail company i feel its just a word... And ppl say u r a doctor? And give me that look
 
Granted, I haven't even graduated yet, so take this with a grain of salt, but there is more to life than what you do. I know it takes up the majority of your time, but I think if you try to find your ultimate fulfillment in your work, you're going to end up going down a never-ending rabbit hole. Find the things that make you happy outside of work - friends, family, charity, religion, etc., and focus on those things. That's where you'll get true fulfillment, in my humble opinion.

That being said, if you are already satisfied with the things outside of work and your job is bringing those things down, maybe a change of scenery, additional training, or even a different line of work would be beneficial.


"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
 
Life used to be like that, Ferris, but all aspects of human interaction are financialized now. There is no longer time to smell the flowers with Shylock continually rent seeking for his pound of flesh. Everything is now inflated by counterfeit credit. What I fear is this push for a global digital currency. Imagine with direct deposit, auto billpay, smartphone payment apps, and biometric authentification the pieces are in place for dystopian corporate plantation where one does not dare dissent for fear of having accounts closed and credit line cut. With total information awareness our wages could be controlled so that we make just enough to survive, never able to squirrel away any rainy day capital for breathing room, doomed to toil endlessly in a technocrat's wet dream of hopping from one hamster wheel to the next.
 
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Now what transferable skills would be eye catching to the truck driving hiring manager? How about:

Proven ability to back burner primal needs to maintain seamless service
Ability to maintain focus during repetitious and non-contextual tasks for extended periods
Distinguished authoritarian with 5 years of service and null absenteeism
 
I guess i conclude there is no options lol
 
Interesting, which one did you pick and why?

Applied Pharmacoeconomics. I enjoyed working for the PBM arm of the VA during school and thought I might want to transfer from CVS to Caremark in the future.

...also, Pharmacoeconomics has the most syllables of any word in any degree ever.
 
Applied Pharmacoeconomics. I enjoyed working for the PBM arm of the VA during school and thought I might want to transfer from CVS to Caremark in the future.

...also, Pharmacoeconomics has the most syllables of any word in any degree ever.

You'll be happy to know that the ante has been upped with pharmacoepidemiology.

I opted for a traditional campus-based PhD in HEOR, but I've always wondered about those online MS programs from UF. Did you find that your program was beneficial for moving into a non-traditional pharmacy role?
 
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You'll be happy to know that the ante has been upped with pharmacoepidemiology.

I opted for a traditional campus-based PhD in HEOR, but I've always wondered about those online MS programs from UF. Did you find that your program was beneficial for moving into a non-traditional pharmacy role?

:laugh:
 
You'll be happy to know that the ante has been upped with pharmacoepidemiology.

Damn. Now I need another masters.


I opted for a traditional campus-based PhD in HEOR, but I've always wondered about those online MS programs from UF. Did you find that your program was beneficial for moving into a non-traditional pharmacy role?

...not yet. Maybe in a few weeks...
 
You also have to be realistic about taking on another job. Do you have the time? The energy? How much tax you are going to pay? And at the end of the day you will be working for another boss.

I would try to make as much as possible while i am still young and invest that money. Yeah it is risky but if you are still young and don't have a family, what do you have to lose?
 
You also have to be realistic about taking on another job. Do you have the time? The energy? How much tax you are going to pay? And at the end of the day you will be working for another boss.

I would try to make as much as possible while i am still young and invest that money. Yeah it is risky but if you are still young and don't have a family, what do you have to lose?

Agree...start investing and building an asset for yourself. Don't just depend on your job for income.
 
You also have to be realistic about taking on another job. Do you have the time? The energy? How much tax you are going to pay? And at the end of the day you will be working for another boss.

I would try to make as much as possible while i am still young and invest that money. Yeah it is risky but if you are still young and don't have a family, what do you have to lose?

As much as bmb and I disagree, I would heartily agree with this advice.

The value of your work as a pharmacist is hard to top.. any additional hours you put into another venture is basically losing you whatever the difference is between $60 and your new wage per hour. Investing on the other hand, will ultimately allow you to be your own boss and you can retire on the business income at the end. No brainer . Even 100-200k can get you into almost any small business you could dream of.
 
Either fill prescriptions, or direct future educational efforts towards a degree that allows prescription writing. Trying to combine a pharmacy degree with some esoteric educational degree, and capitalize upon it in this rapidly changing health care environment, is foolishly risky. As pharmacists, we need to firm our grip in the pharmacy and stop trying to branch into areas where exotic combo degrees will be salary prohibitive to employers.
 
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