pharm blogs

[Roxicet]

I read the link that LV gave us for Raindrop's blog. I really liked it. It definitely gave me a good look inside retail and reinforced my resolve that I will NEVER work in a pharmacy with a drive-thru. Heh, it reminded me of the good old days (not!) of when I worked for Hollywood Video and Blockbuster video. My last day of work at Blockbuster, I was arguing with a lady about the tax charged to her purchase. Our receipts had two columns: the price of the item and the tax for that item, and then it was all added together at the end. Well, she insisted that she was being overcharged because she KNEW that if you add the tax after each item instead of at the end of the transaction, that the tax was more expensive. So I tried to explain to her that it didn't matter. I even used a calculator, but she kept pulling it out of my hand right before I would press the total button. I guess she didn't want to be proven wrong. Eventually I told her she would either have to pay that amount or leave the store, to which she responded that she wanted to speak to the manager, to which I responded (my favorite line) I AM the manager!!! . So she paid and stormed out. Ugh! Retail sux!

Anyway, back to the point of this thread. I thought it might be cool if each of us had our own thread here about our daily lives (not really daily, you could post every couple of weeks or whatever)

If you are a current pharm student: What school do you go to? What are you currently learning? Are you happy with you decision? What do you do for fun? What are the othe students at your school like?

If you are a pre-pharm: What are you doing to prepare for pharm school? Tell us about your application and interview experiences. What do you think about the PCAT and Pharmcas?

If you are a pharmacy grad: Tell us about where you practice. What do you wish you knew then that you know now? Are you happy with your career choice? Do you have as much money and time as you had hoped for when you began?

These blogs might be helpful for prospective pharmacy students, and it might just be a good place for you to vent about school/career frustrations. What do you think? Good idea/bad idea? Would you do it?

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[Roxicet]

PS...here's the link to Raindrop's blog in case you missed it: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=raindrop

There are other "pharmacy blogs" on that site, but they don't really talk about school and pharm related stuff, mostly personal stuff.

 

[jdpharmd?]

Something to remember about most blogs: A friend once told me that she stopped doing her blog because she "wasn't depressed enough" . From experience, most of the blogs only really concentrate on the negative aspects of life. Take them with a grain of salt.

It might be neat to see what people have to say on this forum, but we're all fairly easy to identify, so things like "I skipped class all week and cheated on my exams" aren't really going to fly. (not like any of us would do anything bad.. we ALL go to EVERY class. ) The point is.. I don't think you'd get the real story.

 

[TCB]

karmapatroL that is great idea you have there!! in fact I will start one tomorrow.

 

[pharmd-08]

Karmapatrol: I read the blog and it sounds like retail is so stressful and depressing. Kinda scary too I guess....but as jdpharmd? said, take it with a grain of salt.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I gotta say though, I could understand/sympathize with every single one of her posts I worked in retail for years and absolutely know what she's talking about it. Sure there are good moments, when you feel you've done something well and have really helped someone out...and I guess that (and the salary) is what makes you stay. I plan to work in retail, but hopefully be an independent someday (WITH NO DRIVE-THRU). Who ever invented drive-thru pharmacies ought to be publically flogged.

 

[Triangulation]

don't know. Retail pharmacy has been the most satisfying position i've ever had. when you actually know wtf you're talking about counseling pts can be immensely satisfying and more times than not the gratification from the pt is right there for you. You can help pts on so many different levels in retail: economically: making sure the rx provided makes the most sense from a therapeutic and financial stance (eg if they can use mevacor instead of lipitor call the doctor and save them $70/mo), medically: providing consultation and medical advice (don't think i need to give egs here), pragmatically: making sure they know they're options (eg. express pay, easiest location, EM communication) This stuff is huge!! Retail pharmacists have the potential to affect ridiculous change in pts lives. more than doctors, more than city workers, more than their attornies. It can be d@mn stressful, but there are rewards there. I wouldn't work in my pharmacy if it was in-pt instead of out bc the ppl i work with aren't cool enough, so it's definitely the pts that get me there.

 

[Pilot]

Man, those posts brings back lots of memories from back when I did pharmacy full-time. I daresay every episode mentioned I have experienced as well.

I especially enjoy the medicaid patients who threaten to "take their business elsewhere." Go ahead and take your (AWP - 80%) + $1.50 reimbursement rate elsewhere. Or those that threaten to sue if you won't give them the prescription that is expired. Or those that come back every month saying they were shorted on one medicine or another. Or those that come in for refills on Sunday for BC with an expired prescription. Or those that have 4 insurance cards and want you to try each card to see which has the lowest copay (and recheck every month). Or those that show up with 6 prescriptions 2 minutes until close (got suckered by this one again last month - and to top it off the doctor wrote Zithromax 125/5 4 ml QD - dispensed Zithromax 100/5 1 tsp QD and didn't call dr). Or those that cuss at the staff. Or those that get angry because I had the audacity to close for 20 minutes for me to pee and stuff a hamburger down my throat. Or those that have manicured fingernails (is this just an Oklahoma medicaid thing?), and have a better cell phone than me? Or those that loudly announce that "he doesn't know **** " because the insurance will not work since a prior auth is required, and the PA on file with the ins co is valid only at the original pharmacy who requested it. I could go on, but my fingers are numb........

On the plus side - the pay is good. It just sucks knowing that 25% of my salary goes to pay for the benefits enjoyed by these people without any appreciation.

I have already made the decision not to accept medicaid patients in my medical practice (after residency). Overall a very inconsiderate group, poor compliance, lots of No Show Appointments, a feeling of "entitlement", and poor reimbursement rates, and increased likliehood to sue in an effort to collect large settlements. Overall, the little bit of money you get is not worth the hassle factor.

 

[raindrop]

PS...here's the link to Raindrop's blog in case you missed it: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=raindrop

There are other "pharmacy blogs" on that site, but they don't really talk about school and pharm related stuff, mostly personal stuff.

Hello there. I feel so honored. I didn't know my blog had been posted here. Nice to "meet" you all.

Lynn (Raindrop)

 

[Roxicet]

Hello there. I feel so honored. I didn't know my blog had been posted here. Nice to "meet" you all.

Lynn (Raindrop)

hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[ultracet]

I think that if everyone posted their own thread then we would be buried in personal lives. I mean everyone weeds through the posts they want to read as it is (in pharm school v. prepharm v. practicing) and I just feel like it would make things more congested.

Perhaps if you wanted to do it, everyone could post in one thread.

 

[LVPharm]

Hi Lynn! Welcome to the forum. I posted the link to your blog because I felt it provided invaluable insight into one pharmacist's account of life in retail pharmacy, especially for all the prospective pharm students who browse this forum. Thanks so much for the time and effort you put into it!

 

[ultracet]

i'm going to bump this thread just in case anyone had a blog that they want to share with everyone... perhaps to add insight to life as a prepharm- pharm student or pharmacist or even resident

i know there are lots of us out there with livejournals so if you want to share those then have at it!

 

[bananaface]

*bump*

 

[rxlynn]

*bump*

Well, this one isn't exactly retail pharmacy - it's written by a PhD chemist who works for a large pharmaceutical company. He posts all sorts of things - some of it is pure chemistry related, some of it is about drug trials, some of it is just about current issues with drugs, etc. But, it's very well-written. Those of you who have a strong chemistry or biochemistry background might find this particularly interesting. He reminds me why I left the chemistry lab in the first place

http://pipeline.corante.com/

 

[usi]

Well, this one isn't exactly retail pharmacy - it's written by a PhD chemist who works for a large pharmaceutical company. He posts all sorts of things - some of it is pure chemistry related, some of it is about drug trials, some of it is just about current issues with drugs, etc. But, it's very well-written. Those of you who have a strong chemistry or biochemistry background might find this particularly interesting. He reminds me why I left the chemistry lab in the first place

http://pipeline.corante.com/

Derek is one of my ex-bosses. He is great! He was actually in Jeopardy in the past and won some money.
He is very very extremely smart. Small world! Talk about 6-degrees!

 

[rxlynn]

Derek is one of my ex-bosses. He is great! He was actually in Jeopardy in the past and won some money.
He is very very extremely smart. Small world! Talk about 6-degrees!

Wow - I can't believe that you actually know him!! I am not surprised to hear that he is very very very smart - a person would have to be smart to know enough about so many different topics and also write so fluently about them.

 

[usi]

Wow - I can't believe that you actually know him!! I am not surprised to hear that he is very very very smart - a person would have to be smart to know enough about so many different topics and also write so fluently about them.

Yeah! I worked for him at the wonder drug factory...I heard some his stories before at lunch... like the Bromine chunks...etc....
I think is safe to say he is the one of the smartest (book smart) people I know. Also, he could get out of the chemistry hood if he wanted to...just sit in his office and tell the associates what to do, or become director of everything, but you will see him run reactions quite often, so I consider Derek a true Med Chemist. Also he always sends you to the source to check for yourself, he never assumes you will take his word for it, or he has such a freaky good memory, that he remembers exactly where that darn paper was...Really down to earth...

 

[raindrop]

Hello all!

I haven't visited this site in about a year. I hope everyone is doing well with their pharmacy pursuits.

If anyone's bored, take a look at my most recent blog post. See how many things, if any, you can find wrong with the prescriptions I posted.

 

[norx]

*blah*