Pharmacy School, Retail, Questions, Decisions

[pianoiscool]

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I was a P1 and I failed a class in pharmacy school and am being held back a year. (The class I failed was biochemistry). I passed the more pharmacy related classes of first semester besides the general biochemistry. I know I've already started pharmacy school and currently have an intern license, but I can't help but question if this is for me. The reason this doubt came into my mind was that I got a job at CVS as a pharmacy intern (so I would gain some experience and not just mope around about my failure). However, I don't like it at all! Is it just CVS that is the bad experience, or is pharmacy in general just billing, insurance, dealing with angry customers, and typing prescriptions all day? I only did one semester of pharmacy school before I didn't pass and was not allowed to advance. Therefore, I haven't done any IPPEs so I don't know about any other aspects besides retail.

And does inpatient pharmacy absolutely REQUIRE a residency in the state of California? Otherwise, are any other retails any better? I was looking through some forums and noticed grocery stores are generally better as well as independents. Any advice on my situation will be greatly appreciated! Thank you all in advance!

 

[BMBiology]

I don't recommend pharmacy to anyone until he has actually worked in retail. Why? Because the majority of jobs are in retails. If you can't picture doing retail for the next 30 years, I would reconsider pharmacy school.

The sad thing is that retails used to be every new grad's last choice. Now CVS won't even hire you unless you have pharmacist experience or you have worked as their intern.

 

[TLAD123]

Is it just CVS that is the bad experience, or is pharmacy in general just billing, insurance, dealing with angry customers, and typing prescriptions all day?

As an intern, that is all that it is unless you have an awesome pharmacist that has you do DURs/DUEs, projects, quizzes you, has you do counseling, etc. What you described is the life of a technician, not exactly representative of all of a pharmacist's responsibilities. However, you do have to deal with these things as a pharmacist to some degree. Not all customers are angry; some retail pharmacists really enjoy their job, but burn out and angry customers have turned me off to retail.

I haven't done any IPPEs so I don't know about any other aspects besides retail.

IPPEs are kind of nice because you are doing more project based work, depending on where you go. I've had great IPPE experiences and terrible IPPE experiences. My institutional/hospital was good because I worked with the director at a small hospital, got to see the ins and outs of the system, CPEO, ADCs, P&T meetings, preparing a policy write up for P&T, and some other positive experiences. My retail IPPE was okay at times... I learned a lot about OutcomesMTM, and had a list of objectives to complete... however, it was also pretty negative because I had to do a lot of filling, counting and ringing up prescriptions. It is what you make of it (if you think of every Rx as a learning opportunity, look for interactions, a/e, counsel patients, you might like it, but that slows the process as well)

And does inpatient pharmacy absolutely REQUIRE a residency in the state of California?

I have no idea about California but it varies from institution to institution. Some require a PGY1 (like Cleveland Clinic, I hear does require it), but others only require a BCPS for their clinical positions and only a PharmD for general staffing positions.

My advice is to get as many longitudinal experiences in Pharmacy as you are able, outside of the general retail/hospital. You could also use your time to explore other professions in health care if you want to stay with health care but think pharmacy isn't your cup of tea.

 

[Unchained]

The good news for you is that CVS represents the worst in retail. The bad news is that the rest are slightly better and gradually getting worse. I will advise you not to enter pharmacy if you will graduate with >100k in debt. Not being a debt slave can allow you more options and greatly increase job satisfaction.

 

[usechopstix]

I agree with the above posts. Community pharmacy is where the bulk of the jobs lie and while it would be nice to have a pick in where you end up practicing, the market is not in a place for you to choose.