Pharmacy tech experience

[hkdude97]

Would this be more beneficial on an app than just being something like a cashier

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[hkdude97]

and is it worthwhile

 

[piii]

Only if you're trying to go to pharm school

 

[cbrons]

I was a pharmacy tech in college and was asked about it at my med school interviews. Yes it is a valuable experience, you get to see the garbage that retail pharmacists have to put up with on a daily basis and it makes it less likely you will treat them badly in the future when they call and tell you that hydralazine is not for itching.

 

[newdoc2016]

I was a pharmacy tech in college and was asked about it at my med school interviews. Yes it is a valuable experience, you get to see the garbage that retail pharmacists have to put up with on a daily basis and it makes it less likely you will treat them badly in the future when they call and tell you that hydralazine is not for itching.

+1. Got my state license while I was in high school. Nothing beats helping the GP (gen population) to make you realize you don't want to be a pharmacist.

 

[Turambar]

I ****ing hope so, I work too hard for this to be a waste of time. My boss says it won't count as "clinical" experience but I do work closely with patients and while there isn't a standard definition for the term, I definitely do smell many of them as I've heard suggested around here.

 

[piii]

I ****ing hope so, I work too hard for this to be a waste of time. My boss says it won't count as "clinical" experience but I do work closely with patients and while there isn't a standard definition for the term, I definitely do smell many of them as I've heard suggested around here.

Do you work in an actual clinic or a cvs pharmacy? If it's the latter, it's not clinical.

 

[Cara Delevingne]

You can learn a lot about the different medications and what they probably treat. You will also see just how overprescribed antibiotics are.

 

[ciestar]

I have thousands of retail hours at a pharmacy on my application. I need the money and this was the best I could find pay wise (plus, I never work weekends). Yes, retail sucks, but it's what you make of it. No experience is ever not worthwhile.... you learn something with everything you do. For me, it taught me the rough end of prescribing medications and how frustrating it can be for a doctor when something goes wrong at the pharmacy. Learned patience when dealing with irate/difficult customers at the store. Also learned how to better communicate with those around me....I also learned I don't want to be a pharmacist and that basically helped with that.

HOWEVER, in I think ALL of my interviews, my nonclinical volunteer work basically came up every single time. They wanted to hear more about that. If you need a job, get one. If you want a job at a pharmacy for some kind of patient experience, I'd find something else to supplement this.

 

[ciestar]

You can learn a lot about the different medications and what they probably treat. You will also see just how overprescribed antibiotics are.

Diabetes and HTN? Won't lose weight or change their diet? PRESCRIBE MORE MEDICATIONS. Better yet, the new expensive ones that requires prior authorizations or have outrageous copays.

Health care should not be like this...

 

[LizzyM]

Retail customers are not patients. This is not a "clinical" experience but it is employment which is valuable and it is a learning experience that may be valuable to you in the future. But without some experience with people who are referred to as "patients" ("there is a patient waiting to see you"), the adcom is believe that you have sufficient "clinical experience".

 

[ciestar]

Retail customers are not patients. This is not a "clinical" experience but it is employment which is valuable and it is a learning experience that may be valuable to you in the future. But without some experience with people who are referred to as "patients" ("there is a patient waiting to see you"), the adcom is believe that you have sufficient "clinical experience".

I had 200+ clinical hours and the 4000+ pharmacy hours. So i guess that's why I got away with that.

 

[NEVERSURRENDERMD]

Would this be more beneficial on an app than just being something like a cashier

Everyone with pharmacy experience doesn't get it from retail pharmacy experience. I haven't checked to see how/if it will be valuable or not, and especially whether it will count as clinical experience, but I worked as a pharmacy and IV technician for Kennestone Hospital for 2 years, as a pharmacy technician at Emory Hospital for 2 years, and as a pharmacy/IV technician III for Piedmont Hospital for almost 5 years during my first undergrad degree/marriage experiment/goofing off on life experiment. I can't speak for everyone, but I can tell you that I definitely had a lot of what I would consider clinical experiences when I would be delivering IV's and even PO meds on the floors or the ER or the ICU/CCU, and I also ended up manning the IV and OR satellite pharmacies at Piedmont, either virtually by myself at times or literally by myself at times. They were pretty lax with the laws at Piedmont back in those days, and I don't know what it's like now, but I had a ton of patient, nurse, PA and doctor interaction. I even would come into the OR during surgeries to bring drips in, so I had to get all scrubbed up to do that. My hospital pharmacy experience at Piedmont is actually what first started me thinking about becoming a doctor, not only from the experience, but from the friendships I developed with doctors. I would also like to say that pharmacists are ridiculously overpaid and SHOULD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES carry the title 'doctor' as in PharmD. I used to have to show them how to create simple solutions when the doctor would ask for a non-standard percentile solution, and most of the pharmacists, especially the new grads, were utterly useless.

 

[ciestar]

Not patients...

Yet we still call them that when they show up to pick up meds or when we called because the doctor screwed something up. (My favorite is sending over something theyre allergic to).

I also got some of my leadership experience this way...it is what it is..ho hum...

 

[BigBoss]

Retail customers are not patients. This is not a "clinical" experience but it is employment which is valuable and it is a learning experience that may be valuable to you in the future. But without some experience with people who are referred to as "patients" ("there is a patient waiting to see you"), the adcom is believe that you have sufficient "clinical experience".

Isn't that relative depending on the adcom? I've had several adcoms ask me about this experience during interviews and none refuted my claims.

 

[Turambar]

Retail customers are not patients. This is not a "clinical" experience but it is employment which is valuable and it is a learning experience that may be valuable to you in the future. But without some experience with people who are referred to as "patients" ("there is a patient waiting to see you"), the adcom is believe that you have sufficient "clinical experience".

They absolutely are. It might just be the chain I work for, as I see Walgreen's and CVS are more automated and architecturally designed so that much of the pharmacy is closed to customers, whereas my workplace has no blindspots to ensure that techs are more accessible to patients. I do a lot more than count pills and operate a register. I maintain profiles/update their allergies, speak knowledgeably with them about their immunization schedules based on CDC info, I help them make sense of their insurance policy and assist them in prioritizing which medicines to purchase and when if that policy fails, if they have trouble walking I help them do that and when their families come in and tell me they've passed away I comfort them. I do most everything except stick the patients with needles and offer medical advice. Lately my manager has been training me in medication therapy management, or MTM, which is described to me as a variety of clinical services that I can conduct throughs certain Medicare plans and I've been calling patients to check whether they're compliant and speak with them about changes to their therapy, often calling their doctor(s) to report what I've gathered when relevant. Again, I understand that a lot of pharmacies don't do this but I've worked really hard to make sure that my team is more hand-on. Retail pharmacies are beginning to see value in a diverse range of services, and I have to wonder if the blurry 'clinical' line is crossed here more often than you might think.

 

[LizzyM]

Isn't that relative depending on the adcom? I've had several adcoms ask me about this experience during interviews and none refuted my claims.

don't confuse what an interviewer choose to talk with you about and what got you the interview. I don't deny that retail pharmacy experience is valuable and that it gives you an opportunity to help others particularly the sick, and it helps you build valuable skills but it is not a substitute for experiences in a setting where diagnosis and treatment takes place by a licensed physician or a mid-level practitioner.

 

[BigBoss]

don't confuse what an interviewer choose to talk with you about and what got you the interview. I don't deny that retail pharmacy experience is valuable and that it gives you an opportunity to help others particularly the sick, and it helps you build valuable skills but it is not a substitute for experiences in a setting where diagnosis and treatment takes place by a licensed physician or a mid-level practitioner.

I see your point. It makes more sense now that you've clarified that a bit.