Pharmacy Technician Questions Thread

[Espada]

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It depends if what you want to take from it.



As for me...last year when I applied to CA schools...I had no pharmacy technician experience. But, I had a lot of hospital/health-care/research/EC experience. As a result, I wasn't even given considerations for interviews...except for Western (interview-->hold->alternate listed--->denied

Since then, I have enrolled into a pharmacy technician training program that does everything from outpatient (retail) to inpatient (hospital) and making IV products (hands-on learning). I strongly believe not only did this help me get 12 interview invites but also it helped me get accepted into 4 schools.

Having didactic formal education as a pharmacy technician is something worth selling on your PharmCAS essay and supplementals.

 

[socalpharm86]

Do both at the same time. Becoming a certified pharmacy technician is too easy to be honest. The admissions committee knows this, and they won't put much weight on you having a license if you don't have experience to back it up.

 

[Monalyce]

If you are going to pursue a job as a pharm tech, get certified. If you're going to hold the certification but not use it, don't bother.

 

[ValeRx]

CPhT doesn't mean crap.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

I've got the Mosby's review book for CPhT, and I'm slowly perusing it, but it's taking a backseat to the botany/lab that I'm taking now. That said, I'll probably apply for a part-time tech job when I go back to school full-time thus quitting the full-time job I have now. I really doubt doors will fly open for me with regards to job prospects because I have the cert. I actually oversee a store now (supervise the manager; need to hire a new one actually) and have previous medical experience (paramedic) so that could help with a pharm. tech. job application perhaps.

Frankly, buying the book and having ambitions to take the test forces me to read the book which will give me some insight before I do any shadowing. The $130 or whatever it is for certification isn't enough to amount to anything so I don't mind paying it. I still don't have the taste of premed out of my mouth entirely so regardless pharm. tech. was something I was looking at doing as a side job anyway. Interestingly, I know much more about pharmacies than I ever did before. The review book, as read so far, is probably worth a read just for professional awareness even if you elect not to take the test. DEA forms, for example. Who knew? The book is cheap too - like $30-35 at Amazon.

 

[DocAcclamation]

Would it be safe to say when applying for a Pharmacy Tech position being certified really doesnt matter? Just put in like 5 application to different pharmacy to get the internship wheels going.

👍

 

[hckyplyr]

It's really dependent upon where you want to work and which employer prefers a certification. I'm in New York, and I'm not required to be certified for my retail job. However, I'm required to be certified for my hospital position.
I know of a couple retail chains that require it, but the vast majority won't. I became certified to bolster my application for schools, trying to show I went the extra step. It just worked out good that a hospital spot came up, and I was already set to go.

 

[DocAcclamation]

Awesome. Did the extra steps payoff?

 

[Passion4Sci]

Well, he got accepted to UB - Of course the nested assumption is that he wouldn't have gotten into UB w/o it, but that's conjecture right? Since we don't know.

IN the end, we don't know what factors are helping or hindering our applications.

 

[FataL]

I am from California and I was wondering what are the requirements for getting your Pharm Tech. license? Do you have to go to a school and receive a certificate, then after that take an exam and pass it? Or can you just study by yourself and take the exam? Also if you must take a class, how long do they usually last? Thanks.

 

[fujitsux]

Sign up for the CPTB test (or watever they call it) and pass it. No need to take class. Once you get your certification, u can register for the license. Simple as that.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Ptcb.org

Go nuts!

 

[ChulRx]

Keyword, in JUNE. Most schools wrap up their Spring semester in May or June... that means your P1 year will be over and you'll be a P2 by then.

I see what you're saying/what the other poster must have meant. In my mind P2 = enrolled in P2 curriculum = August.

Don't think the BOLD was necessary though.

 

[delano2000]

Where did you get that information from? (No rudeness intended in that question). I'm a P1 in Texas, and the State Board came to speak to my class about applying for our intern cards a few weeks ago. My class is currently applying and should get the cards in June.

I currently have a pharmacy technician trainee license that expires in April. I'm just going to let it expire, (hopefully) get my intern card by June and hope that I don't need to make money/work during May.

Seems to me that since you are currently a P1 and applying for your intern license and you should be getting it in June, then you will be entering your P2 year by the time you get it.

 

[delano2000]

Keyword, in JUNE. Most schools wrap up their Spring semester in May or June... that means your P1 year will be over and you'll be a P2 by then.

Oh I see it was already discussed. Carry on.

 

[kitsune248]

I did only because my job pays for it so before I leave for school I put it on thier tab! lol

 

[FataL]

Thanks. Are there any books or other resources out there that I can use to study for this exam?

 

[Schnotty]

You do not need to go to school and waste ten thousand dollars. You just need to find a great study guide and take the PTCE (Pharmacy Technician Exam) yourself. You can register to take the exam at ptcb.org. Once you pass the test, you just show your certification to your State Board of Pharmacy to get your state license.

 

[IshDiandra]

http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/forms/tch_app_pkt.pdf

That's the link to the application form to become registered with all the requirements on how to do it.
Aside from completing one of the qualifying methods (taking tech classes, having an associate degree in pharm tech, passing the ptce, or etc.) you also need to get fingerprinted.
I'm registering as a pharm tech this summer as well since I can't qualify to be a pharmacy intern until after my second year of pre-pharm.
I've spent $129 on the PTCE, $63 on LiveScan fingerprints, and it will be $80 to send in the application. I haven't figured in how much notarizing my certificate will be, but I'm hoping I can get it done at the bank for free.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Notarizing is really cheap actually - if you pay more than $10 or so, it's too much.

 

[Schnotty]

Pharmacy managers will hire you without any prior pharmacy tech experience. Just have a good resume, showing all the hard work you did at your previous jobs. They see that as work experience/traits that would carry over into pharmacy. You should definitely be certified though.

 

[orthomyxo]

For all of you that work as retail pharm techs: what are your day to day responsibilities? I'm on the cusp of getting a job offer, and I'll be damned if all I'm going to do is answer phones and do data entry. Lol, jk. I'm sure I'd be more than happy just to be behind the counter.

But how often do you get to actually handle meds? Do you ever get to mix solutions or do anything interesting like that?

 

[phathead]

For all of you that work as retail pharm techs: what are your day to day responsibilities? I'm on the cusp of getting a job offer, and I'll be damned if all I'm going to do is answer phones and do data entry. Lol, jk. I'm sure I'd be more than happy just to be behind the counter.

But how often do you get to actually handle meds? Do you ever get to mix solutions or do anything interesting like that?

Out of the 8 hours I'll work in the shift I do those... about 8 hours of the day.

 

[rxlea]

If you want to compound and mix solutions, work at a compounding pharmacy or a hospital. I mix/make meds all day until I have calluses on my palms 🙂 between the chemo, the stat drips, code blues, PCAs, TPNs, and a plethora of other stress inducing scenarios/issues sometimes I wish I was standing behind a counter chatting with a patient. BUT- I absolutely ****ing LOVE my job 🙂

Oh- and I almost forgot the outpatient infusion center (which has some of the most complicated stuff to make) and the numerous transplant patients

 

[boltdude]

For all of you that work as retail pharm techs: what are your day to day responsibilities? I'm on the cusp of getting a job offer, and I'll be damned if all I'm going to do is answer phones and do data entry. Lol, jk. I'm sure I'd be more than happy just to be behind the counter.

But how often do you get to actually handle meds? Do you ever get to mix solutions or do anything interesting like that?

Answering phones and data entry will be a big part of your responsibility. You will fill a lot of medications as well (pill into bottles). Depending on the type of pharmacy, such as Walgreens or CVS, there isn't much mixing of any meds except maybe reconstituting the Amox.

 

[NaOH]

Honestly?

1) Run a cash register.
2) Apologize for not having Patient X's prescriptions ready.

I don't get to do anything interesting. :\

 

[yukaiyuri]

Everyday, I get to:
-input all the prescription information into the computer and bill the insurance
-solve insurance issues (and call insurances)
-count out the pills, pour out the liquids, label drugs (in all drug classes. we get to handle everything.)
-call doctor's offices for refills, clarifications on prescriptions, and drug changes
-answer the phone for refills, price quotes, questions to direct to the pharmacist, etc
-show patients where a certain item is in the OTC section
-be a cashier
-stock the drugs and order drugs
-mix antibiotic suspensions (by pouring x amount of water into the bottle)
-mix erythromycin-benzoyl peroxide gel (not often, as this drug isn't very popular, but mixing is exciting)
-mix compounds (mostly "miracle mouthwash")

Welcome to the retail world! 🙂

 

[orthomyxo]

Answering phones and data entry will be a big part of your responsibility. You will fill a lot of medications as well (pill into bottles). Depending on the type of pharmacy, such as Walgreens or CVS, there isn't much mixing of any meds except maybe reconstituting the Amox.

Lol...YES! Every time I had to take amoxicillin as a kid I always watched the pharmacist/tech do that and wanted to try. Idk why, maybe I'm just a weirdo

 

[phathead]

Honestly?

1) Run a cash register.
2) Apologize for not having Patient X's prescriptions ready.

I don't get to do anything interesting. :\

You're a clerk then, not a tech

Lol...YES! Every time I had to take amoxicillin as a kid I always watched the pharmacist/tech do that and wanted to try. Idk why, maybe I'm just a weirdo

It's not that fun. Making some sulfasalazine suspension... now that is interesting and fun. Or there's the 4L of Sunflower Oil suspension I make monthly. Or the various creams and capsules we make.

All of those are way more fun than mixin a 100mL bottle of Amox

 

[orthomyxo]

If you want to compound and mix solutions, work at a compounding pharmacy or a hospital. I mix/make meds all day until I have calluses on my palms 🙂 between the chemo, the stat drips, code blues, PCAs, TPNs, and a plethora of other stress inducing scenarios/issues sometimes I wish I was standing behind a counter chatting with a patient. BUT- I absolutely ****ing LOVE my job 🙂

Oh- and I almost forgot the outpatient infusion center (which has some of the most complicated stuff to make) and the numerous transplant patients

Well that sounds amazing. Just out of total curiosity, did you have a lot of experience in pharmacy before you landed a job in a hospital? I feel like that would be ideal for me, but I've never worked in a pharmacy before. Hopefully I'll get this job in retail and then possibly go on to be a hospital tech. 👍

 

[phathead]

Well that sounds amazing. Just out of total curiosity, did you have a lot of experience in pharmacy before you landed a job in a hospital? I feel like that would be ideal for me, but I've never worked in a pharmacy before. Hopefully I'll get this job in retail and then possibly go on to be a hospital tech. 👍

For the most part, retail teching and hospital teching do not transition well together.

 

[orthomyxo]

For the most part, retail teching and hospital teching do not transition well together.

Well I guess you have to start somewhere, right? It's difficult enough to get hired as a retail tech, so I'm willing to bet hospital pharmacies demand applicants with lots of experience.

 

[syunfung]

Everyday, I get to:
-input all the prescription information into the computer and bill the insurance
-solve insurance issues (and call insurances)
-count out the pills, pour out the liquids, label drugs (in all drug classes. we get to handle everything.)
-call doctor's offices for refills, clarifications on prescriptions, and drug changes
-answer the phone for refills, price quotes, questions to direct to the pharmacist, etc
-show patients where a certain item is in the OTC section
-be a cashier
-stock the drugs and order drugs
-mix antibiotic suspensions (by pouring x amount of water into the bottle)
-mix erythromycin-benzoyl peroxide gel (not often, as this drug isn't very popular, but mixing is exciting)
-mix compounds (mostly "miracle mouthwash")

Welcome to the retail world! 🙂

My responsibilities are just about the same. However, as the "weekend tech", I get all the cleaning up responsibilities as well (such as cleaning up the filling queue, which is still a daunting task, because there are still many patients on Saturdays). At CVS, they have a Patient Outreach Initiative where I have to call about a list with 5-6 pages of patients to make sure they're refilling their medications when they're supposed to. They're also adding the "CSI" to my workload, so God knows how I'm supposed to fit that within my working hours. I already work three hours overtime.

Oh, and don't forget the cycle counts (ensure the stock in the system is accurate).

 

[Dezixn]

Everyday, I get to:
-input all the prescription information into the computer and bill the insurance
-solve insurance issues (and call insurances)
-count out the pills, pour out the liquids, label drugs (in all drug classes. we get to handle everything.)
-call doctor's offices for refills, clarifications on prescriptions, and drug changes
-answer the phone for refills, price quotes, questions to direct to the pharmacist, etc
-show patients where a certain item is in the OTC section
-be a cashier
-stock the drugs and order drugs
-mix antibiotic suspensions (by pouring x amount of water into the bottle)
-mix erythromycin-benzoyl peroxide gel (not often, as this drug isn't very popular, but mixing is exciting)
-mix compounds (mostly "miracle mouthwash")

Welcome to the retail world! 🙂

Pretty much accurate. Though if you're at a busy store you'll only be doing a few of those mostly, while the other techs take care of their duties.
A slow store, or at a slow time you'll be doing it all pretty much.
So if anyone tells you we just count pills...

My responsibilities are just about the same. However, as the "weekend tech", I get all the cleaning up responsibilities as well (such as cleaning up the filling queue, which is still a daunting task, because there are still many patients on Saturdays). At CVS, they have a Patient Outreach Initiative where I have to call about a list with 5-6 pages of patients to make sure they're refilling their medications when they're supposed to. They're also adding the "CSI" to my workload, so God knows how I'm supposed to fit that within my working hours. I already work three hours overtime.

Oh, and don't forget the cycle counts (ensure the stock in the system is accurate).

Gotta love PCI... Can't wait for CSI too... As if the weekend people aren't doing enough already.

 

[rxlea]

Well that sounds amazing. Just out of total curiosity, did you have a lot of experience in pharmacy before you landed a job in a hospital? I feel like that would be ideal for me, but I've never worked in a pharmacy before. Hopefully I'll get this job in retail and then possibly go on to be a hospital tech. 👍

I started in retail at OSCO before it was CVS. I didn't have any experience- not certification etc. They trained me and paid for my CPhT test. Essentially, I got lucky. Then, I worked in mail order: filled meds, fixed and logged tech errors, filled the giant two story robot, filled narcs. It was rather boring/mindless during the filling (which is like an assembly line) but the ppl working there were awesome so it made the time pass easily. Then, I just applied for the hospital job without hospital experience to a prestigious institution. Don't know why they interviewed/hired me to this day but it was the best choice I ever made. I rotate from an IV tech to a compounding/delivery tech. When I am in the IV room it is awesome. I make all kinds of stuff- drugs that I never knew existed including research medications. I learn a lot there about doses, treatments, and I can now recognize when things are timed incorrectly or the dose is off. I learned about stability for various drugs, creatinine clearance, vanco dosing, tacrolimus monitoring, side effects of various meds, drug interactions, rare illnesses and treatments (like genetic disorders/diseases), chemotherapies for different cancers, psychotropic meds, pain management, you name it, I have seen it. We even make syringes with a live bacteria for urology patients for bladder cancer. And we have LEECHES!! LOL

Dude, get a hospital job. It blows retail out of the water. No offense to you retailers 🙂 I don't wanna brag 🙂 and it sounds like phathead has a phat job too wherever he is working. If you want retail, I would pick where he is at lol you gotta get in somewhere where you will learn a lot and have fun while doing it.

 

[rxlea]

You're a clerk then, not a tech



It's not that fun. Making some sulfasalazine suspension... now that is interesting and fun. Or there's the 4L of Sunflower Oil suspension I make monthly. Or the various creams and capsules we make.

All of those are way more fun than mixin a 100mL bottle of Amox

I'm allergic to sulfasalazine 🙁 boooo I bet it would be fun and messy.

What do you use the sunflower for? I'm very curious. Do you guys make suppositories, too? I've never made them before but I would certainly like to lol

 

[hckyplyr]

I started in retail at OSCO before it was CVS. I didn't have any experience- not certification etc. They trained me and paid for my CPhT test. Essentially, I got lucky. Then, I worked in mail order: filled meds, fixed and logged tech errors, filled the giant two story robot, filled narcs. It was rather boring/mindless during the filling (which is like an assembly line) but the ppl working there were awesome so it made the time pass easily. Then, I just applied for the hospital job without hospital experience to a prestigious institution. Don't know why they interviewed/hired me to this day but it was the best choice I ever made. I rotate from an IV tech to a compounding/delivery tech. When I am in the IV room it is awesome. I make all kinds of stuff- drugs that I never knew existed including research medications. I learn a lot there about doses, treatments, and I can now recognize when things are timed incorrectly or the dose is off. I learned about stability for various drugs, creatinine clearance, vanco dosing, tacrolimus monitoring, side effects of various meds, drug interactions, rare illnesses and treatments (like genetic disorders/diseases), chemotherapies for different cancers, psychotropic meds, pain management, you name it, I have seen it. We even make syringes with a live bacteria for urology patients for bladder cancer. And we have LEECHES!! LOL

Dude, get a hospital job. It blows retail out of the water. No offense to you retailers 🙂 I don't wanna brag 🙂 and it sounds like phathead has a phat job too wherever he is working. If you want retail, I would pick where he is at lol you gotta get in somewhere where you will learn a lot and have fun while doing it.

Sounds pretty much exactly like my hospital job. I work in both a retail and hospital job, but just put my two weeks in at retail so I can focus all of my time towards the hospital. Not only does it pay much better, but I have so much more autonomy and responsibility. Plus, I plan on working in a hospital upon graduation. I learn more about what each individual drug does in retail, because I have more time to stop and ask questions, plus every prescription has a drug info sheet attached, which I often read. In the hospital, its incredible how much info pharmacists need to know about anything and everything, you are exposed to 100x more. For example, tommorow I'll be in the IV room all day compounding the iv bags for the day, it could be norepinephrines, vancos, 2g ancefs, sodium bicarbs, oxytocins, insulins (of course), bacitracin, plus any stat iv bag that needs to be made on call. All in all, the hospital experience is incredible, and I am very fortunate I have the opportunity to work there. Rxlea is right on with her advice!!!

 

[hckyplyr]

Forgot to add that we don't have leeches....Sounds pretty cool though, I'll have to ask if we can get some tommorow...haha

 

[rxlea]

Sounds pretty much exactly like my hospital job. I work in both a retail and hospital job, but just put my two weeks in at retail so I can focus all of my time towards the hospital. Not only does it pay much better, but I have so much more autonomy and responsibility. Plus, I plan on working in a hospital upon graduation. I learn more about what each individual drug does in retail, because I have more time to stop and ask questions, plus every prescription has a drug info sheet attached, which I often read. In the hospital, its incredible how much info pharmacists need to know about anything and everything, you are exposed to 100x more. For example, tommorow I'll be in the IV room all day compounding the iv bags for the day, it could be norepinephrines, vancos, 2g ancefs, sodium bicarbs, oxytocins, insulins (of course), bacitracin, plus any stat iv bag that needs to be made on call. All in all, the hospital experience is incredible, and I am very fortunate I have the opportunity to work there. Rxlea is right on with her advice!!!

Hey- you guys should get the premix 2g cefazolins and the 1.5 and 1.25 premade vancos so you don't have to compound them! Saves a lot of time, trust me. Pharmedium makes them. We also got the premix nicardipines to put in pyxis. Using the ampule and making that stuff total volume is a pain in the ass, especially the concentrated ones. Do you guys compound the k riders? (Kcl,lido, D5W)

 

[pharm B]

This is exactly what a at work is like for me. It's a juggling act of putting medications together, providing customer service, and answering the phone calls that never stop coming.

Everyday, I get to:
-input all the prescription information into the computer and bill the insurance
-solve insurance issues (and call insurances)
-count out the pills, pour out the liquids, label drugs (in all drug classes. we get to handle everything.)
-call doctor's offices for refills, clarifications on prescriptions, and drug changes
-answer the phone for refills, price quotes, questions to direct to the pharmacist, etc
-show patients where a certain item is in the OTC section
-be a cashier
-stock the drugs and order drugs
-mix antibiotic suspensions (by pouring x amount of water into the bottle)
-mix erythromycin-benzoyl peroxide gel (not often, as this drug isn't very popular, but mixing is exciting)
-mix compounds (mostly "miracle mouthwash")

Welcome to the retail world! 🙂

 

[phathead]

I'm allergic to sulfasalazine 🙁 boooo I bet it would be fun and messy.

What do you use the sunflower for? I'm very curious. Do you guys make suppositories, too? I've never made them before but I would certainly like to lol

It is VERY messy. You can scrub the counter six times and it'll still come back yellow. Plus it is an absolute pain to get to suspend. All it wants to do is clump up so you have to be very very controlled when you start adding the suspending vehicle otherwise you'll be screwed.

No idea what the sunflower oil is for, all I know is she drinks it. I'm the only one in the company who knows how to make it, so I get the call about mid-month.

We do suppositories, but not too often. Always felt weird having a hot plate out and then pouring something into a mold. Kinda reminded me of playing with Play-Doh.

Another PIA is anything that uses hydrocortisone powder. That stuff is staticy as hell.

I just made some progesterone capsules this morning ironically enough lol

 

[hckyplyr]

Hey- you guys should get the premix 2g cefazolins and the 1.5 and 1.25 premade vancos so you don't have to compound them! Saves a lot of time, trust me. Pharmedium makes them. We also got the premix nicardipines to put in pyxis. Using the ampule and making that stuff total volume is a pain in the ass, especially the concentrated ones. Do you guys compound the k riders? (Kcl,lido, D5W)

Our kcl, lido, and D5W are all premade. Actually now that I think about it, we now have oxytocins premade, and Sodium bicarb 150meq too. Any other amount besides 150meq we obviously modify. It's cool adding those huge syringes to the bag. But we definately don't have the 1.25/1.5/2g ancefs premade. If we did, that would take a huge workload off, but I'm sure they have their reasons. Our hospital (I'm sure yours too) works very hard to streamline their workload efficiency, and cut time and costs wherever possible. I'm impressed you have learned so much about the doses, timing, treatment regimens, etc. I'm usually so busy I don't have too much time to check out the labels and ask questions as thoroughly as I'd like. As I'm writing this, I just got called in, looks like I'm going into work tonight in a few hours. Do you get supplemental pay? Supplemental is when you go into work anytime outside of your scheduled hours, and they pay an extra $6.35/hour. So today I'll be making around $22/hour to be doing something I love. Can't beat it

 

[rxlea]

Our kcl, lido, and D5W are all premade. Actually now that I think about it, we now have oxytocins premade, and Sodium bicarb 150meq too. Any other amount besides 150meq we obviously modify. It's cool adding those huge syringes to the bag. But we definately don't have the 1.25/1.5/2g ancefs premade. If we did, that would take a huge workload off, but I'm sure they have their reasons. Our hospital (I'm sure yours too) works very hard to streamline their workload efficiency, and cut time and costs wherever possible. I'm impressed you have learned so much about the doses, timing, treatment regimens, etc. I'm usually so busy I don't have too much time to check out the labels and ask questions as thoroughly as I'd like. As I'm writing this, I just got called in, looks like I'm going into work tonight in a few hours. Do you get supplemental pay? Supplemental is when you go into work anytime outside of your scheduled hours, and they pay an extra $6.35/hour. So today I'll be making around $22/hour to be doing something I love. Can't beat it

No supplemental pay, but we do get time and a half for overtime which equals 30 bucks an hour for many of us. The week after I flew to minnesota for my interview, I worked like 5 doubles to make up for it and my paycheck was awesome LOL

Where do you get your premade k riders from?

And phat, suppositories sound fun. We used to make mediclophan suppositories but not anymore. I never had the chance to do it.

We do, however, compoind cocaine solutions for the ED which is hella fun LOL

 

[Zekecb]

Everyday, I get to:
-input all the prescription information into the computer and bill the insurance
-solve insurance issues (and call insurances)
-count out the pills, pour out the liquids, label drugs (in all drug classes. we get to handle everything.)
-call doctor's offices for refills, clarifications on prescriptions, and drug changes
-answer the phone for refills, price quotes, questions to direct to the pharmacist, etc
-show patients where a certain item is in the OTC section
-be a cashier
-stock the drugs and order drugs
-mix antibiotic suspensions (by pouring x amount of water into the bottle)
-mix erythromycin-benzoyl peroxide gel (not often, as this drug isn't very popular, but mixing is exciting)
-mix compounds (mostly "miracle mouthwash")

Welcome to the retail world! 🙂

This pretty much covers it, but don't forget about log copies. Every prescription must be labeled, however your pharmacy does it, and it must be filed and kept for 10 years. The problem isn't so much organizing the log copies as it is dealing with missing and problematic prescriptions.

 

[hckyplyr]

No supplemental pay, but we do get time and a half for overtime which equals 30 bucks an hour for many of us. The week after I flew to minnesota for my interview, I worked like 5 doubles to make up for it and my paycheck was awesome LOL

Where do you get your premade k riders from?

And phat, suppositories sound fun. We used to make mediclophan suppositories but not anymore. I never had the chance to do it.

We do, however, compoind cocaine solutions for the ED which is hella fun LOL

I'm still getting a bit confused by your "k rider" reference. I even asked the pharmacists tonight if they knew what a "k rider" is and they all looked dumbfounded. Do you mean for example Normal Saline with 10/20/40 meq of kcl. or the D5W with 10/20/40 kcl, or Dextrose in 1/2 normal saline? If so, yes we definately have all of those premixed. I'd recommend checking out the manufacturer Baxter.

 

[rxlea]

We use baxter and have all those formulations you mentioned but I'm talking about 10MeQ KCL, 10mg Lido, in D5W 100ml bags. We have to compound these ourselves and they are a pain to do a bunch when we are busy, especially when there are a lot of patients and they are running these things at 1 bag an hour.

LOL we just totally hijacked this thread...sorry!

 

[TolueneRX]

would you say hospital pharmacy is more 'stressful'? or more 'fun'? or both? compared to retail?

 

[rxlea]

would you say hospital pharmacy is more 'stressful'? or more 'fun'? or both? compared to retail?

More fun and more stressful but in a good way...kind of like how ER physicians enjoy the fast-paced environment. Personally, I would want to do critical care as that seems to be (at least to me) the most "exciting" in hospital pharm. Although hem/onc seems just as challenging. Either way, I think hospital pharm gives more of a chance to utilize clinical skills daily. You still talk to patients (and their families) but are viewed more postively (I think) because they are at their most vulnerable (i.e. you are the hero/helper etc). In retail, patients are impatient and complain for every little thing. The phones ring off the hook, the doctors that call you or the ones you call can be pricks and you have to manage techs. Plus there is the insurance BS which is, in my opinion, the worst aspect of retail...that and the damn drive thru- esp when someone comes through to pick up a script and then says "Oh, could you give me a box of ibuprofen" or "how much is your OTC prilosec". We once had a patient ask for a Coke LOL

 

[phathead]

More fun and more stressful but in a good way...kind of like how ER physicians enjoy the fast-paced environment. Personally, I would want to do critical care as that seems to be (at least to me) the most "exciting" in hospital pharm. Although hem/onc seems just as challenging. Either way, I think hospital pharm gives more of a chance to utilize clinical skills daily. You still talk to patients (and their families) but are viewed more postively (I think) because they are at their most vulnerable (i.e. you are the hero/helper etc). In retail, patients are impatient and complain for every little thing. The phones ring off the hook, the doctors that call you or the ones you call can be pricks and you have to manage techs. Plus there is the insurance BS which is, in my opinion, the worst aspect of retail...that and the damn drive thru- esp when someone comes through to pick up a script and then says "Oh, could you give me a box of ibuprofen" or "how much is your OTC prilosec". We once had a patient ask for a Coke LOL

You ever worked in a pharmacy that's doin 700+ scripts in 8 hours? lol

that is hell.

 

[rxlea]

You ever worked in a pharmacy that's doin 700+ scripts in 8 hours? lol

that is hell.

I once floated to a store like that...I never wanted to go back