Pharmacy Worst Career Possible

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ancienbon said:
NAPLEXON said:
The OP is absolutely right. We all know it, but for some reasons, the discussion has turned out to be "I'm the toughest". I know there are harder professions when it comes to physical challenges. I'm sure physical work is not a main criterion while assessing a pharmacist's job difficulty. Still, standing for straight 10 hours (sometimes 14 hours) while having no lunch break is absolutely physically challenging, esp. if you are overweight, suffering from sciatica, diabetic, or even pregnant; and can be dangerous if you have varicose veins. A pharmacist job is very stressful at all levels. I know a pharmacist who started taking adderal already to be able to handle the daily tasks. Make one mistake and you will get sued by a patient, and you may even lose your license. A pharmacist in Oregon was sued and fined because he forgot to counsel a patient on a rare side effect of Trazodone, that is priapism. You have to counsel appropriately while verifying 500 prescriptions per shift (that means verifying at least 1 prescription per minute if you work 8 hours shift, assuming you have nothing else to do but verifying), giving immunizations, dealing with irate patients, handling insurance issues, receiving controlled substance orders and counting them, manage the will call list, managing the inventory, ...etc. Pharmacy is hard because of mental stress, not physical stress. It is the worst career in healthcare. Pharmacy is the only healthcare career where retail experience counts for nothing. In fact, as you grow older, your chances to get a better job are decreased. And if you bring up the army guys who were shot or injured, why don't you bring up the pharmacists who were shot or injured during robberies while unable to even defend themselves because it is against the retail chain policies. C'mon, it is not that bright career. An RN will make as much money as you do. A doctor's or a dentist's salary is 5 times greater than you, let alone what they make through their offices, with much more prestige. We can not even start our own business because the chains are monopolizing the market, and you need a high volume to make for the low insurance reimbursements. Pharmacy is a bad career if you compare it to other careers which dictate academic preparation
i have to agree with you here on some points.Pharmacy is tough , we have to work out butt off to get no respect from corporate ,store managers, and angry customers who would complaint about stupid things we have no control over. The other day a customer threatens to get a tech fired . she complained and the assistant manager gave her a25 dollars gift card for being rude to the pharmacy staff. the only good thing about pharmacy is the pay
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Thank you for your well written response.
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NAPLEXON said:
The OP is absolutely right. We all know it, but for some reasons, the discussion has turned out to be "I'm the toughest". I know there are harder professions when it comes to physical challenges. I'm sure physical work is not a main criterion while assessing a pharmacist's job difficulty. Still, standing for straight 10 hours (sometimes 14 hours) while having no lunch break is absolutely physically challenging, esp. if you are overweight, suffering from sciatica, diabetic, or even pregnant; and can be dangerous if you have varicose veins. A pharmacist job is very stressful at all levels. I know a pharmacist who started taking adderal already to be able to handle the daily tasks. Make one mistake and you will get sued by a patient, and you may even lose your license. A pharmacist in Oregon was sued and fined because he forgot to counsel a patient on a rare side effect of Trazodone, that is priapism. You have to counsel appropriately while verifying 500 prescriptions per shift (that means verifying at least 1 prescription per minute if you work 8 hours shift, assuming you have nothing else to do but verifying), giving immunizations, dealing with irate patients, handling insurance issues, receiving controlled substance orders and counting them, manage the will call list, managing the inventory, ...etc. Pharmacy is hard because of mental stress, not physical stress. It is the worst career in healthcare. Pharmacy is the only healthcare career where retail experience counts for nothing. In fact, as you grow older, your chances to get a better job are decreased. And if you bring up the army guys who were shot or injured, why don't you bring up the pharmacists who were shot or injured during robberies while unable to even defend themselves because it is against the retail chain policies. C'mon, it is not that bright career. An RN will make as much money as you do. A doctor's or a dentist's salary is 5 times greater than you, let alone what they make through their offices, with much more prestige. We can not even start our own business because the chains are monopolizing the market, and you need a high volume to make for the low insurance reimbursements. Pharmacy is a bad career if you compare it to other careers which dictate academic preparation.
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:oops: you remind me of what my prof used to tell me, "the grass is always greener on the other side"
 
Yes, retail pharmacy is so terrible. The society don't appreciate your job. There is nothing to protect pharmacists. The stupid law try to catch you. The future pharmacy will go to the hell if the concept of "retail pharmacy" is still exist. The retail chain pharmacy is only in America. There is no pharmacy store belong to the retail chain in others countries.
 
diplomat said:
I've had many jobs in my lifetime. I've worked in factories, I've done construction where I have put my life on the line with vehicles buzzing by me at 90mph, I've worked outside in New England winters loading and unloading trucks but I would gladly go back to doing those jobs if they paid what retail pharmacy paid. One thing my prior jobs had was comradery, even though our job sucked, we enjoyed our time together and we had fun and made the best of it. Retail pharmacy (CVS) is pure misery. The pharmacists hate each other and constantly bitch and moan about each other. THe pharmacists bitch about the techs. THe techs bitch about the pharmacists. The managers bitch about the pharmacists. Everyone HATES eachother. I've never had a job where everyone completely despises EVERYONE. It is the most toxic work environment I have ever been envolved with in my life.
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You right, totally agree. There is no professional at all.
 
quinn0267 said:
Yes, retail pharmacy is so terrible. The society don't appreciate your job. There is nothing to protect pharmacists. The stupid law try to catch you. The future pharmacy will go to the hell if the concept of "retail pharmacy" is still exist. The retail chain pharmacy is only in America. There is no pharmacy store belong to the retail chain in others countries.
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Are you even practicing in the USA? Doesnt sound like it.
 
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pharmacy sucks.

Whoa been here 5 years
 
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ancienbon said:
NAPLEXON said:
It is the worst career in healthcare. An RN will make as much money as you do. A doctor's or a dentist's salary is 5 times greater than you, let alone what they make through their offices, with much more prestige.
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Regular RN's do not make as much money as pharmacists. Maybe, a director of nursing, but she would have more than just a regular RN (at least a BSN & probably a MSN)

Regular general practice doctors or dentists do not make 5 times the average pharmacist. Especially when you consider the huge malpractice insurance they must cover.

Not to mention the 80+ hr weeks required to become a physician, and then the on-call hours. One nice thing about retail, when the shift is over, one can go home and not worry about being called all night long.

Plus, dentists have their own health hazards. Mine is always complaining about how bad his back hurts & he's young enough he probably hasn't paid his school debts off yet.

Pharmacy is far, far from being the worst job. Like any job, it has its negatives, as well as it pluses. And like any job, certain persons will absolute hate the job, and others will love.
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BidingMyTime said:
ancienbon said:
Regular RN's do not make as much money as pharmacists. Maybe, a director of nursing, but she would have more than just a regular RN (at least a BSN & probably a MSN)

Regular general practice doctors or dentists do not make 5 times the average pharmacist. Especially when you consider the huge malpractice insurance they must cover.

Not to mention the 80+ hr weeks required to become a physician, and then the on-call hours. One nice thing about retail, when the shift is over, one can go home and not worry about being called all night long.

Plus, dentists have their own health hazards. Mine is always complaining about how bad his back hurts & he's young enough he probably hasn't paid his school debts off yet.

Pharmacy is far, far from being the worst job. Like any job, it has its negatives, as well as it pluses. And like any job, certain persons will absolute hate the job, and others will love.
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Well said. Retail pharmacy has its good and its bad. It also depends on your coworkers, and the company you work for. I think the chains are doing nothing but demoting the profession of pharmacy. We are disrespected by front managers, customers, and district managers for things we have no control over. Dont get me wrong, i know retail pharmacists who love their jobs, and some others who hate their job. As a matter of fact , a friend of mine just left CVS for the hospital. He hated cvs.... One day he was forced by his supervisor to fill a non legit c2. He once got yelled by his supervisor.
Do i love my job? no.. do i hate it ? no.... It is a job.it pays the bills. and i am just happy to have a job//
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Very conveniently for those who give up Pharmacy, my local Kroger is hiring. I don't know exactly what they want you to do there, but it's only nights, week-ends and holidays. $7.35 per hour. Did I mention that it will be part-time only? PM me for address and references.
 
The thing about working for retail pharmacy is that once you get in, you will be a ***** and corporate is your pimp. So dont act surprised when you get treated like one by everyone
 
DelawareStudent said:
Wait! You mean all those action movies where the Pharmacists swoops in and saves the world by filling the Presidents Warfirin script at the last second.....then goes back to enjoying high-end cocktail parties, tuxedos, and fast cars until the next crisis are inaccurate?!?!

I've been bamboozled!!:eek:
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Funny :laugh: most people think we stand around all day
 
Classic bickering......and we wonder why today our profession is going downhill

I agree with the OP 80% although I wont say it is the worst profession I would say community pharmacy is the worst possible job a person can do after going to school for 7 years of college and yes I am giving you people a chance to rip my post apart and pretend that you people are tough and yes we all know pharmacy is not for weak people.We all very well know that.
I hope you guys read the CVS incidence and understand the fact that understaffing has nothing to do with being weak or strong.
Oh yeah did I forget to mention I do all the work around the house and I never thought its tough.I cannot believe someone is saying that is tough and working in community pharmacy isnt.
 
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This post is so hilarious. You failed to mention all the benefits of being a pharmacist. The average salary is 115k plus . Of course you have a lot of stress and annoying customers, that's partly why the pay is so high. And the comments you made about the hours isn't always true. Sometimes you may work two 40 hour weeks then the next pharmacist comes in and works two 40 hour plus weeks . The schedule completely depends on where you work. And saying there is no job security ? Are you serious ? Pharmacy is one of the most secure careers, so long as you are good at what you do. And it is a growing field with many opportunities.
 
What's wrong with working evenings? My dream shift is like starting at 12PM-3PM and finishing at 8PM-11PM. Wake up around 10AM-12PM, run some errands, go to work, go clubbing, hookah lounge, casino, strip club after work, come home at 6AM, repeat.
 
Sparda29 said:
What's wrong with working evenings? My dream shift is like starting at 12PM-3PM and finishing at 8PM-11PM. Wake up around 10AM-12PM, run some errands, go to work, go clubbing, hookah lounge, casino, strip club after work, come home at 6AM, repeat.
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Well that's unprofessional, but then again you do go to Touro where the mean GPA is a 3.2

Hm.
 
oliviaalta123 said:
This post is so hilarious. You failed to mention all the benefits of being a pharmacist. The average salary is 115k plus . Of course you have a lot of stress and annoying customers, that's partly why the pay is so high. And the comments you made about the hours isn't always true. Sometimes you may work two 40 hour weeks then the next pharmacist comes in and works two 40 hour plus weeks . The schedule completely depends on where you work. And saying there is no job security ? Are you serious ? Pharmacy is one of the most secure careers, so long as you are good at what you do. And it is a growing field with many opportunities.
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welcome to the real world. most secure career?
 
Parklife said:
Well that's unprofessional, but then again you do go to Touro where the mean GPA is a 3.2

Hm.
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LOL! How is what I do in my free time "unprofessional"? In fact, I just interviewed for a position recently that starts in the afternoon and ends in the evening. I'm pretty sure a mean GPA of 3.2 is pretty good.
 
Sparda29 said:
LOL! How is what I do in my free time "unprofessional"? In fact, I just interviewed for a position recently that starts in the afternoon and ends in the evening. I'm pretty sure a mean GPA of 3.2 is pretty good.
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I'm just poking fun. It bothers me that some can get into pharmacy school with a 3.2 verses a 3.7 and STILL be on equal footing when competing for jobs.


Actually, it bothers me that people can get into pharmacy school with a 3.2


Also, that is frightening. A 3.2 is NOT good. You shouldn't set your standard so low.
 
Sparda29 said:
LOL! How is what I do in my free time "unprofessional"? In fact, I just interviewed for a position recently that starts in the afternoon and ends in the evening. I'm pretty sure a mean GPA of 3.2 is pretty good.
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How dare you do activites that are perfectly accepatble of someone in their 20's....


Also what school you go to completely defines how good of pharmacist you will be. Clearly you do not understand this concept because you went to a school with an average GPA of 3.2. /sarcasm off
 
Parklife said:
I'm just poking fun. It bothers me that some can get into pharmacy school with a 3.2 verses a 3.7 and STILL be on equal footing when competing for jobs.


Actually, it bothers me that people can get into pharmacy school with a 3.2


Also, that is frightening. A 3.2 is NOT good. You shouldn't set your standard so low.
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They are making the program tougher to get into now though. And touro students mostly get internships at NYP hospital. I like their rotation idea better, cause you don't apply much of what you learn unless you are in rotations.

But I'm seeing a lot of touro college ads on the subway sparda lol.
 
Parklife said:
I'm just poking fun. It bothers me that some can get into pharmacy school with a 3.2 verses a 3.7 and STILL be on equal footing when competing for jobs.


Actually, it bothers me that people can get into pharmacy school with a 3.2


Also, that is frightening. A 3.2 is NOT good. You shouldn't set your standard so low.
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You're right. From here on out we should cut everyone who did not make a 3.7 or better out of the workforce. Clearly these people are a bane to society because they are so ignorant.
 
Parklife said:
I'm just poking fun. It bothers me that some can get into pharmacy school with a 3.2 verses a 3.7 and STILL be on equal footing when competing for jobs.


Actually, it bothers me that people can get into pharmacy school with a 3.2


Also, that is frightening. A 3.2 is NOT good. You shouldn't set your standard so low.
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Mine was lower than that :smuggrin: and I got into two, yes two! Top ten schools.

With grade inflation at some places, the difference between a 3.7 and 3.2 might not be a big deal.

Remember it's about the whole package. A gpa doesn't define you as a student.
 
Pharmacists complain about not being respected, but then scoff at any sense of competition to earn said respect.



3.2 GPA, no bachelor degree needed, sooo many pharmacy schools opening up, NAPLEX has near 100% passrate - score doesn't mean much for residency/specialization.


Think about it pharmacists. :shrug:

If we raise the standards we would attract brighter and fewer students.
 
rxlea said:
Mine was lower than that :smuggrin: and I got into two, yes two! Top ten schools.

With grade inflation at some places, the difference between a 3.7 and 3.2 might not be a big deal.

Remember it's about the whole package. A gpa doesn't define you as a student.
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Yikes.
 
SHC1984 said:
3.2 from Harvard is a lot better than a 4.0 from a crappy college.
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Yes, I know, but that difference is not .8. Grade forgiveness for med school is a maximum .3 points assuming it's something crazy like top 20 vs Wayne State University. I doubt that pharmacy is higher than that.


I can respect a lower GPA from a more difficult school. While most of us were playing video games, those that go to top 20 were working hard trying to get into a good school. It's sound work ethic that deserves accolade.

Waking up and working hard at 16>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>waking up and working hard at 18+>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>never waking up and working hard.
 
rxlea said:
Mine was lower than that :smuggrin: and I got into two, yes two! Top ten schools.

Remember it's about the whole package. A gpa doesn't define you as a student.
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It seems have 10K+ posts on SD Forum also helps.
 
Parklife said:
Pharmacists complain about not being respected, but then scoff at any sense of competition to earn said respect.



3.2 GPA, no bachelor degree needed, sooo many pharmacy schools opening up, NAPLEX has near 100% passrate - score doesn't mean much for residency/specialization.


Think about it pharmacists. :shrug:

If we raise the standards we would attract brighter and fewer students.
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Touro requires bachelor's prior to entry.

nycrxdream said:
They are making the program tougher to get into now though. And touro students mostly get internships at NYP hospital. I like their rotation idea better, cause you don't apply much of what you learn unless you are in rotations.

But I'm seeing a lot of touro college ads on the subway sparda lol.
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LMAO! I wouldn't know, I since I only travel with my car.
 
Even if other jobs are physically more demanding and pay much less, retail pharmacy is still pretty stressful and probably one of the more stressful healthcare jobs.
My husband is a physical therapist and I'm jealous of his work environment. He gets to sit and/or stand all day, he'll stay active during the day by doing exercises with some patients, he gets a lunch break, and most of his patients respect and appreciate what he does for them, which is rarer in pharmacy. I mean there have been so many times where we introduce ourselves to people and when they learn I'm a pharmacist either say nothing or complain about their prescriptions taking too long, but when they hear he's a PT they have wonderful stories about a PT helping them or a family member and it's all sunshine and butterflies. He may make less than a pharmacist, but I think it comes at a big advantage in terms of work environment and respect. I almost wish I had gone the physical therapy route, were it not for the fact that I can't get into touching people that much.

I guess if you want to be able to sit down as a pharmacist and have a lunch break you can always go the hospital route or "nontraditional" route.
 
huntermare said:
Even if other jobs are physically more demanding and pay much less, retail pharmacy is still pretty stressful and probably one of the more stressful healthcare jobs.
My husband is a physical therapist and I'm jealous of his work environment. He gets to sit and/or stand all day, he'll stay active during the day by doing exercises with some patients, he gets a lunch break, and most of his patients respect and appreciate what he does for them, which is rarer in pharmacy. I mean there have been so many times where we introduce ourselves to people and when they learn I'm a pharmacist either say nothing or complain about their prescriptions taking too long, but when they hear he's a PT they have wonderful stories about a PT helping them or a family member and it's all sunshine and butterflies. He may make less than a pharmacist, but I think it comes at a big advantage in terms of work environment and respect. I almost wish I had gone the physical therapy route, were it not for the fact that I can't get into touching people that much.

I guess if you want to be able to sit down as a pharmacist and have a lunch break you can always go the hospital route or "nontraditional" route.
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Don't forget to add that physical therapists also don't have big student loans and their job is actually in big demand too unlike pharmacy. :laugh:
 
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