Pharmacy Worst Career Possible

[Confused321]

dude it's more like
Gross salary: $108k
Taxes: -$40k
Student loan payments (>$200k over 5 years): -$60k
Take home pay: $8k

You can cut out a lot of luxuries like living in an apartment, eating out and eating anything but Ramen noodles. 8K is more than enough to live on for a single individual living in any place including cities. There are many people that live on half this annually.


Finance or computer programming require a much higher IQ to do well in than pharmacy. Pharmacy attracts low IQ and greedy individuals. There is a lot of overlap between these two traits and they are fairly common which is why everyone and their mother is attending pharmacy school now. Eventually, 2025ish people will realize the money is not there anymore and probably 25% of the school will enter economic hardship. I imagine a lot of schools are already entering economic hardship judging by some of the recruitment emails i received years ago. Example:
school 1
My name is [redacted] and I am the [redacted] for the PharmD program at [redacted]. We have been trying to send you emails and they all came back undelivered all the way back from October. Please check your junk email and change your settings in your email to trust the PharmCAS emails. If you are still interested in our program, I would love to share any emails that we have sent you.

school 2
I had tried to reach you by phone but I could not get a voicemail box. I am reaching out to you in regards to your application to the [redacted] Doctor of Pharmacy program. I was able to reevaluate your application, and with this reevaluation I would like to personally invite you to campus for an interview, if you are interested.


Right now we are running a campaign to help with the sometimes overwhelming cost of travel for interviews and depending on miles traveled we are reimbursing some travel costs. Also available to incoming students are academic scholarships. I would love the opportunity to discuss these options with you and to hopefully set up an interview date and time on our campus.

school 3
*PLEASE RESPOND* Invitation to Interview with [redacted].
You have been invited to interview with the [redacted] on [redacted]. The agenda will be posted on our website at [redacted].

If you are not a natural born citizen of the United States, please bring your original citizenship documentation with you. You will need to provide the documentation so we can copy the documents for your applicant file. Your application will not be considered for further admissions until citizenship documentation is received.

---
You should go into pharmacy if your passion is being lazy and greedy. The intelligent people went into computer science. The people that want to actually help people went to medical school.

We had a speaker that told us that pharmacist salary is actually increasing to 150K on average in California, is this not accurate?
Since you decreased the salary to 108K you're saying the opposite of what the speaker said.

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[Pharmerjoe77]

dude it's more like
Gross salary: $108k
Taxes: -$40k
Student loan payments (>$200k over 5 years): -$60k
Take home pay: $8k

You can cut out a lot of luxuries like living in an apartment, eating out and eating anything but Ramen noodles. 8K is more than enough to live on for a single individual living in any place including cities. There are many people that live on half this annually.


Finance or computer programming require a much higher IQ to do well in than pharmacy. Pharmacy attracts low IQ and greedy individuals. There is a lot of overlap between these two traits and they are fairly common which is why everyone and their mother is attending pharmacy school now. Eventually, 2025ish people will realize the money is not there anymore and probably 25% of the school will enter economic hardship. I imagine a lot of schools are already entering economic hardship judging by some of the recruitment emails i received years ago. Example:
school 1
My name is [redacted] and I am the [redacted] for the PharmD program at [redacted]. We have been trying to send you emails and they all came back undelivered all the way back from October. Please check your junk email and change your settings in your email to trust the PharmCAS emails. If you are still interested in our program, I would love to share any emails that we have sent you.

school 2
I had tried to reach you by phone but I could not get a voicemail box. I am reaching out to you in regards to your application to the [redacted] Doctor of Pharmacy program. I was able to reevaluate your application, and with this reevaluation I would like to personally invite you to campus for an interview, if you are interested.


Right now we are running a campaign to help with the sometimes overwhelming cost of travel for interviews and depending on miles traveled we are reimbursing some travel costs. Also available to incoming students are academic scholarships. I would love the opportunity to discuss these options with you and to hopefully set up an interview date and time on our campus.

school 3
*PLEASE RESPOND* Invitation to Interview with [redacted].
You have been invited to interview with the [redacted] on [redacted]. The agenda will be posted on our website at [redacted].

If you are not a natural born citizen of the United States, please bring your original citizenship documentation with you. You will need to provide the documentation so we can copy the documents for your applicant file. Your application will not be considered for further admissions until citizenship documentation is received.

---
You should go into pharmacy if your passion is being lazy and greedy. The intelligent people went into computer science. The people that want to actually help people went to medical school.

So true. Don't go into pharmacy if you are intelligent or talented, it's a waste. I'm seeing a lot of new grads salaries are now not even quite to the 100k mark, a lot are in the 90k range. They are not guaranteed full time hours, have to float covering shifts in BFE. Oh and don't forget that most chains have a strategy to fire a few pharmacists a year to make room for new grads so your job security is probably lower than most other fields. So again why would do pharmacy when their take home pay could be higher in another field with just an undergrad degree? Not to mention better working conditions and job security in other fields too.

 

[Humble Sloth]

We had a speaker that told us that pharmacist salary is actually increasing to 150K on average in California, is this not accurate?
Since you decreased the salary to 108K you're saying the opposite of what the speaker said.

based on federal income tax the 2014 Median Pay for pharmacists was $120,950 per year. However, with the massive inflow of new pharmacists, many/most pharmacists are not getting full hours, they are floating in between stores maybe working 20-30 hours a week and therefore making 50% to 75% of 120k a year which is around 60-90k a year in real pretax income. The paid hours are becoming much more competitive and there is not enough money to go around.

 

[PharmtoCS]

We had a speaker that told us that pharmacist salary is actually increasing to 150K on average in California, is this not accurate?
Since you decreased the salary to 108K you're saying the opposite of what the speaker said.

Let me guess...it was someone from a pharmacy school who either does not know what they are talking about or benefits from having students pay their school $150-200k in tuition?

 

[Sine Cura]

Starting salary of $150k in California? No, that would be $72 and change at 40 hours a week. No new grad is getting $72 in retail. And you get to pay ~7-8% effective state income tax in CA.

 

[Confused321]

Let me guess...it was someone from a pharmacy school who either does not know what they are talking about or benefits from having students pay their school $150-200k in tuition?

they were graduates from Western pharmacy school in California, they said they both work in the orange county area and make 150K starting.
maybe they were just lucky and landed unusually high paying jobs? my friend who is a pharm student did also tell me that pharmacist salary will be
increasing towards 150K in the next 10 years .... so basically what I've been told by speakers is different than whats being said here.

Starting salary of $150k in California? No, that would be $72 and change at 40 hours a week. No new grad is getting $72 in retail. And you get to pay ~7-8% effective state income tax in CA.

ive heard that California has the highest job saturation but for some reason even online sites show that california pharmacists make more on average? are these not reliable?

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/los-angeles-pharmacist-salary-SRCH_IL.0,11_IM508_KO12,22.htm

 

[Sine Cura]

The only place that might pay $70+ for new grads is Kaiser outpatient (I "heard" but I'm not nosy), which is not retail, and since Kaiser pharmacists are unionized (all about seniority) good luck getting in the door.

 

[pharmatme]

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/contri...reduction-in-retail-pharmacist-jobs-explained

 

[gwarm01]

Kaiser inpatient jobs in California seem like a dream. In the rest of the country you are lucky to start at $50/hr in a hospital. I gotta get me some of that.

 

[Pharmerjoe77]

''If you become a pharmacist, you're going to have a bad time!'' Don't say you weren't warned.

 

[samven582]

The only place that might pay $70+ for new grads is Kaiser outpatient (I "heard" but I'm not nosy), which is not retail, and since Kaiser pharmacists are unionized (all about seniority) good luck getting in the door.

This is true. A alumni in my class got a job at Kaiser outpatient and being paid 150K a year from what I was told

 

[confettiflyer]

Man this thread is depressing. No wonder my retail friends never want to talk about work when we meet up in Vegas for a weekend.

 

[Humble Sloth]

This is true. A alumni in my class got a job at Kaiser outpatient and being paid 150K a year from what I was told

I know a pharmacist who started at 135 because her dad was a top level executive at a big pharma corp. Just because some pharmD's start at a high level doesn't mean it's possible for you.

 

[BMBiology]

Should we really care anymore? Everybody knows there is a saturation. If they still want to go then go ahead. It is their lives. It doesn't affect me.

People are still going into pharmacy school because they don't have good options. The same reason as to why people are still going into law. When was the last time a law school closed? Do we hear a gut of law schools closing?

In short, who cares? Telling them things they are already know is not going to change anything. If someone is not going to go then another subpar student will take his place. How many techs do we know who want to work as a pharmacist and make 4x their current salary?

Don't waste your time and take things for granted. Focus on your own career. Work on it.

 

[PAtoPharm]

Should we really care anymore? Everybody knows there is a saturation. If they still want to go then go ahead. It is their lives. It doesn't affect me.

People are still going into pharmacy school because they don't have good options. The same reason as to why people are still going into law. When was the last time a law school closed? Do we hear a gut of law schools closing?

In short, who cares? Telling them things they are already know is not going to change anything. If someone is not going to go then another subpar student will take his place. How many techs do we know who want to work as a pharmacist and make 4x their current salary?

Don't waste your time and take things for granted. Focus on your own career. Work on it.

These are good points. To add to what you said about many of the people applying to pharmacy school nowadays having no other good options, from the perspectives of those of us who don't actually have many other options, it's also a matter of assessing the situation on a "it could be worse" basis. In other words, as compared to the majority of the general population, pharmacists still seem to have it "good," especially to those of us who live in areas where the average family/household income is in the range of $25-30k and most full-time workers don't earn a benefits package or vacation time.

 

[Gombrich12]

"Should we really care anymore? Everybody knows there is a saturation. If they still want to go then go ahead. It is their lives. It doesn't affect me. "

I don't want talented students throwing away 6-10 years of their life along with hundreds of thousands of dollars. If technicians want to be pharmacists, so be it. I'm not afraid of competing with people on that level.

 

[BMBiology]

Working as a pharmacist is better than working as a technician. So why don't people just become a pharmacist? Probably because they didn't have the grades. Pharmacy schools have now dropped their standards so they too can become a pharmacist. They need these students to keep their professors well feed and to keep the lights on.

In return, these students are entering in a saturated job market. It is still better than going to graduate school for neuroscience and a billion of other useless graduate studies.

If you had graduated before 2010, you got a much better deal. There were plentiful opportunities back then. You didn't have to move to rural Kentucky. You got full benefits. You could have worked a lot of OT and paid off your student loans by now. You didn't have to do a residency.

The problem is that a lot of pharmacists took things for granted. They thought they were going to work 30+ years and salary would keep on going up. They stopped learning. They thought they were just going to check in and collect their paycheck every 2 weeks and then go home.

You can blame these pharmacy schools all you want but what have you done in the past 5 years? Are you still the same pharmacist but just not as knowledgable? Are you still in debt because you had spent all of your money on meaningless things? You got no one to blame but yourself.

 

[BMBiology]

"Should we really care anymore? Everybody knows there is a saturation. If they still want to go then go ahead. It is their lives. It doesn't affect me. "

I don't want talented students throwing away 6-10 years of their life along with hundreds of thousands of dollars. If technicians want to be pharmacists, so be it. I'm not afraid of competing with people on that level.

People are doing stupid things everyday. Are you going to stop some guy who makes $20 k a year and spends $20 a week on the lotto? There is no point. If he is not spending that money on the lotto, he is going to spend it on something stupid like rims.

So who cares? It is not like this is something new. It is not like you know something that other people don't already know.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

Kaiser inpatient jobs in California seem like a dream. In the rest of the country you are lucky to start at $50/hr in a hospital. I gotta get me some of that.

If you are willing to live away from the major cities in CA, there are plenty of hospitals who recruit out of state to get people to relocate to work in hospitals both in the main pharmacy and in patient. My wife had multiple job offers and makes over $170k working 40-45hrs/wk. Again, need to accept not being in the big cities. We ONLY live in a city of 130,000.

 

[gwarm01]

If you are willing to live away from the major cities in CA, there are plenty of hospitals who recruit out of state to get people to relocate to work in hospitals both in the main pharmacy and in patient. My wife had multiple job offers and makes over $170k working 40-45hrs/wk. Again, need to accept not being in the big cities. We ONLY live in a city of 130,000.

I'm an east coast guy so I'm not that familiar with California. What are some cities I should look into? I'm used to living in smaller cities, and for that kind of money I may even leave my cushy job.

 

[PAtoPharm]

If you are willing to live away from the major cities in CA, there are plenty of hospitals who recruit out of state to get people to relocate to work in hospitals both in the main pharmacy and in patient. My wife had multiple job offers and makes over $170k working 40-45hrs/wk. Again, need to accept not being in the big cities. We ONLY live in a city of 130,000.

What kinds of pharmacist positions are these? Also, is it only California hospitals that are offering these kinds of salaries? Are the salaries high due to additional reimbursement revenue being generated as a result of provider status legislation passing in that state?

Thanks...

 

[confettiflyer]

What kinds of pharmacist positions are these? Also, is it only California hospitals that are offering these kinds of salaries? Are the salaries high due to additional reimbursement revenue being generated as a result of provider status legislation passing in that state?

Thanks...

More like keeping up with cost of living. The highest paid technicians in the state make the same as the lowest paid pharmacists in other parts of the country, basically.

I think I had a detailed post where $160k in Silicon Valley, California is equivalent to $80k in Western Pennsylvania when you take into account state taxes, median housing costs, and a few other things.

I couldn't assign a dollar amount to shoveling snow, though.

 

[confettiflyer]

For a more in depth discussion of salaries in California, why $80,000/yr as a technician means you're "below average" in SF, and why $150-$160k means you're poor competing against AVERAGE tech salaries of $195k (+ stock options, mind you) for housing and resources, point your browser window here:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/transparentcalifornia-com.1138625

More here, I even filmed my commute, lol:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/living-in-sf.1110244

And here's the damn post I've been looking for, my grand comparison of Pittsburg vs. San Francisco (hidden in a thread about techs calling out):

Starts here, scroll down for the series
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...-techs-calling-in-sick.1116696/#post-16091148

 

[samven582]

I know a pharmacist who started at 135 because her dad was a top level executive at a big pharma corp. Just because some pharmD's start at a high level doesn't mean it's possible for you.

What's with the condescending attitude? I'm just telling you what I heard.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

More like keeping up with cost of living. The highest paid technicians in the state make the same as the lowest paid pharmacists in other parts of the country, basically.

I think I had a detailed post where $160k in Silicon Valley, California is equivalent to $80k in Western Pennsylvania when you take into account state taxes, median housing costs, and a few other things.

I couldn't assign a dollar amount to shoveling snow, though.

Wow (after reading your posts on SF and cali housing/apartment costs).

Living in an apartment for $600-650/month, including utilities back in my undergrad days, and that was the good apartment in town... the bad ones were 500+

 

[Corpseman]

Pay techs a decent living wage and you would see saturation go down.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Pay techs a decent living wage and you would see saturation go down.

Most techs I know have a high school education, and get paid $11/hr at a chain, $16/hr at LTAC. That's pretty good wages considering.

Could always be at McDonalds or Walmart clerking making $7.50/hr

 

[Sine Cura]

COL is high in northern California but not as high in the "redneck" or "methy" parts (central valley, the "Northstate") so if you don't have any particular reason to move to the Bay Area you'd be doing pretty well as a pharmacist elsewhere.

 

[Corpseman]

Most techs I know have a high school education, and get paid $11/hr at a chain, $16/hr at LTAC. That's pretty good wages considering.

Could always be at McDonalds or Walmart clerking making $7.50/hr

Technicians should be able to make a career out of their job and be paid appropriately. They have no room for growth, so their only real option is pharmacy school. Pay them $20-25 after 7-10 years and that will change. My techs don't deserve to be capped ot at $16/hr, who wants to work like a dog for those paltry wages.

Working at McDonalds or Walmart does not require certification or the continuing education that a tech does., so there are other factors in to getting paid more.

 

[Humble Sloth]

More like keeping up with cost of living. The highest paid technicians in the state make the same as the lowest paid pharmacists in other parts of the country, basically.

I think I had a detailed post where $160k in Silicon Valley, California is equivalent to $80k in Western Pennsylvania when you take into account state taxes, median housing costs, and a few other things.

I couldn't assign a dollar amount to shoveling snow, though.

Can you assign a dollar amount to a ten year drought with yellow, dying lawns, highest homeless population in the united states, high violent and property crime and some of he highest state unemployment rates in the nation?

 

[confettiflyer]

Can you assign a dollar amount to a ten year drought with yellow, dying lawns, highest homeless population in the united states, high violent and property crime and some of he highest state unemployment rates in the nation?

Lol...what? We're flooding over here, and just don't live in the methy parts of the state.

I literally have no idea what you're referring to. We got rid of lawns a long time ago (it's grass, who cares, people in Arizona don't have lawns), SF has like a 4% unemployment rate, and the biggest crime issue is people stealing iPhones from people not paying attention.

 

[Humble Sloth]

Lol...what? We're flooding over here, and just don't live in the methy parts of the state.

I literally have no idea what you're referring to. We got rid of lawns a long time ago (it's grass, who cares, people in Arizona don't have lawns), SF has like a 4% unemployment rate, and the biggest crime issue is people stealing iPhones from people not paying attention.

No it isn't stealing iphones. It's individuals getting beaten, raped and killed. SF violent crime has increased more than 20% and is higher than LA. That city is literally a cesspool of violence, property crime and homelessness.

"San Francisco saw California’s worst jump in crime rates among cities with more than 150,000 people, recording more than 20% increases in both violent and property crimes between 2012 and 2013."

http://graphics.latimes.com/california-crime-2013/

I'm referring to the serious, on-going California drought. California is on track to become an extension of the Arizona desert. They have already emptied a lot of the aquifers that are natures natural

Lol...what? We're flooding over here, and just don't live in the methy parts of the state.


http://www.sfchronicle.com/drought/

The only thing keeping that city afloat is the tech bubble. Once that pops and the next earthquake hits it will return to being a poverty stricken town of bricks.

 

[confettiflyer]

No it isn't stealing iphones. It's individuals getting beaten, raped and killed. SF violent crime has increased more than 20% and is higher than LA. That city is literally a cesspool of violence, property crime and homelessness.

hahahhahahah....i guess if we're counting the TL, sure. But...I try not to go there unless I'm craving some southern soul food at Brenda's.

I'm referring to the serious, on-going California drought. California is on track to become an extension of the Arizona desert. They have already emptied a lot of the aquifers that are natures natural

Anyone who has lived here > 20 years will tell you it's cyclical. There's plenty of water...maybe not for farming. If we jettisoned almond farming, we'd have tons of water freed up. Sucks for farmers, though.

The only thing keeping that city afloat is the tech bubble. Once that pops and the next earthquake hits it will return to being a poverty stricken town of bricks.

SF has lived through bubbles (tech 1.0) and earthquakes before...nothing new. People have been proclaiming the end for a long time. I actually miss SF pre dot-com era ~1994-1997, so fine by me if the bubble pops. Maybe I can buy and ride the next bubble when it comes around.

 

[The_Rebirth]

I work 8 hour shifts, pharmacist overlap for 4 hours, I just graduated in May and am making $127k salary (pay raise this April/May) and only work one weekend a month and have less than $90k in loans..... so you sound like a whiny ass ungrateful baby lmaoo

 

[gwarm01]

I work 8 hour shifts, pharmacist overlap for 4 hours, I just graduated in May and am making $127k salary (pay raise this April/May) and only work one weekend a month and have less than $90k in loans..... so you sound like a whiny ass ungrateful baby lmaoo

Sounds like a nice gig, but recognize that it's not the norm and the majority of pharmacists are dealing with bad work environments are continue to deteriorate.

 

[IndyPrePharm]

Potential Pharmacy students: Avoid pharmacy "Profession" at all costs:

1.) Retail is a nightmare
2.) Have to work nights and weekends
3.) Have to work holidays
4.) Get treated like garbage on a daily basis
5.) Deal with street drug dealers and legit gang bangers. You are a drug dealer. You are no different than the guy on a street corner selling bags of heroin. Street heroin = oxycodone = same thing.
6.) Working retail you can be terminated at anytime, no job security.
7.) 14 hours no break
8.) You have to work with the worst co-workers possible. The turnover is constant and the people they stick you with know nothing. You get what you pay for. Have fun trying to hire a decent employee for 8/hour, not happening. Single moms that call out all the time and could genuinely care less about you or the pharmacy is your typical employee.
9.) Tons of debt after graduation
10.) Almost no chance of owning your own business. Sorry, but you can't compete with Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Target. If for some reason you think you can compete with these monopolies and you open your own pharmacy, (without bullet proof glass), you will have a gun to your face, and you will be robbed.
11.) Getting tired of standing all day, no lunch break, doing 400+ scripts per day??? H1Bs aren't.

I should have listened when they told me to avoid pharmacy, but when I got into it the job market was still good, and my college's tuition rate was 20% less/year than what it is now. You have to be absolutely, completely, insane to want to get into the pharmacy profession at this time.

What I have always LOVED about the profession, since discovering it AND actually working in it, is that no matter the complaint you have, there is an opportunity to please your demands somewhere! I started, out-of-school, working for a PBM. It was M-F 8-5, no weekends, no holidays, no standing on your feet, and I worked independently on most days managing population health programs and mainly communicating with physicians and nurses via email mostly and sometimes via phone. For you, I would say start applying to BCBS, Aetna, Anthem...smaller PBMs as well (where I started at...only managed 100k lives), etc. They will be the desk job with no nights, holidays, or weekends that you're seeking. Some even work from home as well.

 

[RalnaAp]

1.) Retail is a nightmare
--- No comment on that. Lol Pretty sure that it has it's negatives. Of course, I'm willing to pay my dues. Willing to do what I can to learn and no amt of experience gained is a waste, but I'm more of a ... pharmacy research type? Not really looking forward to dealing with actual 'customers' in a 'retail' setting. I was going to apply for a pharmacy tech position, but...cash registers, actual 'customers', etc...? Ugh. I think I'll wait until I get in the program to do that.

2.) Have to work nights and weekends
--- ...but there are shift diffs, right? LOL I don't have a problem pulling shift as long as you pay me.

3.) Have to work holidays
-- Again, shift diff?

4.) Get treated like garbage on a daily basis
-- That's healthcare. That's dealing with the public. The pt populace is nuts. On another note, maybe it's you...or was you. I get that this was some years ago, but much of what's on this list really aren't legitimate concerns. Meaning: maybe you're just illsuited for consistent, prolonged and constant interaction with the public. I'm not a customer service-y type, either; but, even I don't get into clashes with providers, pts and their visitors or get treated like crap every single day.

5.) Deal with street drug dealers and legit gang bangers. You are a drug dealer. You are no different than the guy on a street corner selling bags of heroin. Street heroin = oxycodone = same thing.

--- Not something that I care much about.

6.) Working retail you can be terminated at anytime, no job security.

-- ??? You can get fired from anywhere if you continuously fudge up.

7.) 14 hours no break
-- I'm a nurse. Suck it up, buttercup. Lol

8.) You have to work with the worst co-workers possible. The turnover is constant and the people they stick you with know nothing. You get what you pay for. Have fun trying to hire a decent employee for 8/hour, not happening. Single moms that call out all the time and could genuinely care less about you or the pharmacy is your typical employee.
-- Hopefully, things are better for you in 2016. When youre a manager\supv, this type of s...t comes with the territory.
I get it. Trust me. Try to manage a floor with ghetto aides fighting over a baby daddy in the breakroom, refusing to change residents, m.i.a. with rings on the sheets but lies that pt was changed and gets mad that nurses can see through the lies and writes them up for it, whining about the pt assignment, estranged exboyfriend of CNA stalking facility, estranged exboyfriend of CNA showing up to beat her up, exemployee fired for stealing credit cards from another team member...exemployee then shows up on payday with her girlfriend who had allegedly brought a gun, CNA stealing a littman steth...20 from a resident...and leaving midshift, CNA leaving facility midshift, etc...
So, call outs? Yeah, at least your people call to notify....

9.) Tons of debt after graduation
-- You were aware of the debt when you took the l9ans.

10.) Almost no chance of owning your own business. Sorry, but you can't compete with Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Target. If for some reason you think you can compete with these monopolies and you open your own pharmacy, (without bullet proof glass), you will have a gun to your face, and you will be robbed.

I don't want to be an entrepreneur. If retail doesn't pan out and I can't make it into research , corporate is my fallback. I have contacts. My friend's (director) workplace (hlth insurance company) hires staff pharmacists.

11.) Getting tired of standing all day, no lunch break, doing 400+ scripts per day??? H1Bs aren't.

I should have listened when they told me to avoid pharmacy, but when I got into it the job market was still good, and my college's tuition rate was 20% less/year than what it is now. You have to be absolutely, completely, insane to want to get into the pharmacy profession at this time.

 

[PharmtoCS]

What I have always LOVED about the profession, since discovering it AND actually working in it, is that no matter the complaint you have, there is an opportunity to please your demands somewhere! I started, out-of-school, working for a PBM. It was M-F 8-5, no weekends, no holidays, no standing on your feet, and I worked independently on most days managing population health programs and mainly communicating with physicians and nurses via email mostly and sometimes via phone. For you, I would say start applying to BCBS, Aetna, Anthem...smaller PBMs as well (where I started at...only managed 100k lives), etc. They will be the desk job with no nights, holidays, or weekends that you're seeking. Some even work from home as well.

Your type of job makes up only a very small fraction of pharmacist employment. 60-70% of the jobs are in retail, which is where most new grads end up.

Sent from my SM-N910V using SDN mobile

 

[IndyPrePharm]

Your type of job makes up only a very small fraction of pharmacist employment. 60-70% of the jobs are in retail, which is where most new grads end up.

Sent from my SM-N910V using SDN mobile

The type of job that I had can be obtained by any that wish to have it upon graduating. It's knowing that it's out there and then working to get the foot in that door, so that's why I'm putting the info out there. Apparently the person who started the thread thought he had no other options. There's always more options. It's best to explore them while you're in school so that you can shadow the crap out of the places, get tech jobs at them, arrange to get rotations with them, and make your name and face reputable and memorable to the companies that you want to work for most upon graduation. Preparedness and networking will take you far.

 

[Chalupa_Batman86]

^That academia logic doe.

 

[walpharm]

Potential Pharmacy students: Avoid pharmacy "Profession" at all costs:

1.) Retail is a nightmare
2.) Have to work nights and weekends
3.) Have to work holidays
4.) Get treated like garbage on a daily basis
5.) Deal with street drug dealers and legit gang bangers. You are a drug dealer. You are no different than the guy on a street corner selling bags of heroin. Street heroin = oxycodone = same thing.
6.) Working retail you can be terminated at anytime, no job security.
7.) 14 hours no break
8.) You have to work with the worst co-workers possible. The turnover is constant and the people they stick you with know nothing. You get what you pay for. Have fun trying to hire a decent employee for 8/hour, not happening. Single moms that call out all the time and could genuinely care less about you or the pharmacy is your typical employee.
9.) Tons of debt after graduation
10.) Almost no chance of owning your own business. Sorry, but you can't compete with Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Target. If for some reason you think you can compete with these monopolies and you open your own pharmacy, (without bullet proof glass), you will have a gun to your face, and you will be robbed.
11.) Getting tired of standing all day, no lunch break, doing 400+ scripts per day??? H1Bs aren't.

I should have listened when they told me to avoid pharmacy, but when I got into it the job market was still good, and my college's tuition rate was 20% less/year than what it is now. You have to be absolutely, completely, insane to want to get into the pharmacy profession at this time.

No job is easy. Pharmacy is no walk in the park but its definitely a commendable career. It beats being at the bottom and it's not only retail. Pharmacy has so many routes one could take and in my personal opinion its a great career.

 

[PharmtoCS]

No job is easy. Pharmacy is no walk in the park but its definitely a commendable career. It beats being at the bottom and it's not only retail. Pharmacy has so many routes one could take and in my personal opinion its a great career.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

The versatility in jobs could be better, but options are there. It's up to you to work hard and earn that job in one of those smaller niche jobs as a PharmD. Complaining won't get you anywhere.

I'm still not recommending pre-pharm students to enter pharm school though. If you're not already in school, I'd follow your sig stoichiometrist.

 

[knight on horse]

YOU SHOULD HAVE listened! Lel

Well done

May do an effortpost sometime at a healthy hour, in the meantime the following:

Pharmacy is like unskilled labor, it is analogous to white collar assembly line work, a pharmacist is completely interchangeable and tasked to perform a delimited function. One will be relying on luck and nepotism. There are perhaps more constraints on its expansion than for other industries.

Unlike many other fields there is no getting ahead on talent. You would literally be inventing a new job. In addition, there is the consideration that someone significantly more able than the average pharmacist would be a career threat (no jobs), possibly insufferable (lol) * and in fairness wouldn't be going into pharmacy in the first place.

* As well, with the intimidation shown by many of the pharmacists around doctors, and their mediocre social function, claims of interpersonal skills to the contrary, they may rationalize a reason such that they fear offending the doctors

To paraphrase a saying: 'A' students do theory, 'B' students work for 'C' students. Pharmacists are the 'B' students.

For existing jobs sure one can bow and scrape in the desperate hopes of getting noticed and liked, but in that sense it is merely like acting and the casting couch.

FWIW I predicted this long ago and am right a lot, (all the time, really ) Take heed. Do NOT go into Pharmacy school. There is no free lunch. Have faith that the economy, the zeitgeist and the nation will be turned around and saved.

You'll thank me later

 

[APN-59 rph]

YOU SHOULD HAVE listened! Lel


Well done

May do an effortpost sometime at a healthy hour, in the meantime the following:

Pharmacy is like unskilled labor, it is analogous to white collar assembly line work, a pharmacist is completely interchangeable and tasked to perform a delimited function. One will be relying on luck and nepotism. There are perhaps more constraints on its expansion than for other industries.

Unlike many other fields there is no getting ahead on talent. You would literally be inventing a new job. In addition, there is the consideration that someone significantly more able than the average pharmacist would be a career threat (no jobs), possibly insufferable (lol) * and in fairness wouldn't be going into pharmacy in the first place.

* As well, with the intimidation shown by many of the pharmacists around doctors, and their mediocre social function, claims of interpersonal skills to the contrary, they may rationalize a reason such that they fear offending the doctors

To paraphrase a saying: 'A' students do theory, 'B' students work for 'C' students. Pharmacists are the 'B' students.

For existing jobs sure one can bow and scrape in the desperate hopes of getting noticed and liked, but in that sense it is merely like acting and the casting couch.

FWIW I predicted this long ago and am right a lot, (all the time, really ) Take heed. Do NOT go into Pharmacy school. There is no free lunch. Have faith that the economy, the zeitgeist and the nation will be turned around and saved.

You'll thank me later

READ and HEED...working in a fast moving pharmacy is like high speed drudgery....continuous interruptions...maybe an apple on the run....and the fun of getting blamed when something goes wrong (although the chains will pay hush money) IN ADDITION...the mindless routine is just begging for automation AND what is not automated is VERY likely to be covered by tech check tech..which is firing up as I type this in at least two states..every chain and every owner will use these two concepts to the hilt ASAP. Ignore this at your peril..financial and otherwise...

 

[gwarm01]

Even worse than those guys who have to remove fatbergs from our sewers?

 

[mr.bubbles]

Too much negativity from OP's rant. He/She must be a CVS pharmacist

 

[walpharm]

So if pharmacy isn't a happy place, then what should a prospective pharmacy student do? Offer a solution to your opinionated problem.

 

[Beezlebub]

So if pharmacy isn't a happy place, then what should a prospective pharmacy student do? Offer a solution to your opinionated problem.

Are you a fan of "Breaking Bad" per chance?

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Are you a fan of "Breaking Bad" per chance?

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