Positivity

[Nanuq]

How about let's try something new : ]

Instead of deterring everyone from pharmacy with constant talk of job saturation, poor satisfaction and just flat out complaining about the nature of our field... Let's talk about why we love what we study/practice and some of the great aspects to this profession to shine a more positive light on those who are interested in pursuing pharmacy.

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[darknightzzz]

How about let's try something new : ]

Instead of deterring everyone from pharmacy with constant talk of job saturation, poor satisfaction and just flat out complaining about the nature of our field... Let's talk about why we love what we study/practice and some of the great aspects to this profession to shine a more positive light on those who are interested in pursuing pharmacy.

whats the point of loving what you study but can't get paid or struggling to find work with it?

its like slaving through 6year phD just to end up with a 30k a year postdoc. These phDs LOVE what they study to death but they hate their life and hate what they research

 

[PharmtoCS]

We get prescriber status!
Oh wait, it's actually called provider status.

We get provider status!
Oh wait, we don't get reimbursed for it.

I'll do it for free! I'm here to help people anyway!
Oh wait, I need to pay off my $200k+ student loans.

It's easy to talk about the good things and dismiss the negatives when you haven't faced real challenges and held real responsibilities.

 

[darknightzzz]

provider status for pharmacy is so ridiculous thats why there is no reimbursement. what is there to say when pharmacists fill out prescriptions and if the patients have any problems, they should contact the doctors or nurse practitioners

 

[Jbrl]

Positives, in no particular order:

1. In some retail companies, you can work 3.5 days a week and have the rest of the week off to pursue your own interests.
2. Don't need post-graduate training if you simply want to make a decent living in healthcare and/or want to be a working parent who has free time
3. CAN be a fulfilling career, as all healthcare professions have the potential to be
4. Depending on retail company (usually grocery, big box, or independent), potential for high patient interaction
5. Possibility of participating in clinical care and being the drug expert on the medical team
6. Other?

There are a lot of negatives that most people already know about, of course...

 

[darknightzzz]

1. In some retail companies, you can work 3.5 days a week and have the rest of the week off to pursue your own interests
yep like working 16 hour shift (sometimes overnight) wont screw you over and you spend the rest of the week recovering from that, or make up lost time with your partner.

2. Don't need post-graduate training if you simply want to make a decent living in healthcare and/or want to be a working parent who has free time
decent living in healthcare is going down

3. CAN be a fulfilling career, as all healthcare professions have the potential to be
pharmacist can be fulfilling thou

4. Depending on retail company (usually grocery, big box, or independent), potential for high patient interaction
independent has potential for "high patient interaction" you mean to listen to their complaints and comments for the long wait

5. Possibility of participating in clinical care and being the drug expert on the medical team
this normally requires clinical residency bro/sis

6. Other?

 

[Jbrl]

1. In some retail companies, you can work 3.5 days a week and have the rest of the week off to pursue your own interests
yep like working 16 hour shift (sometimes overnight) wont screw you over and you spend the rest of the week recovering from that, or make up lost time with your partner.

2. Don't need post-graduate training if you simply want to make a decent living in healthcare and/or want to be a working parent who has free time
decent living in healthcare is going down

3. CAN be a fulfilling career, as all healthcare professions have the potential to be
pharmacist can be fulfilling thou

4. Depending on retail company (usually grocery, big box, or independent), potential for high patient interaction
independent has potential for "high patient interaction" you mean to listen to their complaints and comments for the long wait

5. Possibility of participating in clinical care and being the drug expert on the medical team
this normally requires clinical residency bro/sis

6. Other?

Were you considering pre-pharm at some point? Out of curiosity, since you post often here.

Anyway, yeah, that's the other side of the coin, which people can hear about in other threads. Depends where you work. Most places are only open 9am to 9pm. If your partner calls out, get a floater or per diem to cover, or switch hours. That's how it works for my store, and with oversupply, floaters will take whatever hours they can get. The pharmacists I work with are friends with the other pharmacists in neighboring areas, so coverage is not a problem.

Retail pharmacy does have high patient interaction, especially if you're the sociable type who comes to know your patients lives and problems. The pharmacists I work with recognize every patient by name and talk about everything from health to family to sports to books. In some areas and companies, there's no time to chit-chat like that.

Even with healthcare compensation going down, pharmacist salary is still far over the median. It will remain over the median. Whether it's worth the education cost and lost time is another story, and I'm far from an advocate when finances are considered. However, if someone really wants to be a pharmacist and can get out with little debt, they won't be starved.

 

[darknightzzz]

Were you considering pre-pharm at some point? Out of curiosity, since you post often here.

Anyway, yeah, that's the other side of the coin, which people can hear about in other threads. Depends where you work. Most places are only open 9am to 9pm. If your partner calls out, get a floater or per diem to cover, or switch hours. That's how it works for my store, and with oversupply, floaters will take whatever hours they can get. The pharmacists I work with are friends with the other pharmacists in neighboring areas, so coverage is not a problem.

Retail pharmacy does have high patient interaction, especially if you're the sociable type who comes to know your patients lives and problems. The pharmacists I work with recognize every patient by name and talk about everything from health to family to sports to books. In some areas and companies, there's no time to chit-chat like that.

Even with healthcare compensation going down, pharmacist salary is still far over the median. It will remain over the median. Whether it's worth the education cost and lost time is another story, and I'm far from an advocate when finances are considered. However, if someone really wants to be a pharmacist and can get out with little debt, they won't be starved.

Hello, No I have not considered pharmacy but I read up on pharmacy forums in order to have a solid idea of how the process is because I have many friends who are in a few years younger and I want to give them a honest assessment.

 

[SClENCE]

We make a lot of money and the actual study of pharmacy is interesting (though it's application in the retail setting isn't)

The pharmacist is honestly no different that the burger king cashier in the eyes of most customers. This aspect of the profession is what I like the last. Don't get me wrong... the patient comes first but the extreme emphasis on customer service kind of annoys me. You insurance is your responsibility... calling in your refills is your responsibility... calling your doctor when you are out of refills is a courtesy not a requirement and it wouldn't kill you to do it yourself when they ignore us and you decide it's a flippin emergency to get your birth control. I guess it's not so much the customer service aspect as it is the lack of personal responsibility by the general public.

 

[Jloyay]

Run far away from retail and find yourselves a hospital job ASAP out of pharm school. Wal-Mart and Walgreens only care about profits and working in such an environment will take away from patient interaction and care that are the positives and rewarding aspects of a career in pharmacy (they refer to patients as customers and have drive thrus to maximize the # of clients coming through- no different from fast food). Working retail your focus will be on the bottom dollar and nothing else. You will be at the mercy of the Wal-Mart manager or franchise owner who will make you work long hours for low pay (hitting 30/hr in Toronto) and your supervisor will be looking to make as much green off of you/the pharmacy as much as possible. You also won't have a union to defend on your behalf if you get your pay cut or get laid off in favour of fresh blood after you start asking for raises/promotions.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Run far away from retail and find yourselves a hospital job ASAP out of pharm school. Wal-Mart and Walgreens only care about profits and working in such an environment will take away from patient interaction and care that are the positives and rewarding aspects of a career in pharmacy (they refer to patients as customers and have drive thrus to maximize the # of clients coming through- no different from fast food). Working retail your focus will be on the bottom dollar and nothing else. You will be at the mercy of the Wal-Mart manager or franchise owner who will make you work long hours for low pay (hitting 30/hr in Toronto) and your supervisor will be looking to make as much green off of you/the pharmacy as much as possible. You also won't have a union to defend on your behalf if you get your pay cut or get laid off in favour of fresh blood after you start asking for raises/promotions.

Instead of spending 4 years and $200k+ on tuition to get a degree in pharmacy in the hopes of getting a hospital position (extremely hard to get nowadays), I would recommend switching to computer science where the job market, work environment, and lifetime earnings are far better, and you get more respect.

 

[Corpseman]

Instead of spending 4 years and $200k+ on tuition to get a degree in pharmacy in the hopes of getting a hospital position (extremely hard to get nowadays), I would recommend switching to computer science where the job market, work environment, and lifetime earnings are far better, and you get more respect.

Or learn to enjoy retail, it really isn't the worst thing in the world. The only things I would like to see changed are making lunch breaks mandatory and allowing more time for bathroom breaks. Other than those things, patients in hospitals complain just as much as those in retail... we still get reimbursement if they complain though.

In time, hospital will look to the bottom dollar as well and you will be at the mercy of HCAHPS scores and what not, everyone just wants to make a buck.

Positive? I love the relationships I have built with my customers over the years of being there. I have had patients bring me stuff back from their vacations, made me dinner when I was sick, brought me cards, laughed and cried with me when they talk about their lost relative that I had just gotten to know over the last few years... You can't get those kinds of relationships in other professions.

 

[Nanuq]

Well as smart as I deem this community to be, the majority of you missed the point of this thread. Thank you for those who were able to find constructive and positive things to say about our practice.

It's not that I haven't "faced real challenges and held real responsibilities" I just wanted to deviate from the contemporary idea of fear mongering pre-health students to run as fast as they can away from pharmacy.

Should have known the fun-police would show up.

 

[Sugoi Travis]

I think it's pretty cool to study all the different drugs and how they interact with each other and in our bodies. It's interesting to think that molecules can have quite an impact on our body.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Getting back on topic, I have liked the part of making OTC recommendations. In a way it feels like I am prescribing something without actually needing a prescription.

 

[MybuttsHadouken]

Lol this thread went from optimistic to negative! haha!

 

[PharmtoCS]

It's not that I haven't "faced real challenges and held real responsibilities" I just wanted to deviate from the contemporary idea of fear mongering pre-health students to run as fast as they can away from pharmacy.

Sorry, I wasn't directing this comment at you in particular. I just see too many pre-pharm (and some P1) students, many who have never worked in a pharmacy, talk about how great pharmacy will be in the future when in fact they are parroting exactly what the pharmacy schools are selling in order to get you to fork over six figures in tuition.