Pros and Cons of working for the VA Hosptial

[GatorRxdaughter]

I have been offered a job at the VA Hospital and wondering if others may work there? Could you guys tell me the pros and cons of working for the Govt.?? I am not sure I want to give up my 2 current phamacy jobs for the VA. Help. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

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[Chemist]

The government is good to work for because they tend to pay higher. Another potential advantage is that you may not have to deal with patients (the veterans tend to be irate and impatient at the VA). Good luck!

 

[shaun009]

VA stands for Veteran's Administrations right? I want to become a geriatric pharmacist.. would that relate?

 

[Chemist]

VA stands for Veteran's Administrations right? I want to become a geriatric pharmacist.. would that relate?

Yes that is what it stands for and yes that would relate

 

[aboveliquidice]

VA stands for Veteran's Administrations right? I want to become a geriatric pharmacist.. would that relate?

The VA hospital is not some foreign, strange environment. Its like any hospital, but only serves people either in, or associated with the military

 

[ilovepharm]

Veteran's Administrations? I thought it was Veterans Affairs? Oh welp. 😛

 

[sdn1977]

Gator....this is where we need Kwizard!

Use the search function & search for VA or VA pharmacists or something like that, but search for Kwizard's posts.

He had extensive experience & knows the system inside & out. You could also pm him.

Pros from my perspective: Progressive (you'll do the latest kind of pharmacy), good clinical opportunities, stable, experienced techs, great benefits, etc..

Cons from my perspective: Pay (low for N CA standards), huge system, heirachial (sp?), gov't mentality (multiple layers of everything - from standards to paper to systems), things don't change fast, people stay forever (so someone who doesn't keep up can drag you down), etc...

But...he is really the king of the VA system - in a knowledge sense...try to search for some of his posts - they are tremendously enlightening.

Its a tough decision to make & I don't know NC well enough to give you any advice.

 

[Nae614]

I work for a VA hospital in the bay area, CA. I work in the Medical/Research Dept.
The pros are: you get all the federal holiday off (columbus day, veterans day, etc.)
You get 8 hrs of sick leave and 8hrs of annual leave every month. This # increases after 3yrs.
--no corporate culture

The cons: Everything is reallllly slow......its takes forever to get anything done.
You have to go through a chain of command for everthing.
We actually have to put in a formal request with a certian to dept. to get a trash can in our office.
If something is broken (ex. xerox machine) it will take months for someone to come and fix it.
A lot of the time is wasted doing administrative tasks.

 

[eddie269]

If you don't mind sharing, what's the going salary rate for VA pharmacist in N. CA area? I know it's lower than retail but not sure how much. Not that it would matter much. 🙂

 

[T1ar1a]

I did my residency at the VA. I must say, the electronic database is the best thing in the industry. I've been to Sharp hospital and Kaiser, but they don't compare to the VA.

When we used to go on rounds we would bring a comp terminal with us or a laptop, and we could access radiograph, chest x-rays, labs all in real time. And there would be several of us writing orders and clearing them through the system.

The benefits are amazing if you have advanced degrees, residencies, and fellowships under your belt. The VA acknowledges board certifications and even CGP post doc certifications by paying you at a hight pay scale. Not too many organizations do that.

Clinical pharmacist are treated a little differently because of their background, and they get paid a little more.

If you're doing research at the VA, it is not too bad considering that the data is stored electronically and accessible by the research investigators. But the VA is a federal facility and with that comes the rule that if you stay more than 3 months, you can't be fired. So you end up working with some people who are a little too comfortable at the jobs and tend to make the other people carry the slack.

But with most institutions, that's always the case. I just noticed more at the VA.

 

[T1ar1a]

starting salary for a VA pharmacist where I worked in the inland empire was around 48/hour. I'm sure it's up by now. And it also depends on your post doc training. They will bump you to a GS-12 salary if you have a residency under your belt. Whereas you'll be a GS-11. I know that if you become a clinical coordinator, you can get a GS-13 salary. You may even negotiate a GS-13 salary if you have an MBA and Pharm.D.

 

[ZpackSux]

I've never worked for VA. But....

VA is the nation's largest HMO operated by the Federal Government taking care of our veterans. No doubt VA is innovative with technology and strict formulary. VA's CPOE (computerized physician order entry) module to their CMOP (central mail order pharmacy) are industry leading...

My 4th year Pharmacy Administration project at Kaiser was to evaluate VA's CMOP operation. And I made a proposal to Los Angeles Kaiser System to adopt VA's CMOP operation. Does Kaiser have have a CMOP now? If so, I hope my input stirred the pot..

That being said..

Good friend of mine who I work with is a VA retired Pharmacy Director. He retired from VA about 4 years ago..after 22 years + 3 years military. So he has a full retirement. Then he works full time with me making a full salary. He's in mid 50's.. kids out of the house.. wants to buy a sail boat and I tried to get him to fly with me.. I think we decided that he won't sail for a while and I won't fly for a while..but he wants an M-5... and I need a 911..

My understanding is his VA retirement pays 60% of current VA Pharmacy Director's salary... for life????? And it adjusts as salary is adjusted in VA?

If you can put up with the VA Gov beauracracy.. I think it's an excellent career path.

 

[T1ar1a]

the 60% retirement salary was actually 80%. But that has changed recently. Now it's only 30% retirement.

I know.... I wished I worked at the VA 15 years ago.

 

[disboifan]

im a volunteer at the second largest govt owned building next to the pentagon, VA, (this is what i was told at orientation) and i was just talking with the person who orders the supplies and drugs for the pharmacy and i asked, "what the budget for the pharmacy is like?" she shows me what the budget is, how she makes orders and stuff and we accidently saw how much one of the pharmacists made which was $99,999. this pharmacist is retired so he's getting paid pretty good + some more for being retired. she told me that the pharmacists at VA avg about $110K which is not alot to her compared to other places. as a volunteer, its pretty relaxed. they work their techs to death though, and they just offered me a job. im a little reluctant to take it. lol.

fyi VA stand for Veterans Affairs.

 

[Glowwyrm]

For those interested, here is the link to health careers at the VA:
http://www.vacareers.va.gov/

It lists the salaries with the job postings. The salaries are all over the place when comparing different locations. Some are only $70,000 while others go up to $122,000.

I volunteered at the research pharmacy at the VA. Mon-Thurs it was busy but Friday it was really slow. However, the out patient pharmacy never slowed down for a second.