Public Ignorance of Pharmacy Profession...

[DoctorRx1986]

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I've been working at a retail pharmacy for almost two months as a pharmacy clerk. I am grateful for the experience I am obtaining in this major branch of pharmacy before starting pharmacy school this fall. Over the years, however, I have met and continue to meet people who are ignorant about what our profession entails. Almost everyone I speak to believes pharmacists go to school for only one or two years and that they do not have to undergo professional training like a physician or dentist would. These individuals cannot understand or believe that the man or woman in white working behind the pharmacy counter went to school anywhere from 6 to 8 years to hold that position and knows a lot more about drugs than physicians or anyone else. Whenever I try to educate such people about the reality of the training and the expansive knowledge pharmacists have or how much money they make, especially in retail, I get contorted facial expressions from people and remarks such as, "Are you serious!? They have to go to school to put pills in little orange bottles? Damn, I think i should start thinking of going into this..." This ignorance and general misrepresentation of the profession really makes my blood boil and is an insult to pre-pharmacy, pharmacy students, and pharmacists. People view us as simple clerks and half the time, they cannot distinguish between the clerk and the pharmacist. At least, this applies to me....customers coming to the pharmacy sometimes mistake me for the pharmacist and they don't recognize I am simply the clerk there! I find this lack of knowledge, understanding, awareness, and research into the profession to be ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING to the morale of the pharmacy profession, and something must be done about this if pharmacy is to attain the level of prestige it should have. After all, we all have to remember, we are Doctors of Pharmacy just like physicians are Doctors of Medicine. I am sick and tired of how much the ignorant public glorifies physicians as if they were Gods or Goddesses, but completely defecates on pharmacists. Perhaps, all of this has simply been my observations in retail pharmacy, but you know what? I think four years from now, I will probably go into another branch such as hospital pharmacy or even work for government to get the respect I believe all pharmacists are entitled to. Comments, concerns, questions, opinions? PM me if you'd like.

 

[kismet]

I think four years from now, I will probably go into another branch such as hospital pharmacy or even work for government to get the respect I believe all pharmacists are entitled to.

I did the retail thing for a couple years as a clerk but when I got my tech license I chose to go into the hospital. Now, I do believe that there are truly good things that retail pharmacists are doing (they are the front line for patients getting and using their medication, they are responsible for making sure the patient is compliant and checking for interactions, etc) but it's such a thankless job and just not where my passion lies.

That said, just because you go into a different branch of pharmacy doesn't mean you will get respect. But... I still prefer it over retail. 🙂

The "Pharmacists are Doctors too" thing is still kinda iffy; yes, you completed a Doctorate program and yes, you should be respected for it, but in my hospital, the pharmacists are all addressed by their first names - in fact, the only people addressed as "Doctor" are the physicians. The idea, I've been told, is that we don't want nurses to feel that pharmacists are "above" them, because we don't want them to be scared to ask stupid questions - if they think they don't want to bother a "doctor" with a question and they decide to do the wrong thing, a patient could die.

I'm sure the environment varies from workplace to workplace, but you know how in retail, when the pharmacist tells someone, "Well, I can't really diagnose that for you, but you should probably see a Doctor" they go, 'oh, well, I don't really want to bother my Doctor, but thanks.' - I'm willing to let the title slide if it means people will still talk to me when they need to. 🙂

 

[ladifantasy]

I've been a pharmacy tech for over a year and I've witnessed so many downsides of the profession in retail pharmacy that I'm kind of uncertain about working there after earning my PharmD degree. I've seen a customer yelling and threatening to file a complaint to cost a pharmacist his job just because the pharmacist wouldn't take back a medication that has been sold last week. I've also witnessed customers cursing at pharmacists, calling them names, etc. Those people obviously have no respect for pharmacists. They would get frustrated for waiting too long to get their medications, whereas they would wait patiently to see their doctor no matter what the wait is. If we're going to go to school for 8 years to earn a Doctorate, shouldn't we deserve better than this?

 

[DoctorRx1986]

I've been a pharmacy tech for over a year and I've witnessed so many downsides of the profession in retail pharmacy that I'm kind of uncertain about working there after earning my PharmD degree. I've seen a customer yelling and threatening to file a complaint to cost a pharmacist his job just because the pharmacist wouldn't take back a medication that has been sold last week. I've also witnessed customers cursing at pharmacists, calling them names, etc. Those people obviously have no respect for pharmacists. They would get frustrated for waiting too long to get their medications, whereas they would wait patiently to see their doctor no matter what the wait is. If we're going to go to school for 8 years to earn a Doctorate, shouldn't we deserve better than this?

That's exactly how I feel about the lack of respect, understanding, and consideration the public has for pharmacists, in retail specifically. One reason the public behaves this way, as i said in my original post, is because they underestimate what a pharmacist does and have no idea how skilled and well trained pharmacists are...hence, lack of respect, they think the pharmacist earned only a certificate, and therefore doesn't get respect. I have not tossed out the possibility of going into retail when I complete my education because at least we get courteous, nice people at times and some days are better than others. I also like to keep my options open. A great benefit of the Pharm.D. degree is the multitude of opportunities available...if you don't like retail, you could go into hospital, etc.. You are not tied down to one particular branch.

 

[nerv12345]

i believe the setting too. a pharmacy to them is just a regular old store...i mean people come into our pharmacy w/ cartfuls of crap and only pick up 1 prescription. i believe pharmacists would gain more respect if their setting was more like a clinic or something

 

[Ethyl Methyl]

Whenever I try to educate such people about the reality of the training and the expansive knowledge pharmacists have or how much money they make, especially in retail, I get contorted facial expressions from people and remarks such as, "Are you serious!? They have to go to school to put pills in little orange bottles? Damn, I think i should start thinking of going into this..."

Personally, I would respond, "Yeah, you really should. Please remember to tell me how it goes."

Seriously, this type of answer will probably make them research the profession thereby:
1. educating themselves (no need for you to waste your breath), and
2. making them appreciate the profession more.

 

[babetrang]

I totally understand you, DoctorRx1986. Even my bf doesn't know what a pharmacy really does besides counting pills... He used to work in a pharmacy too. When he told his friends in his economics class that I got accepted to a pharmacy school, they were confused and asked him "what do pharmacists do? Are they the ones at the CVS's? Some pharmacist are even only 16 yrs old and don't even have a high school diploma yet..." Of course I got really upset. A friend of mine asked me why I didn't choose to become a nurse because nurses make more money than pharmacists do. She said a pharmacist makes only $60K but nurses make way more...??!!! She's studying Business... I don't know where all this information came from... I'm tired of explaining and educating them about our profession.

 

[AngelaCL]

Does it really matter if people think you are important and rich or not? Yeah, some people think pharmacists are cashiers - but as long as they are willing to take advice/instructions from the pharmacist, it doesn't really matter.

In fact, I think some patients pay more attention to pharmacists than to their doctors because they have this impression of doctors being arrogant or not really listening to them. Having the patients recognize that we have doctorates isn't that important. And in my experience, most people say "Wow you must be smart" "You people are smarter than doctors" or "You'll be rolling in money" when I tell them I'll be attending pharmacy school in the fall.

 

[Allure]

It's all the same no matter where you go. I didn't know anything about pharmacy until I started working at the pharmacy I used to always wonder why it took so long for my prescriptions. When you're in pain and you have to wait long for your medications, you get annoyed especially if you don't know what is going behind the counter. Then I started pharmacy school and I learned even more about the profession that I didn't learn while I worked there as a tech. You can't really blame the public for that. You all know about it before coming into the profession. It's something you just have to deal with.

 

[inquirer89]

I must admit that before I was interested in the career, I thought that pharmacists only gave out pills. When I became more interested and did more research, I found out about the great things that pharmacists do and the benefits that they have.

I've shadowed pharmacists at the hospital, and from what I've seen, they earn a lot of respect for their knowledge and opinion. Personally, I feel doctors have the most respect (and maybe rightfully so...) but pharmacists get a fair share too, just like nurses (I give props to anyone who is willing to clean poop!)

I'll be working retail this summer for the first time, so I'll see first hand how it is. If it's anything like I've heard, then I dunno if I'm looking forward to it...

Also, on the topic of the title "Doctor"....Lawyers get a Juris Doctor degree, but you still call them by their first names 🙂

 

[BidingMyTime]

I will probably go into another branch such as hospital pharmacy or even work for government to get the respect I believe all pharmacists are entitled to.

Eh, I worked 10 years as a hospital pharmacist, before switching to retail. There will always be people who disrepect you at any job. Some people are pretty obnoxious to their doctors as well (the difference is doctors can "fire" their patients, unless you have your own pharmacy, you probably can't do that.) There are always a few doctors or nurses who will curse at pharmacists in the hospital setting, just like there are a few patients in retail who will do the same. Not all doctors or nurses have any idea of the schooling involved in pharmacy either. I suspect treatment varies from job locale much more than between all of retail and all of hospital.

 

[RNtoPharmD]

My piano teacher told me " I don't know that getting into pharmacy school is that hard"... at least I disagree.. She is very nice though..🙂

 

[confettiflyer]

I think it's something we all have to deal with regardless of profession. I mean, think about it...most of us are science geeks brought up in the world of a meritocracy. How dare no one respects us in spite of our 4 year doctorate degrees!

In the real world...no one cares. It's easier to think of the pharmacist as "puts pill in bottle" vs. the complex vision most of us have with respect to this profession.

So suck it up...it's a pretty well known fact that pharmacists are not popularly respected as their other health profession brethren (ie. physicians, dentists, nurses...) Hopefully with the PharmD transition 8 years ago, things will change. But, for now, thicken up your skin and consider a bruised ego part of the job description.

 

[AbsoluteEthanol]

boo hoo, i'll cry all the way to the bank when depositing my 6 figure check. no job is perfect, every job has its con(s).

 

[mrblah]

I've come to learn that as long as I do the best that I can, I don't care what other people think of me. Call me insensitive, but the truth is, the most ignorant people on this planet tend to be the people that will utilize your services the most, and if they become a regular, most will come to respect what you do.

Now as for being a tech or clerk, don't expect to be treated any differently than any other cashier type job. Just don't take it too seriously and you won't lose sleep at night.

 

[tlnbtb]

I agree with u 100 percent. If you want the respect of a doctor, go to med school and forget pharmacy. My wife is a surgeon and trust me, what we do is not even close to what they have to go through. Stop worry about what others think, you are getting paid with a 6 figure salary and that is more than most people will ever make. Stop worry about getting the respect you are not getting, if you know your stuff, people will look up to u no matter what profession u are in.

 

[dearabbey3]

My favorite is when people ask what I am doing now and I tell them I've been accepted to Pharmacy School and they say, "Wow that's great, I think you would be great at pharmaceutical sales."
I just want to turn and walk away

 

[Omegadramon]

Interesting topic.

 

[Hels2007]

World is full of idiots, get over it. When my interns complain to me about another garden-variety ***** who just left, I remind them that it is the stupid people who guarantee us jobs and six-figure salaries. 😀

Were an average person marginally intelligent, they could figure out how to use blister packs (instead of us having to repackage drugs), add water to the antibiotic (pharmacists in Europe laughed out loud when I told them we do that in US, when every patient in Europe is considered capable of doing it themselves), read the package insert, etc. and there would be far fewer pharmacists who would be doing more of the counseling role, instead of verification. With decreased demand, salaries would go down. So don't look at the next idiot as an annoyance, but as a source of income. It's not like you have to respect them either. 😉

 

[LoKoTe]

World is full of idiots, get over it. When my interns complain to me about another garden-variety ***** who just left, I remind them that it is the stupid people who guarantee us jobs and six-figure salaries. 😀

Were an average person marginally intelligent, they could figure out how to use blister packs (instead of us having to repackage drugs), add water to the antibiotic (pharmacists in Europe laughed out loud when I told them we do that in US, when every patient in Europe is considered capable of doing it themselves), read the package insert, etc. and there would be far fewer pharmacists who would be doing more of the counseling role, instead of verification. With decreased demand, salaries would go down. So don't look at the next idiot as an annoyance, but as a source of income. It's not like you have to respect them either. 😉

Couldn't have said it any better ...

 

[OKgirl]

Most people aren't educated about most jobs. I also get told that I don't need to go to college to be a pharmacist and doing so is just a waste of time and money because their cousin is a pharmacist and they never even graduated HS.

 

[PharmDstudent]

This is exactly why people need to get experience before they go to pharmacy school. Even though you finish with a PharmD, you don't necessarily get treated like a doctor.

For example, an 80 year old woman could care less that you have a doctorate. Perhaps she wants her medicine immediately, because she doesn't want to miss her favorite soap. The longer you take to fill her scripts, the more of her soap she's going to miss. Duh! 🙄

Pharmacy is not glamorous. You deal with sickly people all day long. People complain of nausea, diarrhea, rashes, cuts, bruises, pain, etc. They don't like paying copays either, even though they picked out their own insurance plan. They don't care if you have a doctorate when they're being charged $50 for cholesterol medicine. They'll fight you over copays like you're a waiter who overcharged them for their entree.

The salary is impressive. I think that's the only glamorous part.

 

[BelowTheMean]

OH boy do I have lots of comments for this one. However, Im just going to hit a few points.

If you want respect...Go be an MD. Trust me, pharmacists for the most part do not get any respect. MDs never thank you for catching their mistakes, will get mad if you ask them to repeat stuff (yeah...like they know it all). I even hear the residents and 4th year med students in hospitals talking down on pharmacists like "wow, they don't do anything to deserve their pay" etc, etc. Nurses dont give a crap about you that's for sure.

Customers for the most part act like angels in their doctor's office cuz they want their meds but once they get to the pharmacy, YOU ARE THEIR SLAVE (at least that's what their mentality is). I encounter this so much in my daily life, I sometimes forgot slavery ended.

People are never going to realize the importance of pharmacists. Basically pharmacists are no different than mcdonald's workers. You are there to serve and take their orders and whip it out fast or else they will give you their piece of mind. A customer told me, "Why do you people take so long. I can probably do it faster...doesnt take a genius to count and put pills in a bottle". Plus, as some have said, people can't even tell who is a tech or pharmacist or clerk. They're all the same. They will take advice of any of them. However, just think about a medical office. Would they take any advice from the clerks or assistants? NO.

So yeah, it is what it is. Most of pharmacists i know have an inferiority complex. It's rarely seen with the docs. Its' like the pharmacists always feel the need to prove themselves...which is what i totally hate about pharmacy. No matter what you do, the doctors wont care and people wont care for the most part. So it does suck being in a profession where 90% of the time you feel like you have to prove you deserve the $50+ and school. The pharmacists I'm under for rotations all told me why didnt i do medicine. They said if they were to go back in time, they would do medicine because pharmacy is so limited and they feel 4 yrs of grad school was worthless when people think you and the tech are the same thing.

 

[RxShazzie]

whenever i tell someone i'm going into pharmacy i always get the same questions. they just think that pharmacists count pills and are only in it for the money. thats the most frustrating part! most of the time i get bunched in with those who are only pursuing pharmacy for the salary. people don't realize that pharmacists work in tandem with MD's to save lives. it doesn't matter if they work at CVS or a clinic, MD's can and do make mistakes with prescriptions. mistakes that pharmacists catch and correct! plus, MD's and dentists aren't the only Dr.'s.

 

[confettiflyer]

^^ mm interesting comments belowthemean. Check the pre-allo thread, there are LOTS of physicians/interns/residents that would have done pharmacy if they could do it all over again. I was surprised by that.

As for the clerk/tech/pharmacist thing...given that most of my pharmacists are young (late-20's) and Asian (and so am I, mid-20's though), I understand where the pt's get confused. Heck, the way I talk about things (borderline consultation, but not, speaking in generalities), patients even tell me they're surprised when I have to call the pharmacist over for consult.

Anyway, it is what it is...attitudes within the physician community are SLOWLY changing from what I gather, but it's a tough road ahead.

If you feel you have the absolute NEED to be respected, pharmacy is NOT for you. If you're secure about yourself and can handle the daily grind calling into question your education and position in the pecking order of the health care care system, then you'll do very well in the retail at least.

 

[PharmDstudent]

As for the clerk/tech/pharmacist thing...given that most of my pharmacists are young (late-20's) and Asian (and so am I, mid-20's though), I understand where the pt's get confused.

That part depends on where you live 😉 The pharmacists where I work are not young or Asian.

 

[LoKoTe]

It is very interesting to hear opinions from around the country. In my several years of experience in retail in Florida, I've found that maybe more than 50%, or close to that % of patients actually respect the pharmacist. All they have to do is have confidence in themselves and not hesitate. If someone talks down on them, they just start explaining all the lil details and scientific terms just as they learned in school, patients shut up, start listening, and thank them. Some even want to talk to the "doctor" whenever they come back in the future. I do believe some people who have inferiority complex shouldn't be in pharmacy for the respect, but for those of us who like pharmacy for the career itself, lack of respect by patients and doctors is just something else we have to deal with.

 

[Moxxie]

All of what you guys have said is true. Pharmacists don't get the respect they deserve from the public, and the public is very poorly informed about what a pharmacist actually does.

My suggestion? Do something about it. If this issue bothers you so much, make it your passion. Too many pharmacists are content to sit back and let the world roll by. When you get into pharmacy school, become a grassroots activist for pharmacy. Team up with other students and pharmacists that aren't happy with the status quo. Participate in American Pharmacists' Month. Contact your local representative or see if you can write an article for your newspaper or get on TV. Get the word out that we do so much more than put pills in bottles and ring up your candy bars. Nothing is going to change unless we make an effort to achieve change.

Regardless of your political beliefs, Barack Obama is someone that we should be paying attention to. As he has famously said: "One voice can change a room. And if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it can change a state, it can change a nation. And if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world."

 

[fiorio]

Why do I must need public recognition? Pharmacists are the unsung heroes, so what? It doesn't mean our value depreciated. I am just glad that I will be in a profession that help a LOT of people and we are the ones that behind every dumb doctor to save their butts.
All I wish is a lunch break for all pharmacists especially pharmacists working for evil big chain retail.😀

 

[RNtoPharmD]

We need to convince Johnson & Johnson to advertise/promote for us like they're doing now for nurses. .. and let them make a slogan "Be a pharmacist" haha.. I'm sure the application to pharmacy school will skyrocket like it is now in nursing and we will get public attention...
At least, let's start the website www.discoverpharmacy.com like they did in the website www.discovernursing.com 😀hehe...

 

[bwsalvas]

If you carry yourself with professionalism, respect will follow.

Its only the class of 2000 on that the pharmD was necessary for licensing, and many pharmacists in the community have bachelor's degrees. To many pharmacists are "druggists" or just dispensers. Its going to take a while for patients to catch on, but if we each individually practice with professionalism it will not be an issue.

Think outside community and hospital pharmacy! There are incredible opportunities within the medical community that do not involve dispensing. It is there that respect will never be an issue.

 

[OKgirl]

Customers for the most part act like angels in their doctor's office cuz they want their meds but once they get to the pharmacy, YOU ARE THEIR SLAVE (at least that's what their mentality is). I encounter this so much in my daily life, I sometimes forgot slavery ended.

Employees get treated like that at any service related job. I don't work in a pharmacy, but I cannot recall a time when we went 24 hours without being treated as inferior. I get treated like I'm dumb and I get b****ed out by customers almost every day. At least once a week, I encounter someone that doesn't want to deal with a woman. I get blamed for every problem (even if it has absolutely nothing to do with what I do) even though I'm only the person that answers the phone. It's part of dealing with people, but those nice customers make it worth it.

The pharmacists I'm under for rotations all told me why didnt i do medicine. They said if they were to go back in time, they would do medicine because pharmacy is so limited and they feel 4 yrs of grad school was worthless when people think you and the tech are the same thing.

The grass is always greener on the other side.....

 

[bubblechasincat]

this other day i joked with my bf and said that stems and skins actually has more nutrients/vitamins than the actual fruit itself (if you guys watched the jack lalanne juicer infomercial haha) and his mom heard me - then she said, "you should know that those things are not edible and are not nutritious, you are gonna be a pharmacologist right"

OMGGGG i tried soooo hard to keep my straight face


hey guys dont fret! we are gonna be nameless heroes for the society =)

 

[117296]

The world, for the most part, cares very little about what you do. Outside of our friends, the random person walking up to the pharmacy doesn't care about your job, your family, or how much you make.

The words respect and money have came up a lot in this thread. You went to to school for 7 years? Hope you had a good time. You make 100K/year? Hooray for you.

Go into pharmacy for a better reason than respect or money, because neither will buy you happiness..(which in and of itself may be a debatable point.🙄but I believe it doesn't.)

 

[kalove07]

They would get frustrated for waiting too long to get their medications, whereas they would wait patiently to see their doctor no matter what the wait is.

My cousin told me about a pregnant pharmacist who was killed because a mental patient couldn't wait for her meds. Understandable the patient needed them and the line was long. From my understanding, the patient waited in line one day and didn't receive the meds and so came back the next day with a gun. Both the pharmacist and her baby died...so sad.

 

[tackett26]

Most people aren't educated about most jobs. I also get told that I don't need to go to college to be a pharmacist and doing so is just a waste of time and money because their cousin is a pharmacist and they never even graduated HS.

- Yes, that would be what we call a "drug dealer" (not to be confused with pharmacy). Although this may appear to be more lucrative than pharmacy it also comes with greater risks such as being shot, killed, or arrested.

 

[phathead]

Some of you guys are missing the point. Pharmacist that work in big box retails (a la Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart, etc) really don't get any respect. Patients come in and expect the same treatment as they would from a checkout clerk. Ya know, I want my **** now.

Things are different in independent retail pharmacies. Generally your customers are a lot more loyal, you get to know them better and they you, and there is a level of respect. The majority of people who go to independent stores have an immense amount of respect for their pharmacists.

Too often you guys seem to base your views of retail off of working for the big chains and neglect the benefits of working for a local outfit. Hell some of our customers sent me a wedding card when I got married this past summer.

There are lots of aspects to retail. While you can talk about the downsides (yes I have been robbed during a work day, threatened numerous time, sent 20 people to jail, had one come to visit me when he was released, etc etc) but I still come back because we are here to perform a service for our patients.

I could give a rats ass if people understand every aspect of my job and give me the 'respect I deserve'. It's called humility, and it is a beautiful thing.

 

[IrishRxMan]

First off, this is a really old thread. Second, pharmacists being doctors as a major part or rising part of the field has only been a recent thing. Doctors, on the other hand, have been called that for several centuries now. There are doctors out there that talk down to pharmacists because they believe all we do is count pills and do what they tell us to do. I wouldn't get too ruffled about the way people treat you. It's a retail setting, regardless of what is being sold. It's different than a doctor's office. People are usually weary from pain or illness and usually aren't in the greatest of moods once they reach you to get their meds. The just want to get their meds and go back home where they can be more comfortable. Toss in insurance issues and long wait times and you can get some pretty testy people. I was a cop in my former life and I came across my fair share of bad attitudes. I have found that my experience being a cop is perfectly suited to working retail. It will take probably a few years to possibly a couple decades for people to start respecting the job of a pharmacist more. In the meantime, just laugh internally at the ignorance of people. This will make the day go by faster and lessen the irritation you get from pissy customers.

 

[Jetninjin]

At most retail pharmacies I have been to, the techs and the pharmacists are dressed exactly alike in identical white coats. You really have to peer at the name tag to see if it says "pharmacist" under the name or not.

Like a lot of people here, I didn't know what pharmacists did besides "count by five" until I looked into it.

Frankly, I don't think I'd ever want to work in a retail environment. I would much prefer big pharma, a PBM, Kaiser or a Medicare death panel.

(KIDDING about the 'death panel'!!! Kidding about the terminology at least. But they are going to need a lot of comparative effectiveness experts to determine if Baby Boomer Grandma gets a new sinus spray or a form letter telling her to go buy a Neti Pot lol as Medicare becomes more and more insolvent over the next few years).

 

[lymmys]

thanks god i found this topic. It makes me feel much better that i'm not the only one who got "hurt" by people's ignorance. I always think: if those people see me at somewhere else but this freakin retail setting, would they talk to me disrespectfully? Would they call me names like they did? - hell no!

 

[phathead]

thanks god i found this topic. It makes me feel much better that i'm not the only one who got "hurt" by people's ignorance. I always think: if those people see me at somewhere else but this freakin retail setting, would they talk to me disrespectfully? Would they call me names like they did? - hell no!

Yea, I don't think having a title is going to matter when the addicts start yellin' at you because you won't fill their Lortabs early

 

[magenta1]

i completely agree with you DrRx....BUT there have been many patients who DO respect and commend us for what we do, and sometimes that makes up for all the crappy people out there who really dont know/are stupid.

there was something else that irked me recently, my boyfriends uncle is a physician, and he said TO ME, "no offense, but its an insult how much pharmacists get paid" i was shocked, had no idea what to say to this comment!! he was pissed that drs (he has his own practice in SC) like him only get a few $$ more than us... i mean i really have no idea how much he makes a year but im sure its more than the avg pharmacist...

ok on another note... im pretty interested in hospital pharmacy (im P2), so far only had one rotation at a psych hospital. I have heard that some MDs dont really respect the pharmacists and treat them badly. does anyone that works at a hospital see this? im sure it is different everywhere but im interested on your opinions. The hospital I was at had a little tension between the clinical pharmacist and an MD during a discussion about the formulary, but this may have just been a differing opinion and not about "degrees"

 

[SirRichardPryor]

Wow, some of you need to get a grip. Who cares what people think about pharmacists? Just as long as I get that paycheck then I could care less about what you little minnions think about me.

 

[Thumper17]

I think the general public as a whole is grossly uninformed when it comes to all of the health professions, doctors just get the other end of the spectrum when compared to pharmacists.

When people hear "doctor" all people think of is brains and dollar signs, but the fact is that in reality the average doctor in this country makes only ~150k a year (and many, when broken down hourly, make LESS than pharmacists) and medical school and pharmacy school admission requirements are relatively the same. So what if pharmacy is not a romantic profession in the public eye, those actually involved know that it is a rewarding profession both personally and financially.

 

[IrishRxMan]

Wow, some of you need to get a grip. Who cares what people think about pharmacists? Just as long as I get that paycheck then I could care less about what you little minnions think about me.

The pay is nice, but after all the hell one goes through to get to that pay a little respect from other health care professionals should be there as well. Respect is more important than the money you will earn as a pharmacist because you can't spend it. Eventually, those doctors that don't give due respect will either retire or pass on and perception of our profession will change for the better. We are the drug experts. Just today a FDA MedWatch came out about prescribers not writing the prescriptions properly for Tamiflu suspension. We're the last stop to ensure that everything is right before the patient gets their medicine for a reason. It's high time we get the respect for what we know and do from our contemporaries.

 

[IrishRxMan]

I think the general public as a whole is grossly uninformed when it comes to all of the health professions, doctors just get the other end of the spectrum when compared to pharmacists.

When people hear "doctor" all people think of is brains and dollar signs, but the fact is that in reality the average doctor in this country makes only ~150k a year (and many, when broken down hourly, make LESS than pharmacists) and medical school and pharmacy school admission requirements are relatively the same. So what if pharmacy is not a romantic profession in the public eye, those actually involved know that it is a rewarding profession both personally and financially.

If the doctor has a private practice where they rely on their source of income, their overhead is immense with the malpractice insurance, rent, payroll, etc. that they have to take care of. They may be bringing in a huge amount of money, but that is the gross income, not what they take home. If they're a GP, their take home may not be so large as it would be if they were a specialist.

 

[Passion4Sci]

"Yeah, I'm trying to go to pharmacy school."

"You want to count pills all day?"

*sigh*

 

[Thumper17]

If the doctor has a private practice where they rely on their source of income, their overhead is immense with the malpractice insurance, rent, payroll, etc. that they have to take care of. They may be bringing in a huge amount of money, but that is the gross income, not what they take home. If they're a GP, their take home may not be so large as it would be if they were a specialist.

Yes, that is what I am saying....doctors really don't make as much as the general public thinks they do.

 

[RxQueen12]

Most people are ignorant, that's just a fact of life. It's sad that people don't realize these types of things, but lets put our pride aside and be happy that we're smart enough to know the difference. That always helps me sleep at night. 😎

 

[sunflower85]

ok on another note... im pretty interested in hospital pharmacy (im P2), so far only had one rotation at a psych hospital. I have heard that some MDs dont really respect the pharmacists and treat them badly. does anyone that works at a hospital see this? im sure it is different everywhere but im interested on your opinions. The hospital I was at had a little tension between the clinical pharmacist and an MD during a discussion about the formulary, but this may have just been a differing opinion and not about "degrees"

It depends on the dr and the pharm. I work as a tech at a hospital and hear some physicians referred to as "pharmacist friendly" and "nurse friendly" or not. Also, whether the pharm demands respect or works to deserve it plays a huge role in the relationship.