Rite Aid Intern

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pharmodynamics

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Any input on becoming a pharmacy intern for Rite Aid? Anybody with experience previously in working as an intern there?


I had hope for a hospital position as a student - but it's been hard to get my foot in the door and scheduling problems.
 
pharmodynamics said:
Any input on becoming a pharmacy intern for Rite Aid? Anybody with experience previously in working as an intern there?


I had hope for a hospital position as a student - but it's been hard to get my foot in the door and scheduling problems.
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Just do a stock search for the symbol RAD and look at the balance sheets. That should give you answer enough.
 
pharmodynamics said:
Any input on becoming a pharmacy intern for Rite Aid? Anybody with experience previously in working as an intern there?


I had hope for a hospital position as a student - but it's been hard to get my foot in the door and scheduling problems.
Click to expand...


I liked working for Rite Aid. I think it depends on the individual store, the people you work with, the DM, and the location of the store. Each chain has their good parts and their bad parts. Talk to people who work at the store you're trying to work at to see how they feel.

ETA: I have heard many more things about Walgreens cutting hours in my home state than I have heard about Rite Aid. The pharmacists I graduated who went to Rite Aid are all reasonably happy and have the same complaints as all the retail pharmacists I talk to.
 
From students in other chains, this is what I've heard:

Walgreens: cutting hours
CVS: having "interviews" where they lay off interns after P3 in some districts. Other districts are cutting hours.

Now, Rite Aid:
When you get to P3, you get 400 guaranteed hours for the year (it might actually be higher now). That number increases in your P4 year. The pay is better than CVS, not sure if better than Walgreens. Retail sucks, but Rite Aid may be the lesser of three evils.

Now, the main problem that people see with Rite Aid: they are probably the least likely to offer you a pharmacist job upon graduation, as they are not doing well financially. If you're not interested in retail anyway and just want to be able to pay rent and satisfy intern hour requirements, I think Rite Aid is somewhat bearable.
 
ucrx said:
ETA: I have heard many more things about Walgreens cutting hours in my home state than I have heard about Rite Aid. The pharmacists I graduated who went to Rite Aid are all reasonably happy and have the same complaints as all the retail pharmacists I talk to.
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Maybe that's why their financials are so jacked up. I keep seeing them in Yahoo! news articles about companies on the verge of disaster.
 
I've been with Rite Aid going on 4 years now. I really think that retail is retail anywhere you go. Rite Aid has its share of bull**** like any other chain but it's not like Big Brother is watching you all the time like at CVS. At least in my area, Rite Aid is paying better than any other chain. And yeah, the stock numbers are bad but Rite Aid hasn't filed for Chapter 11 or anything like that yet. The problem is that they acquired the Brooks/Eckerds stores at the wrong time, right before this economy completely went to ****. I think their stock numbers will eventually go back up. They really aren't that bad of a company to work for.
 
GamecockPharmD said:
I've been with Rite Aid going on 4 years now. I really think that retail is retail anywhere you go. Rite Aid has its share of bull**** like any other chain but it's not like Big Brother is watching you all the time like at CVS. At least in my area, Rite Aid is paying better than any other chain. And yeah, the stock numbers are bad but Rite Aid hasn't filed for Chapter 11 or anything like that yet. The problem is that they acquired the Brooks/Eckerds stores at the wrong time, right before this economy completely went to ****. I think their stock numbers will eventually go back up. They really aren't that bad of a company to work for.
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I hope for everyones sake that rite aid doesn't go under because with consolidation of rite aid would equal less pharmacists jobs. I have already heard rumblings for quite some time that Walgreens, cvs and wal-mart are positioning themselves well financially in case that scenario happens. The only beef I have with rite aid in this area is that a lot of the pharmacists barely speak English making getting copies a challenge and they seem to give $25 gift cards for EVERY transfer. I had one lady tell me she transferred 8 of her scripts only bc she got $200 in gift cards and I told her I couldn't blame her.
 
I did my intern at rite aid and work per diem now. Like all chains, they are fine and it will really depend on your store, district and manager. Compared to what I hear about walgreens and CVS there's lot less big brother stuff going on. Financially we are pretty steady and I don't think we will go under in the near future. But if you only intern there does that even matter?

I don't know if this is a problem per say but we use a windows based computer system and I could imagine this may hinder you if you ever move to a store that used a UNIX based system (PDX) but I doubt it's that big of a deal
 
pharmodynamics said:
Any input on becoming a pharmacy intern for Rite Aid? Anybody with experience previously in working as an intern there?


I had hope for a hospital position as a student - but it's been hard to get my foot in the door and scheduling problems.
Click to expand...

Apparently lots of interns are having trouble finding positions anywhere at this point. Even if it sucks there (not saying it does or doesn't; I have no experience with Rite Aid personally) you might want to just take what you can get, make a little cash and gain some experience until you find a hospital position, if that's still what you're after.
 
PharmD RPh said:
I hope for everyones sake that rite aid doesn't go under because with consolidation of rite aid would equal less pharmacists jobs. I have already heard rumblings for quite some time that Walgreens, cvs and wal-mart are positioning themselves well financially in case that scenario happens. The only beef I have with rite aid in this area is that a lot of the pharmacists barely speak English making getting copies a challenge and they seem to give $25 gift cards for EVERY transfer. I had one lady tell me she transferred 8 of her scripts only bc she got $200 in gift cards and I told her I couldn't blame her.
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I hear ya. The gift card thing is finally slowing down though. I hope we don't go under either. The only thing going for me though is that I'm the pharmacy manager at a busy ass store. I didn't really want to be PIC straight out of school but it is what it is. I've got great tech help so that's a plus. I feel though that even if Rite Aid were to fold, my store would survive just under a different moniker. Great location and the only competition is Bi-Lo and Food Lion pharmacies. It's not out in the sticks either.
 
GamecockPharmD said:
I hear ya. The gift card thing is finally slowing down though. I hope we don't go under either. The only thing going for me though is that I'm the pharmacy manager at a busy ass store. I didn't really want to be PIC straight out of school but it is what it is. I've got great tech help so that's a plus. I feel though that even if Rite Aid were to fold, my store would survive just under a different moniker. Great location and the only competition is Bi-Lo and Food Lion pharmacies. It's not out in the sticks either.
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You mean you don't have a CVS, WAGS, and/or Wal-Mart RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!?

That is pretty rare when you think about it. In NC here you can see a pharmacy and look left and find another right across the street basically everywhere you go.

An independent opened up. 6 months later a WAGS opened up right next to it. Within that year a CVS opened up across the street. Then a RA.

Independent closed 😡
 
Jabberwocky12 said:
You mean you don't have a CVS, WAGS, and/or Wal-Mart RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!?

That is pretty rare when you think about it. In NC here you can see a pharmacy and look left and find another right across the street basically everywhere you go.

An independent opened up. 6 months later a WAGS opened up right next to it. Within that year a CVS opened up across the street. Then a RA.

Independent closed 😡
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You're right it is rare. And I'm lucky. I hope the other chains stay away from that side of town. I don't know where they would build because there are a lot of other businesses around. I live about 20 minutes away from NC, and you're right about all the CVS/WAGS being across the street from each other.
 
GamecockPharmD said:
I hear ya. The gift card thing is finally slowing down though. I hope we don't go under either. The only thing going for me though is that I'm the pharmacy manager at a busy ass store. I didn't really want to be PIC straight out of school but it is what it is. I've got great tech help so that's a plus. I feel though that even if Rite Aid were to fold, my store would survive just under a different moniker. Great location and the only competition is Bi-Lo and Food Lion pharmacies. It's not out in the sticks either.
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Sounds like you're in a good position. Usually a CVS or WAG will penetrate where there are Rite Aids, so that is odd. I think being PIC, while stressful at time, is the way to go. For me, it allows me to control the quality of my day for the most part. I try to put systems in place that all for efficiency and the least amount of stress as possible. If its stressful, I'm the person to blame for not making the right decisions or adopting to the situations in the pharmacy appropriately. I've worked under other PIC that don't know how to run a pharmacy, schedule proper tech help during your stores peak times etc. and it was horrible!
 
I am a floater pharmacist with Rite Aid and as far as I can tell many of the interns who graduated this May received offers. Granted some of those who signed are still floating full time, but an offer is still an offer. I think that if you are willing to move to an area where Rite Aid has openings you could get your own store. After a couple of years of paying your dues you could get transferred to wherever you want. At that point you have experience that will distinguish you from the competition.
 
Blago said:
the date of article was 4/10/10, just saying.
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There have also been articles like that for years (since the Brooks-Eckerd acquisition). I'm not saying Rite Aid is in a good place financially, I just don't believe yahoo finance articles about RA anymore. They said it was going to collapse years ago but it is still there.
 
Apparently Rite Aid gave out offers in my area this month.

What are the chances of delaying an offer for 2 months for if I don't match with a residency. I really don't want to work retail, but it would be a nice backup. Just don't want to accept such an offer (which would probably be in an area I don't want to live) if I could have other options.
 
bacillus1 said:
Apparently Rite Aid gave out offers in my area this month.

What are the chances of delaying an offer for 2 months for if I don't match with a residency. I really don't want to work retail, but it would be a nice backup. Just don't want to accept such an offer (which would probably be in an area I don't want to live) if I could have other options.
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I would accept the offer and wait for the residency. Depending on the residency and location you could be in the company and then either quit on good terms (2 weeks notice) or see if you can move to the new district as per diem if you feel you can handle a few more hours.
 
bacillus1 said:
Apparently Rite Aid gave out offers in my area this month.

What are the chances of delaying an offer for 2 months for if I don't match with a residency. I really don't want to work retail, but it would be a nice backup. Just don't want to accept such an offer (which would probably be in an area I don't want to live) if I could have other options.
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Like the comment above, I too would accept the offer. My friend declined his offer and never got matched and when he asked if the offer still stood, they told him all they had was part time.

You can always accept the offer and the bonus (but dont spend the bonus right away this way you can return it w/o any problems). If you do get into a residency program just decline the offer...you may look like an arse but the thing is they have people lining up for retail positions all the time, so they can easily fill that position quickly.
 
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