Spoke to a retail pharmacist and...

[NexusMD]

So I recently got a job at a Rite Aid as a pharm tech. I have worked with all 3 of the pharmacist there and I've asked them certain questions that I think may interest you guys.

Let me give you some history of these pharmacist incase it helps.
Pharmacist 1: Male, pharmacy manager.
Pharmacist 2: Female, Staff Pharmacist.
Pharmacist 3: Female, Fill in pharmacist, works full time at the FDA.

Pharmacist 1: The job is easy money, you sit here, look at a computer screen and enter prescriptions all day. Its boring, but its easy money. Pharmacist in Maryland start off at around $115k a year and it goes up from there. Average work hours is about 46/week and its great benefits.

Pharamcist 2: Its like it but I get paranoid alot, im afraid I give people teh wrong medicine. I have no regrets though.

Pharmacist 3: Do medicine, this job is boring and I wish I could go back and do medicine. I was training to be a doctor before but we moved away from my home country and now I had to do pharmacy. Better pay, better benefits, much more respect.

So this is what they told me. Starting at 115k seems like a lot, but in my opinion retail is SOO BORING. I am not saying that everyone finds it boring, because thats probably not true. But i am the type of person that loves change, i like to deal with new things everyday, I have yet to see that in my 3-4 weeks working at retail.

Hope this helps some people.

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[KellyBean]

Did it help you?

 

[omnione]

My main misconception about the field of pharmacy back when I was a freshman was that it was an underwhelming job for someone sitting in some small white room pushing pills all day. Though pharmacy isn't as glamorous as medicine where ABC would create a Grey's Anatomy-like show held in a pharmacy setting, there are diverse areas in the pharmacy profession that is not limited to the generic retail setting.

I would suggest to everyone the Pfizer Guide to Careers in Pharmacy. This really handy guide depicts twenty-eight different specialties of pharmacy that may draw some interest away from the stereotypical Walgreen's setting.

 

[bigdogc]

Retail pharmacists usually hate their jobs after 5 years. Lets face it, its an extremely monotonous job. Luckily there are a lot of options out there for pharmacists and the pay is always greats. Maybe you should look into research pharmacy careers.

 

[dave233]

So this is what they told me. Starting at 115k seems like a lot, but in my opinion retail is SOO BORING. I am not saying that everyone finds it boring, because thats probably not true. But i am the type of person that loves change, i like to deal with new things everyday, I have yet to see that in my 3-4 weeks working at retail.

Hope this helps some people.

Wooooo! NexusMD... i guess name suggest you are shooting for medicine... Let me tell you something that might HELP you..

During my 1st year in university i shadowed a physician and guess what I found his job boring.. WHat he did all day was prescribe vicodin for pain, gave out antibiotics to people that seemed sick and lastly if he had no idea what was wrong, he reffered patient to a specialist...
I guess some may not find that boring, but I did!!!....
Unless you are a ER doctor or House [Diagnostician], doctory is boring...

Second year, I started shadowing a pharmacist in a community pharmacy and since then life is just colorful....

hope this helps!

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

So I recently got a job at a Rite Aid as a pharm tech. I have worked with all 3 of the pharmacist there and I've asked them certain questions that I think may interest you guys.

Let me give you some history of these pharmacist incase it helps.
Pharmacist 1: Male, pharmacy manager.
Pharmacist 2: Female, Staff Pharmacist.
Pharmacist 3: Female, Fill in pharmacist, works full time at the FDA.

Pharmacist 1: The job is easy money, you sit here, look at a computer screen and enter prescriptions all day. Its boring, but its easy money. Pharmacist in Maryland start off at around $115k a year and it goes up from there. Average work hours is about 46/week and its great benefits.

Pharamcist 2: Its like it but I get paranoid alot, im afraid I give people teh wrong medicine. I have no regrets though.

Pharmacist 3: Do medicine, this job is boring and I wish I could go back and do medicine. I was training to be a doctor before but we moved away from my home country and now I had to do pharmacy. Better pay, better benefits, much more respect.

So this is what they told me. Starting at 115k seems like a lot, but in my opinion retail is SOO BORING. I am not saying that everyone finds it boring, because thats probably not true. But i am the type of person that loves change, i like to deal with new things everyday, I have yet to see that in my 3-4 weeks working at retail.

Hope this helps some people.

I am confused on this was suppose to be helpful...I can find 3 pharmacists that will say they find it exciting and fun with lots of change everyday meeting new people. But that post wouldn't help anyone either. Just my 2 cents.

 

[nightcrawleRx]

I think if anything, this has helped you (NexusMD), more than anybody. You have learned retail isn’t for you and at least you found that out after just a mind-boggling 3-4 weeks…you should be happy in a sense. I think the reason you wanted to share all this was to point out the fact that pharmacy can be redundant at times. This has been discussed in so many other threads but what job doesn’t get a little repetitive after a while? Not many people are lucky enough to have a job they really like…if you happen to stumble upon one then you are way ahead of the game.

I mean I’d like to be a rock star if I had one ounce of musical talent but after a while playing in front of a sold-out 20,000 seat arena going from city to city in a tour bus might be a pain in the ass. Hell, a porn star seems like a pretty easygoing job but I bet that can be redundant too after a while. I’m not going to even attempt to explain why because I’ll probably get banned, haha.

I guess my point is that if you don’t think pharmacy is for you then it’s better to get out now as opposed to 20 years from now. Maybe it’s just the retail gig you don’t like but at least you’re better off for knowing. I like pharmacy a lot but the whole “work to live” thing makes complete sense. Life is a grind; everyone has to work and hopes to be fortunate enough to have the time and money to enjoy life.

 

[NexusMD]

Wooooo! NexusMD... i guess name suggest you are shooting for medicine... Let me tell you something that might HELP you..

During my 1st year in university i shadowed a physician and guess what I found his job boring.. WHat he did all day was prescribe vicodin for pain, gave out antibiotics to people that seemed sick and lastly if he had no idea what was wrong, he reffered patient to a specialist...
I guess some may not find that boring, but I did!!!....
Unless you are a ER doctor or House [Diagnostician], doctory is boring...

Second year, I started shadowing a pharmacist in a community pharmacy and since then life is just colorful....

hope this helps!

Nonono MD = maryland not medicine, just clarifying.

 

[NexusMD]

I am confused on this was suppose to be helpful...I can find 3 pharmacists that will say they find it exciting and fun with lots of change everyday meeting new people. But that post wouldn't help anyone either. Just my 2 cents.

I wasnt saying i found 3 random pharmacist. I was just saying that the 3 pharmacist I worked with said it.

Retail pharmacists usually hate their jobs after 5 years. Lets face it, its an extremely monotonous job. Luckily there are a lot of options out there for pharmacists and the pay is always greats. Maybe you should look into research pharmacy careers.

I think the best thing to do is look into research.
I am still having an internal debate regarding whether I should do pharmacy or medicine. I am one of those people who HATE routine. And I know medicine and pharmacy dont really solve that problem unless i do Infectious disease or something of that nature.

I just thought I'd share what the three pharmacist told me, i didnt mean to offend anyone.

 

[acetyl]

I am one of those people who HATE routine.

I know your intentions were good, so thank you for sharing. As far as routine is concerned, ALL professions are repetitious for good reason. You'll start to see that with age, and it's a good thing because it makes sure that you don't make any unwarranted mistakes.

 

[NexusMD]

I know your intentions were good, so thank you for sharing. As far as routine is concerned, ALL professions are repetitious for good reason. You'll start to see that with age, and it's a good thing because it makes sure that you don't make any unwarranted mistakes.

I've had about 3-4 jobs and almost all of them have bored the hell out of me simply because everyday i'd have to do the same thing. I know that routine is in every job, but I am still not sure if pharmacy is for me.

And I am sorry if it seemed like I was bashing pharmacy. I was not.

 

[Saladfingers]

Just curious, where in Maryland?

 

[NexusMD]

Just curious, where in Maryland?

MoCo