Thank God I'm Doing A Residency

[legrita]

Can I vent for a second?! I am working part time at CVS while I do my residency temporarily just because I am currently still in orientation. My call starts in couple of weeks, so needless to say I will no longer be working much at CVS anymore....but I just got off of work and I am dog tired. I only woked 5 hours at CVS and encountered some of the rudest and most negative people ever. There's one guy who told me that I should be fired if I can't get his prescription out in 2 minutes and he was going on and on and on!!!! Of course my help was no good, but it was better than nothing, which is what I got last week!!!

Anyhow, I am just so glad to be doing a residency because I can't take this much longer!!!

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[eelo]

Can I vent for a second?! I am working part time at CVS while I do my residency temporarily just because I am currently still in orientation. My call starts in couple of weeks, so needless to say I will no longer be working much at CVS anymore....but I just got off of work and I am dog tired. I only woked 5 hours at CVS and encountered some of the rudest and most negative people ever. There's one guy who told me that I should be fired if I can't get his prescription out in 2 minutes and he was going on and on and on!!!! Of course my help was no good, but it was better than nothing, which is what I got last week!!!

Anyhow, I am just so glad to be doing a residency because I can't take this much longer!!!

Ah, don't take it personally. He's just jealous because he doesn't have a baby as pretty as the one in your picture. ;-)

 

[Tessalon]

Me too! I was also an intern at CVS during pharmacy school, and every time I had to go to work I would feel a little nauseous just thinking about the crappy customers I would encounter. Granted, nurses at the hospital can be a little snippy at times, but I'll take that over an insurance issue any day.

 

[Doctor M]

Can I vent for a second?! I am working part time at CVS while I do my residency temporarily just because I am currently still in orientation. My call starts in couple of weeks, so needless to say I will no longer be working much at CVS anymore....but I just got off of work and I am dog tired. I only woked 5 hours at CVS and encountered some of the rudest and most negative people ever. There's one guy who told me that I should be fired if I can't get his prescription out in 2 minutes and he was going on and on and on!!!! Of course my help was no good, but it was better than nothing, which is what I got last week!!!

Anyhow, I am just so glad to be doing a residency because I can't take this much longer!!!

yeah, retail can suck, but it grows on you...it takes awhile though.

 

[drho2009]

sadly, you get use to customers like that and let it roll right off your shoulders. I've been a tech now intern for Eckerds/CVS for about 8 years and my skin has gotten pretty thick through experience. None of the customers phase me now Hang in there.

 

[sakigt]

Customer service sucks everywhere. At least youll finally be getting paid an acceptable amount to put up with it.

 

[Mags]

I have a good friend who matched to her first choice. Her story and mine is kind of interesting as I thought I wanted to do clinical for four years and didnt match at all. She decided in November she wanted to do clinical and matched to her first choice.

Shes working crazy hours, getting paid 1/3 of what I'm getting paid, doesnt get very good health insurance, and is hardly seeing patients at all. Sure she rounds with MDs, and "follows" patients, but does she actually get to talk to them one on one about their meds and see them? Maybe, if its a discharge consult, but a lot of the times patients are gone before you can get those stupid excel sheets to them.

Usually she's stuck in front of a computer waiting for labs to come back, so she can suggest something to a resident who does what they want anyways (usually not what she suggested). Barely any patient interaction at all.


I am making 3 times what she makes, dont work the "long" hours she works (12-14's), have great health insurance, and get patient interaction everday with OTC consults, general triage questions, or counseling patients on meds. Bottom line: I love retail for the patient interaction it provides.

Sure you can do anticoag, but honestly, I feel like anticoag pharmd clinics exist only b/c MDs/ARNPS are too busy to do the work themselves. Anyone can look at an INR and learn to know what drugs/conditions affect it. And I didn't spend 6 years in school to be an MDs secretary.

so,
Thank God I'm NOT doing a residency

 

[spacecowgirl]

Thank God I'm NOT doing a residency

Well, thank God you're not doing THAT residency. Mine doesn't fit the above description at all. I do make the typical resident salary but have awesome benefits and tons of patient contact. I don't staff and am being exposed to so many areas of pharmacy that I never knew existed. I have yet to wait for a lab result.

So I would say, just like retail, it depends on where you are.

I also work retail on the weekend and after years and years, I'm still not used to being treated like crap. Not every place I've worked has been bad, but it's been enough to stay away from retail. I bow to those of you who can do it and do it well (and stay sane). It's just not my thing.

 

[legrita]

Spacecow,
You're absolutely right. I have been working retail for 4 years now and still moonlight from time to time. I still can't get used to being treated like crap.
Before doing a residency, it's important to speak with the current residents. My program is extremely rigorous. Like you, I am not getting paid much at all, but I am learning a lot and my benefits are great. I do anticoag for 3 hours a week, and the rest of the time, I get to participate in other clinics. Personally, I really enjoy anticoag and look for to my friday clinics. I get to participate in Diabetes, HTN, dyslipidemia, and infectious disease outpatient clinics where I get to interact with patients. These patients are awesome. They respect the pharmacist and the interaction is really like no other. I remember last week one singing to me and my preceptor, It was hilarious and sweet at the same time. These are mostly elderly patients who show a great deal of respect, gratefulness, and patience.

About labs, I really don't mind waiting for labs, and since where I practice, pharmacists are mid-level providers, I get to write prescriptions and have them co-signed by my preceptor. I never have to wait for a med resident's decision in our primary care clinics.

It's really a lot of work, but I know in the end it will pay off.

 

[dgroulx]

I am making 3 times what she makes, dont work the "long" hours she works (12-14's), have great health insurance, and get patient interaction everday with OTC consults, general triage questions, or counseling patients on meds. Bottom line: I love retail for the patient interaction it provides.

This is why I went retail. Most of my classmates thought I would be clinical, but I enjoy the patient interaction of retail.

I'm never treated poorly by patients. If I do see a patient being rude, I will go over and see what the problem is. Many times it is just an insurance issue, so I offer to phone their insurance company. This makes them happy. I also smile all the time. One tech mentioned that I'm always smiling and never look stressed even when it is crazy. I always greet patients with a smile and a good morning/afternoon/evening and leave them with a thank you and another smile. It really makes a difference.

 

[pharmgrl07]

All I can say is that we need pharmacists EVERYWHERE. Hospital, Retail, Industry, Clinic...who cares...as far as job description fits our personality, it works for us. Currently I am doing a residency and enjoying it, I have worked in retail for 5 years and enjoyed it...ofcourse there were and are days when I feel like screaming and running away, but that's part of the deal no matter where you are and it depends on how YOU handle the situation. Good luck to everyone.

 

[Mags]

Spacecow,

I get to write prescriptions and have them co-signed by my preceptor.

Honestly, if you wanted the authority to write prescriptions, you should have gone to med school. I truely believe that is practice infringement.
There are VERY few places in the nation that allow this, and it is NOT pharmacy norm. Residencies are training pharmacists for new utopian jobs that still dont quite exist in the ideal form residency preceptors and professors espouse.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Honestly, if you wanted the authority to write prescriptions, you should have gone to med school. I truely believe that is practice infringement.
There are VERY few places in the nation that allow this, and it is NOT pharmacy norm. Residencies are training pharmacists for new utopian jobs that still dont quite exist in the ideal form residency preceptors and professors espouse.

Are you familiar with collaborative practice agreements?

 

[Mags]

Are you familiar with collaborative practice agreements?

Um yes. My state practically wrote the book on it

Im still of the same opinion though. If you were the type of person who wants to write scripts, you should have gone to medical school.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Um yes. My state practically wrote the book on it

Im still of the same opinion though. If you were the type of person who wants to write scripts, you should have gone to medical school.

I'm aware of the role of your state in developing the model.

I was curious because you seemed to feel that pharmacist ability to RX wasn't widespread. It's done in all 50 states, at the VA among other places. It's "widespread" at the VA, for sure. Not to mention in Canada.

 

[Mags]

There's the "opportunity" to do it in all 50 states

Thats much different than its "done" in all 50 states.

The VA is very interesting, but I still stand by my opinion that if you want to prescribe medication, you should go to med school.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

There's the "opportunity" to do it in all 50 states

Thats much different than its "done" in all 50 states.

?

 

[Mags]

?

Theres protocols and laws set up, but providers actually doing CWAs/CWPs is a completely different story

aka, its allowed, not many do it

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Theres protocols and laws set up, but providers actually doing CWAs/CWPs is a completely different story

aka, its allowed, not many do it

You must mean outside of the VA, because it's very common there.

 

[Mags]

You must mean outside of the VA, because it's very common there.

Yes, there is a world outside of the VA

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Yes, there is a world outside of the VA

Yes, I've worked there.

 

[sdn1977]

Mags - we gotta agree to disagree here.

Its done all over & all the time, but perhaps not where you are. I'm familiar with many pharmacists who don't want to participate & they don't.

But, just last Thurs, I did a "stint" in my retail location.....I "prescribed" (I guess) & gave a Zostavax & two Menactra vaccines. I advised (???prescribed???) countless OTC medications & probably twice as many I advised against. I sat with a woman who was concernced about her switch to generic Norvasc - took her bp, twice & switched her back to her brand name & made an appt to do it again in a month.

Dispensed Plan B under my prescriptive authority 3 times because the young women were under 18 & once so it could go on insurance.

Called 3 physicians to request 3 dosing changs for different pts for therapeutic reasons - all we accepted.

Filed for 3 MTM counseling fees - 2 for psych meds & 1 for a statin.

Gave advice for one pt on how to go about getting antimalarias & traveler's diarrhea medications, which we can do in our state as pharmacists (as well as vaccinate against Yellow Fever & typhoid).

All in all.....a very busy day....some of which involved "prescriptive" authority & all under a variety of collaborative practice agreements. None of it required diagnostic ability, which is why I refer folks to physicians & dentists.

Prescription writing is just that & is constantly varying and changes with time. When I got out of school - you could buy pseudoephedrine, but you couldn't buy diphenhydramine without an rx. Now...you can buy diphenhydramine at the gas station, but we've got some crazy law that forces us to ID folks buying Sudafed & Robitussin DM.

Lots of this is political. We are not crossing the diagnostic border, particularly when we use the collaborative practice agreements. They are very clear & agreed upon by the medical collaborator. Pharmacists do not diagnose, but they do write rxs daily - just not independent of a medical provider. Its important to not confuse the two.

Its always your choice to participate or not. However, in my area, most employers will not continue to employ those who will not participate & actively in these agreements. Those I know who are choosing not to participate are being given fewer & fewer hours to work.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Eh, it's all really a pointless debate.

Someday we'll have freakin' robots diagnosing every-damn-body. Freakin' robots will do our jobs, cook our food, everything. Then we'll get into that communist utopia stuff Karl Marx was blathering on about because there is no work left to do. Then, as the robots get more sophisticated, they'll realize they don't need us anymore, kill us all, and that'll be then end of pharmacy practice, period.

Enjoy your BCPS certifications while you are safe from the man-eating androids, losers! Hahahaha!

 

[sdn1977]

Eh, it's all really a pointless debate.

Someday we'll have freakin' robots diagnosing every-damn-body. Freakin' robots will do our jobs, cook our food, everything. Then we'll get into that communist utopia stuff Karl Marx was blathering on about because there is no work left to do. Then, as the robots get more sophisticated, they'll realize they don't need us anymore, kill us all, and that'll be then end of pharmacy practice, period.

Enjoy your BCPS certifications while you are safe from the man-eating androids, losers! Hahahaha!

Where is Mrs. WVU & why is she letting you watch so much sci fi???

 

[WVUPharm2007]

She's playing Zuma on Xbox360. I also don't watch Sci-fi. It's all typically horribly written. I come up with my own crazy ideas, thank you.

 

[Priapism321]

Thank God I'm NOT doing a residency

I feel like getting involved in this discussion, but I have to go to work, so I am going to post something that I have posted elsewhere but is at least semi-relevant to this thread. Once again, I disclose all potential conflicts of interest: I am a current pharmacy resident.

I will write more when I get home later if necessary, just wanted to throw something out there.


I really do not understand some of the negative opinions regarding post graduate residency training. If professors are "selling" the concept throughout pharmacy school, one reason may be because at least two of the three large national associations representing Pharmacists are very pro-residency (not sure where APha stands on the matter). So, to me, they are being responsible and attempting to prepare students for where the future of Pharmacy appears to be heading.

The American College of Clinical Pharmacy has recently stated that in the future, all Pharmacy Practitioners in direct patient care roles should be residency trained. It is also their position that all Clinical Pharmacy Practicioners should be Board Certified:

http://www.accp.com/report/rpt0507/art07.php
http://www.accp.com/position/wp_phco200612.pdf

Just this month, the American Society of Health-system Pharmacists published a "vision" for the future of Health-systems Pharmacy. One of the core elements of this involves Pharmacists completing residency training.

http://www.ashp.org/s_ashp/article_p...=2037&id=20681

This is what is known as professional credentialing. I think it makes sense that the Pharmacist with two years of residency training with Board Certification in Pharmacotherapy should have more privileges than the Pharmacist with 2 years of undergraduate training and a Pharm.D. from a three year program.

If Pharmacists want this profession to continue to evolve as it has over the past two decades, the resistance to things such as post-doctoral training (because I also believe current training is deficient, and I felt like 50% of the individuals I graduated with should be lifers at Wendy's rather than Pharmacists) needs to go away in a hurry, in my humble opinion.

 

[MacGyver]

How many of you pharmacists who claim "script privileges" go in to see a new patient on your own, work them up, and then write a script that is signed by your "collaborating" MD?

 

[MacGyver]

called 3 physicians to request 3 dosing changs for different pts for therapeutic reasons - all we accepted

And what if they WERENT accepted and the MD told you to **** off? You have script privileges right? So presumably you could just order the change in medication regardless of what the MD thinks.

Whens the last time you wrote a script for a patient without getting MD approval or talking to him first, thats what I want to know.

Dont talk to me about vaccines, either. RNs can give vaccines with no doctors order whatsoever, so color me unimpressed

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I personally think the importance of residencies are overrated...like, insofar as the profession as a whole. If you want to be the dude that hangs around the hospital and does "clinical" ****, sure, do a residency. But that's such a small spectrum of the entire profession that they should push other opportunities as well. I've never heard anybody tell me to go be an "apprentice" at a nuclear pharmacy, then take my BCPS after gaining field experience.

It's like professors nowadays push "residency" as the default "next step" in pharmacy education and that it is the greatest, most progressive thing any PharmD grad can strive for.

At least that's the vibe I get from the folks that really push the residencies. Obviously I disagree.

If you want to really be on the cutting edge, go do a post-grad degree in pharmacology or medicinal chemistry and go work in drug development. If I was to actually do anything in an academic sense post PharmD, that'd be it. Both institutional and retail pharmacy would get monotonous and boring very fast for an ADD head case like me.


Also...just remember....it will take much longer for the androids to acclimate to molecular, histological, and pharmacological creativity than the "best guess and check" or "let's look at guidelines" world of practicing on humans. You can have a job a little longer when the freakin' robots come.

 

[Priapism321]

How many of you pharmacists who claim "script privileges" go in to see a new patient on your own, work them up, and then write a script that is signed by your "collaborating" MD?

You can come and visit the VAMC in my city and head to the Oncology ward and meet the pharmacist who has unrestricted prescriptive authority. Your head might explode. Then, you can meet the Attending Oncologist (not a VA Oncologist exclusively, he also practices at the academic medical center across the street) he has worked with for a decade who gives him this right and ask him what he could possibly be thinking doing something so silly.

And you can also look at the handbook all Oncology Fellows get when they begin the program, which is the basis for most of the chemotherapy they write for. Here's a hint at what to look for: the editor is a bone marrow transplant pharmacist at the medical center.

I don't personally desire this authority, just answering your question.

 

[Mags]

I'm familiar with many pharmacists who don't want to participate & they don't.

Its always your choice to participate or not. However, in my area, most employers will not continue to employ those who will not participate & actively in these agreements. Those I know who are choosing not to participate are being given fewer & fewer hours to work.

I take HUGE personal offense to this. Just because I'm not doing clinical does not mean I'm NOT participating. Thats what I hate about clinical, some think they are so much better than the rest of the pharmacy world. There is a lot of pharmacy world out there besides clinical.

Don't say I don't participate just b/c I dont agree with writing scripts. I ran for two national elections, wrote articles and was very proactive about the profession. I participated. And I participate everyday in retail by helping patients who are genuinely thankful and whom w/o me would have no clue.

Just b/c youre doing a residency doesn't mean youre participating and I'm not. We don't need our pharmacists getting egos just likes MDs

 

[Priapism321]

I take HUGE personal offense to this. Just because I'm not doing clinical does not mean I'm NOT participating. Thats what I hate about clinical, some think they are so much better than the rest of the pharmacy world. There is a lot of pharmacy world out there besides clinical.

Don't say I don't participate just b/c I dont agree with writing scripts. I ran for two national elections, wrote articles and was very proactive about the profession. I participated. And I participate everyday in retail by helping patients who are genuinely thankful and whom w/o me would have no clue.

Just b/c youre doing a residency doesn't mean youre participating and I'm not. We don't need our pharmacists getting egos just likes MDs

You may need to do your homework on this site before you just throw things out there. sdn1977 is doing a residency? I was under the impression she has been a practicing pharmacist for the better part of three decades, in hospital as well as retail.....You seem like an emotional young lady.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Honestly, if you wanted the authority to write prescriptions, you should have gone to med school. I truely believe that is practice infringement.
There are VERY few places in the nation that allow this, and it is NOT pharmacy norm. Residencies are training pharmacists for new utopian jobs that still dont quite exist in the ideal form residency preceptors and professors espouse.

Mags, based on your other posts here it looks like you're bitter about not matching with a residency. And that bitterness is really unflattering. I am very thankful there are all kinds of people in the world who are able to do the jobs I'm not. As I said I am GLAD there are people who excel in retail pharmacy and enjoy it. I ADMIRE that.

As for "utopian" jobs - honestly, you just haven't looked hard enough. They are there, I see them daily. In fact our department is hiring right now.

How many of you pharmacists who claim "script privileges" go in to see a new patient on your own, work them up, and then write a script that is signed by your "collaborating" MD?

Oh Christ, you again. That is not the point of CPAs - PharmDs are not diagnosticians, MDs are. But I am certainly qualified to choose therapy for a newly diagnosed diabetic, probably more qualified than some MDs who prescribe glyburide and Darvocet to old ladies and wonder why they fall down and fracture their hips There is just too much for any one person to keep on top of, which is why it's great to have different people fulfilling different roles in diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. Thankfully the MDs in my clinic are more receptive than you are.

 

[Mags]

Mags, based on your other posts here it looks like you're bitter about not matching with a residency. And that bitterness is really unflattering. I am very thankful there are all kinds of people in the world who are able to do the jobs I'm not. As I said I am GLAD there are people who excel in retail pharmacy and enjoy it. I ADMIRE that.

Actually no. I'm GLAD I didnt match to a residency (see above post). I just dont appreciate "clinical pharmacists" walking around thinking theyre better than everyone else , or rather "participating" just b/c theyre not in retail.

 

[Mags]

You may need to do your homework on this site before you just throw things out there. sdn1977 is doing a residency? I was under the impression she has been a practicing pharmacist for the better part of three decades, in hospital as well as retail.....You seem like an emotional young lady.

Nope
Just don't appreciate someone saying I'm "not participating" when I did more in school to participate, than half my classmates, or school for that matter. Just because I decided to go into retail instead of clinical does not mean I'm "not participating" or just "floating until retirement".

There are quite a few clinical pharmacists who seem to have this superior view of themselves and all I'm trying to say is the last thing we need is division IN our profession, let alone all the crap we get coming to us from outside the profession.

 

[Tessalon]

Nope
Just don't appreciate someone saying I'm "not participating" when I did more in school to participate, than half my classmates, or school for that matter. Just because I decided to go into retail instead of clinical does not mean I'm "not participating" or just "floating until retirement".

There are quite a few clinical pharmacists who seem to have this superior view of themselves and all I'm trying to say is the last thing we need is division IN our profession, let alone all the crap we get coming to us from outside the profession.

I think YOU might be the one with a superior view of themselves. Did you get burnt on the match and now you feel like taking it out on anyone who calls themselves a "clinical pharmacist"? I'm doing residency not only to be a better trained pharmacist, but to enhance my resume and network in order to get a good job. Yes, when I'm done, I'll call myself a clinical pharmacist. But I would never dare to look down on anyone who didn't do a residency. Experience makes a better pharmacist. Residency makes a better CV and opens the doors to more jobs in the future. I guarantee you if you go for a management or teaching position one day, and another candidate is up against you who did a residency, you might have a tough time beating them out of a job. Especially with a negative attitude like yours.

 

[Fuzzychickens]

Eh, it's all really a pointless debate.

Someday we'll have freakin' robots diagnosing every-damn-body. Freakin' robots will do our jobs, cook our food, everything. Then we'll get into that communist utopia stuff Karl Marx was blathering on about because there is no work left to do. Then, as the robots get more sophisticated, they'll realize they don't need us anymore, kill us all, and that'll be then end of pharmacy practice, period.

Enjoy your BCPS certifications while you are safe from the man-eating androids, losers! Hahahaha!

You are not the only one who thinks Mr. Marx will have the last laugh via robotic evolution.

 

[Mags]

I think YOU might be the one with a superior view of themselves. Did you get burnt on the match and now you feel like taking it out on anyone who calls themselves a "clinical pharmacist"?

Wow. How many times do I have to state I'm glad I didn't get a residency? Good lord

I went through the whole process and was starting to feel like I wasnt certain if residency would get me where I wanted to be. I did interview post match, and by the end of the whole process I finally realized that yes, residency would not get me where I want to be. Sometimes it takes going through the process to discover that you dont want something, which is just as important as knowing what you do want.

And no I dont have it out for all clinical pharmacists. I just dont agree with someone claiming that those that arent in clinical, aren't "participating" in our profession. Its untrue and rude, we all play our part, and we are all needed to play those respective parts.

Going thru the residency match/application process made me realize I want more patient interaction than any residency offered, hence (heres the disclaimer) why I plan to go back to school to become a PA and do part time as a PA and part time as a pharmacist. Going thru the residency process helped me discover that.

So for those that are on the fence I say go thru with the application process anyways. B/c you never know, you may discover residency is exactly where you want/need to be, or you may discover the exact opposite, which is valuable as well

 

[letjin]

I just dont agree with someone claiming that those that arent in clinical, aren't "participating" in our profession. Its untrue and rude, we all play our part, and we are all needed to play those respective parts.

I had an impression that sdn1977 used the word "participation" in context with "collaborating practices", not in "participating in advancing pharmacy profession." It seems like that you are getting unnecessarily offended.

 

[sleazye]

Wow. How many times do I have to state I'm glad I didn't get a residency? Good lord

I went through the whole process and was starting to feel like I wasnt certain if residency would get me where I wanted to be. I did interview post match, and by the end of the whole process I finally realized that yes, residency would not get me where I want to be. Sometimes it takes going through the process to discover that you dont want something, which is just as important as knowing what you do want.

And no I dont have it out for all clinical pharmacists. I just dont agree with someone claiming that those that arent in clinical, aren't "participating" in our profession. Its untrue and rude, we all play our part, and we are all needed to play those respective parts.

Going thru the residency match/application process made me realize I want more patient interaction than any residency offered, hence (heres the disclaimer) why I plan to go back to school to become a PA and do part time as a PA and part time as a pharmacist. Going thru the residency process helped me discover that.

So for those that are on the fence I say go thru with the application process anyways. B/c you never know, you may discover residency is exactly where you want/need to be, or you may discover the exact opposite, which is valuable as well

The "participation" sdn1977 was referring to are the collaborative practice agreements that allow pharmacists the authority to write scripts. Reread the post.

 

[dgroulx]

I think YOU might be the one with a superior view of themselves. Did you get burnt on the match and now you feel like taking it out on anyone who calls themselves a "clinical pharmacist"? I'm doing residency not only to be a better trained pharmacist, but to enhance my resume and network in order to get a good job. Yes, when I'm done, I'll call myself a clinical pharmacist. But I would never dare to look down on anyone who didn't do a residency. Experience makes a better pharmacist. Residency makes a better CV and opens the doors to more jobs in the future. I guarantee you if you go for a management or teaching position one day, and another candidate is up against you who did a residency, you might have a tough time beating them out of a job. Especially with a negative attitude like yours.

I was offered a clinical position straight out of school without a residency. Why? Because I have lots of work experience and managerial experience on my resume, not just pharmacy. Employers like well rounded individuals. For me, a residency would have been a waste of time and my salary would have been $73,000+ less per year.

I ended up choosing retail because of the patient interaction. Every day I see patients at the consultation window, make a quick diagnosis of their condition and suggest a treatment option (either OTC or recommend them to an MD). Usually, these people are tourists or here visiting friends and don't have a local MD. Others are just poor and can't afford to see an MD. I feel like I am making a difference. Like SDN says, every day at retail is "clinical".

 

[Mags]

I ended up choosing retail because of the patient interaction. Every day I see patients at the consultation window, make a quick diagnosis of their condition and suggest a treatment option (either OTC or recommend them to an MD). Usually, these people are tourists or here visiting friends and don't have a local MD. Others are just poor and can't afford to see an MD. I feel like I am making a difference. Like SDN says, every day at retail is "clinical".

BINGO

 

[sdn1977]

Mags - sorry if I offended you. But, I've been "clinical" since the day I graduated - June 1977 - yep 1977! Perhaps before you were born??? (sorry - not to pull the "elder" card - it just is what it is - I'm 30 years beyond the new grads here.)

I have been & currently am "clinical" in two treatment settings - inpt, acute hospital & outpt retail. I've spent some time filling in for a friend as a PIC - hard work & very, very clinical! As dgrouix pointed out, I've often said that clinical pharmacy encompasses each & every practice setting. It seems that it is you who are deliniating a difference. I am "clinical" every day I'm working in my retail setting - it may involve an immunization or education or prescriber involvement. It may just involve me just doing the best job I can and providing the pt with all the education he/she needs to properly take the medication prescribed.

But - no one expects you to do anything other than what you want - other than perhaps the folks who hired you. But, as a clinical manager in my hospital position & as a temporary PIC....you'll be less & less employable if you choose not to "participate" in the collaborative practice agreements which your employer might be a participant in. Today, I just chose to not hire someone because he was not a pharmacist trained in immunizations. I cannot afford to use the FTE's without the full benefit of all the opportunities available - there are just too many competent applicants.

However, if you are in independent practice....no one will tell you what to do - that's the beauty of that area of practice. However, you will limit yourself if you choose not to expand your practice areas, IMO. You may come here 30 years later & say I was full of nonsense - great. I'll be retired by then. But, my 30 years of practicing has shown me that it is important to stay current & be fluid in what my expectations of myself are & understand clearly what the expectations are of those who might find a reason to employ me.

Again - sorry you were offended & I do hope you find your place within the profession which gives you satisfaction. I know my own sense of professional satisfaction has changed over 30 years - perhaps yours will as well - who knows??? As Tessalon pointed out.....your attitude goes a long way in spite of or because of your own sense of satisfaction. Some find that in residency - some don't. I, myself, never did a residency - but, again - we must agree to disagree that "clinical" is defined or restricted by a residency. I've been "clinical" all the years I've practiced - you may choose not to be that (or labeled that). I've enjoyed expanding my areas of practice by using CPE's, but that may just not be your "thing".

MacGyver - glad to see you back!!! I always worry if you're gone for too long!

 

[tussionex]

forget the residencies.

all pharmacy is "clinical".

go into informatics.

those robots are not going to install and run themselves.

 

[imperial frog]

forget the residencies.

all pharmacy is "clinical".

go into informatics.

those robots are not going to install and run themselves.

Apparently you've never seen that documentary called "Terminator".