Unicorn Jobs: What Exactly is This?

[OSU2017]

I keep on hearing the term "unicorn jobs" on here.

What exactly is a "unicorn job" and how does a student get one?

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[StellargalS]

I keep on hearing the term "unicorn jobs" on here.

What exactly is a "unicorn job" and how does a student get one?

 

[grumps]

The sad reality ..

 

[Sugoi Travis]

A "unicorn job" is basically a dream job.

 

[medicinegal]

"Unicorn" jobs = pharmacists dreaming of doing this....

 

[spacecowgirl]

Eww, I don't want to do that.

 

[confettiflyer]

"Unicorn" jobs = pharmacists dreaming of doing this....

yah hell no, i went into pharmacy for a reason, lol. i stand by the code cart and let you nurses/physicians do all the...icky stuff.

 

[medicinegal]

Yeah, but that's what my pharmacy school friends think they will be doing. lol

 

[Szadeh7]

you want to see a unicorn medicinegal?

 

[OSU2017]

For each of you, what is your "unicorn job"?

 

[Hello2000]

Yeah I think a lot of the aspiring pharmacists out there who are still at school are under the impression that some kind of complex surgery goes on back ther in the dispensary.

 

[Angela1234]

My unicorn job is any pharmacy related job at all so I can stay where I am living and not lose my apartment, boyfriend, old car. Sadly enough any job at all.

 

[mustang sally]

I always think of the unicorn job as a position that is primarily clinical, in which said pharmacist works cushy hours.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I always think of the unicorn job as a position that is primarily clinical, in which said pharmacist works cushy hours.

That's what I thought as well. Now I would include cushy managment jobs in there too.

 

[spacecowgirl]

A unicorn job is a job that meets your intellectual needs, doesn't kill your soul, values your contributions, gives you the work/life balance that you want, pays you appropriately, and makes you happy to go to work each day. So it can be any kind of job, it's what meets your needs. If that's retail, great. If it's management, great. If it's "clinical", great. There is no one type of unicorn job. What is a unicorn job to an ICU specialist or a DM-track retail pharmacist is not a unicorn job to me.

 

[spacecowgirl]

As an aside, pre-meds make me LOL.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I get paid more than anybody working anywhere close to a hospital pharmacy...I have little interaction with other humans...I get 27 weeks off per year...I live in a major metro area.

Pretty sure I have the best job.

 

[BeLikeBueller]

As an aside, pre-meds make me LOL.

Yup...the vast majority of these kids are in denial about quality of life. Although this may not be true in the future, pharmacists have historically had a higher hourly wage than a lot of lower-tier medical specialties.

 

[Angela1234]

I am hoping for a miracle.

 

[medicinegal]

Yup...the vast majority of these kids are in denial about quality of life. Although this may not be true in the future, pharmacists have historically had a higher hourly wage than a lot of lower-tier medical specialties.

Wishful thinking!

 

[medicinegal]

As an aside, pre-meds make me LOL.

All physicians were premeds at one time... Now laugh it up James! LOL

 

[BeLikeBueller]

Wishful thinking!

http://phys.org/news/2010-10-primary-physicians-lowest-hourly-wages.html

Sorry dear...quick web search shows that this is, in fact, the case. Primary care physicians and pediatricians average $52 or less per hour worked. By contrast, the average hourly wage for pharmacists is $55 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291051.htm).

Like I said...quality of life. Sure, primary care and pediatricians may have a higher annual salary, but they also work many more hours per week than pharmacists. Ergo, pharmacists have a higher hourly rate of pay than some medical specialties.

Now, obviously this doesn't apply to surgery, derm, cardio, etc...but then again that's an additional 5, 6, 7 years of residency/fellowship...

Just food for thought.

 

[medicinegal]

http://phys.org/news/2010-10-primary-physicians-lowest-hourly-wages.html

Sorry dear...quick web search shows that this is, in fact, the case. Primary care physicians and pediatricians average $52 or less per hour worked. By contrast, the average hourly wage for pharmacists is $55 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291051.htm).

Like I said...quality of life. Sure, primary care and pediatricians may have a higher annual salary, but they also work many more hours per week than pharmacists. Ergo, pharmacists have a higher hourly rate of pay than some medical specialties.

Now, obviously this doesn't apply to surgery, derm, cardio, etc...but then again that's an additional 5, 6, 7 years of residency/fellowship...

Just food for thought.

So, what you are saying is that one may experience greater quality of life working at Walmart. 😛

 

[BeLikeBueller]

So, what you are saying is that one may experience greater quality of life working at Walmart. 😛

Hmm...no retort to the higher hourly wage? That's ok, it blew my mind when I found that out too. Just give it a day or two to marinate.

 

[naseuy]

Didn't we get rid of this troll a few months back?

 

[medicinegal]

Hmm...no retort to the higher hourly wage? That's ok, it blew my mind when I found that out too. Just give it a day or two to marinate.

Oh please! Twist it any way you want. MDs make more money, are well respected and have greater job satisfaction than counting pills. End of story! LOL

 

[medicinegal]

Didn't we get rid of this troll a few months back?

Is this how pharmacists deal with people who disagree with them?

 

[naseuy]

When people behave like children, I treat them like children.

 

[BeLikeBueller]

Oh please! Twist it any way you want. MDs make more money, are well respected and have greater job satisfaction than counting pills. End of story! LOL

Haha...for a second there, I thought you said greater job satisfaction...LOL!

Oh, wait...wait. You did?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...llar-mistake-fear-introduction-Obamacare.html


Look, you wonder why we don't take pre-meds seriously? It's stuff like this. Clearly you are having some sort of internal conflict about pursuing medicine if you have to compare what physicians do to what pharmacists do. Either that or you are, as the other poster stated, a troll. Take your pick.

 

[medicinegal]

Okay, okay, pharmacists are the new health care rock stars. Soon you guys will be doing organ transplants. You guys are brilliant!!! Simply superstars! I will go to a grocery store tomorrow and thank a pharmacist for their great contribution to science and medicine. Better?

 

[rxlea]

Oh please! Twist it any way you want. MDs make more money, are well respected and have greater job satisfaction than counting pills. End of story! LOL

Today on rounds, I made a few critical interventions. The physicians thanked me, said they were glad to have me, and then we fist bumped and said, "See ya tomorrow!"

You're going to have to drop your arrogance because your attendings WILL put you in check. Plus, nobody wants an a-hole on their team.

 

[BeLikeBueller]

Today on rounds, I made a few critical interventions. The physicians thanked me, said they were glad to have me, and then we fist bumped and said, "See ya tomorrow!"

You're going to have to drop your arrogance because your attendings WILL put you in check. Plus, nobody wants an a-hole on their team.

Sorry...couldn't resist.

 

[medicinegal]

Today on rounds, I made a few critical interventions. The physicians thanked me, said they were glad to have me, and then we fist bumped and said, "See ya tomorrow!"

You're going to have to drop your arrogance because your attendings WILL put you in check. Plus, nobody wants an a-hole on their team.

And then you woke up and found yourself wondering through the OTC isles of Walgreens wearing your little white coat. Sorry couldn't resist. LOL

 

[rxlea]

And then you woke up and found yourself wondering through the OTC isles of Walgreens wearing your little white coat. Sorry couldn't resist. LOL

Nope. Pretty sure I helped save a patient. Cuz that's what medical teams do. We work together to save patients. Not stroke egos.

 

[medicinegal]

Nope. Pretty sure I helped save a patient. Cuz that's what medical teams do. We work together to save patients. Not stroke egos.

Good job! You do know that we are just kidding around, right?

 

[rxlea]

Good job! You do know that we are just kidding around, right?

We?

And no, not really. You came into a forum to troll. It's very immature and it's not like we haven't seen it before. At least prior trolls have actually been funny.

 

[BigThing]

Sorry...couldn't resist.

Aren't you the PharmD who is jumping ship to become a doctor?

Medicinegal - not only were all docs premeds at some point, but so were many pharmacists 😉

rxlea - just because you know more about meds than residents who are putting in 80 hour weeks doesn't mean you're suddenly a rock star.

Finally, wage per hour is a dumb way to compare professions. The fact that people make more money counting pills at Walgreens than serving patients as a primary care physician is a strong indictment of our for-profit healthcare system, given that one of those jobs has a high social value and the other does not. Honestly, the fact that pharmacists make more money than RNs is pretty striking, as an experienced RN is far more valuable to the healthcare team than an experienced pharmacist.

 

[medicinegal]

We?

And no, not really. You came into a forum to troll. It's very immature and it's not like we haven't seen it before. At least prior trolls have actually been funny.

LOL And its okay for you to make up stories about saving lives? I think that's Trolling.

 

[BeLikeBueller]

Aren't you the PharmD who is jumping ship to become a doctor?

Medicinegal - not only were all docs premeds at some point, but so were many pharmacists 😉

rxlea - just because you know more about meds than residents who are putting in 80 hour weeks doesn't mean you're suddenly a rock star.

Finally, wage per hour is a dumb way to compare professions. The fact that people make more money counting pills at Walgreens than serving patients as a primary care physician is a strong indictment of our for-profit healthcare system, given that one of those jobs has a high social value and the other does not. Honestly, the fact that pharmacists make more money than RNs is pretty striking, as an experienced RN is far more valuable to the healthcare team than an experienced pharmacist.

Can I just say that it's an honor to be mentioned in your first post on SDN?

Secondly, yes, I am the pharmacy student that is considering going to medical school. [Edit: But I still think pharmacy is an incredibly valuable profession and one that I am incredibly proud to be associated with.]

The problem with all pre-meds is that you guys have been fed this idea that becoming an MD is the holy grail of academic and/or life achievement. You operate under the mentality of, "I'm smart, I should be a doctor. Smart people are doctors. I'm smart, therefore I need to be a doctor." The truth is, probably half of my pharmacy school class could have easily been accepted into medical school. But people chose different paths for different reasons--something that certain pre-meds have trouble accepting. If you're looking for life fulfillment in your job, you are going to be sorely disappointed, no matter what path you take.

I don't want to go to medical school to validate my own self worth. I don't want to go to medical school to try and prove that I'm smarter or better or any of that other crap...

Me...I have a dream and a vision for a healthcare system that provides efficient, high-quality, patient-centered care. I have a vision that involves...surprise...pharmacists (and other healthcare professionals as well)! [Insert audible pre-med gasp here].

The fact of the matter is, pre-meds have no idea what kind of training is involved in becoming a pharmacist. They don't have any idea what clinical pharmacists are. They don't have any idea how much they will rely on clinical pharmacists during clinical years and residency training. They don't have any idea that many pharmacists do residencies. Pre-meds don't understand the number of times that a pharmacist in a grocery store saves a physician's butt from a malpractice suit because of prescribing errors or drug interactions or any number of reasons.

Pre-meds are singularly focused, thinking that they are going to be the only individual in health care with real value.

Sorry to disappoint guys, but that's not the case any more. Good physicians rely on their teams to provide the best possible care for their patients. There is no more one-man show. That is an irresponsible way to think and quite frankly it puts patients at risk.

If I could practice as a pharmacist in the way that I envision (which is well within the training that pharmacists receive), then there is no way in heck I would be going to medical school. It wouldn't be worth it for me. And if you guys are going into medicine because you need an ego boost, I can promise you it won't be worth it for you either.

 

[BigThing]

Can I just say that it's an honor to be mentioned in your first post on SDN?

Secondly, yes, I am the pharmacy student that is considering going to medical school. But it's not because I think that medicine is somehow a better profession than pharmacy.

The problem with all pre-meds is that you guys have been fed this idea that becoming an MD is the holy grail of academic and/or life achievement. You operate under the mentality of, "I'm smart, I should be a doctor. Smart people are doctors. I'm smart, therefore I need to be a doctor." The truth is, probably half of my pharmacy school class could have easily been accepted into medical school. But people chose different paths for different reasons--something that certain pre-meds have trouble accepting. If you're looking for life fulfillment in your job, you are going to be sorely disappointed, no matter what path you take.

I don't want to go to medical school to validate my own self worth. I don't want to go to medical school to try and prove that I'm smarter or better or any of that other crap...

Me...I have a dream and a vision for a healthcare system that provides efficient, high-quality, patient-centered care. I have a vision that involves...surprise...pharmacists (and other healthcare professionals as well)! [Insert audible pre-med gasp here].

The fact of the matter is, pre-meds have no idea what kind of training is involved in becoming a pharmacist. They don't have any idea what clinical pharmacists are. They don't have any idea how much they will rely on clinical pharmacists during clinical years and residency training. They don't have any idea that many pharmacists do residencies. Pre-meds don't understand the number of times that a pharmacist in a grocery store saves a physician's butt from a malpractice suit because of prescribing errors or drug interactions or any number of reasons.

Pre-meds are singularly focused, thinking that they are going to be the only individual in health care with real value.

Sorry to disappoint guys, but that's not the case any more. Good physicians rely on their teams to provide the best possible care for their patients. There is no more one-man show. That is an irresponsible way to think and quite frankly it puts patients at risk.

If I could practice as a pharmacist in the way that I envision (which is well within the training that pharmacists receive), then there is no way in heck I would be going to medical school. It wouldn't be worth it for me. And if you guys are going into medicine because you need an ego boost, I can promise you it won't be worth it for you either.

Actually I'm not a pre-med, I just completed med school. Good luck on going through it, although it sounds like you already received all of the training you ever need in pharmacy school, so you can probably stay home for the next four years and play video games all day or something. I've worked with clinical pharmacists on some of my rotations (e.g. vanc dosing, warfarin dosing), but their use is pretty limited in my nationally-renowned teaching hospital. I have no idea what retail pharmacists do each day, nor do I really care. I've seen my residents have to do enough *****ic med adjustments ("we don't stock glyburide, can you switch to glimepiride?") in the hospital to have no respect for people who justify their own jobs by creating more work for the actual providers of healthcare. At the end of the day, though, I don't blame your profession for this (let's admit it, of all healthcare professions you guys are probably the most easily pushed around) - I blame hospital systems and government regulations that are aimed at reducing the power of doctors to redirect money to hospital administrators. I just hope that you don't actually think you're at all qualified to diagnose and treat a real, living patient, but it sounds like some of you are that delusional. Maybe you'll have more respect for how difficult medicine is once you finish medical school. Until then, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect

 

[naseuy]

Aren't you the PharmD who is jumping ship to become a doctor?

Medicinegal - not only were all docs premeds at some point, but so were many pharmacists 😉

rxlea - just because you know more about meds than residents who are putting in 80 hour weeks doesn't mean you're suddenly a rock star.

Finally, wage per hour is a dumb way to compare professions. The fact that people make more money counting pills at Walgreens than serving patients as a primary care physician is a strong indictment of our for-profit healthcare system, given that one of those jobs has a high social value and the other does not. Honestly, the fact that pharmacists make more money than RNs is pretty striking, as an experienced RN is far more valuable to the healthcare team than an experienced pharmacist.

And many pre-meds will be unable to make it into either medical or pharmacy school.

I'm not going to get involved in a pissing contest in which profession is more valuable. Ideally, they are all involved to ensure quality care. I currently work at a teaching hospital, and the residents are bound to make mistakes (it's shocking how many residents just do not read the prescriptions before they go out). My training and education puts me in a better position to identify drug related problems (interactions, guideline recommendations, drug information, etc), so I bring that to the team.

 

[njac]

A unicorn job is a job that meets your intellectual needs, doesn't kill your soul, values your contributions, gives you the work/life balance that you want, pays you appropriately, and makes you happy to go to work each day. So it can be any kind of job, it's what meets your needs. If that's retail, great. If it's management, great. If it's "clinical", great. There is no one type of unicorn job. What is a unicorn job to an ICU specialist or a DM-track retail pharmacist is not a unicorn job to me.

Exactly.

And I have it.

 

[Alobaidi]

Actually I'm not a pre-med, I just completed med school. Good luck on going through it, although it sounds like you already received all of the training you ever need in pharmacy school, so you can probably stay home for the next four years and play video games all day or something. I've worked with clinical pharmacists on some of my rotations (e.g. vanc dosing, warfarin dosing), but their use is pretty limited in my nationally-renowned teaching hospital. I have no idea what retail pharmacists do each day, nor do I really care. I've seen my residents have to do enough *****ic med adjustments ("we don't stock glyburide, can you switch to glimepiride?") in the hospital to have no respect for people who justify their own jobs by creating more work for the actual providers of healthcare. At the end of the day, though, I don't blame your profession for this (let's admit it, of all healthcare professions you guys are probably the most easily pushed around) - I blame hospital systems and government regulations that are aimed at reducing the power of doctors to redirect money to hospital administrators. I just hope that you don't actually think you're at all qualified to diagnose and treat a real, living patient, but it sounds like some of you are that delusional. Maybe you'll have more respect for how difficult medicine is once you finish medical school. Until then, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect

I think they reduced the power of doctors for a good reason, don't you think??? Patient safety, better health outcomes??? I'm sure they put a lot of emphasis on that in your nationally-renowned hospital.

 

[awval999]

LOL the new grad PGY1 MD. Just wait until that first phone call 4 hours into your shift on Day 1 July 1st when the lowly staff pharmacist in the basement just saved your ass from the lashings of the attending from your *****ic drug dosing.

Just want to add one thing--- it's a team. And medications are a big deal. That's why it goes from physician -> pharmacist -> nurse -> patient. The pharmacist can say, hell no. The nurse can say, hell no. The patient can say, hell no.

There's some great physicians. But why some don't want their pharmacists and nurses looking out for them and their drug therapies always astonishes me. Fortunately it's typically only the medical students and pre-meds that act this way.

Trust me. A smile from your hospital pharmacist and a calming reassurance that I won't let you ruin your career today is all it will take to break that attitude.

 

[naseuy]

Actually I'm not a pre-med, I just completed med school. Good luck on going through it, although it sounds like you already received all of the training you ever need in pharmacy school, so you can probably stay home for the next four years and play video games all day or something. I've worked with clinical pharmacists on some of my rotations (e.g. vanc dosing, warfarin dosing), but their use is pretty limited in my nationally-renowned teaching hospital. I have no idea what retail pharmacists do each day, nor do I really care. I've seen my residents have to do enough *****ic med adjustments ("we don't stock glyburide, can you switch to glimepiride?") in the hospital to have no respect for people who justify their own jobs by creating more work for the actual providers of healthcare. At the end of the day, though, I don't blame your profession for this (let's admit it, of all healthcare professions you guys are probably the most easily pushed around) - I blame hospital systems and government regulations that are aimed at reducing the power of doctors to redirect money to hospital administrators. I just hope that you don't actually think you're at all qualified to diagnose and treat a real, living patient, but it sounds like some of you are that delusional. Maybe you'll have more respect for how difficult medicine is once you finish medical school. Until then, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect

Every single hospital has their own formulary. It is part of your job to learn what's on it. Your residents are making me do unnecessary work by writing for drugs that we do not stock.

 

[BigThing]

Every single hospital has their own formulary. It is part of your job to learn what's on it. Your residents are making me do unnecessary work by writing for drugs that we do not stock.

Sure, but don't pretend that has anything to do with patient safety. A computer can and will do your job in the future.
And yes, awval999, I'm sure a pharmacist will at some point save me and the patient from a medication error I make, but I think a tech or a computer can do that just as easily. I'm putting 80 hour weeks in, I will make a few errors here and there. If I worked as many hours as you do, I'd make a lot fewer errors 😉 but I'd also be unhappy with my life since I'd be just another replaceable cog in the machine.

 

[rxlea]

LOL the new grad PGY1 MD. Just wait until that first phone call 4 hours into your shift on Day 1 July 1st when the lowly staff pharmacist in the basement just saved your ass from the lashings of the attending from your *****ic drug dosing.

Just want to add one thing--- it's a team. And medications are a big deal. That's why it goes from physician -> pharmacist -> nurse -> patient. The pharmacist can say, hell no. The nurse can say, hell no. The patient can say, hell no.

There's some great physicians. But why some don't want their pharmacists and nurses looking out for them and their drug therapies always astonishes me. Fortunately it's typically only the medical students and pre-meds that act this way.

Trust me. A smile from your hospital pharmacist and a calming reassurance that I won't let you ruin your career today is all it will take to break that attitude.

Not even the medical students I've worked with act like that. They'll always be like "what coverage do we get with X antibiotic?" "what can i use for X?" "how much haldol should we give?" Just me saying, "hey we're on day 8 of ___, what is the plan because he's still febrile with a white count of ______?" Or "hey, i was looking at the cultures this morning and it's pseudomonas....we've got him on ertapanem only" helps them out with deciding the course of treatment.

I even helped a couple learn how to write prescriptions.

Their response has always been thank you.

Similarly, I ask...so what differential are you thinking and why?

I ask them stuff all the time, and they ask me stuff all the time.

We learn from each other. That's why i like the teaching hospital environment.

 

[EMDO2018]

God I swear everybody on this forum hates physicians. Nurses, Phamacist, optometrist, everybody.

 

[naseuy]

Who was pretending that a formulary issue is a safety issue. There is a lot that goes into consideration as to what goes on a formulary, but that's besides the point.

Secondly, your nonchalant attitudes towards making medication errors is worrisome. Personally, I hate looking like an idiot in front of a doctor, so I always double check my sources before I make an intervention or recommendation. I would expect a prescriber to do the same so his prescriptions would not get rejected because he/she makes a 10fold dosing error, write for duplicate therapies, insulin vials with pentips (WTF?), etc. It is dangerous to patients, and it makes you look like an idiot.

 

[BigThing]

God I swear everybody on this forum hates physicians. Nurses, Phamacist, optometrist, everybody.

Most of these people started out as premeds, then realized they didn't have the aptitude or work ethic to become physicians, so they go into other health fields so they can still be called a doctor (or, in the case of NPs, ask patients to call them "doctor" without having the degree).

@naseuy - my attitude isn't nonchalant, it's a fact of life, even if one's error rate is one in a million, given that I'm writing/continuing ~100 scripts on an average day, just statistically speaking I'll make an error at some point in my career. I accept the consequences that come with that because practicing medicine is the highest privilege known to man, and if a patient gets hurt by that they have the right to take me to court. We make errors and we pay for them. You know why you almost never hear of a pharmacist getting sued? Because nobody has that kind of high expectation for you.