US vs. CAN pharmacies

[herbalicious]

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Hey, I'm in my last year of pharmacy school and deciding whether or not to work in the states. Any canadian pharmacists out there who would share there experience with me? I just want to know why there are many canadian pharmacists who are against working in the states? Are the pharmacies just busier and have no pharmaceutical care? And if I do go down, should I work for Rite-Aid or Walgreens? Are 12 hour shifts mandatory in Rite-Aid?

 

[Requiem]

Hey, I'm in my last year of pharmacy school and deciding whether or not to work in the states. Any canadian pharmacists out there who would share there experience with me? I just want to know why there are many canadian pharmacists who are against working in the states? Are the pharmacies just busier and have no pharmaceutical care? And if I do go down, should I work for Rite-Aid or Walgreens? Are 12 hour shifts mandatory in Rite-Aid?

Note: this is anecdotal.

I'm from Canada, but I've worked with a few pharmacists who have or know people who gave it a stint in the states. It seems that although there's a mild salary increase to go below the border, the general consensus was that people were less friendly/respectful of a retail pharmacist down there. I say retail because I don't know any American clinical pharmacists.

Of course there will be a pile of exceptions and I'm sure there's amazing stores with sensational help, but as far as I know from what I've read and learned from practicing pharmacists is that the public below the border (in general..) seem to be more focused on getting their rx in X amount of time and don't understand the role of an rph much perhaps.

Are there rude, ignorant patients in Canada? by the millions. Are they in the states? By the tens of millions. Perhaps a higher ratio in the states 😛

There you go 😉

 

[Cocogirl]

I am a Canadian pharmacist working in the US (did retail first - now clinical). Both retail and clinical pharmacy have their differences in the 2 countries. In my opinion, the extent of clinical practice and pharmacist autonomy in the States by far exceeds what is practiced at even tertiary care teaching hospitals in Canada.

Retail pharmacy in the States is pretty much the same as Canada. Same attitudes, same typical retail problems. There are more insurance hassles in the States, which makes retail more irritating. Also, I think Canada has more "clinical events" in their retail pharmacies, which only happens in a few retail chains down here, like diabetes clinics, osteoporosis clinics, etc.

Oh - and the money's definitely better by far here.

Anyways - thought that might help with some decision making.

 

[slimcutt]

Are 12 hour shifts mandatory in Rite-Aid?

I'v interned at a few Rite Aid pharmacies in Oregon and all full time pharmacists work the 12 hour shifts. It's really not that bad though. This is actually one reason why I will probably work for them when I graduate. You work 3 days one week then 4 days the next, and repeat. It's awesome👍

 

[VanduchiPharmD]

I worked for Rite Aid, nice pay, nice computer, horrible upper management (left hand does not tell the right what is going on, and you get a different story depending on who you talk to). I advise not working for them, but then again I had an absolutely horrible experience. If you go in believing less than half of what they tell you "will happen, or should happen etc" you should be okay.

 

[herbalicious]

Has anyone worked for Safeway? If so, are the majority of pharmacists floaters?
I've heard that the pharmacies in the states are much busier...what is the average prescripition count per day?
Anybody working for Walgreens? any input is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Chuffsla]

I've always wondered about something to do with this: here in Canada we're awarded the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree, and in the States they get the PharmD, although the pharmacy programs are ostensibly pretty similar. So, we can actually work as a pharmacist down there with the degree we get here? We don't need the PharmD?

 

[genesis09]

The B.S. degree for those who graduated after 2003 or so is no longer acceptable as an equivalent degree. You would have to get a Masters or PharmD to practice in the U.S.

 

[Requiem]

The B.S. degree for those who graduated after 2003 or so is no longer acceptable as an equivalent degree. You would have to get a Masters or PharmD to practice in the U.S.

Sigh.

Didn't another UoT'er and I educate you in a previous thread about "equivalency of PharmD to B.Sc Pharm" ?

Anyway, to Chuff:

The B.Sc is an equivalent degree to the PharmD. There's been quite a few threads on this, how the b.sc is modeled after the pharmd and is exactly the same coursework and meets the accreditation criteria etc.. in a nutshell the difference in the one year (5 year bsc vs 6 year pharmd) is a PharmD program has more rotations.

The only hoops you have to jump through are state licensing exams and whatever # of intern hours are required (I know this all varies state to state); but the bottom line is practicing within the states is certainly feasible and occurs.

Cheers.

 

[Chuffsla]

Sigh.

Didn't another UoT'er and I educate you in a previous thread about "equivalency of PharmD to B.Sc Pharm" ?

Anyway, to Chuff:

The B.Sc is an equivalent degree to the PharmD. There's been quite a few threads on this, how the b.sc is modeled after the pharmd and is exactly the same coursework and meets the accreditation criteria etc.. in a nutshell the difference in the one year (5 year bsc vs 6 year pharmd) is a PharmD program has more rotations.

The only hoops you have to jump through are state licensing exams and whatever # of intern hours are required (I know this all varies state to state); but the bottom line is practicing within the states is certainly feasible and occurs.

Cheers.

Okay, thanks. I certainly didn't know that.

 

[bananaface]

Are you thinking of moving to the States or commuting?

 

[herbalicious]

I'm moving

 

[spunkd]

If you want lots of overtime with the highest pay, go for Walgreens. However, sometimes they may make you work mandatory overtime since they're still short of pharmacists regardless of how many stores they are opening.