What are some of the biggest mistakes I can make in my first year (P1) of pharmacy school?

[TheOnlinePharmacist]

Well, this is weird. I don't know exactly what to take from your comment @APN-59 rph

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[rph3664]

Looking at various curricula, it appears that medicinal chemistry and physiology of drug action are much more detailed, and of course there's the big emphasis on residency and getting a concurrent master's degree, usually MBA or MPH. When I was in school, about 10% of my class pursued a Pharm.D., which was two extra years, and I heard through the grapevine that most of them regretted it. The ones who didn't, or obtained some other advanced degree, were planning to go into teaching or industry.

 

[DOOM N GLOOM]

I had someone tell me this back in 1990. She had failed a P1 class and decided to change to a liberal arts major, and told me, "Get out now, while you still have brain cells to think with." She got a "real job" shortly afterwards, having just graduated, and quit her job at the restaurant where we worked and I never saw her again. If our paths ever cross again, I'll tell her that I did graduate with no regrets, and actively practiced for 18 years until I realized I could retire and proceeded to do exactly that.

If I pieced together the facts right this means that you retired prior to 2015.

2015-present is when the market is completely flipping over. It’s a different times we live in nowadays.

 

[PharmtoCS]

-Pharmacy students asks for advice.

Seems like a lot of them are looking more for validation than actual advice. When they actually do get advice, they throw a tantrum.

 

[mentos]

Too bad we don't have a "dislike" button. The only person in my class who didn't have a job for any reason other than not knowing where their SO would land had massive attitude problems. This was the person that I heard from more than one person took a yo-yo out during an interview and started playing with it.

Your class in the 90s? I'm sure no pharmacist was unemployed during its golden years but this is 2018 we're taking about. OP isn't going to enter the job market until 2022 at the earliest. By then, there will be 40k+ more pharmDs, there will be even more acquisitions and mergers, Amazon might disrupt the industry, and there will be less jobs.

Pharmacy school is the new law school.

 

[BidingMyTime]

This was the person that I heard from more than one person took a yo-yo out during an interview and started playing with it.

Oh yeah, that is really bizarre. I guess his yo-yo was like a fidget spinner for him, but he really needs to figure out some other way to deal with what issues/conditions he has.

That's hilarious! If she had continued she would've been a pharmacist during PEAK years. I wonder how school curriculum's were back in 1990 compared to how they are now.

The basic curriculum is still pretty much the same, although I think some of the class names have changed (and obviously how stuff is being taught.) Pharmacy students in 1990 still had pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, pharmacotherapeutics, microbiology, toxicology, pharmaceutics, etc.
We had medicinal chemistry, which I think most schools no longer have.

We had 1 semester for rotations (externship), vs the year of rotations now. I have never understood the difference between externship, internship, and rotations--to me it's all the same, pay the school tuition, to work at a worksite for a grade.

When I went to school, my school was offering both BS & Pharm D degrees, and the coursework was identical for both degrees, until the last semester for BS students when we started our rotations, while the Pharm D students took another semester of classes.

 

[rph3664]

If I pieced together the facts right this means that you retired prior to 2015.

2015-present is when the market is completely flipping over. It’s a different times we live in nowadays.

I decided to leave active practice in 2012, and things were already going haywire and had been for a few years.

 

[Timbo]

It's not so far fetched to drop out of pharmacy school if that's what you're worried about. I knew a few people in my class who who did during P1 - some for personal reasons but a couple left to pursue other professional degrees. Some healthcare related, some not. If it's healthcare/science/Medicine/helping people you're interested in there's plenty of other options out there. I know you're busy with school and everything right now but at least take this winter break to think about it and explore other options.

 

[sozetone]

Apply EVERYTHING you go over in pharmacy practice to a real world retail ("community") setting...#idealism, fantasy land, "no one ain't got time for that", etc.

Ex) Borrowing from another thread with the same concept...Inspect every diabetic patients' feet upon picking up a new script

OMG you totally summed up every new graduate i see! 100%. i cant get them to shut up and work. Then my pharmacy falls behind, and the ques back up.....I'm all for counseling, but my god.....after 20 minutes you should have sense enough to realize your letting the workflow get constipated for the day....let alone talking like that all day? I performance these guys out fast. Sounds bad i know, but if you dont understand what is going on around you in daily workflow you SHOULD NOT be in retail....your not there to talk about a foot ulcer for 30 minutes or Cyp2c13 inhibition whatever....blah blah...no one cares.

 

[RxPreceptor]

OMG you totally summed up every new graduate i see! 100%. i cant get them to shut up and work. Then my pharmacy falls behind, and the ques back up.....I'm all for counseling, but my god.....after 20 minutes you should have sense enough to realize your letting the workflow get constipated for the day....let alone talking like that all day? I performance these guys out fast. Sounds bad i know, but if you dont understand what is going on around you in daily workflow you SHOULD NOT be in retail....your not there to talk about a foot ulcer for 30 minutes or Cyp2c13 inhibition whatever....blah blah...no one cares.

Lol, had this one grad intern playing a game of "mystery diagnosis" with one guy, takes him like 20min to get one Rx done because he starts delving into all his dietary & exercise possibilities contributing (calcium stones/gout related)...meanwhile I'm running circles around him answering phones, getting pickup, verifying Rxs, and doing production.

 

[Momus]

How did you get on probation?

I've said a lot of things, seems pretty hard.

Someone reported me because I said "Imma make a post at doublelist with your cell phone number on it (clearly as a joke)" to make him aware that posting a cell phone number in the internet is not a good idea. Then the mod @Winged Scapula brought the probation hammer which I clearly don't give a damn. She is clueless about context until I sent her another message and she removed that poster phone number from the forum. At least, I did something good. No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Someone reported me because I said "Imma make a post at doublelist with your cell phone number on it (clearly as a joke)" to make him aware that posting a cell phone number in the internet is not a good idea. Then the mod @Winged Scapula brought the probation hammer which I clearly don't give a damn. She is clueless about context until I sent her another message and she removed that poster phone number from the forum. At least, I did something good. No good deed goes unpunished.

It was not clear that your threat was a joke to other users who reported it or the staff.

What you’re neglecting to mention is that you were put on probation because of your multiple warnings over the years, including a recent one by another staff member in May. You don’t get put on probation for a single post in almost all cases.

 

[sozetone]

I'll tell ya what i think will happen (or could). You will have a job, ok? why? because salaries are dropping to the point where people like me ( age 39 and exhausted) dont want to do this anymore or are being "pushed out" because this is a "FOR PROFIT" business situation. They want the new graduates because you dont know any better and will HAVE to work...even for 30 or 20 dollars an hour. They can and are currently hiring you for 10-15 dollars an hour less than just a year or so ago. I manage a wal mart pharm and was into a grocery chain in Florida for 4 years prior. I'm watching it happen EVERYWHERE....so yeah i bet you do land a job...MY JOB!! and you know what.... YOU CAN HAVE IT!! lol...im done

 

[PharmtoCS]

I'll tell ya what i think will happen (or could). You will have a job, ok? why? because salaries are dropping to the point where people like me ( age 39 and exhausted) dont want to do this anymore or are being "pushed out" because this is a "FOR PROFIT" business situation. They want the new graduates because you dont know any better and will HAVE to work...even for 30 or 20 dollars an hour. They can and are currently hiring you for 10-15 dollars an hour less than just a year or so ago. I manage a wal mart pharm and was into a grocery chain in Florida for 4 years prior. I'm watching it happen EVERYWHERE....so yeah i bet you do land a job...MY JOB!! and you know what.... YOU CAN HAVE IT!! lol...im done

And this is how job placement rates are inflated for new grads.

For many job openings taken by a new grad there is usually an older pharmacist who got pushed out or burned out to make way.

 

[BC_89]

Like I said, it's not that I don't believe you, it's that I have no back up plan.

This is a sincere reason why many people warn students to ALWAYS have a contingency plan. A solid plan B followed by plan C.

Many pre-pharmers are young and work hard for the acceptance. However caution can not be thrown to the wind. Preceptors always tell pre-med students to always have a back-up plan. That applies to all careers. Calculate “your definition” of take home pay vs your student loans vs job market. The controllable variable is student loans despite what most say.

Example, I obtained a bachelors with high scholarship / Pell grants / part time work...I realized how high grad loans were (wow) and joined the army. Now, GI Bill will pay 100% tuition, housing allowance, and $1k book stipend a year (~ $255,000 covered for my education). I will graduate debt free.

My point: their are different avenues to have loans covered. I think going into pharmacy with no bachelors is idiotic because you now shut off all other possible avenues to fall back on...for other pre-pharms, do not persue “anything” without a contingency plan.