What do you consider a fair wage for a pharmacist compared to other health care professionals?

[steveysmith54]

In my opinion, 67% or 2/3 of a primary care physician.

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[projektreverb]

In my opinion, 67% or 2/3 of a primary care physician.

I googled “primary care physician average salary” and landed at 220k for my metro. Based on your formula I should be paid 145k. I’m basically already there. Your number needs to go up.

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

I googled “primary care physician average salary” and landed at 220k for my metro. Based on your formula I should be paid 145k. I’m basically already there. Your number needs to go up.

What number needs to go up?

Is your issue that:
A) You're underpaid compared to other pharmacists?
B) Pharmacists are underpaid compared to PCPs?
C) Both professions as a whole are underpaid?

 

[projektreverb]

What number needs to go up?

Is your issue that:
A) You're underpaid compared to other pharmacists?
B) Pharmacists are underpaid compared to PCPs?
C) Both professions as a whole are underpaid?

I’m sorry I should have been more clear. My issue is C.

 

[DoctorRx1986]

$160-$200k a year . Our salaries , while comfortable , are ridiculously stagnant . Offers in the $50 something /hr range or even $60/hour have been around since mid to late 2000s. 15-20 years later and everyone is getting paid almost the same when the cost of living is extremely high ? Our wages are honestly just “moderate “ income - previously you could call us high income but we are not any longer . Pharmacists are no longer upper middle class professionals, we are solidly middle class . $160-200k is the new 6-figure salary we should all be earning .

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

I have a few answers depending on how you want to look at it. The most annoying one, which I'd ultimately say is the most important: a fair rate is whatever the free market decides so whatever people are accepting these days.

Personally, I wouldn't consider going back to practicing for anything less than $200k.

I think the proposed 60-70% of a PCP seems reasonable though PCPs are arguably underpaid.

You could argue pharmacists should be at ~$180k based on inflation adjusted numbers from the 2000s but salaries were artificially high then with the fear of a pharmacist shortage. Look further back to the 80s or 90s and we're doing alright, albeit our school is much more expensive (and longer) today. Increasing education burden isn't unique to pharmacists though.

Pharmacists still make considerably more that physical or occupational therapists. Optometrists seem to be roughly on par. So compared to any of those I think pharmacists are doing alright.

 

[steveysmith54]

$160-$200k a year . Our salaries , while comfortable , are ridiculously stagnant . Offers in the $50 something /hr range or even $60/hour have been around since mid to late 2000s. 15-20 years later and everyone is getting paid almost the same when the cost of living is extremely high ? Our wages are honestly just “moderate “ income - previously you could call us high income but we are not any longer . Pharmacists are no longer upper middle class professionals, we are solidly middle class . $160-200k is the new 6-figure salary we should all be earning .

I agree with everything that you said, including your numbers of 160k to 200k. BTW, I am in socal.

It's incredibly disappointing that the salary became stagnant, actually even worse than stagnant, couple of years ago, new grads were being offered less than what i was offered 10 years ago. In addition, some chains made full time only 32 hours per week. I don't know too many professions that experienced that.

I've seen huge growth in Physician Assistant and RN compensation, while I see a lot of pharmacists are lagging behind.

In my area, I see job adds for Primary Care docs at $250-300K. most of them have done 4 year residency. I think pharmacists earning 2/3 of that seems fair to me. That's also how much you need to earn given the post covid inflation.

Unfortunately, I am seeing a lot of 130-140K, which is sad.

Lastly, I do agree that both professions are underpaid and maybe both are underappreciated and are stuck with doing the grunt work. It is what it is.

 

[Gombrich12]

I feel fairly compensated in my current role even though I make 125k in a LCOL area, it's basically an office job with mostly WFH. If I was back in retail I would need 230k+.

What is a fair salary for a pharmacist if the number of dispensing roles are cut in half? What is the fair salary for a person who enters a profession with an 85% acceptance rate but spends 6-8 years in training with high amounts of debt? We know retail used to set pharmacist salaries, I doubt that is the case in the future.

I wish I could see 10 years into the future and know how retail shakes out, because right now it is an absurdity. You have a highly educated person running a retail shop with antiquated computers, minimal and poorly paid help, and losing money on a lot of the product they sell. The main employers are struggling and there's a lot less pharmacists coming in the future to help out.

 

[steveysmith54]

I feel fairly compensated in my current role even though I make 125k, it's basically an office job with mostly WFH. If I was back in retail I would need 230k+.

What is a fair salary for a pharmacist if the number of dispensing roles are cut in half? What is the fair salary for a person who enters a profession with an 85% acceptance rate but spends 6-8 years in training with high amounts of debt? We know retail used to set pharmacist salaries, I doubt that is the case in the future.

I wish I could see 10 years into the future and know how retail shakes out, because right now it is an absurdity. You have a highly educated person running a retail shop with antiquated computers, minimal and poorly paid help, and losing money on a lot of the product they sell. The main employers are struggling and there's a lot less pharmacists coming in the future to help out.

Your stated 125K salary doesn't provide much context because we don't know where you're located. I believe in Arizona that salary can take you far, in SoCal, it's not very much, unfortunately. Especially if one has student loan to pay back.

That's why i think it's all relative to other health care professions.

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

Your stated 125K salary doesn't provide much context because we don't know where you're located. I believe in Arizona that salary can take you far, in SoCal, it's not very much, unfortunately. Especially if one has student loan to pay back.

That's why i think it's all relative to other health care professions.

LCOL pretty definitively rules out SoCal.

 

[steveysmith54]

LCOL pretty definitively rules out SoCal.

Original post didn't say "LCOL ". It was edited to include that.

 

[DoctorRx1986]

The part I don’t understand is how most people are doing it on not even half our incomes . Your average joe is making $15-$25 an hour across the board, married with a spouse more than likely making similar money, and yet they have 2 kids and a mortgage ? I don’t get it . I live in south Florida and my accountant has told me on my income of about $115-$120k a year, I’m still in the top 20% of incomes and make more than 80% of people . Really ? Every time I go out I see restaurants packed , malls packed, and people consuming at malls . People making $60k a year ($30/hr) or even less and always spending . Yet when I get paid every 2 weeks, it’s good to cover my bills , save a little, and go out for nice dinners, travel throughout the year, but by no means a big deal considering the years of study and sacrifice. I truly feel I have to make close to $200k now to feel like the pharmacists of 2005.

 

[owlegrad]

The part I don’t understand is how most people are doing it on not even half our incomes .

You nailed it. I think we pharmacists often take for granted our 401k (or equivalent) contributions that have no impact on our QOL are actually not normal for most people. The vast majority of people cannot afford car payments, mortgages, healthcare, retirement contributions, etc. Overall we are still quite fortunate. Certainly not the hay-day of the not so distant past but much better than many others.

As for how people afford over-consumption I would hazard the guess that it is credit cards and being comfortable with negative net worth’s. Considering we can’t take it to the grave perhaps they have the right idea 😂

 

[Gombrich12]

The part I don’t understand is how most people are doing it on not even half our incomes .

They live in areas with schools you probably wouldn't want to send your kids while living paycheck to paycheck in debt. If you spent 100% of your paycheck and were willing to go into debt what would your life look like?

 

[steveysmith54]

You nailed it. I think we pharmacists often take for granted our 401k (or equivalent) contributions that have no impact on our QOL are actually not normal for most people. The vast majority of people cannot afford car payments, mortgages, healthcare, retirement contributions, etc. Overall we are still quite fortunate. Certainly not the hay-day of the not so distant past but much better than many others.

As for how people afford over-consumption I would hazard the guess that it is credit cards and being comfortable with negative net worth’s. Considering we can’t take it to the grave perhaps they have the right idea 😂

I think majority of people also didn't attend 7-8 years of school and aren't held liable for what people put in their bodies. The life of most RPh is quite stressful. So I don't compare ourselves to non-health care workers.

 

[projektreverb]

I think majority of people also didn't attend 7-8 years of school and aren't held liable for what people put in their bodies. The life of most RPh is quite stressful. So I don't compare ourselves to non-health care workers.

You underestimate how much stress living paycheck to paycheck while being in a mountain of debt can cause. I’d encourage you to watch Caleb Hammer on YouTube. You’ll feel much better about your finances.

 

[owlegrad]

I think majority of people also didn't attend 7-8 years of school and aren't held liable for what people put in their bodies. The life of most RPh is quite stressful. So I don't compare ourselves to non-health care workers.

Why so defensive? Yes, we are well educated, licensed, etc. Our compensation mostly reflects that I would say. Stress is totally subjective but I doubt our stress level is out of proportion to other six figure jobs but of course I have no way to measure that.

 

[steveysmith54]

Why so defensive? Yes, we are well educated, licensed, etc. Our compensation mostly reflects that I would say. Stress is totally subjective but I doubt our stress level is out of proportion to other six figure jobs but of course I have no way to measure that.

Not sure what you mean by defensive. I just disagree with some of your original post where you said "The vast majority of people". To me, it's not fair or reasonable to compare someone who holds a doctorate degree to majority of people. 62% of people in US do not have a college degree. I think a better comp is to other health care professionals whose responsibility and work/life balance is in line with pharmacists.

 

[confettiflyer]

In my area, I see job adds for Primary Care docs at $250-300K. most of them have done 4 year residency. I think pharmacists earning 2/3 of that seems fair to me. That's also how much you need to earn given the post covid inflation.

Yeezus, I make as much as a PCP in so cal with 1-2 extra OT shifts a month? There’s gotta be more folded into their total compensation (like ownership stakes for Permanente Medical Group or something).

I also feel like that’s gone down, and so has starting compensation for dentists and optometrists. Been seeing a lot of “$120k-$150k salary/what do I do about my loans?” posts on Reddit, but granted the ceiling is much higher.

 

[owlegrad]

Not sure what you mean by defensive. I just disagree with some of your original post where you said "The vast majority of people". To me, it's not fair or reasonable to compare someone who holds a doctorate degree to majority of people. 62% of people in US do not have a college degree. I think a better comp is to other health care professionals whose responsibility and work/life balance is in line with pharmacists.

Fair enough. Have you ever heard “comparison is the thief of joy”? By setting the bar so high you are making it difficult to appreciate how good we have it, imo. Comparing yourself to other highly compensated professionals to try to figure out how one group is compared to the other is a short path to discontent.

 

[Splenda88]

I have a few answers depending on how you want to look at it. The most annoying one, which I'd ultimately say is the most important: a fair rate is whatever the free market decides so whatever people are accepting these days.

Personally, I wouldn't consider going back to practicing for anything less than $200k.

I think the proposed 60-70% of a PCP seems reasonable though PCPs are arguably underpaid.

You could argue pharmacists should be at ~$180k based on inflation adjusted numbers from the 2000s but salaries were artificially high then with the fear of a pharmacist shortage. Look further back to the 80s or 90s and we're doing alright, albeit our school is much more expensive (and longer) today. Increasing education burden isn't unique to pharmacists though.

Pharmacists still make considerably more that physical or occupational therapists. Optometrists seem to be roughly on par. So compared to any of those I think pharmacists are doing alright.

I could really use a raise as a PCP (hospitalist) to get a nicer car. But if we are putting things in context, most people would disagree that someone who is making 250-300k/yr working 40-45 hrs/wk is underpaid (regardless how much schooling they had to go thru and/or have 250k student loan). We are talking about being in 96+ percentile for individual income.

Income Percentile Calculator for the United States

 

[StockPharmD2024]

$160-$200k a year . Our salaries , while comfortable , are ridiculously stagnant . Offers in the $50 something /hr range or even $60/hour have been around since mid to late 2000s. 15-20 years later and everyone is getting paid almost the same when the cost of living is extremely high ? Our wages are honestly just “moderate “ income - previously you could call us high income but we are not any longer . Pharmacists are no longer upper middle class professionals, we are solidly middle class . $160-200k is the new 6-figure salary we should all be earning .

My base is 160k. Adding in shift and weekend differential, my few paid holidays and a small amount of OT I broke 200k

 

[steveysmith54]

My base is 160k. Adding in shift and weekend differential, my few paid holidays and a small amount of OT I broke 200k

that's great compensation. That's the range, 160-200K, that I want to see. Unfortunately, at least half of my former classmates aren't there, yet.

 

[quickpic007]

rph needs to be making salary 150 minimum today. OT and bonus extra. Never really thought about it beginning school but craking 200k total comp waas nice!
PCP under 250 are being robbed if Im just an rph cracking 200 in BFE rural central US.

 

[PharmtoCS]

We should be getting paid more than software engineers, adjusted for student loan debt and 4 years of lost earnings opportunity cost. Our work conditions, work life balance, stress levels, and liability are far worse especially when we had to risk illness and death during the height of the pandemic while most office workers got to chill at home, and we have the risk of being convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison for an honest mistake that most office workers do not ever have to face.

 

[projektreverb]

We should be getting paid more than software engineers, adjusted for student loan debt and 4 years of lost earnings opportunity cost. Our work conditions, work life balance, stress levels, and liability are far worse especially when we had to risk illness and death during the height of the pandemic while most office workers got to chill at home, and we have the risk of being convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison for an honest mistake that most office workers do not ever have to face.

On that basis, every healthcare workers wage needs to go up.

 

[PharmtoCS]

On that basis, every healthcare workers wage needs to go up.

From a market standpoint we need more software engineers and fewer healthcare professionals. Software engineering will be a better career choice until they get to a point of graduating with $200k+ in loans and spending an additional 4 years in postgraduate eduction, then are made to code for 14 hours straight with no break for a mediocre salary.

 

[RXDOC1986]

As Pharmacists, "deserving" a certain pay, and "wanting" a certain pay, are two different things. Everyone, here, agree that we are underpaid. But we live in a free-market economy, our pay is exactly what the market will allow.
According to the BLS- the Median Salary in the US is $59,228 (single) and $79,500 (family). A pharmacist salary of $120,000, is twice the median income.
Having worked as a pharmacist for nearly 4 decades, my salary has been all over the place. When I graduated with a Pharm.D. and a PGY-1 residency, in 1986 - the VA, where I worked as a student, offered me $29K (because of new grad, could only go to GS-9.) A retail chain (Treasury Drugs) offered $36.5K. That extra $7K was a big deal. I should have stayed with VA.
I got married during my 4th year of pharmacy. Our first home, a townhome, was $82K, we have upgraded 4 times, now in a $1.5 million home. I am not a financial guru, just hard work, often two jobs at a time, and conservative investments.
We make a decent salary, nobody should be stressed about reasonable financial goals.

 

[DoctorRx1986]

As Pharmacists, "deserving" a certain pay, and "wanting" a certain pay, are two different things. Everyone, here, agree that we are underpaid. But we live in a free-market economy, our pay is exactly what the market will allow.
According to the BLS- the Median Salary in the US is $59,228 (single) and $79,500 (family). A pharmacist salary of $120,000, is twice the median income.
Having worked as a pharmacist for nearly 4 decades, my salary has been all over the place. When I graduated with a Pharm.D. and a PGY-1 residency, in 1986 - the VA, where I worked as a student, offered me $29K (because of new grad, could only go to GS-9.) A retail chain (Treasury Drugs) offered $36.5K. That extra $7K was a big deal. I should have stayed with VA.
I got married during my 4th year of pharmacy. Our first home, a townhome, was $82K, we have upgraded 4 times, now in a $1.5 million home. I am not a financial guru, just hard work, often two jobs at a time, and conservative investments.
We make a decent salary, nobody should be stressed about reasonable financial goals.

I like your perspective . And let me tell you something - I’ve been lately complaining about how my pay is pretty low for my years of experience . I make $56 an hour and have been a pharmacist for almost 12 years. I worked retail for 9 years and have been working from home now for almost 3 years (will be 3 years in April ). I’ve been thinking I should be making closer to $65-$70 an hour now but then again after I finish working I realize how I suffer from literally 0 stress in my job role at home and get a **** ton of PTO within just a few years within the company . I have absolutely no stress , my job is chill , and I am a strong performer in the role . My job is patient consultation and speaking to patients all day on the phone regarding clinical matters and questions . You can think of me as a drug information expert working for an inbound call center for a PBM. The job is cake, just use your knowledge and answer patient questions about their meds , side effects , drug interactions , etc . 8 hours a day , 40 hours a week, $56 an hour , with two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch . In January 2025, I’ll be at 28 days of PTO . At this point at 2 years 8 months with the company , I get 23 days but can get “BTO” (bought time off and can buy an extra week). So 28 days total PTO next year plus 8 paid holidays . Easy as **** job . No stress . I’m sure I’ll get another raise almost $2 hour and probably be making $58 an hour by April 2025. ****- I have it good . Probably what many would consider a unicorn job . Even if I made $60+ an hour , is there really much difference between $56 an hour and $60? Nah. For me to leave , I’d have to get paid $64-$66 an hour and good PTO. I don’t know - I’m here sipping on my double serving of McCallan 12 scotch whiskey 🥃 and just had a moment of clarity . Why would I leave for $61 an hour and more than likely a lot less than 28 days of PTO? Makes no sense. If I want more money , I should check for internal positions that pay more while keeping my PTO.

 

[confettiflyer]

. I don’t know - I’m here sipping on my double serving of McCallan 12 scotch whiskey 🥃 and just had a moment of clarity ..

Yer bum’s oot the windae! Don’t be a numptie, be a real man and drink an Islay. Nothing like gasoline coming through yer nostrils.

jk…but geez, at least get the mac 18, yer a pharmacist, ‘arry. mac 12 is for the bairns.

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

But we live in a free-market economy, our pay is exactly what the market will allow.

This. So long as there are pharmacists accepting $55-60 to work for CVS/Wag, they will keep offering $55-60.
And you can't blame the pharmacists- imagine you're a new grad from a private diploma mill with 300k in student loans. Unless your mommy and daddy are letting you live in their basement and feeding you, you gotta pay your rent, food, utility, etc and make a dent in the 300k student loan unless you've given up on your life already.
Or a parent who wants to provide a good life for their kids and put them through college- just anything but pharmacy school so they don't suffer the same fate you did.
They accept the pay and work because it's necessary and better than nothing.

 

[vm26]

This. So long as there are pharmacists accepting $55-60 to work for CVS/Wag, they will keep offering $55-60.
And you can't blame the pharmacists- imagine you're a new grad from a private diploma mill with 300k in student loans. Unless your mommy and daddy are letting you live in their basement and feeding you, you gotta pay your rent, food, utility, etc and make a dent in the 300k student loan unless you've given up on your life already.
Or a parent who wants to provide a good life for their kids and put them through college- just anything but pharmacy school so they don't suffer the same fate you did.
They accept the pay and work because it's necessary and better than nothing.

Great discussion...A few random thoughts:

For better or worse we live in a predatory capitalistic world. If I recall correctly about 25 years ago, there was a trend in lengthening training and offering"better" credentials for certain fields like pharmacy, PT etc in part due to the hopes of expanding scope of practice. As a result, expensive programs popped up left and right and have been filling ever since. As an outsider, the main issue with pharmacy (aside from possible saturation?), is that the field has been gobbled up by corporations. Growing up, most pharmacies were privately owned mom/pop stores. These days, we have overwhelmed pharmacists at CVS etc answering phone calls, ringing out customers etc. Also tremendous turn-over with pharm-techs

Reimbursement for US physicians is a hybrid of free-market/socialism since CMS sets rates each year (commercial insurers base their rates on this). When you account for inflation, CMS reimbursement for physicians is down about 40% today compared to 2000. In private practice, we've kept afloat/increased compensation slightly by increasing volume/productivity to a much greater extent. Facing another cut for 2025. Personally think we are at an inflection point as many physicians are burnt out and simply not interested in death by a thousand cuts and working way harder for the same/or slightly more. Simultaneously education costs continue to sky-rocket (total cost of attendance for my in-state med school in 2007 was around 165K, now its almost 300K.

Finally there is a big difference between what one makes per year versus one's total net worth, with respect to perceptions and the reality of wealth. Net worth, often times multi-generational, is super concentrated at the high end. Plenty of people earning 80-95th% in income that will never be anywhere near the same percentile for net worth.

 

[Splenda88]

Great discussion...A few random thoughts:

For better or worse we live in a predatory capitalistic world. If I recall correctly about 25 years ago, there was a trend in lengthening training and offering"better" credentials for certain fields like pharmacy, PT etc in part due to the hopes of expanding scope of practice. As a result, expensive programs popped up left and right and have been filling ever since. As an outsider, the main issue with pharmacy (aside from possible saturation?), is that the field has been gobbled up by corporations. Growing up, most pharmacies were privately owned mom/pop stores. These days, we have overwhelmed pharmacists at CVS etc answering phone calls, ringing out customers etc. Also tremendous turn-over with pharm-techs

Reimbursement for US physicians is a hybrid of free-market/socialism since CMS sets rates each year (commercial insurers base their rates on this). When you account for inflation, CMS reimbursement for physicians is down about 40% today compared to 2000. In private practice, we've kept afloat/increased compensation slightly by increasing volume/productivity to a much greater extent. Facing another cut for 2025. Personally think we are at an inflection point as many physicians are burnt out and simply not interested in death by a thousand cuts and working way harder for the same/or slightly more. Simultaneously education costs continue to sky-rocket (total cost of attendance for my in-state med school in 2007 was around 165K, now its almost 300K.

Finally there is a big difference between what one makes per year versus one's total net worth, with respect to perceptions and the reality of wealth. Net worth, often times multi-generational, is super concentrated at the high end. Plenty of people earning 80-95th% in income that will never be anywhere near the same percentile for net worth.

As a physician, I think medicine should be a 6-year degree (prereqs only and 3-yr of med school) and residency in primary care should only be 2-yr (Canada has 2-yr FM residency)

I was (we were) functioning independently at the end of PGY2 as IM resident. All my co-residents were saying what was the point of PGY3 when there was almost ZERO supervision.

I have a feeling the system can produce competent PharmD, DPT, OD in 5 yrs and DDS/DMD in 5-6 yrs

 

[vm26]

As a physician, I think medicine should be a 6-year degree (prereqs only and 3-yr of med school) and residency in primary care should only be 2-yr (Canada has 2-yr FM residency)

I was (we were) functioning independently at the end of PGY2 as IM resident. All my co-residents were saying what was the point of PGY3 when there was almost ZERO supervision.

I have a feeling the system can produce competent PharmD, DPT, OD in 5 yrs and DDS/DMD in 5-6 yrs

Absolutely. Before med school I was a PT and graduated with a BS (essentially 2 years of PT training since I had to complete 2 years of pre-reqs before applying). At this time, the trend of getting a masters in PT was catching on, and now we have DPT programs...My parents are Eastern European and pretty sure medical education (and all education) was stream lined and also started earlier-graduate "high school" around 16. My mom was a nurse by 18/19...Problem in the US is that there are too many middlemen who need a paycheck. Cutting back on a specific educational/training cash cow is a threat and hard to change. Much easier to create other training programs/cash cows and expand scope of practice for NPs/PAs

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

In private practice, we've kept afloat/increased compensation slightly by increasing volume/productivity to a much greater extent. Facing another cut for 2025. Personally think we are at an inflection point as many physicians are burnt out and simply not interested in death by a thousand cuts and working way harder for the same/or slightly more.

Curious, does having PA/ARNP reduce your workload/stress at all?

As a physician, I think medicine should be a 6-year degree (prereqs only and 3-yr of med school) and residency in primary care should only be 2-yr (Canada has 2-yr FM residency)

I was (we were) functioning independently at the end of PGY2 as IM resident. All my co-residents were saying what was the point of PGY3 when there was almost ZERO supervision.

I have a feeling the system can produce competent PharmD, DPT, OD in 5 yrs and DDS/DMD in 5-6 yrs

As for pharmacy, there was a Walgreens pharmacy tech in NorCal who hijacked someone’s pharmacist license and worked as one for over a decade. She never went to pharmacy school so that’s kind of telling…

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

But in all seriousness, unionizing is probably the best solution- negotiate better wage, work environment, and treatment by the public. On the bright side, enrollments in pharmacy schools have been trending in the right direction (down of course). The doom n’ gloom propaganda seems to be doing the trick. Plus the declining quality of students as evidenced by the board/bar exam scores. Just be competent and better than the Gen Z pharmacists

 

[Splenda88]

Curious, does having PA/ARNP reduce your workload/stress at all?



As for pharmacy, there was a Walgreens pharmacy tech in NorCal who hijacked someone’s pharmacist license and worked as one for over a decade. She never went to pharmacy school so that’s kind of telling…

That's a very smart tech if she was able to pull that off.

 

[vm26]

Curious, does having PA/ARNP reduce your workload/stress at all?

Personally for me it's minimal (occasionally I am on a rotation where a RA/PA can do fluoroscopic studies) but it's pretty rare. My group does have some PAs that help with "light" IR-thora's, para's, thyroid biopsies etc which really helps our IR rads out, but not a game-changer.

Eventually the mid-level + AI combo will probably initially help and then eventually replace our work.

 

[owlegrad]

That's a very smart tech if she was able to pull that off.

If I recall correctly I think she had completed some pharmacy school.

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

If I recall correctly I think she had completed some pharmacy school.

https://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/enforcement/accusations/ac176325.pdf

When asked whether she was a licensed pharmacist,
Respondent Le said yes, and said she had received a pharmacy degree from Creighton University
in Nebraska. But she continued to avoid the question of what was her valid license number.

34. Subsequent inquiry to Creighton University revealed an entry in their files matching
Respondent Le's name and date of birth, but showing no undergraduate or graduate degree was
awarded. The entry in their files could simply have been the result of an inquiry by her, and did
not necessarily indicate enrollment or matriculation. A subsequent inquiry to the agency that
licenses pharmacists in Nebraska did not discover any licenses issued to Respondent Le.

Who knows, she's full of ****e