What else can you do in pharmacy?

[btpayne13]

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Working as a pharmacist at a big retail chain sounds very boring, so I'd like to know what other options are available to pharmacists. The field of pharmacy interests me a lot, it's just that I don't want to end up working my entire career at a Walgreens or CVS after 6 years of college. What can one do with their PharmD and/or graduate pharmacy work? Drug rehab? Independent business/pharmacy?

 

[rxlea]

Working as a pharmacist at a big retail chain sounds very boring, so I'd like to know what other options are available to pharmacists. The field of pharmacy interests me a lot, it's just that I don't want to end up working my entire career at a Walgreens or CVS after 6 years of college. What can one do with their PharmD and/or graduate pharmacy work? Drug rehab? Independent business/pharmacy?

I suggest you read some of the stickies at the top of the forum. They will have more information about the wide array of opportunities you will have with a Pharm.D. There is hospital pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, independent pharmacy, clinical pharmacy, pharmacy specializations, the list goes on and on...

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

theres more than just wags and cvs. riteaid, target, walmart, safeway, albertsons, kroger, superD, Freds, piggly wiggly, costco, sams club, Kmart....
truly exciting opportunities!!

 

[crazybob]

Work for FDA, Poison Control Center, Drug Information Center, your state board of pharmacy, District and Regional manager for retail, Air Force, the Army, etc.

 

[cycloketocaine]

PhD is where its at!

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

PhD is for people who cant get a real job.

hth.

 

[cycloketocaine]

PhD is for people who cant get a real job.

hth.

Jealous much?

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

Jealous much?

Not at all.. lots of PhD in the family.. they're all weird and maladjusted.

 

[type b pharmD]

Not at all.. lots of PhD in the family.. they're all weird and maladjusted.

the way to live

 

[johnep34]

Pharmacy gets you used to handling small amounts accurately. Ideal for careers as cosmetic chemists, perfumers, flavourists,etc. Ie anywhere in the food industry.
johnep

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

Pharmacy gets you used to handling small amounts accurately. Ideal for careers as cosmetic chemists, perfumers, flavourists,etc. Ie anywhere in the food industry.
johnep

or fast food drive up window...

 

[Rebel78]

PhD is for people who cant get a real job.

hth.

Funny but true. If you can't do anything else, keep going to school 👍

 

[crazybob]

Funny but true. If you can't do anything else, keep going to school 👍

I heard there's a lot of pressure if you're going to school for your PhD after you have gotten your Masters. I heard this from someone who got his PhD before starting pharmacy school.

 

[Priapism321]

Running the most prestigious pediatric cancer center in the nation and being a world renowned expert in pediatric leukemia is an option.

 

[cycloketocaine]

Funny but true. If you can't do anything else, keep going to school 👍

I am turning down other offers to get my PhD, because it is what interests me and what I want to do. Thanks for trying though.

 

[KARM12]

Not at all.. lots of PhD in the family.. they're all weird and maladjusted.

Agreed. I did undergraduate research in a micro lab. The grad students were always there strange hours and would obsess over agar plates. It was sad...

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

Agreed. I did undergraduate research in a micro lab. The grad students were always there strange hours and would obsess over agar plates. It was sad...

Don't most PGY2 infectious disease programs have you rotate through the micro lab to hang with those nerds? 🙂

 

[p-rog]

check out some of these paths for starters:

http://www.pharmacist.com/AM/Templa...mplate=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12183

 

[theunderminer]

The public health service and military (army, navy, air force) are good options too.

 

[btpayne13]

Can you make a drug rehab or other kind of business?

 

[Farmercyst]

Can you make a drug rehab or other kind of business?

Like a Meth(adone) Clinic?

 

[johnep34]

I taught chemistry in a high school for a couple of years and did relief at week ends and during vacations.
johnep

 

[thedave]

If you want to do more than just dispense @ a retail pharm, I would suggest looking into hospital-based pharmacy. I shadowed a pharmacist responsible for the ICU/CCU and he was always on the floor visiting with patients, checking charts, consulting w/ drs, etc. I, personally, plan to go into psychiatric pharmacy. Its a lot like the guy in the CCU but working with CRAZIES... sounds like a blast 🙂

 

[btpayne13]

If you want to do more than just dispense @ a retail pharm, I would suggest looking into hospital-based pharmacy. I shadowed a pharmacist responsible for the ICU/CCU and he was always on the floor visiting with patients, checking charts, consulting w/ drs, etc. I, personally, plan to go into psychiatric pharmacy. Its a lot like the guy in the CCU but working with CRAZIES... sounds like a blast 🙂

Psychiatric pharmacy sounds really interesting. I've heard of it before, but I don't know what it is exactly. Do psychiatric pharmacists work in hospitals?

 

[thedave]

Psychiatric pharmacy sounds really interesting. I've heard of it before, but I don't know what it is exactly. Do psychiatric pharmacists work in hospitals?

if the hospital has a psych ward... a few years ago I spoke with a prof. @ UOP who part-time does psych for a mental health inpatient facility. He explained that he goes on rounds with the psychiatrist, consulting with the patients and verifying that their psychotropic drugs are appropriate. He has to pay attention to interactions between them all and make sure they won't have adverse effects on any other conditions they may have, like blood pressure, for example. I am graduating with a BA in psych this month so when I heard about that, I knew it was the specialty for me. 🙂

 

[Krismeese09]

Make pharmacy what you want it to be. Then it will not be boring (albeit maybe frustrating!)

Pharmacy has a tremendous amount of untapped potential, knowledge, and experience. Almost no one outside of the profession truly knows the extent of knowledge that most pharmacists have at their disposal, unless of course they used to be pharmacists!

There are tremendous challenges and opportunities in the expansion of MTM and pharmacist provided/directed disease management services in the ambulatory setting. While trying to create and promote services to these ends (and change expectations) is difficult. It certainly would not be boring lol.

 

[KARM12]

Don't most PGY2 infectious disease programs have you rotate through the micro lab to hang with those nerds? 🙂

This is very true.

 

[RxMTM]

PhD is for people who cant get a real job.

hth.

PhD's are the people who produce all the discoveries in this world. Do you think all the textbooks that MD's use came out of thin air? All that information in the textbook came from research. Being a professor is one of the best jobs you can have.

 

[RxMTM]

Agreed. I did undergraduate research in a micro lab. The grad students were always there strange hours and would obsess over agar plates. It was sad...

No need to bash these people. They are the ones advancing the field. We should respect them the most. Without them, medicine, as we know it, would come to a halt.

 

[RxMTM]

I am turning down other offers to get my PhD, because it is what interests me and what I want to do. Thanks for trying though.

I envy you cycloketocaine. I got offers for PhD and PharmD programs last year. I turned down my PhD offers for the PharmD program. Now I am having regrets. All I do these days is memorize powerpoint slides and reguritate information on the exams in the pharmacy program. A PhD would have been so much more exciting.

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

PhD's are the people who produce all the discoveries in this world. Do you think all the textbooks that MD's use came out of thin air? All that information in the textbook came from research. Being a professor is one of the best jobs you can have.

mmmm..... that's why I don't use textbooks..and neither do practicing MD's... However we do use latest researches, journals, and articles from clinical settings..and a lot of those articles are written by practicing MD's and PharmD's.. Do you ever wonder why clinical rotations are not taught by PhDs??

Being a professor is one of the best jobs?? Maybe for you... if you like academic red tape of publish or perish...or bring in research funding or never get tenured.

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

This is very true.

Are you playing with PNA-FISH or PCR?

 

[RxMTM]

mmmm..... that's why I don't use textbooks..and neither do practicing MD's... However we do use latest researches, journals, and articles from clinical settings..and a lot of those articles are written by practicing MD's and PharmD's.. Do you ever wonder why clinical rotations are not taught by PhDs??

Being a professor is one of the best jobs?? Maybe for you... if you like academic red tape of publish or perish...or bring in research funding or never get tenured.

You are true on the clinical aspect however,...every medical doctor prescribes medication. And ~90% of medications are organic molecules. These molecules have to be painstaking built by very intelligent individuals who hold PhD degrees. And it is not easy by ANY means to construct these molecules. Professors have won the Nobel Prize for creating just ONE molecule.

If you are saying that PhD's have no role in medicine...then I would rethink that. OR...all these M.D.s can just go back to treating using homeopathy and ignore the new drug discoveries since they are not important.

 

[KARM12]

Are you playing with PNA-FISH or PCR?

FISH...some PCR

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

You are true on the clinical aspect however,...every medical doctor prescribes medication. And ~90% of medications are organic molecules. These molecules have to be painstaking built by very intelligent individuals who hold PhD degrees. And it is not easy by ANY means to construct these molecules. Professors have won the Nobel Prize for creating just ONE molecule.

What's your point?

Al Gore won a Nobel Prize..and the only thing he ever invented was the internet.

Evidently PhD aren't the only ones winning the Nobel. So do JD.. oh, Obama is a JD and won a Nobel..

So, PhD are intelligent and invent molecules and win Nobel... again, what's your point?

If you are saying that PhD's have no role in medicine...then I would rethink that.

Find where I said that.

OR...all these M.D.s can just go back to treating using homeopathy and ignore the new drug discoveries since they are not important.

What?

Look dude.. if you want to get a PhD...by all means go ahead. You can do the research..invent drugs..win a Nobel or whatever. It's just aint for many of us extroverts. We don't want to be stuck in a lab and devote rest of our lives trying to invent something.

If PhDs are so great, when are they going to come up with a new class of antimicrobials to combat resistant gram negative bugs??

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

FISH...some PCR

PCR is exciting... Imagine if it receives more FDA approvals for ID of other bugs besides MRSA... empiric therapy days could decrease a bunch and the term "abx streamline" could be a thing of the past. <----- I guess the sensitivity test will still take time.. so until sensitivity results, it will still be considered empiric unless PCR is sensitive enough to detect if the strain will be resistant or susceptible based on genome sequence..

 

[tungsten87]

PCR is exciting... Imagine if it receives more FDA approvals for ID of other bugs besides MRSA... empiric therapy days could decrease a bunch and the term "abx streamline" could be a thing of the past.

isn't rtpcr approved for rna viruses (ie: certain herpes)?

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

Professors have won the Nobel Prize for creating just ONE molecule.

Name the last professor who won the prize for creating a drug molecule. Make that 2 professors...since you said professors.

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

isn't rtpcr approved for rna viruses (ie: certain herpes)?

There are many approved PCR tests...HIV, HBV, H1N1...

But I'm intersted in quick PCR that can identify candida species, gram neg rods etc...

 

[RxMTM]

Name the last professor who won the prize for creating a drug molecule. Make that 2 professors...since you said professors.

In 2008 Shimomura developed GFP (green florescent protein)

In 1955 Vigneaud synthesized a polypeptide molecule.

These are both Nobel Prizes in chemistry.

So tell me...where would we be if we could not synthesize polypeptides?? Do you know what GFP is?? Do you know what impact it will have on medicine? It will have tremendous impact.

Everyone is different. We are not all made for the same job. Some people are made to be M.D.s. Others are made to be professors. It is a diverse world out there and we should not bash others if we do not understand them or know why they do what they do. Just like the comment about microbiology graduate students having "creepy schedules". Bacteria are living organisms and need special attention. You have to work your schedule around that whether it means coming in to lab at midnight or not. Please don't bash others unless you fully understand their actions.

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

In 2008 Shimomura developed GFP (green florescent protein)

In 1955 Vigneaud synthesized a polypeptide molecule.

These are both Nobel Prizes in chemistry.

mmm..shimomura didn't create GFP. he discovered it... nature created GFP.

Vigneaud didn't create Pitocin and vasopressin.. he isolated them and sequenced the polypeptide then synthesized it because he knew the aa sequence.

Get it right. Big difference between creating it vs. isolating something already in existence.

More often than not, Nobel is awared for processes and understanding the functions in physiology not "creating" a molecule.

So tell me...where would we be if we could not synthesize polypeptides??

Life on earth has been sythesizing proteins for millions of years...

Do you know what GFP is?? Do you know what impact it will have on medicine? It will have tremendous impact.

yeah....funded by pfizer and other organizations.. where would science be if it wasn't for funding? Yes I know what GFP is...

Everyone is different. We are not all made for the same job. Some people are made to be M.D.s. Others are made to be professors. It is a diverse world out there and we should not bash others if we do not understand them or know why they do what they do.

Then why you bashing me?

Just like the comment about microbiology graduate students having "creepy schedules". Bacteria are living organisms and need special attention. You have to work your schedule around that whether it means coming in to lab at midnight or not. Please don't bash others unless you fully understand their actions.

I'm going to bash when I want to. If you don't want to bash others, then start with yourself.. don't bash those of us doing the bashing.

BTW... one of my goals in life is to kill bacteria.. I don't want them treated with special attention. They need to be killed quickly and cost effectively.

How's Kingsville? I stopped being a preceptor for your school about 3 years ago..

 

[tungsten87]

im pretty sure the synthesist of testosterone from cholesterol (in the 1930's) won a nobel prize

 

[RxMTM]

So Stavifingerz, you are defending the fact that you think microbiology graduate students are creepy and pathetic?

I bet they think the same thing when you guys go into their lab. "What are those pharm. snobs doing in the lab pretending they know how to use the equipment".

Choose your battles wisely and be prepared to get flamed when you bash other people by using ignorant arguments. Don't dig yourself deeper into a hole either. Lastly, making a huge comment does not make your argument stronger. In fact you are showing that you don't know what you are talking about.

 

[RxMTM]

Yes I'm here in Kingsville. AND I got accepted to PhD programs and other pharmacy programs. I have a wide range of interests and that is why I strongly disliked the comments about the graduate students. I spent most of my undergrad doing research and know exactly what it is like to be in the lab at 1:00 am. Then to hear an ignorant comment about graduate students. I could not let that pass without correcting it. Regardless of your qualifications, the comment stands alone and it was offensive to me even though I have chosen the PharmD path.

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

lol youre going to use 2 lame nobel wins to justify going into phd??
heck....screw that..i will take 2 apothecary pharmacists as my idols...inventors of coca cola and dr. pepper. just your local druggists! dood...im just harrassing cyclo...ive known her since she was a prepharm... i even started the 'cyclo football' thread like 4 years ago. lab rats being creepy??? i dont really care. and what dont i know about what im talking about? huge comments?
lol dont get your panties in a wad.

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

graduate phd students are creepy...dress bad..cant carry on a normal conversation...and very introverted with booksmarts only.
there you go...some more insults.. you should get a phd from UT austin...a real program..not kingsville and i say this as an Aggie whos done enough biochem research in college station!

have a nice day!

 

[type b pharmD]

graduate phd students are creepy...dress bad..cant carry on a normal conversation...and very introverted with booksmarts only.
there you go...some more insults.. you should get a phd from UT austin...a real program..not kingsville and i say this as an Aggie whos done enough biochem research in college station!

have a nice day!

stavi is too "cool" and extroverted for the lab, i think

 

[mredb]

I don't want to be too negative, but most pharmacy jobs in retail and hospital are lick and stick, with little gratification. also pharmacy job opportunities are shrinking rapidly in many areas such as the Northeast, mainly due to the huge number of pharmacy graduates, and to a lesser extent, foreign pharmacists. Most pharmacists consider themselves lucky just to have jobs. These "new' roles for pharmacists in a consultive capacity are just projections, with no real substance, yet. However, a smart person can somehow make his own niche. Good luck!!😳

 

[RxMTM]

graduate phd students are creepy...dress bad..cant carry on a normal conversation...and very introverted with booksmarts only.
there you go...some more insults.. you should get a phd from UT austin...a real program..not kingsville and i say this as an Aggie whos done enough biochem research in college station!

have a nice day!

Heh...your way of dealing with arguments...make senseless insults.

Anyway, I got offers from top programs. Rangel College of Pharmacy was the only non-top-tier school I applied to because it was closest to home. And I did get ACCEPTED to Texas A&M College Station PhD program and yes I did get offered a scholarship from them. All you have left is senseless insults and you never give up. Go on, keep making yourself look dumb.

 

[RxMTM]

graduate phd students are creepy...dress bad..cant carry on a normal conversation...and very introverted with booksmarts only.
there you go...some more insults.. you should get a phd from UT austin...a real program..not kingsville and i say this as an Aggie whos done enough biochem research in college station!

have a nice day!

Texas A&M Pharmacy School is part of Texas A&M Health Science Center of College Station. Within the Health Science Center is the medical school, dental school, and veterinary school. It has no affiliation with Kingsville A&M.

This is my last post on this thread.