What is your typical pharmacy work day like?

[North Side]

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I am applying to Pharmacy School this fall. 3.8 GPA and 51 PCAT (retaking) I have not done any shadowing yet however I really like to know what your daily job is like and weekly hours. Do you work at the hospital, retail, independent.

Example:

40 hour work week M-F

8AM-10AM

15 minute break (get off my feet have a snack)

10AM - 12PM

30 min break

12PM - 3PM

15 minute break

3PM to 430PM

Thanks!

 

[nafcillin]

where is this place with all the breaks and 9-5 monday through friday schedule? Sign me up

 

[vash1012]

I work 7 on 7 off Mon-Sun. Second shift so I do 12-10 Mon-Thurs. 11-9 on Fri. 9-7 on Sat and Sun. I don't take breaks. I am supposed to be able to, but I don't see how I could or why I would want to leave for 45 minutes to go sit by myself somewhere with the way our schedule works. I can usually sit at my desk, do a few orders, answer a phone or two, and finish my meal without any problems.

 

[vash1012]

Oh and do not go into pharmacy if you expect to find a M-F 9-5 job. They are few and far between. Pharmacy is not a profession for someone who wants that lifestyle guaranteed.

 

[EBT12]

I would highly recommend that you shadow several pharmacists before applying to pharmacy school. Based on your sample day, you may be in for some surprises.

These are examples based on my experiences.

Retail: pharmacists worked 13 hour days. There was no break times (or at least they couldn't be taken because you are so busy). The pharmacist always hoped there would be enough time to go to the bathroom and grab a bite to each during the day. The scheduled rotated; every other weekend was worked.

Hospital: shifts would rotate between 1st and 2nd shift. Many pharmacists worked 12 hour days. Every other weekend (some worked every 3rd weekend). Time to each lunch was usually given. Often you are obligated to 1 week of 3rd shifts every year (or some predefined # of 3rd shifts).

Clinical pharmacists: many have more consistent day hours. However, many hospitals seem to rotate the pharmacists through clinical and staff positions (ex. 2 weeks clinical, 2 weeks staffing, start over). On the 2 weeks staffing part, 2nd shift is often required. Work every 2-3 weekends.

Independent: good luck finding a job here! At least where I live, they are very few and far between (and no one leaves if they get this type of job). Hours are typically shorter (ex. 9am - 7pm weekdays + 9-2 Saturdays, closed Sundays). Seriously though, no one ever leaves these positions.

Oh, and keep in mind that many pharmacies are open all holidays, so you will have to work some of those days as well.

I don't provide these examples to discourage you, only to encourage you to shadow some pharmacists to see what it's really like.

 

[joetrisman]

I think more than anything else, I'm going hospital so I can sit in a chair for 30 yrs instead of standing up in retail for 30 yrs.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

where is this place with all the breaks and 9-5 monday through friday schedule? Sign me up

2 of my friends in managed care work this schedule. No weekends or holidays.

 

[North Side]

I am planning on shadowing this fall, can't wait! Right now I am a single guy and when and how much I work isn't a huge deal. I am slightly worried about my ability to work 12 hours straight under high pressure with no break off my feet all day. I am currently working 8 hour days landscaping and that can seem long sometimes. Once I get out of Pharm school I am thinking about doing retail for a short period to pay off loans (seems to be more money in it) then shift to hospital once I am in my 30's (hopefully better for family). I live in ND so everything is independent, but our law might get over turned. Keep on sharing, it is great to hear what hours are out there! 👍

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

I am thinking about doing retail for a short period then shift to hospital once I am in my 30's (hopefully better for family).

🙄
Piece of cake, just shift right over to hospital. Please talk to some current hospital pharmacists in your area and retail pharmacists. You need to know what you are getting into before you start taking out those loans.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I am planning on shadowing this fall, can't wait! Right now I am a single guy and when and how much I work isn't a huge deal. I am slightly worried about my ability to work 12 hours straight under high pressure with no break off my feet all day. I am currently working 8 hour days landscaping and that can seem long sometimes. Once I get out of Pharm school I am thinking about doing retail for a short period to pay off loans (seems to be more money in it) then shift to hospital once I am in my 30's (hopefully better for family). I live in ND so everything is independent, but our law might get over turned. Keep on sharing, it is great to hear what hours are out there! 👍

Not saying it can't happen, but why would a hospital hire you without any hospital experience? Also people with residency is now increasingly common. Even if ASHP doesn't make it an official requirement, in 5-10 years, hospitals might make it a de facto requirement.

You need to plan ahead and future proof your career.

 

[LazyMooch]

Not saying it can't happen, but why would a hospital hire you without any hospital experience? Also people with residency is now increasingly common. Even if ASHP doesn't make it an official requirement, in 5-10 years, hospitals might make it a de facto requirement.

You need to plan ahead and future proof your career.

The dudes got all of pharmacy school to figure that out and he will have access to much better resources there with which to make decisions.

...Although, I could've sworn this was a joke topic from that first post...

 

[owlegrad]

The dudes got all of pharmacy school to figure that out and he will have access to much better resources there with which to make decisions.

...Although, I could've sworn this was a joke topic from that first post...

Wait, are you saying I will have to work more than 8-4:30 or that I won't get three breaks a day!?

 

[xiphoid2010]

Wait, are you saying I will have to work more than 8-4:30 or that I won't get three breaks a day!?

Well, my wife's job has that and more. When she staff on the weekends, she spend much of it shooting breeze with techs. Imagine how upset I was she she tells me about her day when I was doing my residency. 😡

The bottom line, don't work for a life sucking retail chain if you don't like to be treated like a slave.

 

[LazyMooch]

Well, my wife's job has that and more. When she staff on the weekends, she spend much of it shooting breeze with techs. Imagine how upset I was she she tells me about her day when I was doing my residency. 😡

The bottom line, don't work for a life sucking retail chain if you don't like to be treated like a slave.

A well payed slave.

Versus a resident. Which a poorly paid slave.

But two year later you come out of that and are better compensated (although usually not as well as the corporate slave).

 

[North Side]

The dudes got all of pharmacy school to figure that out and he will have access to much better resources there with which to make decisions.

...Although, I could've sworn this was a joke topic from that first post...

I am not joking around I just put out a random example schedule. I know most pharmacist work like salves to the dark over lord that is CVS, but I just really wanted to know what everyone's day to day job is like (specifically if there are breaks). I am just concerned about getting burned out from these hours. I like to get an idea of what its like to see if I can handle the daily grind. I would like to do a hospital residency, keeping my options open. I understand (at least at my school) P4 is basically a year where you get exposed to all different types of pharmacy hospital, retail, ect.. hopefully that will really help my decision too

 

[xiphoid2010]

I am not joking around I just put out a random example schedule. I know most pharmacist work like salves to the dark over lord that is CVS, but I just really wanted to know what everyone's day to day job is like (specifically if there are breaks). I am just concerned about getting burned out from these hours. I like to get an idea of what its like to see if I can handle the daily grind. I would like to do a hospital residency, keeping my options open. I understand (at least at my school) P4 is basically a year where you get exposed to all different types of pharmacy hospital, retail, ect.. hopefully that will really help my decision too

My wife works at a LTC pharmacy, it's almost like a hospitals central pharmacy, but much better staffed (if not over staffed). I guess the profit margines are just that high, enough for them to be paid to chit chat instead of working.

 

[MountainPharmD]

Lets see whats my day like? A soul crushing amount of factory like boring repetitive work a monkey could be trained to do. Twenty e-mails from the various corporate middle managers above me detailing all the metrics that have nothing to do with the actual practice of pharmacy I am not meeting. Idiot customers who think it is acceptable to verbally abuse the staff then complain to said middle managers and get a $25 gift card. Fifteen transfers a day from CVS and Walgreens, which take an average of twenty minutes on hold for each so people can get more $25 gift cards. Half a dozen or so customers who loudly and rudely interrupt me to ask where the bathroom is. All done to the tune of a louder than an air raid siren drive through bell which goes off every 5 seconds mixed with 5 phone lines that never stop ringing. Yep that's my day in a nut shell. Oh and dont forget done in 8 to 12 hour shifts with no breaks standing on your feet the whole time. I am just living the dream!

 

[LazyMooch]

Lets see whats my day like? A soul crushing amount of factory like boring repetitive work a monkey could be trained to do. Twenty e-mails from the various corporate middle managers above me detailing all the metrics that have nothing to do with the actual practice of pharmacy I am not meeting. Idiot customers who think it is acceptable to verbally abuse the staff then complain to said middle managers and get a $25 gift card. Fifteen transfers a day from CVS and Walgreens, which take an average of twenty minutes on hold for each so people can get more $25 gift cards. Half a dozen or so customers who loudly and rudely interrupt me to ask where the bathroom is. All done to the tune of a louder than an air raid siren drive through bell which goes off every 5 seconds mixed with 5 phone lines that never stop ringing. Yep that’s my day in a nut shell. Oh and dont forget done in 8 to 12 hour shifts with no breaks standing on your feet the whole time. I am just living the dream!

I could handle retail if I was at a location like my home store (CVS). It's a very low volume store without a drive through. The pharmacists spend a large portion of their day sitting in chairs and reading magazines.

 

[joetrisman]

Lets see whats my day like? A soul crushing amount of factory like boring repetitive work a monkey could be trained to do. Twenty e-mails from the various corporate middle managers above me detailing all the metrics that have nothing to do with the actual practice of pharmacy I am not meeting. Idiot customers who think it is acceptable to verbally abuse the staff then complain to said middle managers and get a $25 gift card. Fifteen transfers a day from CVS and Walgreens, which take an average of twenty minutes on hold for each so people can get more $25 gift cards. Half a dozen or so customers who loudly and rudely interrupt me to ask where the bathroom is. All done to the tune of a louder than an air raid siren drive through bell which goes off every 5 seconds mixed with 5 phone lines that never stop ringing. Yep that’s my day in a nut shell. Oh and dont forget done in 8 to 12 hour shifts with no breaks standing on your feet the whole time. I am just living the dream!

I would almost swear that we work at the same store sans the transfer coupons. Some days its almost comical the way customers act and I have to hold myself from laughing at their outlandishness.

 

[Vyvanase]

I work Mon-Thurs 6:30 am - 5:00 pm at an inpatient hospital setting. We get one hour lunches with no 15 min breaks.

 

[MountainPharmD]

I would almost swear that we work at the same store sans the transfer coupons. Some days its almost comical the way customers act and I have to hold myself from laughing at their outlandishness.

What's sad is this describes most retail pharmacies now a days. I shake my head and laugh at most people. I wish I could video tape someone when they are acting like a total fool and then let them watch it the next day so they can see how stupid they look. It may be a good way to make some extra money. Pay me $500 or everyone you know will see this video.....

 

[PharmaTope]

where is this place with all the breaks and 9-5 monday through friday schedule? Sign me up

lol no kidding. most go 12 hours or 14 hours!!! it is madness! i dont know about anyone else but that is a tough work day to be honest. definitely not a 9-5 job at all

 

[Dr Wario]

Arrive 30 minutes early
Fix 50+ rejects because our software can't bill the same way as the previous refill
Open gate
Percocet
Oxycodone 15/Oxycontin 60
Xanax
Atenolol
Lipitor
Suboxone
Suboxone
Suboxone
Abilify/Klonopin/Buspar/Zoloft
Percocet x 3
200 Rdyfills
4 pharmacy calls
*Ding* *Dong* x 1000
Adderall 10/Focalin XR 30
Percocet x 30
Oxycodone 30 x 5
2 minute bathroom break
10 pharmacy calls
*ding* *dong* x about 1000 more
I only want the pain pill please, the AB is too expensive
Why is my copay a dollar, all of my drugs are free!
Percocet x 1 billion
look at my rash
30 viagra cash paying pt going to china for a month (highfive bro)
more oxycodone 30
I haven't pooped in 5 hours and I need to go right now!
Its only a cream, you just have to slap a label on it
suboxone x 50
Zyrtec, IBU 200, Zofran, Levaquin 635.2mg
Start closing gate...
Wait! I just need to
NO! Go away, we open at 8 tomorrow
Limp out of pharmacy

 

[xiphoid2010]

Arrive 30 minutes early
Fix 50+ rejects because our software can't bill the same way as the previous refill
Open gate
Percocet
Oxycodone 15/Oxycontin 60
Xanax
Atenolol
Lipitor
Suboxone
Suboxone
Suboxone
Abilify/Klonopin/Buspar/Zoloft
Percocet x 3
200 Rdyfills
4 pharmacy calls
*Ding* *Dong* x 1000
Adderall 10/Focalin XR 30
Percocet x 30
Oxycodone 30 x 5
2 minute bathroom break
10 pharmacy calls
*ding* *dong* x about 1000 more
I only want the pain pill please, the AB is too expensive
Why is my copay a dollar, all of my drugs are free!
Percocet x 1 billion
look at my rash
30 viagra cash paying pt going to china for a month (highfive bro)
more oxycodone 30
I haven't pooped in 5 hours and I need to go right now!
Its only a cream, you just have to slap a label on it
suboxone x 50
Zyrtec, IBU 200, Zofran, Levaquin 635.2mg
Start closing gate...
Wait! I just need to
NO! Go away, we open at 8 tomorrow
Limp out of pharmacy

All those long days and slaving away as a resident suddenly feels like the best deal on the planet, knowing it paid to miss out on precious moments like these. 😀

 

[kvl1027]

Arrive 30 minutes early
Fix 50+ rejects because our software can't bill the same way as the previous refill
Open gate
Percocet
Oxycodone 15/Oxycontin 60
Xanax
Atenolol
Lipitor
Suboxone
Suboxone
Suboxone
Abilify/Klonopin/Buspar/Zoloft
Percocet x 3
200 Rdyfills
4 pharmacy calls
*Ding* *Dong* x 1000
Adderall 10/Focalin XR 30
Percocet x 30
Oxycodone 30 x 5
2 minute bathroom break
10 pharmacy calls
*ding* *dong* x about 1000 more
I only want the pain pill please, the AB is too expensive
Why is my copay a dollar, all of my drugs are free!
Percocet x 1 billion
look at my rash
30 viagra cash paying pt going to china for a month (highfive bro)
more oxycodone 30
I haven't pooped in 5 hours and I need to go right now!
Its only a cream, you just have to slap a label on it
suboxone x 50
Zyrtec, IBU 200, Zofran, Levaquin 635.2mg
Start closing gate...
Wait! I just need to
NO! Go away, we open at 8 tomorrow
Limp out of pharmacy

^^Awesome.^^

I work at an Independent, MTWF 9-6 Sat. 9-1. No Breaks, except right now it is very slow, hence why I am on SDN. We are closed on Major holidays and every Sunday. Like someone said before I was lucky to get this gig. With that being said there are some downsides. I carry a pistol at work because we are a small independent and deal with a lot of oxy heads that I turn away. The pay rate is ok, not as good as my friend just got for Walmart. My insurance is expensive, I dont get any sick days, and I only get 4 paid holidays (the owner is kind of Cheap). I get to compound and use some skills that most pharmacists have forgotten, you know, the very root of our profession, so that is cool.
I dont have to worry about some kid in a suit telling me where to put my trash can, because it doesn't fit the corporate model. ( I use this Example, because my buddy who was just hired to Walmart was telling me about how his DM came in and threw a ****e fest because the techs had moved the trashcans to what they felt was a more efficient location).
You are going to have to shadow someone to get an idea of what you may want to do. They are so many ways to be a pharmacist, so if you get out and you dont like what you are doing, then get another job doing something else. Just be nice to your classmates and make lots of friends, you never know when you are going to need to call one of them up so they can help you get a job. Network, network, network.

 

[gambit78]

The LTC pharmacy near my house is general day hours with latest shift being 12pm to 8pm rotating. Note: Every Houstonian pharmacist was hammering down for an opening that came up this summer. I heard from the recruiter about 50 applications for that one opening. I've heard of one storyin this recession, hundreds of folks applying for a janitorial job at a school. With professionals I guess it cuts down to 30-50 for one job.

I would love a full-time compounding pharmacy gig, but the three local compounding pharmacies around me all are fully staffed, as in , the same six pharmacists there for the past few years. Perhaps if/when I move out I'll have better options.

 

[Thoughtfulsinner]

I don't care how busy it is. When I need to drop a deuce, I take my sweet time surfing the internet while sitting on the toilet. Nothing feels better than doing this 15 minutes per day and getting paid for it.

 

[lamasacrerx]

As you all might be more or less familiar with the POWER system in Florida, I am going to tell you how a day for a POWER pharmacist is down here in the sunshine state. Since 2008 Walgreens has been struggling to get the new POWER system to work with little or no success. They have basically killed the profession for the sake of money making. They cut the hours of help, so if your store average more than 300 rxs per day you are lucky to get only two techs for few hours, meaning that you spend most of the time in between two cash registers and a drive thru scanning rx bags plus cookies, candies or whatever your patients bring to the pharmacy counter. Also and very often you have to get in an argument over coupons and items on sales. Besides that you still need to do pharmacist duties like verify and clarify prescriptions with doctors, get voicemails, check for DURS, verify rxs and provide consultation. Your computer is so close to the out window that you lack the necessary privacy for you to focus, because as I said before if someone come to drop off or pick up your are the cashier, the tech and the pharmacist in one person. You need to keep repeating yourself the whole day: I will be right with you, Just a minute please, I need help, IC3 in pharmacy etc..Very stressful and scary, we shall not forget that we are dealing with people lifes here. So my dear pharmacy students if you are about to graduate, I hope you put Walgreens in Florida far down in your list of prospect places to work otherwise your going to regret it forever.😕

 

[Antuan]

less than the working day - the less money but more freedom

Sorry for my bad English. learning..

 

[kvl1027]

I don't care how busy it is. When I need to drop a deuce, I take my sweet time surfing the internet while sitting on the toilet. Nothing feels better than doing this 15 minutes per day and getting paid for it.

Thanks for the post, I needed a laugh today.