Which retail setting is best for APPEs?

[Flavia28]

I have to choose my 4th year rotation sites for the community setting and I'm not sure which one to pick.
Options are between an independent, Walgreens, Walmart and Kroger.

I would really like to pick Walgreens because its one of the two big chains and I already interned at CVS during my second year so the school most likely won't put me there. However, I have heard Walmart in general has a lot of tech help and Kroger is a grocery chain so apparently, its "nicer" on average. I do not know. I would be grateful if you could list out pros and cons of each or direct me to an old thread if there are any on this topic. I would love to pick the independent but I am trying to think long-term and the chances of me being hired at least as a floater after graduation at a chain is much higher than at the independent?

Thank you so much. I appreciate any input.

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[rxkrafted]

Honestly it won't matter which chain pharmacy to choose. You should have interned there throughout your years in school to create a relationship and the training program they usually enroll you in. Your one month rotating at a site will be overlooked by the interns they already have lined up with offers...

 

[Sparda29]

My advice for picking an APPE retail site: find a place that will have you doing only doctor calls for refills and patient counseling. It'll give you the most exposure to looking at profiles and figuring out if therapy is appropriate or inappropriate and you can look and see if there is any missing or duplicate treatments.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Doesn't really matter, Walgreens or CVS will hire anyone with a pulse in BFE if they are having a hard enough time filling that position, regardless if you interned there or did one APPE. They both have constant job postings for rural towns in central US.

Try to at least get experience counseling and giving immunizations wherever you are, and pray they don't just stick you at the drive through window ringing people up (Kroger did with me when I wasn't busy giving shots). Either way, you'll more than likely just be unpaid slave labor for a month... doing the crappiest task possible because the pharmacist is too busy and doesn't want to waste their own time on it. Try your best to learn something and pay attention to their work flow, adapt to it, and help them as best you can.

 

[Flavia28]

Honestly it won't matter which chain pharmacy to choose. You should have interned there throughout your years in school to create a relationship and the training program they usually enroll you in. Your one month rotating at a site will be overlooked by the interns they already have lined up with offers...

Thank you for the insight. I think you misunderstood my post. I am not trying to get hired at the place I intern, that would be unrealistic, I understand. Plus, we are not allowed to intern at places we work that. That is a violation of the university policy.

What I meant was.....working at which chain would maximize my chances of being hired anywhere in the US at that chain? I do not mind moving to the middle of nowhere after graduation. I just wanted to make sure I pick a chain that is most likely to keep hiring?

 

[Flavia28]

Thank you Sparda29 and PharmDBro2017, I will definitely keep that in mind.

 

[Apotheker2015]

I have to choose my 4th year rotation sites for the community setting and I'm not sure which one to pick.
Options are between an independent, Walgreens, Walmart and Kroger.

I would really like to pick Walgreens because its one of the two big chains and I already interned at CVS during my second year so the school most likely won't put me there. However, I have heard Walmart in general has a lot of tech help and Kroger is a grocery chain so apparently, its "nicer" on average. I do not know. I would be grateful if you could list out pros and cons of each or direct me to an old thread if there are any on this topic. I would love to pick the independent but I am trying to think long-term and the chances of me being hired at least as a floater after graduation at a chain is much higher than at the independent?

Thank you so much. I appreciate any input.

Yes, there are generally more techs at Walmart but that is not necessarily better. It often feels like you have way too many cooks in the kitchen. I would probably go with Walgreens. I can't remember if doing your community rotation at an outpatient hospital pharmacy was/is an option.

I guess I would probably go with Walgreens. What about Costco? Is that an option? If it is, then I would choose that.

 

[Rxaunt]

I mean basically any community rotation involves counting, counseling, and shots +/- MTM stuff, ringing people up, answering phones, calling doctors etc. So I mean whichever you do you will end with the same general experience. However I would probably try to talk to older students and ask them about their experience at xyz site. Not because one site will have you learn more than some place else but because they could tell you about contact time with preceptor and the overall environment. Personally of the rotations that I disliked or hated it was mainly due to the environment being toxic. Techs and pharmacists hating each other. Shouting matches in the pharmacy, between employees not patients, that kind of thing. The only ones that I did not recommend to the students below me were the two sites that I encountered those issues. So my first piece of advice would be to feel that out and if the older students happen to say that oh they got to do this really cool extra thing at that site sure add it to your list but otherwise all things considered community rotations are the same. Best to just try to avoid environments that could be toxic. The second thing to think about is location for community sites. I personally chose that rotation to be a home rotation because you will probably have the most down time outside of rotations and the least amount of extra work associated with those ones. I think in my class the most I heard from a community site was a quick write up about a new drug or a small journal club. So if you have the option to be closer to home or maybe near a relative or friend that wanted you to try to crash with them over rotation year that might be your best bet. In terms of using this as an opportunity for finding a job, I am not telling you that is stupid or wont happen. My community rotation was a smaller chain not listed above basically almost an independent in size and they really wanted to offer me a job but they did not have anything available. However had I needed it I would have had an excellent reference. So even if you cannot get a job from a site at least if you are a decent student and work hard you should use the site as a source of a potential reference.

 

[Deja]

best chance to get hired is to do a rotation at the corporate level with the retail chains, follow PDM around... I know a couple ppl who got job offers that way

 

[Chrish]

All depends on your preceptor; not the chain. The best retail rotation I did was at busy CVS. I did drop off whole day typing rxs; entering insurance as well checking voicemails and transfers and counseling. During my last few days, the preceptor would let me verify rxs standing right next to me. Her and her partner really cared about my learning experience.

The worst one was at Rite Aid where preceptor only saw me as a free labor. He wasn't interested in teaching me the system or let me do anything else other than the register. I had to even complain to my school and suggested them not to send any future students over there.

So, in the end company/ place doesn't matter.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I have to choose my 4th year rotation sites for the community setting and I'm not sure which one to pick.
Options are between an independent, Walgreens, Walmart and Kroger.

I would really like to pick Walgreens because its one of the two big chains and I already interned at CVS during my second year so the school most likely won't put me there. However, I have heard Walmart in general has a lot of tech help and Kroger is a grocery chain so apparently, its "nicer" on average. I do not know. I would be grateful if you could list out pros and cons of each or direct me to an old thread if there are any on this topic. I would love to pick the independent but I am trying to think long-term and the chances of me being hired at least as a floater after graduation at a chain is much higher than at the independent?

Thank you so much. I appreciate any input.

Nobody cares about APPEs, really