whoever graduated 10 years ago with pharmd, how is your career now?

[rxdawg21]

H

lol I would defend the profession but people here don't. So peace out, I peaced out two weeks ago from pharmacy

So what are you doing now?

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[rxdawg21]

Midwest!! I did travel hours for extra shifts. Sometimes 70-80 miles one way. But as I said they were paying mileage+OT so it was worth it. I worked way too much for first 4 years coz I knew everything will be gone. And I was single at time. Somedays I just came home, eat, sleep and start driving next morning. It was tough and I don't even know how I did it. But I am glad now that I did it as the same company cut down store hours now. and of course no OT pay anymore.
I know walgreens cut down OT pay around 2013. And I knew it will come to all retail stores soon. That's why I tried to get as much as I can until it lasted.

That is nice, would have been nice to have worked extra for a year or two before it went downhill down south.

 

[Mambo#5]

Why not just work one day a week at a pharmacy? 8 hours a week at $60/hr equals about what you'll make working 40 a week @ $14/hr

Have you tried applying to a pharmacy that will train you for such few days? It’s logical, but, I don’t think it’s that easy to find. I suppose one could keep trying.

 

[APN-59 rph]

I like hearing everyone's perspectives, and even though I haven't been in pharmacy for 10+ years, I thought I'd share some of my own.

I've been a staff pharmacist for 6 years with the same chain pharmacy that hired me when I graduated. I'm currently in a small Midwest town. My career path is simple and straight forward. I wanted to stay in the Midwest and the chain found a spot for me. I floated for only a few months and when I staffed, I racked up 40+ hours/week for a few years. Then, when I got married, 40 hours became the new norm. I have a feeling <40 will be the new norm as more and more cuts happen in the retail sector, but so far, life's been grand. I've traveled, got the vacation coverage whenever I needed, and paid off the student loans, house, car, and then some.

While I wouldn't encourage more people into pharmacy due to the lack of role expansion, the profession and even the chain has treated me well thus far. Metrics can be challenging, but with proper training, team member contribution, and managing, the most important ones can be achieved. While there may not be bonuses for meeting those goals anymore, it certainly helps with getting corporate off your back and is a nice morale booster.

For those that still have a passion for pharmacy, don't let the gloom n' doom get you down. Network, find a niche, be flexible, and develop yourself into the best pharmacist you can be. There will be a spot for someone that is constantly learning and growing.

This is certainly ideal....the problem for me is..after all this time..chains..little guys..closed shops..I have never been able to define what "being the best pharmacist you can be" means...if anything..

 

[MilknCheerios]

This is great - my experience has been very similar to this. I couldn’t have said that better. However I did loose my job to company closure and had to find a new job. My new job has opened a whole new world of opportunity and I am loving every day of it.

"When one door closes, another opens." Life's full of opportunities, and it's wonderful you found something you love. Many rphs despise retail, but for me, it was the perfect fit. To some, small towns are boring and drab. Not for me, I get to spend more time with family and my hobbies. Do I want to do this forever? I could and if I had to do it all over again, I don't think I would change much.

This is certainly ideal....the problem for me is..after all this time..chains..little guys..closed shops..I have never been able to define what "being the best pharmacist you can be" means...if anything..

The definition is subjective. I'm in retail, so what that means to me is being efficient with time, providing a cohesive work environments for my technicians, and excellent customer service.

To give examples, being efficient with time means checking and verifying rxs timely and in order, being accurate, answering phones diligently, ringing out customers/patients, and any tasks to make it easier on the pharmacy manager. Providing a cohesive work environment means treating your techs fairly (gold, really!), training new ones, coaching old ones appropriately, and having a bit of fun while on the job. Excellent customer service include consultations, 90 day rxs, showing empathy, and always providing a solution.

I hope that helps.

 

[APN-59 rph]

"When one door closes, another opens." Life's full of opportunities, and it's wonderful you found something you love. Many rphs despise retail, but for me, it was the perfect fit. To some, small towns are boring and drab. Not for me, I get to spend more time with family and my hobbies. Do I want to do this forever? I could and if I had to do it all over again, I don't think I would change much.



The definition is subjective. I'm in retail, so what that means to me is being efficient with time, providing a cohesive work environments for my technicians, and excellent customer service.

To give examples, being efficient with time means checking and verifying rxs timely and in order, being accurate, answering phones diligently, ringing out customers/patients, and any tasks to make it easier on the pharmacy manager. Providing a cohesive work environment means treating your techs fairly (gold, really!), training new ones, coaching old ones appropriately, and having a bit of fun while on the job. Excellent customer service include consultations, 90 day rxs, showing empathy, and always providing a solution.

I hope that helps.

Seems perfect to me...for a Doctor of Pharmacy....

 

[Lubeckd]

What are you changing to? I’m thinking about doing the same

forums gets angry at me. Lets just say I got a offer already out of pharmacy, and another offer to work in Berlin. World works out in the end if you have talent.

 

[jecpharm89]

forums gets angry at me. Lets just say I got a offer already out of pharmacy, and another offer to work in Berlin. World works out in the end if you have talent.

That’s great. Good luck to you!

 

[APN-59 rph]

That’s great. Good luck to you!

Do you sprech the Deutsch by any chance? lubeckd

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Perhaps you are only understanding half of what I wrote. From my original post, I felt our profession was BS just months out of school in retail. That day one when a tech with years of experience can run circles around you running the pharmacy while you do nothing but check ndc numbers all day already tells me this profession can be done with little education. Then you add all the customers who come up to you and tell you how you are a glorified cashier really drives that message home. Or how about we can't make one profession medical judgement by ourselves and need to get permission for every little stupid thing like changing a tablet to a liquid on the fly in retail if a pt prefers one form over another. I find it funny that some rph think they have won the jackpot when they find that one job that allows them to dose an antibiotic without a phone call. Why are we even around if our 4 years of professional school can't even trust us to do simple things like that? More medical power is given to a highschool student in China than us "professionals".

So I prepared myself way before I even met my wife..who came out with almost 200k of student loans may I add. And I see her profession going away thanks to AI imaging as well. Study pilots using AI to diagnose pneumonia is already beating MDs, and eventually insurance companies will refuse coverage IF you are NOT using AI.

Technology already displaced 20% of our pharmacy staff already in my hospital so I don't know why people think our profession is going to be awesome going forward. Many different things are attacking this high dimenshing return of a profession from universal health care to effective dispensing system. Our hospital is already using a gigantic vending machine so what to stop Redbox pharmacy displacing Walgreens.

Finally, someone who sees it for what it is.

 

[SF2]

What's pay like total in pharma? Including salary, bonus, etc. I'd consider making the swap if something good comes along. My hospital job is pretty good tho.

It depends on the company and field. Based on my experience:

Postdoc: 90k
Manager: 130k
Senior Manager: 150k
Associate Director: 180k
Director: 200k+
Sr Director: 250k+