<p>You don’t go to different schools to be retail or hospital. I have heard from many that hospitals only hire their former residents. So many schools now, that a residency may be necessary to get an interview for an inpatient hospital position. Very few retail pharmacies are clinical, I don’t think the local CVS will give you a good people experience (if you are even able to volunteer). Retail pharmacists are usually very busy and have no free time.
Try asking friends, family if they know any pharmacists they might be willing to introduce you to. That’s how I meet most students.
I spent one summer as an intern for a pharmaceutical company, you will need a PhD to do research. Not sure is this is still the case, most(actually all) of the researchers I knew moonlighted because they got paid more working as pharmacists.</p>
<p>Wait. if you work at a pharmaceutical company, you will need Ph.D ? I’m still very confused about this whole pharmacist thing. You guys are making it sound like working at the retail pharmacy, it will be very boring/ long hours/ busy and hassle. If anything, i would do pharmacy knowing that i’ll be working at the hospital or maybe working in a pharmaceutical company… or is that for chemical engineers?</p>
<p>Research pharmacists also had PhD’s, not just Pharm.D’s. When I was an intern, there were BS(no longer an option) and PharmD pharmacists. I was the only PharmD student in my group of 4 that summer. The company was not impressed with me becoming a Pharm.D., I was still a pharmacy student. Pharmacists did work for the company but PhD’s were needed to do more than sales or tech type work.</p>
<p>Retail pharmacists and hospital pharmacists have the same schooling. Some hospital pharmacists may do a one year residency. Do not sell the retail pharmacist short, I have worked both and really enjoyed the patient interaction I had. I didn’t like the hours, but other than that I enjoyed it and depending on the location and pharmacist I think you could learn a lot.</p>
<p>hmm. anyone know anything about chemical engineers or any other medicine fields other than pharmacy? it’s hard for me to pick something. If there is a choice, i rather pick something that has good pay and not much school like all you really need is masters.</p>
<p>There should still be a neighborhood pharmacist in your area. If you’re in HS, I would ask to work volunteer as a stock boy, sweep boy. Because you’re dealing with drugs, I doubt you could get in the back and volunteer. </p>
<p>My dad did pharmaceutical sales while he was going through school, and he was a medic during the Korean War. </p>
<p>He and his brother both went to pharmacy school back in the day, and were both awarded with Pharm Ds late in life, as the school recognized how many hours they took compared to what their degree awarded. I believe they took 180 hours, whereas their degree was more like a BS. They didn’t get a raise, as they were both neighborhood pharmacists, but they were so proud to get that degree.</p>
<p>I don’t know how many pharmacy schools are still around. My dad attended Loyola in New Orleans, which also used to have a dental school as well. We only have one pharmacy school in the NOLA area, Xavier University, which is an excellent school. The students would intern at dad’s store. I believe there’s still a pharmacy school in northern Louisiana. </p>
<p>Pharmacy is a good career for part time work, like nursing. A good friend worked at dad’s protege’s store until she developed cancer, and then hooked up with a hospital pharmacist friend who did compounding, which was a great fit for her. She missed the patient interaction, but was happy to still help people even though she had to undergo extensive chemotherapy and radiation.</p>
<p>Now, if you’re interested in doing research, you may want to do a Ph.D. in pharmacology. Many medical schools offer this option. I worked in the pharmacology department at the local medical school as a lab research technician. My undergrad is in biology, with a minor in chemistry. The professor I worked with taught pharmacology to the med students, but also did cancer research. He had not only grad students, but post docs working under him. It was rewarding work, but paid even less than a school teacher, which is pretty bad in Louisiana.</p>
<p>You don’t need to pick your career while still in HS. It sounds like you enjoy the science and math fields, including chemistry. Premed, preengineering and prepharmacy, prenursing all require math and science in college. You likely could take the same courses at your chosen U freshman year for any field that interests you. Major in the field that most interests you at the time- most freshmen in college either have no major or will change it. You will do best in the field that most interests you. Every career has its pluses and minuses. Do not worry at this stage.</p>
<p>^^^Good advice. I would suggest the same, take chemistry, biology, calculus, physics. If you change to business, you can use them as science core courses. </p>
<p>Many premeds go on to nursing school, and my son’s college has many chemical engineering majors that are premed. Many of the other lab techs who worked with me were people that did not get into med school and were working in the lab to get experience and good med school recs. Me, I just was a science nerd. Wish I had married a rich man so I could still be doing it.</p>
<p>Oh. so, it doesn’t really matter what you major in as long it’s related to a career you want to pursue someday?</p>
<p>My neighbor’s grandson went to our state school specifically for pharmacology. He transferred there after his freshman year, and he had a job as soon as he graduated. My point is that, at least for him, taking courses in college and knowing what he wanted to do and major in helped him land his job, so I think he studied more than general chemistry/biology.</p>
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<p>Count me in as one of those. If I go to Walgreen’s or CVS to fill a prescription, I see someone who is filling an order, counting out / labeling / packaging pills and handing them to the consumer. I would never think to ask a pharmacist a medical question except as it pertained to that given pill (“should I take this on an empty stomach” type of thing), and the few times I have asked for help with over-the-counter remedies, the “help” I get is no different from if I’d asked the guy at the photography counter. I mean absolutely no disrespect, but I don’t really get what a retail pharmacist does that requires a lot of skill. The doctors write the prescriptions, and the specifics on how to take the medication are on a computer database. Please school me, as I don’t get it.</p>
<p>The employment make-up of pharmacist is about the following: 2/3 in community, 20% in hospital, 10% in PBM, and the remaining percentage is divided amongst long term care, home infusion, academia and other miscellaneous areas. The fastest growing areas are PBM and long term care. The area which has lost the most is hospital because of costs and decreasing length of stay. The pharmacy colleges like to push so-called “clinical” pharmacy, but that makes up such a small percentage of available jobs. Most hospitals will not hire a pure “clinical” pharmacist because they don’t make money because they can’t bill for services. They have to justify their jobs by saving money. The majority of jobs in hospital pharmacy are staffing positions. </p>
<p>If you want, I can explain why you can or cannot take the medication with food. However, most people don’t care. Most view retail pharmacy with a fast food mentality. If you were willing to wait, I could spend more time with you but since people only think of themselves, speed is the most important thing.</p>
<p>You’ll be surprised how often physicians make mistakes or don’t prescribe drugs properly. I can’t tell you how many times a true once a day drug is written for twice a day. </p>
<p>Service billing is the next big thing. Right now, I can only bill for services for a limited number of Medicare D patients, but that will change in about 2 weeks. We will then be able to bill for United Healthcare, Navitus, and Medicaid patients. September will also bring flu season into full swing. For Walgreens, we are introducing our loyalty card and ESI will come back. It is going to be an interesting month.</p>
<p>Medicare Part D billing is my big thing at my pharmacy. I am one of the few who does it regularly and knows all the little tricks. Every $20 counts, and if I do it enough, I’ll get more tech hours. </p>
<p>Most retail pharmacies will not allow volunteers. It is a combination of HIPAA and company policy issues. Some groups might get very upset if we had non-student volunteers. For students who do rotations with us, we just have them sign a HIPAA agreement. </p>
<p>The average retail pharmacist works about 40 hours a week and makes about $115-$120k a year. If I work extra, I will be paid for it. You can make a killing picking up extra shifts. </p>
<p>Xavier still has a pharmacy school. It does have a poor reputation. They have had accreditation issues.</p>
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<p>True. I wouldn’t care why. I’d want to know - can I or can’t I. But honestly, the computer spits out something that gets put in the bag, and that’s all I would personally need. </p>
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<p>I would actually say the analogy is more of an ATM. If you want your money, you just want your money. You want to go up, push a few buttons, and get your money as quickly as possible. You’re not interested in having the teller who dispenses it give her opinion on what you should do with it. What I’m asking is – and I truly mean no disrespect – what would you tell me that I couldn’t get elsewhere that would make it worth my while to wait around? (Keep in mind that I’ve been on very few prescription medications for anything in my life, and don’t have any health issues.)</p>
<p>@ limabeans; what’s different in pharmacology and pharmacy.</p>
<p>If you people would be willing to wait, the entire process would be safer. You don’t realize how under the gun a pharmacy is operating. It is a bare bones staff at break neck speed. Maybe, I would have the time to call and fix all the script problems. Maybe, it would just be a better work environment, and I won’t find people crying in the back of the pharmacy. Maybe, not everyone will be on anti-depressant and anxiety medications.</p>
<p>The computer doesn’t spit out any medication. There are counting machines. </p>
<p>You must remember, when it comes to prescription medications, it is the pharmacist, not the prescriber, who decides if you get it. A pharmacist can refuse to fill, and there is not much you can do about it. It is my job to make sure your prescriber doesn’t kill you. Currently FDA is strongly thinking about introducing a third class of drugs aka the behind the counter class. They are not quite sure if they would need new regulations for it. Anyway, the physicians are strongly against it, no surprise.</p>
<p>pharmacology=science of drug action a lab based field
pharmacist=the person who engages in dispensing medication a practical, clinical based job a pharmacist takes many courses in pharmacology. A pharmacologist cannot work as a pharmacist.
pharmacy=the actual location where a pharmacist works</p>
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<p>I know you’re kidding, but depression and anxiety are real conditions, not just cute things that happen when impatient people stomp their feet in line. Anyway, no one said anything about being unpleasant / impatient in line. </p>
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<p>That’s not what I meant. I meant that a computer automatically spits out an info sheet for Drug X that it should be taken on an empty stomach and Drug Y on a full stomach. It’s not as though the pharmacist has to reinvent that wheel each time. </p>
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<p>But I don’t care what the pharmacist thinks - he’s not my doctor, he didn’t go to medical school, he doesn’t know my history, he hasn’t examined me, etc. I care what he thinks only in the very narrowest terms – this medication should be stored in a refrigerator, that one can’t be taken with grapefruit juice, the doctor wrote 100 mg when he meant 10 mg, etc. Beyond that? Pharmacists periodically pop up refusing to fill birth control pills, which is of course egregious and way overstepping their boundaries. It’s as ridiculous as if the cashier refused to ring up sales of ham. But that’s another topic.</p>
<p>My take on the refuse to fill is that I would not dispense something that I felt would harm the patient until I got clarification from the physician.<br>
We are all human, an overworked physician can make an error. I really don’t think telling you errors that I’ve caught would be useful. I would rather think of catching the error as improving care.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, I love the pharmacist at my local (chain!) drugstore. I have asked so many questions: if I were to see a certain side effect when would it show up? Can my son take this OTC antihistamine with this Rx med? My daughter accidentally took this med twice this morning what should I do? Can you recommend an OTC med that is cheaper than this $$$$ acne cream the dermatologist prescribed?</p>
<p>That is just off the top of my head. Maybe it’s because you haven’t had to take too many meds? </p>
<p>Having a kid with asthma and allergies, who had a severe reaction (like call 911) to a Rx med, I want to know everything. The MD certainly goes over things with me, but the pharmacist sees lots of people monthly who take all these pills. They tell him things casually they may not bother to tell the MD. Plus his/her job is to know the meds inside and out. </p>
<p>My mom recently had surgery and was temporarily on 14 meds. They were prescribed by 4 different doctors. The pharmacist helped us figure out which one caused which side effect and which drug she could safely cut down until she could reach her doctor. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that I really appreciate the skills of the pharmacist in addition to my MDs.</p>
<p>Sounds like pharmacist is more than what it is. lol</p>
<p>I’ve refused to fill for two reasons. The most common reason is that you just got a fill of a controlled medication and you want more. I’ve also refused to fill because of a potential severe interaction and I haven’t heard back from your prescriber. Most don’t realize I am refusing to fill in that case. </p>
<p>Anxiety and depression is a major problem in the world of retail pharmacy. I know many fellow employees are taking medications for it due to work. I am not joking about this. Retail is a fast pace environment with a lot of liability and people interaction. </p>
<p>The most interesting time to work as a pharmacist is at a 24 hour store after everyone else has closed. In many cases, you are the only health care professional who is still working. You’ll get a lot of interesting calls.</p>