Career change? Can you tell me about being Pharmacist?

[Zombie]

Originally posted by: Eska

Originally posted by: Zombie
I was just stating my wife's experience. Looking back she feels she should have just gone to medical school for a year more. BTW Doctors make far more than Retail pharmacist and retail pharmacists are paid the most.

That's not true. Some corporate or hospital pharmacists make more. The key thing is being the "managerial" material.

What are your questions Lola?

That is like comparing apples to oranges. Very few actually make more than doctors. You should probably compare pharmacist's salary to a specialist and then see who makes more.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

It is a 6yr path in college. 2-3yrs in getting your pre-Pharma classes out of the way and then once you are accepted you have 3yrs of schooling. Basically pre-med.

It is highly competitive, GPA has to be stellar to get into the program. Pay is good but as stated earlier the hours suck, weekends and nights are the norm until you work your way up and wait for someon to die or retire.

 

[GeneValgene]

my fiancee is a clinical pharmacist...and as vi_edit said earlier, most of the interaction is with physicians and nurses. she works 4 days a week, which is nice.

retail pharmacists tend to make more money, but my fiancee said it wasn't for her. she has a friend who graduated in 2005, and for her first job out of school at krogers, she got $107K!

 

[aircooled]

I heard on the radio recently that it is in high-demand. My BIL is still in school for it and it's pretty tough.

 

[CTrain]

My sister that lives with me is a pharmacist.
I don't know the term, but I believe she is a clinical pharmacist.
She works for Orlando regional hospital as oppose to Walgreen, CVS, etc...

She lived with me while she was in school and let me tell you be prepare for 6 yrs of studying.
All I ever see is her studying and always wonder if it was wirth it.

I guess its worth it now cause she makes a whole lot of money.
She clears $100K+ every year.
She piss me off by leaving the paycheck stubs around the house all the time.
Her hourly rate is $46/hr.
Good thing is she pays for everything living with me.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Zombie
I was just stating my wife's experience. Looking back she feels she should have just gone to medical school for a year more. BTW Doctors make far more than Retail pharmacist and retail pharmacists are paid the most.

Yeh, the med *SCHOOL* part of the deal might only be an extra year, but you have to tack on residencies at the end that add anywhere from another 3-5 years (and even more for fellowships and other advanced trainint) onto your already 4 years of undergrad and 4 years of med school.

After it's said and done, most MD's have anywhere from 11-15+ years of education after High school. Pharmacists have at most, 9 (including a 1 year optional residency), but it can be as little as 6.

I think you can get your GP license without doing a residency, but those positions are limited, the pay *is not* a lot better than what a pharmacist makes once you include mal practice insurance, and you are working more hours and are always on call. Per hour you probably end up making less, espeically when you cosider the $200,000 or more that your forfeit in wages going the extra years of med school.

 

[vi edit]

http://www.laworks.net/forms/lmi/Top20HighestpayOccupations.pdf

General Practice docs average $140k. Then you factor in the malpractice premiums (which I know are high, but not sure how high), the extra schooling, the hours, and the oncall and it doesn't seem quite as lofty as the $110k + $40,000 sign on bonuses that many fresh out of school pharmacists are making.

 

[ponyo]

Pharmacy school is pretty competitive. It's becoming lot like med/dental schools.

Have you thought about becoming a dental hygienist? It's only requires 2 year associate degree and starting pay for grad out of school is around $30-35/ hour here in Atlanta. Job placement is virtually 100% with multiple offers out of school the norm and after couple of years you'll make $40+/hour. Hours are really flexible and most only work 40 hours or less a week and no weekends. Many only work Mon-Thurs and get Fri-Sun off.

Another nice thing is you won't have big student loans to pay back since the Dental Hygiene program is usually offered at community college.

Seriously, if you don't mind cleaning people's teeth, it's a great career. It pays much better than nursing and hours are short and you'll always be in demand.

 

[Eska]

Originally posted by: Zombie

Originally posted by: Eska

Originally posted by: Zombie
I was just stating my wife's experience. Looking back she feels she should have just gone to medical school for a year more. BTW Doctors make far more than Retail pharmacist and retail pharmacists are paid the most.

That's not true. Some corporate or hospital pharmacists make more. The key thing is being the "managerial" material.

What are your questions Lola?

That is like comparing apples to oranges. Very few actually make more than doctors. You should probably compare pharmacist's salary to a specialist and then see who makes more.

I was talking about your comment on retail pharmacist being the best paid compared to other pharmacists.

 

[Eska]

Originally posted by: Naustica
Pharmacy school is pretty competitive. It's becoming lot like med/dental schools.

Have you thought about becoming a dental hygienist? It's only requires 2 year associate degree and starting pay for grad out of school is around $30-35/ hour here in Atlanta. Job placement is virtually 100% with multiple offers out of school the norm and after couple of years you'll make $40+/hour. Hours are really flexible and most only work 40 hours or less a week and no weekends. Many only work Mon-Thurs and get Fri-Sun off.

Another nice thing is you won't have big student loans to pay back since the Dental Hygiene program is usually offered at community college.

Seriously, if you don't mind cleaning people's teeth, it's a great career. It pays much better than nursing and hours are short and you'll always be in demand.

Do dental hygienists go to different school than regular dental school?

 

[Corporate Thug]

My friend is studying to be a pharmacist @ UCSF (very reputable med school in CA). There are certain undergrad requirements (mainly chem and bio) you have to take. You can be ANY major, doesnt matter, as long as you do the prerequisite classes. There is no standardized test
you need to take.

 

[uberman]

I looked into it when I was 32. I was told that age discrimination would be an issue.

Hospital Pharmacy Tech programs are a piece of cake though. Fast and you can make $20.00 an hour in a county hospital.

 

[Hammerhead]

How hard can it be...it's just counting pills.



Just kidding.

 

[Eska]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
My friend is studying to be a pharmacist @ UCSF (very reputable med school in CA). There are certain undergrad requirements (mainly chem and bio) you have to take. You can be ANY major, doesnt matter, as long as you do the prerequisite classes. There is no standardized test
you need to take.

you have to take PCAT for most of pharm schools.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: uberman
I looked into it when I was 32. I was told that age discrimination would be an issue.

Hospital Pharmacy Tech programs are a piece of cake though. Fast and you can make $20.00 an hour in a county hospital.

That's not a very reasonable salary for a vast majority of techs. My wife has worked in three different hospitals as both a tech and a pharmacist in three different states and the most that a tech has ever made was around $17 an hour. If you are a supervisor you might be upwards of $20, but the typical salary is $12-$14 an hour.

Not saying it's not possible, just saying that it's not common.

 

[SmoochyTX]

Organic Chemistry sucks.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
I hear its really frustrating, because a lot of elderly decide to tell you their life story every time they see you, and middle aged women start asking for medical advice for all sorts of interesting inflictions.

If that's the worst part of the job then sign me up, too.


The thing I've learned from working on pharmacuetical ads for a while now is that the business is very by-the-book, red-tape, and highly regulated, so whole thing seems like it should be a shoe in compared to other medical fields provided your education goes smoothly.

Now if you're wanting to deal with experimental drugs in a labratory setting, there's a probably a lot more to it.

But that is STRICTLY from an outside looking in POV.

All in all, go for it Lola. I've seen your "hate my job" type threads in the past and can tell you really want something more.

 

[goatjc]

My mother is a pharmacist. She had some of the same feelings as another poster had said, that retail pharmacy is monotonous, boring, and somewhat stressful. She works in a hospital, dispensing patients' drugs, making IV bags, dispensing during emergencies etc. She likes it, pays a lot etc. Schooling and getting into pharm school is going to be the problem.

 

[imported_vr6]

alot of the information in the thread are kinda mis-leading.

Heres the deal.

I am currently a pharmacy tech. Just submitted my applications for admission to pharmacy schools in the fall of 2007.

The job: i work at a HIGH volume retail pharmacy. We do about 500-700 scripts a day during the winter. Its a fast paced job, which i love. Speed and accuracy is very important. The hours aren't so bad for the pharmacists, around you typical 8 hours a day. However you will be on your feet for about 90% of the time, again not a problem if you are used to it.

Right now schools are very very competitive, at least in MD where i live. UMB, number 8 in the country accepts 120 students a year out of the ~1500 people that apply. So be ready to compete. To get into pharm. school, you have to take the pre-reqs for the pharm school, each school have its own set of pre-reqs, so you would have to check the specific school.

You also have to take the pcat, kinda like the mcat for med students.

The pre-reqs usually take about 2 years to complete.
To obtain a PharmD, its usualyl 4 years, althought some schools have 3 year programs where you would go year round.

let me know if you have more questions.

 

[ponyo]

Do dental hygienists go to different school than regular dental school?

Yes, it's not like dental school or med school. It's just an associate degree. 2 years. Not a lot of schools offer it but you can usually find the program at your local community college. You apply to get into the 2 year program. After you graduate, you take your state licensing exam. If you pass, you get your license and you can work as dental hygienist in your state.

It's really sweet program because it's about 100% guarantee you'll get a job and make 50-70k starting out depending on hours worked and commission/bonus. For females, I highly recommend it.

 

[vi edit]

There's more to the career than jockying a CVS/Walgreens counter.

Your major medical centers in just about any decent sized city have anywhere from 30-100 or more pharmacists on the payroll.

In a hospital a pharmacist is interacting with nurses, doctors, and patients.

Depending on the hospital a pharmacist may staff the crash cart and hand out meds when someone is coding (aka: dieing). When a trama comes in to the ED, pharmacy has to take injuries into account and make corrections on dosings and the types of medications given.

Pharmacists are constantly having to correct wrong orders written by docs or providing recommendations for more cost or theraputically effective alternative treatments.

My wife actually sits down with patients before they leave and helps them work out ways to work their drug treatments into daily living. When to take it, how to take it, how to remember to take it, ect.

Retail is the equivalent of working first tier help desk. The turnover is lucrative because of the stress and thankless people you have to deal with. My wife is more like a Cisco engineer, you actually get to do complex thinking and deal with more people behind the scenes than the end users. And it's typically in much more critical situations.

 

[Slew Foot]

Originally posted by: vi_edit


My wife does 40 hours a week as a clinical pharmacist, show me a doc

"Raises hand"

Me!

36-40 hours a week here. Extra pay for weekends, nights, and holidays too.

 

[TheAdvocate]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
I work in an office setting now, selling insurance. I am good at what I do, but I am wanting something else.

I dropped out of college several years ago because I was not going to school for me, but for my father and grandmother. Now that i am ready to go to colllege for ME, i am considering becoming a pharmacist.

Is anyone in this field? Or anyones wife in this profession?

I am looking for some insight and thoughts about the career itself and anything that goes along with it. I have been searching online a lot, but i wanted some real input from folks before i head over to a local universityt hat offers this program.

Thanks so much

Lola,

My sister is a pharmacist. Realize that there is a difference between retail pharmacy and working in a hospital, especially as a Pharm D (can prescribe meds).

Retail is the pits. The initial pay is good, but the annual escalators are low and there is a ceiling on the pay that isnt that far above what you start at. The hours are miserable and can fail to include lunch breaks, and most certainly smoke/bathroom/sanity breaks. Finally, many ex-retail pharmacists complain of the "thank you, drive thru" aspect of their jobs. A lot of the local pharmacies where I live actually have drive thru's. WHile that avoids the problem of old people telling you about their boils or whatever, it is tremendously unrewarding and boring.

From what my sis says though, being a Pharm D and working at a hospital or other care giving institution, where you get to prescribe meds, is actually fairly interesting and pays much better. It involves more schooling and certification (no idea what that entails), but its supposedly worth it.

 

[KoopaTroopa]

Originally posted by: Slew Foot

Originally posted by: vi_edit


My wife does 40 hours a week as a clinical pharmacist, show me a doc

"Raises hand"

Me!

36-40 hours a week here. Extra pay for weekends, nights, and holidays too.

you a radiologist?

 

[vi edit]

If you want to work in a clinical setting, you are *really* going to want to do a residency after you graduate with your PharmD. These are programs that you interview for in the spring of your last year of school. It goes through a rank & matching process that you find out the results of in March of your last year.

Most programs are a year, and typically pay in $35,000-$40,000 range. A few higher, a few lower. It's a pretty brutal year depending on where you go, but it's definitely nothing like what a med student will encounter.

My wife was working on average 60 hours a week during her residency, but she had others in the same program that were squeeking by on only 45'ish. She put in a lot more work though and it has paid off dividends in knowledge compared to others that were in her program.

During your residency you can kind of go general in that you hit up a bunch of different areas (internal med, peds, cardiology, nephrology, organ transplant, onc, ICU, ect) for a month to two months at a time. Or you can go a more specialized route and choose to put a lot of your time into a specific area and just touch on the others.

A residency is typically viewed as 3-5 years of experience and provides you significant leverage over those who haven't done one. The knowledge base between a resident trained and non-resident trained pharmacist is very noticable.

After your residency you can either hop into the work force, choose to do a specialized residency (typically peds, cardiology or oncology), or do a fellowship. A fellowship is pretty rare and reserved for those that want to go academia and teach. It's a research position and basically involves doing peer reviews of research studies.

Once you are actually working, you have some options available for advanced certification, the most common being BCPS AKA Board Certified Pharmacist. It's a pretty grueling test that doesn't really have a passing score. It's offered once a year, and only the highest scoring XX% are given the title.

You can get a general BCPS title, or you can get specialized ones in dietry and oncology.

As far as positions available in a hospital, there isn't much dichotemy. You'll have the typical pharmacist, possibly a specialist and/or a team lead, and then management. Mangement is pretty much completely removed from patient care and is largely just administrative in nature.