As cheesy as it sounds, my generation of pharmacists is the future of the profession. Most are not as well versed in the field as I and it is something I am aiming to change over the coming years.
Right now the sole sources of information about pharmacy to us students come from the school and the organizations affiliated with the school. That information may, or may not, be applicable to every day pharmacy life.
My question to you is what would you tell someone in my generation about the world of pharmacy? It could be advice about school itself or about the real pharmacy world.
What would you have wished you were made aware of when you were in our shoes? How would you have liked to have been better prepared?
Feel free to leave your respective field and length of time in the profession if you wish. My goal is to collect these and use the replies to educate the rest of my generation.
We all have differing experiences and, as I've mentioned before, it is extremely beneficial to see all sides of the coin.
So be honest. Don't hold back.
I know I will.
11 comments:
The healthcare field can be tough. It is demanding and can drain you mentally and emotionally. My advice for pharmacy students is to evaluate your own situation personally and make sure you are going into pharmacy for the right reasons.
Don't become a pharmacist for the money. Just get an MBA and make money in the business world if you are that concerned about your paycheck. And don't believe all the hype you hear in school. A residency is NOT the right answer for every student. Many of you will still become community pharmacists which means a residency is probably not the best use of your time.
Get involved and stay informed. Read about the issues that affect the profession you are choosing to be a part of and get involved to make changes if you don't like certain aspects of the profession. Help to advance the profession of pharmacy and preserve it instead of sitting on the sidelines and allowing negative changes to happen around you.
Keep a balance between your personal life and your professional life and learn to cherish your time away from work so you don't get burned out. And learn one key word that will serve you well in your career: NO! The word no is very important to learn and use and that one word will serve you well. Never let an employer take advantage of you.
Pharmacy is a great profession but it isn't perfect. You will have the opportunity to help people and earn a good living for yourself. Be thankful for your opportunity and realize that many other people wish they could have been given the same opportunity to go through pharmacy school and become a pharmacist that you have.
And finally, stick with your core values and never let anyone try and talk you out of them. You might have your beliefs challenged but you should defend your personal value system and core beliefs no matter what other people might say about you. You know what you value and what is important to you so put those things first in your life and everything else will work itself out.
That is all I have for you. I hope this helps. Good luck to all of you!
Do NOT buy into any of the propaganda about clinical pharmacy. It IS the holy grail for many pharmacists, but it is elusive and hard to attain except to a chosen few (no, I'm not one of them).
In your studies, always ask yourself the following questions. How likely is this interaction? School teaches you whether there is an interaction. You need to learn the significance of it and whether to take actions or hit "Enter."
Do a residency. It's resume padding, sure. But you never know what's going to happen years down the road. Wouldn't you rather turn down the job than the other way around?
When it comes to jobs (not counting residency), your grades means nothing. Employers don't ask for them and don't care for them. On the flip side, your pedigree does matter, i.e. the Rx school you went to and the hospital where you did your residency---for your 1st and maybe 2nd job.
PharmD and RPh do not get you anything other than a job. Respect in the workplace (colleagues, superiors, subordinates, patients, MD's, RN's..etc) is earned. You don't know jack until you have proven you know him very well.
Don't be an ass. Pharmacy is a small world. Don't screw around either. Your future boss may be married to one of them.
Don't expect your preceptors at your rotation sites to hand hold you. That's not their job. Keep in mind that a preceptor is not being paid extra and he already has his/her license.
That said, as you become PharmD's and RPh's, treat your interns like human beings. Rotations are NOT boot camp. You don't need to break them down in order to rebuild them.
That's all for now....
That while retail and independents alike find PBMs the wart on their nose, after working at one I found its the only place I was ever treated as a professional and respected for what I do. Imagine that....
A few that come to mind are:
1. Most of the important stuff you learn will not come from any book. Pick the brains of the people around you who are experienced.
2. With respect to 'clinical' pharmacy -- no doctor is ever going to ask you how to figure out creatinine clearance. What you get asked most often is practical advice on the use of drugs.
3. Don't turn up your nose at the technical aspects of pharmacy. Like it or not, you've got to be as near-perfect as humanly possible. It's not easy.
Wait.... you mean its not all six figure pay checks and rainbow gum drops?!
Being only 26 years old and just over a year out of school, I may not be qualified to give sagely advice to those aspiring and soon-to-be pharmacists out there, but I shall do my best. Many have talked about maintaining respect for the profession and the people we serve, thus I will defer you to them on these matters.
I would like to talk some about the realities of working life, not only in the realm of pharmacy but of any career path a person may choose. As a pharmacist, you will be in the top 5% of earners in the United States, one of the richest countries in the world. Understand the opportunities this affords you and be grateful, but also realize that you are paid what you are because that is what you are worth. You will have a lot of money, most likely much more than your friends/family who may also be well educated.
Money is often a taboo subject and those that strive for it are often called greedy or petty, but realize that striving for money is not significant, why you do, is. Like it or not money is power, employers have power over employees because they hold the money. Would it not be a greater thing for you to have enough money to hold power over yourself?
Thus my advice to those future earners out there would be this. Respect the power of money, not just its power to buy things but its power to allow a person control over their own lives. Invest the time into educating yourself about money, it will be worth much more than the $60/hour many of you will be making. Invest in your 401(k) at least up to the company match. Pay off those high interest credit cards, avoid the expensive cars/houses until you can afford them and control that dining out budget.
Above all, educate yourself, for knowledge is gold and as a famous Disney villain once said, "Whomever has the gold, makes the rules."
Do an internship at an independent pharmacy! Working at an Indie has it own challenges, but nothing like what happens at the chains. While you're at it, do your rotations at a minimum of 3 completely different settings. Just because you're already working at retail the whole time does not mean you have to stay there.. there are completely different areas of pharmacy you can work at, I won't list them all.
Make friends OUTSIDE OF THE PHARMACY WORLD for Christ's sake! This one really bugs me because it seems like all people in pharmacy just wanna talk to other pharmacy people.. WHY?!?!? Make friends with lawyers, engineers, architects, whoever.. call it "networking" if it makes you feel better, but a little variety never hurt anyone.
There is so much more, but if I go on, I can't stop myself.. I tend to rant after a while.. I think I'm doing it now!! This is why I'm a preceptor, so I can concentrate on one student at a time :)
Pharmacy is doomed. Clinical practice does not exist. You're going to work like a dog until your body gives out on you, and then they will hire a kid who won't ask any questions and toe the line.
Get into a real profession before it is too late.
I know I am repeating some of Redheaded's comments, but they are spot on and worth a revisit. I will be quite candid, because you need to know what you are getting into. You have been warned :)
1) Pharmacy is a healthcare profession centered on Patient Care. Your actions have a direct impact on your patients and this needs to be taken seriously. It is a high stress job that requires a sharp focused mind, attention to detail, a high degree of multitasking, and the ability to adapt or die at the drop of a hat. The job requires "people skills". You will be doing a lot of "grunt work" that seems counter-intuitive to your education--but guess what? It's part of the job. If all you care about is the paycheck, then do us and yourself a favor and choose another profession.
2) Work in either a retail setting or hospital setting prior to becoming a pharmacist. Understanding the reality of the profession is important for whether or not it is a "fit" for yourself and helps to avoid that "rude awakening" later.
3) The 3 D's: DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT. Document all of your interventions (yes this applies to retail as well) as well as any untoward workplace behavior. I cannot stress the importance of this enough in such a litigious environment as healthcare.
4) STAND UP FOR YOUSELF! Compromise your principles for NO ONE! I continue to be amazed by colleagues who just sit and take it up the ass from their fellow colleagues, their managers (store, pharm, district, hosp. administration), technicians, RN's, MD's, patients/customers, uneducated MD office staff, etc. This is because pharmacy is on the low-end of the totem pole in the healthcare professions and is usually "damned if you do, damned if you don't" when push comes to shove. You will get stepped on routinely. Therefore it is extremely important for more of us to voice concerns loudly and often. We are the most passive healthcare profession which greatly explains why we have the working conditions we face. The nursing union is powerful because they band together and "OPEN THEIR MOUTHS". You have worked too hard to get to where you are with the wealth of drug knowledge you have to take a back seat to anyone. You can be confident and assertive without being an asshole. Defend yourself! You deserve it!
5) Shop around. Find a workplace that best fulfills your preferred style of practice and your extracurricular needs. Do you have to work full time? Can you work 0.9? 0.8? How much vacation time is offered/PTO? We all have our bills to pay--student loans, car payments/credit cards/mortgages, child care. Taking that extra day/week and stretching the payment an extra month or two makes a big impact on your sanity. Trust me, I learned this the hard way in my 10 years of practice. Do you like a fast-paced retail environment? Would you prefer independent retail? What type of hospital setting do you like--central pharm only, decentralized, non-specialty/rotating, or mix central/clinical specialty (academia)? Do you like a small community hospital, or a large, county hospital? Do you want a hospital that is teaching/non-teaching? Does the place require a residency? Can you work in an environment where the actual practice teaches you more than a residency ever could? You are only as "trapped" as you allow yourself to be--keep your options open.
In response to the comment above: shop around???? Are you serious?? There might still be a few places where you can do that, but that is not the trend. In Chicago and the surrounding area the market is completely saturated. Newly graduating pharmacists are getting 24 hours a week, if that. Think about it, that is ~70K and no benefits. Those are the lucky ones. I know quite a few recen graduates who have not been able to find any job at all. The current P4s who are interviewing for jobs are being told by the chains that have employed them as interns during school to bring a list of top three states wherethey would be willing to move.
At lot of the things that have been written previously are still ture, and will be true throughout your career. However, the current reality is that the shortage is OVER (with the exception of some rural areas and states). It is alos not going to be getting better anytime soon. More schools are opening as there are fewer and fewer jobs available. Be prepared to face A LOT of competition for jobs, especially in desirable areas. Residency can help, but most recent residents are also having a very hard time finding jobs.
Pharmacy can still be a very rewarding field; I love my job and wouldn't want to do anything else. Don't be disillusioned into believing that you can still graduate and walk into a 100k job. Those days are gone.
In response to Nick J, yes, I am serious. Though the current market is pretty much saturated, one can still keep one's eyes peeled for opportunities while working whatever hours one can get. In this economy especially. I'm currently on job number 5 in 10 years with a hospital I am finally pleased with after many ups and downs career wise including being out of work myself for 4 months and some years balancing full-time night shift work with part-time retail b/c that's all that was available. I never gave up all that time and continue that attitude because as I have learned, everyone is expendable. Even at my current job, we were having our hours cut with low census and they were threatening layoffs. I'm on the low end of the seniority list. Was I getting ready to look elsewhere? You bet. Keeping your options open is pure survival, whether you have been out of work for some time or if you have a "solid" position. And it means taking hours you don't like and places that are not ideal (sometimes 63 miles away in my case) and even per-diem, but guess what? It gets your foot in the door. The 100k benefitted position may not be open now, but it eventually will be. Someone has to retire sometime.
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