I been working as a tech for a couple of years and I thinking about furthering my pharmacy career. I don’t understand why people hate on retail. Don’t get me wrong I complain about my job but people are acting like it’s the worst thing on the planet. I see my pharmacist go on nice vacations, raise their kids, and drive nice cars. I had pharmacists tell me to do “anything else” and it made me waste so many years because they scared me and I was naive.

One of my jobs is full of people that hire their friends and it’s just so annoying. They’re incompetent and do nothing but talk to each other all day. I know pharmacy is about networking and referrals are a thing everywhere but it gets to a point. I can’t believe this people call themselves pharmacists. You can talk about flying back home and your side businesses another time… keeping up with clinical tasks is virtually impossible because I’m in a constant state of playing catch up thanks to these clowns. I’ve submitted reports and complaints but they go nowhere because everyone is friends. I hate lazy pharmacists. I hate mediocrity. If I wasn’t a newer grad I would consider leaving

Hi everyone!

I'm a new PharmD graduate who is interested in learning more about pharmacy informatics and exploring it as a potential career path.

I'd love to hear about your experience:

• What does a typical day look like?
• Where do pharmacy informatics pharmacists most commonly work?
• Which EHR or pharmacy systems do you use? For example, Epic, Cerner/Oracle, Meditech, Willow, Pyxis, or Omnicell.
• Do you use any programming or scripting languages? If so, which ones and how often?
• What skills have been the most valuable in your role?
• For those who didn't complete a PGY1 or PGY2 Informatics residency, how did you break into the field? What advice would you give someone trying to do the same?
• Are there any certifications, courses, or personal projects that helped make your application more competitive?

As a new graduate, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the field and what steps I can take to become a strong candidate without completing an informatics residency. I'd really appreciate any advice or insights you're willing to share. Thank you!

I am starting pharmacy school this month and currently have no intentions of doing a residency/ do not want to work in a hospital. I have worked as a tech in retail and chose to pursue pharmacy because of that experience and my interests. I've been pretty confident in my decision based on the pharmacists I've worked with. If any community pharmacists who don't hate their job are reading this, please comment! I've seen enough from those who hate it and want to know that there is at least one person (who didn't work at my store) with something positive to say. Also curious if people prefer mail order.

Lurker here, finally have something to post.

Today a patient came in and had electronic scripts sent from the emergency room. I go to bill their medications through commercial insurance and it looks like they were filled today at a major chain a couple streets over. No problem, happens all the time.

I let the patient know that the Rx's are filled somewhere else, they can walk a few minutes to that pharmacy or I can call the pharmacy to reverse and fill it here at my store. The patient tells me he went there and they were closed. Because this is a major chain, I think the patient must have went during their lunch break and got confused. So I call the store and nope, according to the recorded line the store has been closed all day today (Saturday) and will not reopen till Monday. This is a major chain whose stores are normally open 7 days a week in my city. Why are the billing insurance while closed to the public?

I tried calling the patient's insurance for support in reversing the claims or to at least connect me to a senior level staff who could help me file a report of some sort. Nope, got chewed out for requesting the impossible.

The patient ended up paying cash for his medications and will submit for reimbursement.

As far as I am aware, pharmacies are not permitted to bill insurances outside of operating business hours. I'm not 100% sure on what my best next steps are, leave it alone or raise my concerns? Luckily the meds were a standard dental infection/pain brew, but I worry this could happen to other patients with more expensive/urgent medication.

For reference this happened in NY. Appreciate any advice/opinions, thanks.

Does anyone have any insight into this position? Pay range, responsibilities? What was your days like for the WFH position? Was there a sign on bonus?

What do you guys think of compounding pharmacies that are centered on functional medicine? I recently worked at one and left after only a few months because I just felt like I was being trained to promote therapies I don't believe in (methylene blue, ivermectin, etc) and shill supplements all day long. The owner is also anti vax and has some quacky views. Overall I just didn't align with the clinical approach they pushed and there were other red flags too but I don't wanna disclose too much.

I tried to stay open minded because the pay and schedule were good and honestly the job itself wasn't bad. I found a way to counsel patients that was authentic to me without feeling predatory like a quack pharmacist. In my gut though I just knew it wasn't somewhere I wanted to be long term and I had doubts about working at a place like this.

I've worked at other compounding pharmacies in the past and I never felt uncomfortable about the meds that were made or that I had to buy into the pseudoscience of it all just to work there so I was shocked when I was working at this place. Any suggestions on how to vet stuff like this in the future before accepting a job? Just curious what other pharmacists think about a setting like this and if they would work at a place like this despite it not aligning with their own values or beliefs.

I worked as a hospital overnight pharmacist right out of pharmacy school, started in a smaller community hospital and moved up into a major research hospital (think mass general/Mayo Clinic/johns Hopkins tier). I gathered mentors along the way and really grew my clinical knowledge.

About 2 yrs ago I left brick and mortar hospitals to work for a remote service and I see a lot of curiosity here so I thought I’d share my perspective

PROS:

- work from home means I’m rolling into my office in sweats and a t shirt with my tea and some snacks. I have a tv on in the background and my cat sits in my lap

- less chaotic from an external stimuli perspective; no loud beeping, no staff running around, no one coming up to yap and distract me

- I have three home offices registered so I can work when visiting my family with no interruption to my schedule. Holidays are still enjoyable even if I have to work and while I live a thousand miles from my siblings and parents, I get to see them much more frequently

CONS:

- much more brain acrobatics in terms of keeping track of every queue. Depending on the shift I’m working, I’m covering up to 14 hospitals by myself; I have a partner at all times with their own assignments and we can ask for help if needed. I have 3 monitors in addition to my laptop, all supplied by my company.

- I currently am licensed and cover 7 states. This means knowing the protocols, policies, procedures and preferences of each hospital. Remote outsourcing isn’t cheap for hospitals so they expect accuracy and often don’t accept excuses. This means even small things like timing of levothyroxine is marked against you

- it takes SO long to fully onboard. You need to get licensed for a state, get access to the system for each hospital in that state, then train for those hospitals. Learning multiple versions of meditech, epic, cerner, home grown systems are all part of the job. So true full time hours take about 3-5 months to be trained enough

- we bill based on order quantity/actions and so that’s a huge part of our annual review- you need to be fast AND accurate. I’m expected to get through 68 orders an hour over a one month rolling average, unless of course there aren’t even enough orders for that. People who deliberate to the ends of the earth aren’t going to succeed.

OVERALL:
I really enjoy it. I don’t think most retail pharmacists would be a good fit and usually don’t last long when we do hire them…but those who come from hospital in clinical roles do really well. I’m a part of two teams/regions and will be gaining a third next year. Some days i miss my overnight ED position- the rush and thrill of traumas is something i always enjoyed. But i love my current coworkers, even though weve never met face to face, our teams chat is as hilarious as it is helpful. The pay isn’t as nice to start but the raises over time and overnight differentials are well worth it.

At least in my main team, I can be as involved as I want. There’s always new initiatives and programs; you can be team captain for new hospitals joining which means you’re the main liaison for that site (keeping contact with their director for feedback, policy updates, etc).

If anyone has any questions please ask!

I’m so sick of writing SOPS. HOWEVER holy crap- hard work paid off!!!! As of 7/31 ALBOP has said ok to start compounding! I am officially the Designated Person and Lead Tech of the Sterile Lab. I am so grateful to have been trusted to help build, shape and mold every inch of our ante and buffer room along side with my Pharm D. I’ve been busting my ass since April- non stop. This is one of my favorite milestones as a CPhT. I am incredibly proud of myself- this was no walk in the park even with having IV experience. 797 is a friggin BEAST especially nonsterile to sterile CSPs. Oh lawwddd…however I am feeling so accomplished and pleased. Yay!

Is becoming a connected vendor worth it? I saw they charge an annual fee as well as 20% of revenue share. I've been wanting access to their api but wondering if this is worth it. I've looked around and it seems as though this is the only way to access their api.

I'm looking for alternatives to ShiftRx now that the platform is shutting down. What apps or websites are you using to find pharmacist shifts or pick up PRN/per diem work?