Is being a pharmacist the dream gig?

[Anonymous]

FYI a radiologist is a physician.
That is 4 years of medical school ( often costing up to 200k)
1 year of internship
4 years of residency
And 1-2 years of fellowship


Signed,
Someone who is annoyed that technologists parade around as a "radiologist" contributing to the confusion of the general public.

[Anonymous]

I worked with lots of pharmDs in clinical research. Good pay, excellent hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI a radiologist is a physician.
That is 4 years of medical school ( often costing up to 200k)
1 year of internship
4 years of residency
And 1-2 years of fellowship


Signed,
Someone who is annoyed that technologists parade around as a "radiologist" contributing to the confusion of the general public.

We know that. But at least there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Not true with many other jobs that require additional schooling and training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many different roles for pharmacists. Not every one is in retail. There are clinical roles in a hospital setting, industry, poison control, and government. Salaries are high because it is a doctoral program and depending on setting, it can be family friendly.

I have a friend who is a pharmacist earning a lot of money working 6-2 every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI a radiologist is a physician.
That is 4 years of medical school ( often costing up to 200k)
1 year of internship
4 years of residency
And 1-2 years of fellowship


Signed,
Someone who is annoyed that technologists parade around as a "radiologist" contributing to the confusion of the general public.

We know that. But at least there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Not true with many other jobs that require additional schooling and training.

+1 pp here who mentioned cardiac radiologist. I am aware that a radiologist is a physician. Just pointing out the holy grail gig.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many different roles for pharmacists. Not every one is in retail. There are clinical roles in a hospital setting, industry, poison control, and government. Salaries are high because it is a doctoral program and depending on setting, it can be family friendly.

I have a friend who is a pharmacist earning a lot of money working 6-2 every day.

the average pharmacist makes around $100K. Great salary but hardly "a lot" of money. In fact, you couldn't afford to live in most of DC on that.

[Anonymous]

I used to go to a pharmacy where the women (the two main pharmacists) basically traded out each year being pregnant. They each had solid marriages and extended family who stepped in to help (yay, grandmothers!), so I believe that the job was only one part of the equation that made their lives seem so pregnancy-friendly.

One eventually became a SAHM for a while and was replaced by a man.

[Anonymous]

The book The End of Men has a great chapter on all the women becoming pharmacists

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many different roles for pharmacists. Not every one is in retail. There are clinical roles in a hospital setting, industry, poison control, and government. Salaries are high because it is a doctoral program and depending on setting, it can be family friendly.

I have a friend who is a pharmacist earning a lot of money working 6-2 every day.

the average pharmacist makes around $100K. Great salary but hardly "a lot" of money. In fact, you couldn't afford to live in most of DC on that.

The problem is Pharm will pay well on day one, but there is not much upward mobility. Same with an MD, BTW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many different roles for pharmacists. Not every one is in retail. There are clinical roles in a hospital setting, industry, poison control, and government. Salaries are high because it is a doctoral program and depending on setting, it can be family friendly.

I have a friend who is a pharmacist earning a lot of money working 6-2 every day.

the average pharmacist makes around $100K. Great salary but hardly "a lot" of money. In fact, you couldn't afford to live in most of DC on that.

You probably make 40k a year so shut up

[Anonymous]

Have several good friends who are pharmacists. In general, they say retail pays the best but depending on where you are doing it, the hours can be grueling with lots of nights and weekends (though that schedule works well for some), and the work demanding. Hospitals, outpatient clinics, nursing homes and similar settings may in some cases pay less than retail; but some pharmacists feel they get more variety in their role, as they get to do more education instead of 100% dispensing. As a PP mentioned, there are also interesting roles doing research.

So yes, overall the pay is decent, and there is some variety in the direction you can take with your career; but you need a PharmD, and satisfaction can vary depending on what you are looking for and where you are working.

[Anonymous]

Right. See the problem with career trends is then the labor market for that career gets flooded, making the skill less valuable.

Not to mention, that is an area where the marketplace will seek over time to eliminate the possibility of human error (i.e. some of those tasks can be automated). Especially with online medical records, it will be possible for any alerts to automatically pop up (medicine contraindications) when a person goes to get a prescription filled.

Basically, my sense is that that is a job that will be less and less necessary with technology. If they can automate most of those tasks, then they basically just need a cashier, if that.

Honestly, I don't think it's the ticket.

Not so long ago, everyone said becoming a nurse was the ticket. And then as nursing salaries climbed, hospitals and medical offices started using medical assistants instead.

I think that risk is even greater with pharmacists as there is an even greater push toward e-medical records, automatic alerts (i.e. removing liability from drugstore chains).

Just my opinion, though. I've never been very impressed with pharmacists. They aren't very helpful, and most seem frustrated that, despite their education, their work environment feels like retail.

the exception would be hospitals or nursing homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right. See the problem with career trends is then the labor market for that career gets flooded, making the skill less valuable.

Not to mention, that is an area where the marketplace will seek over time to eliminate the possibility of human error (i.e. some of those tasks can be automated). Especially with online medical records, it will be possible for any alerts to automatically pop up (medicine contraindications) when a person goes to get a prescription filled.

Basically, my sense is that that is a job that will be less and less necessary with technology. If they can automate most of those tasks, then they basically just need a cashier, if that.

Honestly, I don't think it's the ticket.

Not so long ago, everyone said becoming a nurse was the ticket. And then as nursing salaries climbed, hospitals and medical offices started using medical assistants instead.

I think that risk is even greater with pharmacists as there is an even greater push toward e-medical records, automatic alerts (i.e. removing liability from drugstore chains).

Just my opinion, though. I've never been very impressed with pharmacists. They aren't very helpful, and most seem frustrated that, despite their education, their work environment feels like retail.

the exception would be hospitals or nursing homes.

As long as you get your Bachelor's degree, Nursing continues to be highly in demand.
The role of the pharmacist in the hospital setting is evolving as bar code technology and sort/dispense robotics is becoming more common. A PharmD is necessary unless you just want to work at CVS where you pretty much read and count all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saw a news story about a radiologist who teleworks from home 100% of the time. That seems like a great job with fantastic pay.

But radiologists must go to med school; are often high in their class in med. school; and must do the same residency and internships as other doctors do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiologist

[Anonymous]

Every pharmacist I've ever met looks miserable. The pharmacists at my Giant, Shoppers, and CVS all look like they hate their lives and they have this rude, IDGAF attitude. I've never met a ruder or unhappier bunch. I get the sense that many cannot stand the customer service aspect of their job.