I didn't author this comment. It is a comment posted on The Redheaded Pharmacist's blog entitled "Opioid Use Skyrockets" on December 17, 2012. I relate to the comments so much I decided to cut and paste here:
By PharmacistORtortureslave, December 17, 2012 @ 7:26 pm
Some True facts about being a RETAIL pharmacist (ie/ the introductory and available jobs for pharmacists/ also usually ‘easier’ jobs to get). This is not a rant just some honest truths from my experience:
1. You are a company employee; not a health professional or a ‘doctor’ (as viewed by other medical professionals, your boss including even your store manager, and patients (…I mean ‘customers’).
2. You are a ‘bag boy’ (“the velveeta rang up the wrong price!!”… ” how much are these paper clips?”.
3. You are a ‘phone rep’ (“do you have ‘oxy’ in stock”?… “i want to call in 10 subscriptions”… “prescription numbers 12345, 12346, 12347, fill these now i’m on my way”)
4. You are a ‘product location assistant’ (‘where is the milk?’…’Show me where it is!’… ‘is it on sale?’)
5. You slave for the federal government and other banking institutions where you took out loans from ( most students graduate with $100,000+ in student loans). You have to pay this back with after tax dollars.
6. Potty breaks… NO! Hold it for at least 8 hours. If you need to go then bring a catheter and bag with you. ( As a ‘Professional’ you are exempt from laws requiring lunches and breaks in most areas of the country). I know pharmacists who have urinated or defecated in their pants by ‘accident’ due to lines of people not letting them go to the restroom.
7. Lunch Breaks… NO! (see #6)
8. Anyone… I repeat ANYONE… can come to the counter requesting your attention ( The general public). Perhaps some pharmacists can post stories on this?
9. You are usually ‘salaried’. You are paid for 40 hours (depending on position) but if you have to stay ‘extra’ because it is a busy day or your technician is out sick you are working for ‘Free’.
10. Oh, you are a ‘drivethru window assistant’… at the same time as #1,#2,#3,#3,#3,#4 (I was not unintentionally stuttering when I typed #3,#3,#3). (If your pharmacy does not have drive-thru then LUCKY YOU!)
BE WELL
I am the Crazy RxMan, your local pharmacist... smart enough to be a pharmacist, insane enough to work retail!
Out of curiosity...I was not a pharmacy major but went to a school that had a 0-6, entry level PharmD program so most of my friends were pharmacy majors. That being said, how is it that future pharmacists are unaware of this phenomenon considering the high number of both intern and extern hours they have to complete during their program of studies? From my experience, most (if not all) of my pharmacy friends also spent QUITE a bit of time working retail pharmacy prior to graduating/becoming licensed. Like I said, I'm not a pharmacist and thus could be quite naive about this BUT...I'm often confused as to how lists like this come as such a surprise to those who work in retail pharmacy. Were the drawbacks of retail pharmacy kept secret from you as you toiled away all those many, many hours doing intern/extern hours, only to be revealed to you once you obtained your BSPh or PharmD and started working?
ReplyDeletePerhaps this explains why the majority of my friends from college work as pharmacists in hospitals?
And, please don't misunderstand me...I LOVE the pharmacy where I go and completely understand the utter crap you have to endure - let's be honest, most of the uneducated public treats you like a glorified cashier - but, many people I encounter seem to be in utter amazement as to how frustrating retail pharmacy can be. And that's the part I don't understand...how did one NOT know?