Should i quit pharmacy school

So here it is. The truth is, I regret becoming a pharmacist. I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in the healthcare field. I got sick many times as a kid so I was exposed to the healthcare system from an early age. In high school, I found biology and the human body to be absolutely fascinating which solidified my interest in pursuing a career in healthcare. I naively thought becoming a pharmacist would give me all I wanted in a career. I wanted to learn all I could about medicine and I wanted to help others in their journey to better health.

I thought the pay was good and my parents would have a doctor for a daughter. I also did not know a life outside of school. School was all I ever really knew.

While many people find the biggest hurdle to pursuing a pharmacy career is having to go through years of pharmacy school, I was the opposite. I often joked with my friends that if being a student was a job, it would be my dream career.

So take me back now. In fact, I started seeing the reality of what I was getting into even while still in pharmacy school when I had my first introductory rotation. I started seeing the cloud of darkness even as an intern. But like many other pharmacy students, by the time the realization hits, I was already deep into my 6-figure debt to not see it through the end of the tunnel. The question is, is there an end to the tunnel?

What I thought was a clean, pristine pharmacy workplace turned out to be nothing but a toxic work environment, especially in retail pharmacy. The worst part is feeling like I am nothing but a glorified drug dealer. But despite the joke, I am sure there is a part of every pharmacist that feel that way. After working for almost 2 years in the pharmacy and 10 months as a pharmacist, I can now clearly see that I am nothing more than a glamorized drug dispenser.

Now I see that I have to pick my battles when it comes to calling doctors. The most I can get is a clarification on a direction from a staff. Even worse is when a doctor disregards my concern without a second thought. Or when a patient refuses to wait for a medication that I am trying to thoroughly review for their own safety.

The media tout pharmacists as the most accessible healthcare professional. We may be accessible but it does not mean we are well-respected. They say pharmacists have a great work-life balance. Unlike doctors, they get to work the Not so fast there. Most pharmacies are open until 8 or 9 pm and also on weekends. And for those working in long-term care, shifts run up to 2 am or even 24 hours.

Making my situation worse, as a fairly new pharmacist, I am lucky if I can even get weekend days off or get enough hours. Those trying to put it lightly will just say, pharmacy is a fast-paced career. To me, it is a stressful one that can potentially put lives in danger. I come home stressed and I am physically and mentally exhausted from work that I have no motivation to exercise.

I am living an unhealthy life. Now with the opioid crisis hitting the nation, I am constantly having to check if a prescription is fake, if a patient is misusing a drug, and if a prescriber is practicing within their scope of practice among the clinical checks I am already responsible for.

My personal life has suffered. Well therein lies the problem. I also know that I am one of the luckier ones despite the unstable job market. I know many of my pharmacist friends who are drowning in debt, hating their jobs, but are stress-spending their hard-earned income instead of paying off their debt.

I already see them committing lifestyle inflation. So for me, this post is going to be a reminder of why I need to work hard now to pay off my debt to have options in the future. With new pharmacy schools still churning students out every year, I am convinced the pharmacy career will only continue to go downhill.

I want to be out ASAP. Your experience seems pretty common in a lot of fields. You will figure things out, you are obviously extremely bright and have a great deal of self knowledge but I am sorry that your career is not living up to your expectations so far.

Because you refuse to settle for something that is not fulfilling you I feel confident that you will stay in charge of your life going forward, good luck! Thanks for the encouragement Steve, it means a lot.

So in a way, it is comforting to know that even if I had chosen a different career path, it may not be all rainbows and unicorns on the other side. So well spoken. Thank you. Our employers treat us like garbage. We can never live up to their expectations. Did you answer every call within 3 rings. No, because it was me and one tech waiting on people in the store. Fucking sandwich shops have more employees working. Also, your outlook will change after the debt chain is lifted.

Thanks for the support Coco! Yes, I cannot wait to pay off my debt to start looking into enjoying life a little more and hopefully join you on the journey to FIRE! It makes me wonder if I will even get a job when I am done. The pharmacy market is definitely saturated at this point but it also depends a lot on the location. If you are willing to relocate to a less desirable area, I think you will be able to get a job.

I would say why would you assume you will get a position anywhere near where you live? I feel your pain. I graduated with my PharmD in The retail field is slowly draining my life.

Im a staff pharmacist at a crazy disorganized, fast paced, understaffed store. And I hate it! Being a staff pharmacist really is a hit or miss. If you get a unicorn store it can be really great. Otherwise, sometimes I actually prefer floating.

I often joked with my friends that if I being a student was a job, it would be my dream career. Haha, yes! I feel the same way. When I thought I was going to win the lottery yes, the actual lottery , on my vision board, I put a few more degrees I would get.

Haha I really need to hear about this lottery story. Nice to meet another pharma girl! This is exactly what is happening with me!

I am trying to get into hospital work so I can maybe get some sanity back! I am reading this mentally preparing myself for my pharmacy workday. I am in a similar situation, but on a smaller scale. I am back in school trying to get a medical technology certification so I can finally earn a living wage and do something else with my life other than brainstorm how to make money and get out of debt.

Literally hit the nail on the head with all of this. Only part you left out was how low the moral is as a result of all of this. There is life after retail. I quit after 20 years. Went to independent for 2 and then landed a job at a medical group.

It was pharmacy nirvana. I talked to doctors, nurses and mid levels anytime I needed to. I had full access to the medical record. I created care plans and made recommendations.

I worked to 5. No night. No weekends. Drug reps brought me coffee and lunch. I was like have I died and gone to pharmacy heaven? It was really a perfect job. I was good at it. Everyone loved me and was so happy to finally have a pharmacist. I was so good I got promoted twice in 2 years lol.

Not much patient care anymore. And thanks for the uplifting message. Good to know it worked out well for you! Pharmacy seemed like a good choice, but I am really worried about the future. Based on your interests that might be a good alternative to look into. Wishing you the best of luck in your future! Avery you could still learn computer sciences on the side and try and break into the emerging healthcare tech field! I could not agree more with your article. I loathe going in everyday.

This has to be the least professional professional degree out there. Our corporate pay-masters treat us like glorified cashiers, patients treat us like crap, providers crap on us and yell at us….

Amd all with less help and more to do. Wow never related more to a post! Wow looks like congratulations are in order for you. Thanks for writing this. I went to law school and I am really struggling with the job search.

I was thinking that pharmacy school would have been a better choice for me. It was interesting to hear your point of view. Life is really really hard…. Good luck with everything….

Thanks Jemma. Good luck with the job search on your end too. Loved the article! We are on a debt pay down cycle now and hopefully will be completely debt free in 2 years!!! Thanks for commenting Stephanie! I work with lots of other pharmacists and health care providers doing the same. There are other options that you can make even more money doing and actually enjoy what you do! I promise! Have you giving some thoughts about working in other settings such as hospital?

Of course, nowadays, residency may be required to work in hospital in metropolitan areas. It is all about reap what you sow, cost vs benefit, investment in residency vs instant gratification of job at retail. Stand out, stay competitive, be more than just commodity who are licensed, and work in retail. There are way out, board certification, residency, fellowship……. Hi BB, thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it. I have considered going into hospital and considered residency while in pharmacy school.

At the end of the day I chose not to apply because I could not see myself working in hospital long term due to spending so much time in the hospital as a sick kid. I do hear some collegues loving the hospital setting so perhaps in the future I will look more into it. Hey Avery, I have been a pharmacist for over 30 years, I am very grateful of 1. Have gone part time and now work only when I can. With the expanding scopes of practice all over North America and the competition and expectations this profession does not appear to be sunshine and rainbows.

I have found a new love for this profession part time because it affords you the opportunity to focus more on your patients and the interactions and less on all the backstage, everyday expectations that can slow patient care and increase your stress levels. Good Luck I sincerely wish you well. Thank you for the kind comment. I would love to go part time after eliminating my debt. Can you get a research job with a PharmD degree at a company?

Hi Mike, thanks for the comment. I have, but research is not actually that high up on my interest list. In general, research jobs prefer Masters or Ph. All kidding aside. They hire actual pharmacists to be subject matter experts. Never deal with another customer again, never worry about those drive-thru windows bad idea ever , mean customers, mean provider help desks, etc. A pharmacist subject matter expert would help insurance executives understand how pharmacy processes work in the real world setting, and provide insight into how to make retail pharmacy more efficient.

Love your sense of humor T. And so sorry for the late response. Thank you for the advice! I actually had a little stint working for an insurance company, however, it was only a contract position that lasted shorter than I had hoped for.

I also rarely see any postings for these unconventional Pharm. I totally agree. I have been working as a pharmacist for past 4 years in Ontario Canada…4 to midnight shift days a week which would not allow me doing any social activity.

Plus No meal time. While Im at work as my pharmacy is crazy busy. Sadly no one cares about improving our working environment.. We work for less every year and our big corporate company get more profits.. Im hoping to work as part time and do something else that I would rrally enjoy or that would at least allow me some break times while working.. I read all the comments of everyone feeling sad, just wanting to vent, and reveal the same truth we all know.

Pharmacist are not united and thats how the corporations keep us in the palms of their hands. Advocate for provider status, if we can get NPI to bill for services I bet you half the retail pharmacists would quit and leverage would tilt back towards those who stay in it.

For some reason no one has exposed pharmacy schools yet. Where are the new grads going to find jobs? Lived with my parents for a year. It seems hopeless. I have a friend who was in the same situation as you.

I wish you the best of luck! I wish people would speak up more like you do, so high school and college graduates understand exactly what they may be getting themselves into.

I think I did get one thanks but no thanks from CVS only to see the job is still posted or perhaps was never taken down. Thanks Dina, that means a lot. It was actually part of the reason I felt compelled to write this post. I just felt like I was misled and had a rude awakening upon graduating so I wanted to put my story out there especially for people just thinking of getting into pharmacy school. Great article! I am just glad to see that you are not waiting as long as I did before starting to do something about it.

I think the key is to begin working on creating other income streams while still working as a pharmacist. I started an affiliate website. It is my hope to also dive into other online ventures as well. I sincerely wish you and other pharmacists struggling with these issues, inspiring and prosperous ideas that lead to a better, happier, more prosperous way to make a living.

TBH my second option was law, and i did see the negatives of it and decided against it. Hi Layla, it is crazy to think of how alike your thoughts were to mine when I first applied to pharmacy school. I do wish you the best in your journey but to answer your question: does it get better?

Unfortunately for me, it did not get better. We help them transition into other aspects of pharmacy and sometimes into positions completely unrelated to pharmacy. Then we help them get there quickly. Grab a copy of Indispensable today, or visit www. Take the first step toward fulfilling pharmacy work today. He loves anime, his family, and video games, but not in that order.

The pharmacy profession changed tremendously over the course of his career. Pharmacist burnout The most significant problem facing pharmacy right now is burnout. You were put on this earth to accomplish something great. Everyone was. Research suggests that those things that challenge us are the same things that fulfill us. Consider these questions as well: What are you curious about? What aspect of pharmacy interests you? What prompted you to choose pharmacy as a profession?

Which parts of healthcare interest you the most? Given a choice, what would you like to be working on? Making a move Ultimately, Frank decided he loved the idea of real estate and he got to work growing his real estate empire. Alex Barker. In fact, I can pretty much promise you that they will not be sufficient for pharmacy school. We all develop our own learning styles and during undergraduate courses mine like many others was cramming information followed by regurgitation for the exam.

This style of studying frequent leads to a limited ability to retain things long-term. Knowing this about my learning style I knew I had to redefine my studying methodologies for pharmacy school. After having identified that this part of my educational path would build the foundation for my professional career, I wanted to take serious steps to ensure I was trying to become the best pharmacist I could be.

After all, I did not get the best grades in undergraduate. In fact, I probably had one of the lowest grade point averages when applying to pharmacy school! Fast forward to the present and I am proud to be in the top of my class. This success has not been the result of being more intelligent than others. I credit it rather to the effort I have put into finding new ways to study and learn. My suggestion is to actively seek out the studying methods that best work for you. This takes research, trial, and error.

One example of a strategy that can work is to literally pretend to be teaching someone else the material by speaking out loud to yourself.

It may seem goofy, but it works for me. In pharmacy school it is not about studying for an exam, it is about studying for an exam AND for life as a future pharmacist. This requires a variety of study techniques. Some new pharmacy students have a good handle on what the demands of pharmacy school are, while others do not.

Being prepared for a new environment with different standards is necessary to be successful in pharmacy school. I can recall times when I felt overwhelmed by the studying and extracurricular activities that came with pharmacy school. Looking back, my advice is to embrace it as a challenge while pushing forward cautiously.

If pharmacy school becomes too demanding there are ways to try to cope.