wtf pharmacist salaries?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

really? $120k right out of school?
ughh, i picked the wrong major.

i know they extended the program an extra 2 years but still... i thought I remembered $80k starting salary just a few years ago. what's up with the huge increase?

how much is this contributing to high drug costs?

 

[bignateyk]

It would be a boring ass job though. At least the ones working retail at places like walmart, CVS, etc...

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Yeah goddamn people for making a decent living! how dare they!

 

[highland145]

Wife's cousin was one for a short while. Super smart guy, said he wasn't cut out to count pills all day, every day.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

It would be a boring ass job though. At least the ones working retail at places like walmart, CVS, etc...

my friend is actually graduating this year.
he would say it's more annoying than boring, dealing with people off their meds.

 

[DesiPower]

The school that you are talking about is not just a 4 year collage. They have to go though a lot of crap. and its not for everyone, you must have a dumb non-analytical mind with lot of memorizing power. IT IS difficult and not everyone makes it, that's why its so highly paid.
Job is boring too, very mundane, with no time or chance to neff on ATOT.

 

[Platypus]

a) the risk is pretty huge... know a few pharmacists and all of them have a 'being held up at gunpoint' story, one of them was told she would be killed as he held a gun to her temple because she saw them but they ran off instead

b) you are directly responsible for people's lives on a daily basis.. wrong dosage or medicine is not an option.

c) hours are pretty terrible depending on where you work, esp chain pharmacies you have to bounce around a lot.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Pharmacist base salary is high, and has always been high.
Pharmacist with 30 years experience gets the same $$$ as new hire pharmacist.

Pharmacy tech's make closer to min wage, and they are the ones that actually do most of the work (data entry, filling of the rx, etc). Pharmacist is accountable to make sure things are right and that people aren't given the wrong stuff or stuff that will hurt them.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

a) the risk is pretty huge... know a few pharmacists and all of them have a 'being held up at gunpoint' story, one of them was told she would be killed as he held a gun to her temple because she saw them but they ran off instead

Walgreens pharmacist was shot and killed here a few years ago

 

[ichy]

PharmD programs are quite tough, and retail pharmacy work is extremely boring once you've completed all that education. 99% of the time it's utterly mindless, but you still can't make a mistake because it only takes one screw-up to kill someone. Pharmacy jobs in hospitals or research are much more interesting, but the pay is much less lucrative.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

How many people make it into pharm school though?

I know a couple of pharmacists and it doesn't seem too easy to get into a good pharm school. They're balling now.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

It strikes me as an extremely boring job that could (and should) be largely replaced with technology at some point.

 

[FDF12389]

When I was younger I was a pharmacy tech, and I was held up twice, we were robbed so many times. This was in a very nice area too.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

When I was younger I was a pharmacy tech, and I was help up twice, we were robbed so many times. This was in a very nice area too.

you fell and you couldn't get up?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Pharmacy tech's make closer to min wage, and they are the ones that actually do most of the work (data entry, filling of the rx, etc). Pharmacist is accountable to make sure things are right and that people aren't given the wrong stuff or stuff that will hurt them.

exactly. he's making something like $12 an hour and doing basically everything he would be doing when he graduates and gets hired full time.

i understand it's like an internship where you work your way to full time and eventually get paid the full salary, but the wage increase is 5x. hot damn.

 

[FDF12389]

you fell and you couldn't get up?

Fixed

Once me, another tech and the pharmacist were closing, got out the back and bammm the other tech got whacked on the head and I had a revolver pressed to my side. Happened in what seemed like less than a second.

 

[FDF12389]

exactly. he's making something like $12 an hour and doing basically everything he would be doing after graduating.

i understand it's like an internship where you work your way to full time and eventually get paid the full salary, but the wage increase is 5x. hot damn.

Most techs make 15-17 around here.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Fixed

Once me, another tech and the pharmacist were closing, got out the back and bammm the other tech got whacked on the head and I had a revolver pressed to my side. Happened in what seemed like less than a second.

are you still doing pharm?

 

[ShawnD1]

really? $120k right out of school?
ughh, i picked the wrong major.

i know they extended the program an extra 2 years but still... i thought I remembered $80k starting salary just a few years ago. what's up with the huge increase?

how much is this contributing to high drug costs?

Up in Canada they make horrible money because they're basically 7-11 clerks wearing coats. My chemistry teacher at university was a licensed pharmacist but left to teach because it paid better. In his words, you don't make any money unless you own the pharmacy.

 

[ultimatebob]

It strikes me as an extremely boring job that could (and should) be largely replaced with technology at some point.

Yeah... but I wouldn't want to be the programmer responsible for killing a dozen CVS customers because I missed a bug in the dosage software for the pill dispensing robot.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Up in Canada they make horrible money because they're basically 7-11 clerks wearing coats. My chemistry teacher at university was a licensed pharmacist but left to teach because it paid better. In his words, you don't make any money unless you own the pharmacy.

that's because that's basically what they are.
i don't get the disconnect between the service they provide and their salaries.

 

[MisterJackson]

Yeah, my friend is a Pharmacist at Walgreens. She's miserable. It doesn't help that they essentially took her Pharmacy techs away from her because this store isn't doing so well overall. The pharmacy stays busy though and she has to feild calls, drive thru, insurance issues, PLUS do the normal part of her job and fill scripts. Running people like that into the ground is how serious mistakes with medications get made.

The funny thing is that this Walgreens set up shop right across the street from a small mom and pop Rx store. Everyone thought the chain would kill the "little guy", but it actually seems to be the other way around. The little guy is thriving while Walgreens isn't doing so hot.

 

[FDF12389]

are you still doing pharm?

Nope, there wasn't enough money in being a tech, I didn't enjoy it, and I struggled through AP Chem so I wasn't about to change my major to it.

 

[iroast]

If you don't want to count pills all day, you can try pharmacology.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yeah... but I wouldn't want to be the programmer responsible for killing a dozen CVS customers because I missed a bug in the dosage software for the pill dispensing robot.

Yes, but people are prone to mistakes too.

I never "consult" with a pharmacist when I pick up my medicine. I can read the documentation that they print out from the system. At least in my area, Wal Mart has started requiring you to talk to the pharmacist when you pick up medicine, and my wife told them to keep the medicine and went down to CVS and had it filled. They refused to give her the medicine until she spoke with the pharmacist and there was already a line of 5 to 6 old people waiting for their turn. No thanks. I know pharmacists are highly educated and I know their schooling is tough, but I think they're overpaid given what they do and should largely be replaced by technology.