Most people are fortunate enough to not live in Purgatory.
Do we have any pharmacists here? Why does it take so long?
- Thread starter Fordiesel69
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Even $130K, which is roughly the median in Virginia, is a great salary for most of Virginia. I suspect the salary is higher in those places where it isn't, mostly closer to DC.
How much do pharmacists make?
Nationally the median salary for a pharmacist in 2020 was $128,710. In the state of Virginia, pharmacists made between $120,000 and $130,000. In addition to a great salary, 70% received health insurance and 70% also had access to a retirement plan.
Pharmacist Salary | School of Pharmacy | Virginia Commonwealth University
We are the oldest pharmacy school in Virginia, tracing our roots back to 1898. Our primary teaching facilities are located on the Medical College of Virginia Campus in Richmond, the state capital. We are 1 of 18 Health Science Centers nationwide meaning that our campus has four other health...pharmacy.vcu.edu
Yeah… My pharmacist friend from the hospital wasn’t “ hurting” if she lived in Governor’s Land…
I met a retired pharmacist who was extremely fun to talk to.. . She lives in a , very nice older high end neighborhood just 2 miles from me.
You said they didn’t want it called in. Then you said it was online.
Which was it?
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My experience is they are customer facing but don’t like customers. One time since the lady said nothing and was about to give me a shot, I said can you please state what it is you’re administering. And she was all sigh huff all mad. Another time a young guy said we don’t need any confirmation I said please print it out. My wife tends to go with the flow so she was good having nothing—no email, no printout, etc, of what the pharmacist injected into her. But me I asked for a printout. Actually I want to know who he is, and his lic#. They have no supervision but I think some need it. My .02 ymmv
Remember those kids that got Covid shots instead of flu? Well Kelce says both
The OP wasnt in a rush and opted not to have the prescription called in ahead of time. Why?
What I learned when I lived in multiple places in and out of US, is "what's fair" means nothing but rather what the market will pay is what matters.
You can have a physicist phd making less money than a high school drop out went into sales, and call that not fair all you want, but the reality is, nobody but the parents demand someone to go to a certain school for a certain career, then carry a student loan to pay off. I don't think pharmacist is a good return for investment job in many part of the nation, so people should decide where they want to go, what they want to live for, before deciding their career. Maybe it is fine if you don't need the money or have a huge student loan, maybe it will bankrupt you living in a very expensive place and people won't pay more for your local living expense, I don't know. I only know that it is a lot of investment for not the best return. I know it is not the worst choice but they aren't making "great money" in my area here.
I think that is spot on.
I think most "professionals" I know, whether they are bankers, pharmacists, marketing, etc, would prefer dealing with other "professionals" as they have higher impact for the same hour of work, and the people they work with are more "professional" to deal with, instead of dealing with the typical retail customers' behaviors (nobody loves Karen is probably the right way to say it).
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Not a pharmacist but I've been a pharmacy customer for over 40 years.
Our KP pharmacy is a 0.9 miles away; a 3 minute drive (one stoplight) or a 20 minute walk.
Order on-line and they will notify you via text, email or the website when ready for pick-up. Usually a 1-2 day process. Unless there's a back order. Mail delivery is an option; 1-2 days in-transit.
Opioids are a different matter. If your refill was 28 tablets and you order earlier than the 28th dose, they will cancel the order - without notice. Every refill requires your physician to approve the order. The 24-hour pharmacy is 27 miles away in case your 28th day falls on the weekend (rare). I understand that opioid abuse (OD and illicit sales) is rampant, so by default we're all considered potential abusers or criminals.
Anywhere there's a line (physical or electronic), the quicker you get in the queue the better. Especially at the neighborhood pharmacy or Costco.
IMO, when your healthcare professional recommends pain killers, heed that advice and get them. You can have them at hand should you decide you need them later. Cost? I would think for a tooth extraction the Rx is going to for less than a handful of tablets.
Our KP pharmacy is a 0.9 miles away; a 3 minute drive (one stoplight) or a 20 minute walk.
Order on-line and they will notify you via text, email or the website when ready for pick-up. Usually a 1-2 day process. Unless there's a back order. Mail delivery is an option; 1-2 days in-transit.
Opioids are a different matter. If your refill was 28 tablets and you order earlier than the 28th dose, they will cancel the order - without notice. Every refill requires your physician to approve the order. The 24-hour pharmacy is 27 miles away in case your 28th day falls on the weekend (rare). I understand that opioid abuse (OD and illicit sales) is rampant, so by default we're all considered potential abusers or criminals.
Anywhere there's a line (physical or electronic), the quicker you get in the queue the better. Especially at the neighborhood pharmacy or Costco.
IMO, when your healthcare professional recommends pain killers, heed that advice and get them. You can have them at hand should you decide you need them later. Cost? I would think for a tooth extraction the Rx is going to for less than a handful of tablets.
It's because it's a Schedule II controlled substance, been that way for decades, prior to the "opioid crisis" even:
If you don't? Then you have to dispose of them so they aren't diverted/abused.
It is, but as @PimTac correctly pointed out - it is a very different type of work and the number of available hospital positions is also miniscule compared to retail chains.
Take a browse on the r/pharmacy sub and you'll read about the issues. I have a few contacts in this field and they're all in agreement - hours, very poor staffing practices and the market is just plain saturated.
Fair, but does paying ~$300k in tuition (on top of undergrad) to earn $40-$70/hr make any sense?
PharmD Tuition and Financial Aid
What’s a reasonable salary for the work? (maybe everywhere outside of CA)
Oh the humanity!!!
How on earth can anyone expect to feed themselves on such a pittance!
The national company that I work for....has a 12% salary differential between super-low cost of living areas (e.g. Dakotas) and high cost of living areas. Our salary structures are very well validated by both internal and external industry sources. So, the arguments about CA (and major metropolitan areas) being on their own planet (from a COL standpoint) is not exactly accurate, IMO.
Also, at the $200K income level for an individual, your take-home (with typical 401K and medical deductions), is probably around $10K/mo. A decent bit of money, but not exactly upper middle class anymore.
Anyway, as mentioned earlier, pharmacists are decently compensated, but their current market salaries do not make sense for the required educational investment. Spending $200-$300K to earn $40-$70/hr doesn't really add up. PT's are a similar situation. There's a reason why many smart folks interested in healthcare are flocking to the RN, PA, NP and RT pathways.
Might want to poke around the r/pharmacy sub a bit. This thread is an example:
I have numerous friends who recently entered the field and their comments match those. The field has simply become saturated in recent years and it is very difficult to find employment now.
Look at what the FedGov does for salary differentials:
Poking around, I see a (EDIT: 27.65%) difference between the highest cost of living (EDIT: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA) and the lowest (the rest of the country which doesn't have a schedule listed on that page for it).
EDIT: Locality Payment of 44.15% for San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA
EDIT: Locality Payment of 16.5% for "Rest of USA" which is "not located in another locality pay area"
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Fair, but does paying ~$300k in tuition (on top of undergrad) to earn $40-$70/hr make any sense?
PharmD Tuition and Financial Aid
pharmacy.pacific.edu
It also should be known that the PharmD degree that most if not all states require now adds a one year residency to the process. The residents work long days for that year and there are requirements like getting published in a journal or participating in some research or other activities.
Yep. My brother is a pharmacist in the neuro ICU at a large hospital. He worked at Walgreens in college and knew that wasn’t the path he wanted to take. He gets regular hours and interacts with doctors and patients now. He probably should’ve gone to med school instead but likes the hospital life much better than retail pharmacy.
Here's what Nerdwallet has to say about the cost of living difference between Richmond, VA and San Francisco, CA. Note that I put the salary of $130,000 in there because that's the median salary of a pharmacist in Virginia:
I never have any issues getting my meds, one of which is "schedule 2". Kaiser makes it really frustration-free. Do it all through their app and pickup takes 5 minutes.
I read horror stories online and hear from friends how frustrating of an experience they have at their pharmacies for literally any prescription let alone a controlled substance. So, having Kaiser insurance is important to me. I will specifically inquire about that on any job I get. No Kaiser option, no job offer acceptance.
The only companies that seem to have an option of Kaiser around here are small ones. There probably isn't a small company around that'll pay me what the three-letter Fortune 500 company I work for does.
Interesting. I work for an auto parts chain with like 6000 stores and they offer it. Last year I interviewed at Staples. Didn't end up with the job, it wasn't a good fit, but they did offer Kaiser too.
Pharmacists are dealing with situations where they have too much work going on and it is a first in first out type of system. You also have to keep in mind that some of the medications they are filling can have serious or even fatal consequences if they make a mistake. Then add on top of that that they have narcotics behind those counters that every once in awhile some strung out lunatic comes in and points a gun at them and demands those narcotics.
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I do have a way to speed up pharmacies, you go to a grab bag system, LOL.
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I do have a way to speed up pharmacies, you go to a grab bag system, LOL.
Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Aetna seem to be the most common for large companies here.
