7. NO (OR LESS) CRAZY CUSTOMERS

I’ve worked in retail since 2007 and one of the best things about retail pharmacy is also one of the worst things about retail pharmacy. One of the most rewarding experiences as a health care professional is to have a sweet, salt of the earth customer approach your counter and present a problem that you are actually able to help with. Consequently, one of the most frustrating is when patients approach your counter and try to take advantage of your kindness, or waste your time on matters that have no direct correlation with your job functions. Or customers who want not just pharmacist insight but someone who can delicately stroke their ego and make them feel special.

 

On the flip side, depending on the institution, some MD’s may require a bit of ego stroking in order to make certain interventions, or to calm some instinctive urge to hold onto certain patient responsibilities. However, the frequency of this type of interaction is considerably less when compared to retail in my experience.

 

6. More opportunities to use clinical skills

 

This benefit is of course dependent on the field of pharmacy that you decide to go into. (Note: This can also be true in the field of retail pharmacy – there are clinical opportunities found in many retail settings. However, retail in this context, refers to dispensing duties exclusively).

 

Many sectors including institutional pharmacy, long-term care, and consultant pharmacy give ample opportunities for pharmacists to apply and practice their clinical skills. Using clinical skills, whether it’s attending a code and providing the medical team with the appropriate drugs or making sure that patients are properly sedated after intubation all can lead to significant improvements in patient outcomes.  This can lead to very real intrinsic rewards associated with job performance.

5. Working with other pharmacists

 

Working with other people can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on what your coffee status is and the time it is in the morning. Whether you’ve been caffeinated or not, this is one of the best things about team settings where you have other professionals around to give a particular problem another set of eyes.

 

In the hospital setting, there are often cases where MD’s or PA’s decide to use medications in new and interesting ways. Having pharmacists around who can give you insight that may not have made its way into policies and procedures is a great help.

 

4. Interactions with other health care professionals

 

This is not an often-mentioned benefit because of the occasionally adversarial professional relationships that can result in situations where mistakes can costs patients their lives. Having the opportunity to be in close proximity and get the opportunity to learn from different disciplines can be huge boon.

 

Other disciplines may delve much deeper into certain aspects of medical care than pharmacists. Getting to discuss different ventilator settings and how they may affect patient’s nutrition requirements or what they may reflect about a patient’s current state of health can be helpful in making clinical decisions. However, reading may not give you the insight required or the years of experience that may be standing right next to you during rounds.

 

3. Opportunities for career and salary growth

In retail, there are plenty of opportunities to lead at the pharmacy manager position. However, ascending to higher levels of management or moving to levels where decisions impact more than the day-to-day functioning of the pharmacy can be difficult in organizations that more and more are becoming multi-national corporations.

 

In many smaller organizations or even in ownership of your own pharmacy, you have career options that are limited only by your own desire to grow and your creativity and persistence.

 

2. Opportunities to learn something new everyday

 

This is actually possible in any field of pharmacy. However, certain fields of pharmacy may facilitate your learning a bit more than others.  If you’re practicing in retail pharmacy at a busy store, you may find less time to pursue or cement new information that is presented to you during the day. You also may have less time to chase down the interesting idea that crossed your mind related to how you could improve patient outcomes.

 

1. No standing all day

 

Duh. This is painful and I can’t imagine it’s great for your joints and bones.

 

Bonus:  Lunch Breaks

 

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that one of the biggest changes that I enjoyed from moving form retail pharmacy to hospital was the ability to actually sit down and have a lunch that was un-interrupted by a flu shot, or a waiting patient, or just a customer who needed help choosing a stool softener.