The Most Hilarious (and not-so-hilarious-moments) in the Past 10+ Years of Pharmacy

This post has been long time in the making, and also a move toward a coming out of sorts for the Blonde Pharmacist.  It is time to just be me, if you know what I mean, so let's start out with a post about the past.  The most hilarious moments in the past 10 years of being a pharmacist (and not-so-hilarious-moments). 1.  Sometime during 1999, Keith Urban was living in the middle Tennessee area where I was working.  He wasn't a bit name at all, and in fact, in the Country Music City to make it.  (Make it, he did).  I worked in a small retail pharmacy with a fabulous technician named Kim and another pharmacist named Ladona.  Keith came in from time to time with his fabulous Australian accent.  Of course, I cannot divulge what he took medication wise, but I can say that he is indeed short, and was friendly.  It wasn't too much longer he sent in a driver...  he made it big.  This is a hilarious moment only because it was my only brush with celebrity while working.  Fun stuff.

2.  I was a floater for the same retail company and was working in a store one afternoon.  The best part of being a floater is that there isn't a lot of responsibility as far as the operations part of the day.  I would go in, do my job, and leave.  However, this one day, there was a man that came in holding what looked like a five year old needing an early refill on his son's albuterol nebules.  I told him he'd have to pay for them because TennCare wouldn't cover them early.  He was irate and began squeezing his son.  "Daddy!  You're squeezing me.  You're hurting me!"  He replied to his son rather dramatically, "Son, I'm not hurting you, SHE is!!"  As a twenty-something pharmacist, I sort of lost it at that moment.  "What am I doing a jedi mind trick on your son?"  It wasn't long after that, I knew retail wasn't for me.  I couldn't let it roll. I kept going with him, "I'm gonna have your job!"  He said angrily.  "You can have it!"  I replied.

If I can give some advice here it would be... learn to let it roll.  Don't lose your cool.

3.  JB.  The HIV positive homeless man that threatened to have my brains on the parking lot if I didn't fill his alprazolam 2 mg QID two weeks early.  Needless to say I didn't, and he was my last straw.  Good-bye retail forever.  I figured JB didn't really have much to lose.

4.  AG the former crack addict who kicked the habit for many many years only to die after shooting up again.  Some of the conversations we had were priceless in hindsight during a time I needed friends so desperately.

5.  Not a hilarious moment or not - but a moment where this blonde pharmacist worked for THE BLONDE pharmacist.  She was such a positive influence and hired me for home infusion with no experience.  Glad she gave me a chance.

6.  Who could forget the boss I had once who wanted to know what I was thinking once during a meeting.  The guy had more degrees than anyone I've met but yet asked the strangest questions.  My response, "Last time I checked, thoughts were still private property."  LOL  Seriously though, he sort of lost cred with me when a close friend and coworker was in labor and he stalled her for awhile to wrap up some things with her job and then took time later to brag about how he stalled her while she was in labor.  Gag.

7.  Who could forget the manager who threatened a punitive write-up in one sentence and the next began talking about Jesus.  Asked me if I had found a church.  So wrong on so many levels.

8.  Or the job interview where the pharmacy manager dove right in with the first sentence, "We'll begin our interview."  The next sentence, "Do you have kids?"

What are your most hilarious and not-so-hilarious moments in pharmacy?

Is It That Bad?

A potential pharmacist student commented on my blog here asking me if pharmacy was really that bad... he said he was reading blogs about the medical profession and all we do is gripe and complain. Got me to thinking this early morning about that question... "Is it that bad?" For me, no way it's not that bad or I would have already gone back to school to do something else. I believe it's human nature to complain some and especially to complain anonymously. Things about pharmacy that I have loved... This is a list probably needed to be completed to tell you guys and gals the GOOD stuff.

1. If you loved science and you loved biology in high school and college then pharmacy could be the career for you. Not only did I have the opportunity to learn about chemicals, etc..., but I learned the various ways they are changed, metabolized, and excreted by the human body. Not only that, but the different ways they can be broken down by DIFFERENT human bodies - some with renal issues, some with hepatic issues, etc... Everyone can be truly different. Drugs can react differently. I found this one single point of pharmacy to be quite fascinating.

2. If you want to graduate in 6-8 years and start out making six figures (potentially) this may be the job for you. I found in 1999 when I graduated that I was making close to six figures, but a lot of the older pharmacists were really ill about the new guys on the block because they knew we were making the exact same pay. It wasn't pay based on performance but LICENSURE. For the new guy, this is great; for the old guy, it can be disheartening to think that little youngin' next to you is bringing home the same bucks. I'm almost 10 years out of pharmacy school now (unbelievable time flies!) and it STILL DOES NOT BOTHER ME. I don't get wrapped up in petty stuff, and I figure if you really want a dollar more per hour, you could have negotiated up front. BE A SHARK when you negotiate - ASK FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE. If you do not ask, you will NOT RECEIVE. Vacation... they say we'll give you 3 weeks. Tell them that you want 4 weeks. Go up on pay by at least 5-10K per year. Why not? They want you and they will negotiate just like if you are selling a house.

3. Options other than retail. When I tell people I'm a "pharmacist," the majority think retail. What is great about pharmacy is that there are MANY MANY options in different jobs. Of course coming out of school, retail is the most lucrative in pay, but over time other positions can be just as tasty. There are the hospital pharmacists (me), the home infusion pharmacists, the nuclear pharmacists, the retail pharmacists, the professors in a pharmacy school, the long-term care pharmacist, the consultant pharmacist, and the specialty pharmacists within other settings. You can do a residency, make yourself a little different than Joe PharmD next to you, and land a Critical Care Specialty Pharmacist position at a big city hospital, make rounds with a physician that actually respects you if you know your shit and drink Starbucks coffee everyday leaving for home at 5pm like the rest with bankers' hours. The CHOICES ARE ENDLESS really.

I've been out of school, like I said, for 10 years almost. I have tried retail, home infusion, long-term care, and hospital. I love little bits of all of them... but I find hospital to be the most comfortable for me.

I would never tell someone to NOT pursue pharmacy. It's a great career for anyone... BUT you will find some complaining out there... even from me.

Blogs have to be funny after all, right?