Clinical pharmacy Puns

Do we have any clinical pharmacists here who enjoy their job? I’m interested in the ‘hands on’ approach to this branch of pharmacy. I’m not interested in retail. I’d like to work beside other healthcare professionals in medication management.

I’m currently a CPhT applying to pharm school. I work in a specialty pharmacy warehouse at a major company with other CPhTs & pharmacists, and I don’t want to be on the ‘scanning labels’ side of the profession like the pharmacists there are. Sure, it’s nice to be able to wear a flannel/yoga pants to work (not an exaggeration - I see them), and zone out like I see them doing, as well as not having to work in the boring drive-thru pickup, but I’d like to be ‘in the thick of it,’ so to speak. They seem to enjoy their jobs/life choices but I want to do more with my education.

Alternatively, are there any CPs here who aren’t so thrilled with their jobs or the field as a whole?

People give mid-levels a really hard time these days but I’m not so sure it’s an entirely horrible way to provide good patient care, given the professional really cares about their work and keeps up with continuing education in the field and the like. (There’s effective vs worthless people in every profession).

[Mods if this isn’t the place for this post lmk and we can move or cross-post it. The r/clinicalpharmacy isn’t really an active sub, I have noticed].

Thanks in advance for your honesty, -an aspiring pharmacist

I never understood interview questions such as "What would you do if a physician did not accept your recommendation or was not pharmacy friendly?". I just thought these are asked to test your approach on how to handle someone with a poor attitude. I did two years of residency at a wonderful teaching hospital with physicians who absolutely loved pharmacy and approached us for any clinical question, even to diagnose based on symptoms and what drugs we would try. I was challenged everyday, and learned so much with them. Basically, if pharmacy was late for rounds, they would not start until we got there. I moved across the country to the west coast to what I thought was a wonderful opportunity to be an ICU pharmacist right out of residency. During my interview, I was told (now I realized I was warned, rather), that this may be a non-traditional setting as this is NOT a teaching hospital, and there are no rounds. I was then asked to answer the question I stated in my first sentence. I accepted because it looks good on my resume and a decent first job. This hospital has been an absolute negative culture shock during my few months here. Doctors never page back, they never listen to any recommendations, I cannot perform any ID stewardship, and I've actually been yelled at by physicians for trying to improve patient care which is something I never ever ever experienced before or thought even existed. I'm talking about recommendations such as suggesting a beta lactam for MSSA bacteremia rather than vanco because its more efficacious/safer, asking if we can stop subQ heparin for a hemoglobin that dropped down to 4 (yelled at because there were no signs of bleeding), recommending an insulin gtt rather than subQ for a patient with BG in the 300s and on multiple pressors, the list goes on. The other day, we had a patient with sudden acute liver failure admitted in which I asked the physician if we can start NAC and he ROLLED his eyes at me. He then consulted GI who recommended the same thing and then he wrote in his progress note 'Appreciate GI input, we will start NAC'. It's SO frustrating. There is a particular MD who actually says "F--- pharmacy, they do not know what they're talking about" to other nurses. One time I paged if we can start a vancomycin for a patient who is growing GPC from a bronch wash with positive MRSA nares and he said out loud "Who is this pharmacist? Theyre so annoying". It turned out to be MRSA pneumonia, obviously. We have meetings in the pha

I’m just curious what people think will be the future of our clinical role in retail after Covid. We pivoted from focusing on MTM calls to Covid shots, antibody/PCR/testing, etc. it’s hard to imagine just going back to the way it was in 2019.

Edit: Going to add that I have a staffing hospital position secured regardless of residency, with the option for part-time if I want.

Should I take the $20/hour paycut for the clinical experience? Or is clinical pharmacy experience not a good stepping stone?

Hi everyone!

I wanted to reach out to and hear from pharmacy graduates about what your thoughts (and facts) about the residency process and clinical pharmacy. I think it would help others (such as a few of my closest friends) who are thinking about residency and clinical pharmacy in general. I've compiled common questions from my classmates and put it all here in case anyone also has the same.

1. What is the road like getting to residency? Is it highly variable for everyone?
2. General consensus and understanding is that grades aren't always everything. True or false? I have a few friends who got Cs in the Pharmaceutics Chemistry course 1st year or took a Pass in Anatomy and Physiology. Would this be an obstacle for them in obtaining a residency?
3. Does rank of the school truly factor into getting a residency position in 2020 onwards? If so, how much? Ex: University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, UC San Francisco, etc?
4. How important is research? A few friends did really well on poster presentations and placed, and even got things published. Some friends were unable to find research positions in a lab due to stiff competition and some profs are picky about who they select for their research team. (or there is limited space) Are your chances for residency truly screwed if you can't do research at all because of that? What if your research doesn't get published? What if you weren't fortunate to be picked by a professor? Or, even if you sought out the opportunity yourself and didn't find anything?
5. What if you do internships or externships instead of research?
6. For the graduates who did all the things right, what do you think were the reasons for not getting a residency? Is there any rhyme or reason to who gets picked?
7. For those who did get a residency, were you able to find a full time position after? If you didn't get a job afterwards, what was the reason for it do you think?
8. Even if one develops a lot of connections with professors and other students, how much does that factor into actually landing a residency AND a job after?
9. If you completed a residency, how long did it take you find a clinical job (part time or full time)?
10. Do you get to have a say as to where you want to work after completing a residency?
11. Is it true that there are more graduates than there are residency positions? How many people did you have to go up against to compete for the say residency? What about clinical position?
12. In hindsight, ha

I feel like there are so many clinical positions out there but the day to day of those roles aren’t talked about enough. Wondering (in your opinion) what clinical positions you find to be great for work/life balance or positions you’ve worked/know someone that’s worked and enjoyed? I’m between quite a few interests as I enter the residency application process.

Just curious. I’ve heard it’s difficult. Just looking to hear people’s experiences

^

Are cvs pharmacy technicians clinical workers or retail workers? Wife is a technician and not vaccinated yet, we're curious if the cvs announcement applies to her to her or not?

Many researchers and organizations are working hard towards finding new treatments for people with depression, anxiety, insomnia, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other emotional and behavioral disorders. Clinical research plays a critical role in developing safe, new treatments for patients and their communities.

If you're interested in learning more, or maybe even considering taking part in a clinical trial, tune in to this live panel discussion with clinical trial participants, patients, and researchers on 10/21 at 6pm MDT. Learn more about how new mental health treatments are being developed at AWARE for All - Southwest.

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I'm a pharmacist working in the ambulatory setting. Does anyone know of a professional forum to discuss clinical pharmacy guidelines, strategies, etc.

Thanks

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The Pharmacy Times® Pharmacy Focus podcast provides the latest industry news and information, thought-leader insights, clinical updates, patient counseling tools, and innovative solutions for the everyday practice and business of pharmacy.

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Hello fellow Pharmacists. I would like this thread to be about important pharmacy clinical knowledge that some pharmacist might be unknowingly overlooking especially in the retail setting. I'm trying for us to build our knowledge base. Please add things that come to your mind based on experience also. For instance:

1. Concerns about morphine equivalent dose not exceeding 50mg for narcotics, otherwise offer narcan to avoid overdose and death. Possibly call prescriber to adjust dose.

2. Not offering shingrix and fluad vaccine together because of the adjuvant. Efficacy has not been established. Instead use fluzone.

3. Not changing manufactures of narrow therapeutic drugs because can be dangerous and fatal for patients. Notify doctors for further monitoring.

4. Checking the weight for children for antibiotics suspensions to avoid overdose.

5. Checking with parents the weights for kids getting epipen Jr, and auvi q, etc to ensure falls in the recommended weight limit.

6. Separating sumatriptan and rizatriptan by at least 24 hrs to avoid fainting, serotonin syndrome and blood vessel constriction.

Please add whatever you would like for us to think about. Have a wonderful weekend :)

When direct oral anticoagulants are taken, especially for the first time, patients may be at risk of bleeding.

Many researchers and organizations are working hard towards finding new treatments for people with liver diseases and hepatological conditions. Clinical research plays a critical role in developing safe, new treatments for patients and their communities, but education on the process is vital before participation.

If you're interested in learning more, or maybe even considering taking part in a clinical trial, tune in to this live panel discussion with clinical trial participants, patients, and researchers on 10/21 at 6pm MDT. Learn more about how new treatments are being developed at AWARE for All - Southwest.

Go to awareforall.info/rdtsw21 to sign up for the webinar.