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What are the best and worst parts being a pharmacist?

My name is Anthony, I live in Arizona and I want to be a pharmacist but I am starting to consider that this isn’t the career that I want to pursue. Is it even worth the trouble of going to school and spending the time and money on this career.

If any pharmacist or retired pharmacist could answer this tell me if this career path is worth it.

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Melanie’s Answer

Have you any experience working in any pharmacy? You are correct- consider the time and cost. These are tumultuous days for retail pharmacy. Google CVS pharmacy walkout - happened just last week over bad conditions with lack of staff and immunization load.

I worked as a clerk in an independent chain pharmacy. That’s where I fell in love with pharmacy.

Best if you stick you toe in the water and test the waters before making the decision.
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Tamara’s Answer

There are many different avenues within the pharmacy profession that you can pursue. Many of these are very different from what most people see at their local outpatient or community pharmacy. There are pharmacists who work in hospitals, in clinics, in drug information centers and in poison control centers to name a few. There are best and worst parts that vary widely depending on your practice site.

I work as a clinical pharmacist in a hospital. For me, the best parts are interacting with the other healthcare professionals in the hospital and with the patient's and their families. The trade-off to working in a larger hospital is nights, weekends and holidays are part of the package.

Tamara recommends the following next steps:

Before you decide to not pursue pharmacy school, shadow as many different types of pharmacists that you can. A Doctor of Pharmacy degree will open doors to jobs that you don't even know exist.
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Rebecca’s Answer

I have worked as a retail pharmacist for almost 15 years there are some days I love my job and others that I hate it. I think that is true of most jobs though. What I would recommend is evaluating what your reasons for going into Pharmacy are. There are different career paths for people with different goals and personality types. However, Pharmacy isn't for everyone. I've known several pharmacists who went into it for the pay and got burned out rather quickly, especially in retail. Talk to as many pharmacists as you can and really consider if you have an interest in this area. If you are old enough find a job as a technician at a pharmacy. Working day in and day out in a pharmacy is probably the quickest path to find out if you like it or not.

Rebecca recommends the following next steps:

Apply for a job as a pharmacy technician or job shadow if its available.
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