Have a regular patient who gets Percocet 5/325 fairly regularly for chronic pain. She broke something and was hospitalized and discharged over the weekend with a script from the hospital for a 3 day supply of 5mgs oxycodone. Originally told her we wouldn’t fill it as she should still have Percocet left at home, but she swore up and down that she couldn’t find it anywhere. Never had an issue with her before trying to get meds early. Couldn’t get ahold of anyone since it was the weekend. I ended up filling the 5mgs for her with documentation to follow up with her primary ASAP, did I do the right thing? I felt I couldn’t in good conscience leave her in pain over the weekend if she was telling the truth but I’m still feeling very iffy about it

Since becoming a pharmacist, I’ve been told that I do too much (helping with first dispense and stat doses.. in retail it was picking up the phone too much) by other pharmacists, and that I’m going to “spoil the techs” and make them lazy.

As a former technician myself, and I hate being told that. We’re all adults, not children to be spoiled. But I would like to hear what other pharmacists think about this. I will note that the pharmacists telling me this are ones that spend 60% of the shift on their phones while complaining about not being able to get work elsewhere..

Edit: Just for context, we aren’t understaffed at my hospital, just busy and there are multiple pharmacists on my team. I’ve been looked at like I had three heads for practicing the way I do/remembering how it felt to work with pharmacist that didn’t believe in doing “tech only work” as a technician. Thanks you for the feedback!

There are so many companies and routes to choose from. What's your dream company and/or area of pharmacy to work in? Why?

I like to help people but I can't do it anymore, for context i used to work in a pharmacy in the capital city of my country, i used to actually sell life saving med, mostly. I used to have 5k euros a day on average and there were 4 counters. I used to work 12h shifts sometimes 14h, i was miserable but i felt like i was actually a pharmacist. Now i work in a tourist town pharmacy and i mostly sell food supplements and cosmetics. I dont feel like q pharmacist my job is basically responding to emails, sending back expired meds, changing prices and receiving even more emails, that ask me to do things that nobody showed me how to do, and there is nobody that can help since my boss is evil af and has chased out 3 people. Not because she has any power but because she is just such, and I'm sorry to say this , a bitch that people can't stand working with her and they leave, we are all new people in this company and have a lot to learn. The 2 of us, me and my other colleague who is also a freshly graduated bachelors in pharmacy do our best but we cant do things we weren't taught how to do. I can't take it. I hate my company, my 72yo boss, everything about my current job is hell. I dont want to deal with tourists because i know 3 languages and that doesn't seem to be enough... I cant do this anymore.

This is a clinical Question, I am not asking about pharmacy school or anything like that, but it does have something do to with what we are taught in different classes, and something seems contradictory to me. I would like clarification please.

I am taking renal, and we were taught that SGLT2 drugs are nephrotoxic, but in foundations, endocrine, and cardio we are taught that they protect the kidneys, so how can something that protect the kidney be nephrotoxic,

Also this includes ACE and ARBS as well.

can anybody please explain to me.

Thank you

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We compound like 2 or 3 Rxs per day.

Ointments, liquids, veterinary stuff, some suppositories, etc.

The problem is that this PIC does not keep any compounding record sheets, has no BUDs specified on our records or for the patient, and does not use or extrapolate from any known formulas.

When approached about this, it is clear that she just expects to use the patient's ignorance about asking about these things to her advantage.

We also do mass liquid antibiotic compounding for an animal shelter. Same deal. No BUD specification, no storage specification, and no formula from official literature to support the compounding formula.

I am hesitant to bring this up to her because she is known for running her foul mouth at employees. I just work here to cover an injured friend but the idea of stamping my initials on Rxs that I know should not be handled in this way just irks me.

Am I overreacting here? Is she not making herself or the pharmacist vulnerable to state inspectors and the like?

Are we not supposed to be careful and specific about these things?

I have a job offer, and need to negotiate? Thank you.

So as far as I know, Simethicone is not absorbed and has a virtually non-existent side effect profile. So what is the determining factor for its MDD? is it just one of those "That's just how it was tested" cases, or is there something else?

Hi all-- what are some QI projects for those in the infusion/oncology pharmacy space working on or thinking about? Struggling to come up with niche ideas to help improve our pharmacy workflow and/or some cost-avoidance projects. Any and all ideas appreciated!

Would love to know job title and state as well if you're comfortable sharing!

I'm looking at a clients claims data and seeing Inulin was acquired for $7.8K, but the insurance pay was nearly $19K. Paid by CVS Advantage on bin 004336.

Anyone know what's going on here? This is a wild quick win that's going to get us a bonus at the end of the year, but why the huge insurance pay?

Hi! Wondering if any clin pharms working in specialty pharmacy can share their experience. It seems like it’s blowing up fast and I’m interested in pivoting to that after a decade of inpatient clinical. I appreciate your help in advance!

I graduated with my PharmD in 2022 but haven't been able to get licensed, and I have no pharmacy work experience. I'm looking for remote, work-from-home jobs that don't require a pharmacist license, ideally with little phone work.

What I'm trying to find out:

- What jobs have you seen or held that take a PharmD without a license (medical writing, drug safety/PV, medical information, informatics/Epic, HEOR, PBM analyst, AI training, health tech)?

- What does entry pay realistically look like for those?

- How did you get your first role with no experience?

What I've found so far: medical writing associate roles (~$60-80k), PBM analyst roles (~$55-70k), and AI training contracts ($30-80/hr). Anything higher or that I'm missing?

Background: I'm comfortable with AI tools and have built a few health-related web tools with AI assistance, but I'm not a traditional programmer.

Thanks in advance for any ideas or advice.

Hi everyone,
I am considering studying pharmacy and I would love to hear a bit about what actual work-life looks like for pharmacists.
- What is the daily routine like for those working in the pharmaceutical industry?
- How satisfied are you overall with your career choice?

Thank you so much for your insights!

I don’t work for Walgreens thank goodness but this might be the most retarded shit I’ve ever seen. Yall should quit immediately for this BS

How do you guys properly clean the graduated cylinders that are used to measure distilled water for antibiotic reconstitution? Which detergent that you guys used?

Hi I work Monday to Friday as a Nhs pharmacist but I’m looking to do some weekend locum work a lot of places are asking for enhanced DBS check but on the government website I am only able to apply for the basic one which I have submitted. Does anyone know how a self-employed Locum would apply for themselves as a enhanced check or does the company have to do this. It would be easier if I can do this by myself as some of the pharmacy’s are quite small and are asking for this application stage

Thanks.

PK dose calculations suck and give me PTSD, so I vibe coded this. It's based off of Winter's Pharmacokinetics textbook, my class notes, and Marshall Pierce's useful, but highly technical website.

Link: https://vorul.github.io/pk-tools/phenytoin/

Features

• Adjust a dose from one steady-state level (Michaelis-Menten, population or assumed Km)
• Start therapy, with an optional loading dose
• Two levels: fit Km and Vmax from steady-state or non-steady-state levels (mass balance or a Bayesian fit)
• After stopping: time for a high level to fall to target
• Load or switch between capsules, chewables, suspension, and fosphenytoin
• Interpret a level, corrected for low albumin, ESRD, valproate or a free level, including CRRT

Stuff that made my life easier

• Rounds to doses you can actually give (100 + 30 mg capsules, 50 mg chewables) and shows the predicted level for each option
• Suggests how many doses to hold when the level is high
• Gives a recheck schedule based on how close the dose is to Vmax
• Writes a copy-ready order and chart note

Code (AGPL): https://github.com/vorul/pk-tools

Feedback, bug reports and edge cases that break it are very welcome.

All I see on Reddit is the doom and gloom of the profession. Yes retail sucks but there are so many different aspects of pharmacy. Even when I was a retail pharmacist I loved my job. I think people should stop discouraging pharmacy as a career and advocate for the profession. If you look down on your job why would people take us seriously?

Hi can someone share with me your IV room experience as a pharmacist? What’s the workflow look like? What technology you use? Like adult IV and pediatric IV

Thanks

I'm not talking about the "real-world" stuff that kinda has to be learned on the job, like working with insurance rejects, learning how to handle a difficult patient, etc.

I'm talking about the basics of what would be considered "clinical knowledge" as far as a tech goes - drug names and general classes/uses, IV compounding basics, sig code knowledge, pharmacy math. Some lrograms also teach the basics of the federal pharmacy laws, and the state laws in which the program is being taught.

Yes, this stuff can be learned with OJT. And yes, the quality of training programs vary WILDLY from one to another. And the private vocational schools can absolutely be a scam - 10k+ for basic training for a job that wil pay a mediocre wage (most of the time).

I completed a training program a loooooong time ago (I've been licensed since 2003), but I'd already been working as a clerk before that and had prior OJT knowledge, making my own opinion kind of skewed.

So I thought I'd ask here, just out of curiosity. Let me hear your thoughts - good, bad, ugly, or otherwise!

Anyone on here work for them and willing to give me honest insight on what it’s like being an employee and consulting pharmacist for Lumicera? Would really appreciate it!