As this if my first blog, nobody reading this knows me...yet. I am sure, though, that if you are a Pharmacist and are reading this, you will most likely have experienced the same things.
16 years ago, as a 16 year old Junior in high school, I decided to enter Pharmacy School. I have mixed emotions about the results of that decision I made half-way through my life so far. At the time, I had visions of being in the healthcare field without having to deal with bodily fluids or bad news. I went to school and was trained to expect that Physicians, Nurses, and Patients would all rely on my "expertise" as a medical professional, and that I would play a vital role in the health of so many peoples. Furthermore, I would be a part of the "most trusted profession" as per some survey which we were never told the name of. I came out of Albany College of Pharmacy in 2001 with this very idealistic view of how the Pharmacy world would be. Then I got to my first position as a Pharmacist, and realized it was all....
BULLSHIT!
I was young, and even younger looking, so I would constantly have people direct questions to my clerk (a robust 55 year old guy who was more knowledgeable about what bar had the best happy hour than anything else) instead of myself. I would be shit on by customers who thought that telling me they lived on "Palm Beach" in Florida meant that their insurance couldn't possibly be rejecting their prescription. Having spent my entire 22 year existence in upstate New York, I didn't have a fucks clue where Palm Beach was...I lived in Boynton Beach and couldn't have given a shit about Palm Beach if you had paid me to. Others would ask for the older Pharmacist, to which I would have to explain that I was the only Pharmacist on duty and assure them that I was fully competent to assist their needs. I forged on.
I had a Physician right down the street from my location, who would routinely send customers from his office to my location on a Monday morning (when I would fill 450-500 scripts) and tell them to have me call him for their prescriptions. His patients, who I can only describe as THE MOST impatient SHITS that the world ever knew, would feel that they should be able to sit in the waiting area while I drop everything to call him for their prescription, then proceed to fill it all with 5 minutes or less. One Monday, when I had close to 200 already on the counter when 10am rolled around (mind you, we opened at 8am), I have this patient who wants to stand at my counter while I call for an antibiotic from this MD. I call the office and ask to speak directly to the MD. He comes on the phone, and begins to give me some attitude that I am calling him when he is busy, to which, I ask him for the prescription HE SENT THE PATIENT HERE TO HAVE ME CALL FOR. He recites the drug...of course Zpak #1 As directed...now how FUCKING hard would that have been to scribble down on a pad and give it to them while they were right in front of him? He tells me then that he's really busy. I respond that so am I. I ask him "Did you just have that patient at your office?" He responds "Yes". "And you didn't see fit to give them a written prescription while they were there in front of you?" I ask. "No" he responds. At that point, I am pissed and "Don't you think it's bullshit to send someone who's sitting in front of you out of your office with nothing more than instructions to tell me in the middle of a 450 script Monday to call you?" To which he tells me I'm unprofessional and asks to speak to the manager. I get the manager, and he proceeds to tell the manager I shouldn't use 4 letter words. I told the manager to call him back and relay that bullshit actually has 8 letters.
I had a district manager who was pretty decent. I signed a 3 year sign-on bonus and realized my mistake 6 months later. Sign-on bonuses are great as long as you didn't expect to get any payroll from your boss. I recall starting with 200 hours of "Tech/Clerk" help for the store, which was open 90 hours per week. That kept things moving quite well. When I left after my 3 years were up, I was down to 110 hours of help. That had me working Saturdays and Sundays manning the drop off, pickup, 2 phone lines, the fax machine, and the drive through solo.
I was then given notice that CVS would be taking over at the end of the summer. I was cautiously optimistic....but what a fucking dumbass I was. As an aside...every year, I schedule my vacation at THE SAME TIME...it's the last week in July, first 2 in August. This comes in to play next, when as CVS rolls out their "system transfer" schedule, my store is on the list to be changed over while I'm away. I call my DM to see if it can be changed. I get the response "Can't you change your vacation dates?" Well, gee....seeing as my oldest child was starting Pre-K, No, I couldn't change. I explain that every year, I have the same time off and that I have many members of my family and friends looking forward to seeing my family up there, and really couldn't change the time off. I am told "Don't worry...we'll train you when you get back". What a fucking joke that was. I come back after 3 weeks of rest to find out I have to drive 40 miles to get the training (mind you, my store was 8 miles from my house). I go up there to find out that the store I'm at is 75% done with their training, so I have missed the first 3 of 4 days of training. I get what I could only call a quick fuck in the ass training...missing most of the "meat and potatoes" of how to use their system....then I was dropped back in my store. What a nightmare. I've got a computer system that even if you put 99 prescriptions as the number being dropped off, somehow still told you that you should be able to give the patient a "15 minute wait". What the fuck?!?! I finally had my fill, and with 3 weeks left in my contract, informed them that I was giving a 3 week notice. My DM comes flying in the second to last day I'm there begging me to stay. He asks what it would take to keep me. my answer: "$75/hour and 4 weeks paid vacation" He actually began to call to work on it when I told him that even at $100 per hour, I wouldn't stay. Mind you, that was back when making $39 or 40/hr was considered very good.
I left for a local Grocery chain. For the most part, it's been good. I've stuck around for 6 years now, so that gives an indication. I still feel that many of these companies (my current one included) still feel that we are miracle workers who can turn lead into Gold. I guess I'm just happy to not be working in one of the big boxes.
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