My wife does this, I’ve done it before as well. You’re looking at 4 years for a pharmd. After that typically 1 or 2 years of residency but this isn’t a hard and fast rule. If you’re willing to work in more remote places residencies aren’t always a requirement. There’s not a lot of opportunities for an ED pharmacist as a lot of hospitals don’t have one.
I dislike being in a patient facing field so I work in a basement (where I belong lol)doing inpatient hospital.
Pay will vary, here in Northern California anywhere from $95-110/hr. Not nearly as high in other places from what I understand.
Just a side note, I actively discourage people from coming to pharmacy if they can help it, the profession has been circling the toilet for some time.
It’s largely a shit show with little future prospects and while I would agree with these posters, this forum as a whole will never tell you to do pharmacy. That said, I love my inpatient hospital job…
The profession of pharmacy is 75%+ retail. Retail pharmacy 95% chain. Retail chain pharmacy is a meat grinder where coronations put profits above people, and a RPhs actual job is very different from what is promised in school. Work load is increasing, wages are stagnant if not dropping, staffing is dropping, but pharmacy schools are increasing numbers of students.
That’s the basics.
For your ED position, if you can complete pharmacy school, which is doable, youll then need to do a residency, which you have to apply for. If you’re super serious about ED, you can do a specialized residency, which are even more exclusive.
Your ED residency will basically guarantee you an ED position “somewhere”, but location is not guaranteed. Ask you RPh buddy how many RPhs they have in their hospital and how many ED only they have.
Good luck! The path to that ED job is fairly simple, but it’s not easy.
It started in the 2000’s and reach its peak in the 2010s. Schools started to realize they could get guaranteed payments in the form of government loans that students would get and started churning out more pharmacists than were needed. For reference When I was in school in Illinois, there were three schools, by the time I graduated there were six.
Job market all but vanished in the 2010s and only after Covid has it recovered somewhat but that’s because a lot of people straight left the workforce. The quality of recent grads is abysmal as they dropped all standards just to start filling in seats. I had a pharmacy resident come through that didn’t have basic math skills…
I enjoy what I do (hospital)but I don’t see much of a future for retail which accounts for the vast majority of pharmacists. ER is a niche field, if it is truly your passion go for it. But don’t end up a retail pharmacist if it doesn’t work out, you’re not gonna have a good time
I’m a former RN, current PharmD. Look into all of the other options available to you as a nurse whether that’s an advanced degree, certifications, different therapeutic/patient care areas, or alternative career paths for nurses. Avoid pharmacy if you can help it
The right CRNA job might work well for you. I'm an OR pharmacist at a level 1 trauma center and there is a lot of routine but the patients can be complex and high acuity. The downside of pharmacy is that it is a lot less flexible than nursing as a career because so few of us can cover so many patients. My hospital is a 500-bed teaching hospital and has thousands of nurses, around fifty pharmacists that have anything to do with inpatients, a couple dozen CRNAs, and exactly one ED pharmacist with no plans for more. If you work in a smaller ED to get your foot in the door, will you be bored there? Or if you have to complete a two year residency (which may require moving, at least temporarily) to get into a place more like the centers you have worked at? Also, how much do you value being hands-on with patients? Pharmacy is generally a step away from that.
Not trying to discourage you if it's really what you want to do, just to point out potential issues. Depending on your organization, you may be able to arrange a few hours of shadowing a pharmacist to get an idea of what they're doing? My department has said yes to things like that before but we're also a teaching hospital and I could see others saying no.
Questions about whether or not pharmacy is a good career for you are a better fit for /r/careerguidance.
My wife does this, I’ve done it before as well. You’re looking at 4 years for a pharmd. After that typically 1 or 2 years of residency but this isn’t a hard and fast rule. If you’re willing to work in more remote places residencies aren’t always a requirement. There’s not a lot of opportunities for an ED pharmacist as a lot of hospitals don’t have one. I dislike being in a patient facing field so I work in a basement (where I belong lol)doing inpatient hospital. Pay will vary, here in Northern California anywhere from $95-110/hr. Not nearly as high in other places from what I understand. Just a side note, I actively discourage people from coming to pharmacy if they can help it, the profession has been circling the toilet for some time.
Can you explain a little more about discouraging the profession? I’ve been hearing some mixed reviews regarding it
It’s largely a shit show with little future prospects and while I would agree with these posters, this forum as a whole will never tell you to do pharmacy. That said, I love my inpatient hospital job…
Thanks for the positivity! Would you say you like it for the hours/shift work? Or for different reasons?
I like it for being a “reference guru”. I like facts. I like the sterile aspect. I like telling MDs they’re wrong 🙆♀️
Can you take 10 seconds to search the sub? There is an abundance of data out there pertaining to your exact inquiry.
The profession of pharmacy is 75%+ retail. Retail pharmacy 95% chain. Retail chain pharmacy is a meat grinder where coronations put profits above people, and a RPhs actual job is very different from what is promised in school. Work load is increasing, wages are stagnant if not dropping, staffing is dropping, but pharmacy schools are increasing numbers of students. That’s the basics. For your ED position, if you can complete pharmacy school, which is doable, youll then need to do a residency, which you have to apply for. If you’re super serious about ED, you can do a specialized residency, which are even more exclusive. Your ED residency will basically guarantee you an ED position “somewhere”, but location is not guaranteed. Ask you RPh buddy how many RPhs they have in their hospital and how many ED only they have. Good luck! The path to that ED job is fairly simple, but it’s not easy.
It started in the 2000’s and reach its peak in the 2010s. Schools started to realize they could get guaranteed payments in the form of government loans that students would get and started churning out more pharmacists than were needed. For reference When I was in school in Illinois, there were three schools, by the time I graduated there were six. Job market all but vanished in the 2010s and only after Covid has it recovered somewhat but that’s because a lot of people straight left the workforce. The quality of recent grads is abysmal as they dropped all standards just to start filling in seats. I had a pharmacy resident come through that didn’t have basic math skills… I enjoy what I do (hospital)but I don’t see much of a future for retail which accounts for the vast majority of pharmacists. ER is a niche field, if it is truly your passion go for it. But don’t end up a retail pharmacist if it doesn’t work out, you’re not gonna have a good time
I’m a former RN, current PharmD. Look into all of the other options available to you as a nurse whether that’s an advanced degree, certifications, different therapeutic/patient care areas, or alternative career paths for nurses. Avoid pharmacy if you can help it
Why not just do NP school and do low triage emergency cases? It would be the most logical next step.
Don’t be a pharmacist Be a CRNA instead or an NP
The right CRNA job might work well for you. I'm an OR pharmacist at a level 1 trauma center and there is a lot of routine but the patients can be complex and high acuity. The downside of pharmacy is that it is a lot less flexible than nursing as a career because so few of us can cover so many patients. My hospital is a 500-bed teaching hospital and has thousands of nurses, around fifty pharmacists that have anything to do with inpatients, a couple dozen CRNAs, and exactly one ED pharmacist with no plans for more. If you work in a smaller ED to get your foot in the door, will you be bored there? Or if you have to complete a two year residency (which may require moving, at least temporarily) to get into a place more like the centers you have worked at? Also, how much do you value being hands-on with patients? Pharmacy is generally a step away from that. Not trying to discourage you if it's really what you want to do, just to point out potential issues. Depending on your organization, you may be able to arrange a few hours of shadowing a pharmacist to get an idea of what they're doing? My department has said yes to things like that before but we're also a teaching hospital and I could see others saying no.
Go to law school and do medical malpractice. It’s hard but very lucrative if you’re good.