Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with pharmacist

Both are great for me, actually

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:29:45 -0800

Please help me choose between nursing and pharmacy school please. I did volunteer work, talked to both nurses and pharmacists, read extensively about both careers, and still feel pretty confused. I can see aspects of my personality that would allow me to do a great job in either field. I was originally interested only in nursing and specifically aspired to be a Nurse Anesthetist.

However, and this might be silly, I started reading various message boards and forums, as well as news articles, and am concerned by what seems to be a huge surge in the number of people going back to school for nursing. I'm also discouraged by the anecdotes regarding healthcare administrators who freeze hiring and rely on a skeleton staff. The message boards seem to be full of recent graduate nurses who passed the NCLEX and can't find jobs.

I've been considering pharmacy school at the same time, even though I know the jobs are fundamentally different. BLS data suggests that the demand for nurses will be higher than for pharmacists (in that there will be more openings). My cousin, who is a doctor, insists that there are way more opportunities in nursing, but I pointed out that there are all these cash cow programs in Healthcare Administration spewing out graduates without any experience actually working in the healthcare field. BLS data suggests that there will be more growth in nursing than in pharmacy.

I'm about to start my pre-reqs and I don't know how to figure out which path would be a better bet.

I'm 32 and a career changer, single, childfree, and I know pharmacy school would be 4 years, and getting a 2nd degree BSN + Masters would be more like 5 years. I'm really just way more interested in how to figure out which field will have more demand/security/stability. (Also, please don't give me platitudes like "Follow your passion.")

How to Become a Pharmacist in Mexico City?

mynameismandab — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:16:53 -0800

Farmacias mexicanas: Cuéntenme de los requísitos para ser farmacista en DF. (How to legally become a pharmacist in Mexico?) I'm helping someone who is moving to DF. She is an American pharmacist who would like to know how to use her Pharm.D. in Mexico City. Does anyone know what is required to do this - school, exam? Any help you can provide is appreciated.

What takes pharmacists so long?

BuddhaInABucket — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:26:59 -0800

Why does it take 20 minutes for the pharmacy to fill my prescription, even when there's no other people in line? I assume they're doing something, but what else is there besides putting my pills in a bottle?

How to not be treated like a criminal at a pharmacy

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:04:55 -0800

My pharmacy screwed up on my Xanax prescription, and I'm afraid they're going to hassle me for what might appear to be drug seeking behavior. I'm on some heavy meds for my ADHD, Adderall XR plus Xanax and Ambien for its side effects. Please don't give me grief about the medication, I'm very aware of the risks and work closely with my doctor to make sure that I'm not headed for trouble.

This month my regular pharmacy was out of the Adderall, so I took my prescriptions to another (different chain) that I've only been to once before. The problem is that when I got home I counted the pills and the Xanax bottle contained 40 instead of 45. I called the pharmacy and they told me to bring in the bottle tomorrow to get things straightened out.

Now, I know that the new prescriptions and scheduled drugs involved are going to raise some red flags. But I also know that I use the meds completely legitimately and they should straighten out their mistake. Am I likely to be hassled/disbelieved/black marked in their database?

If it's at all pertinent, our state has no central DB for them to look up my history, and I've had a long term relationship with my doc who knows I'm not out to get high.

Thanks a bunch!

Did my pharmacist rip me off?

tfmm — Wed, 25 May 2005 19:28:02 -0800

Did my pharmacist rip me off? The Codeine isn't working. Yesterday, I got a prescription for the generic equivalent of Phenergan Syrup with Codeine (1 tsp doses of Promethazine and Codeine). I’ve had a codeine prescription before, and I remember it quickly got me out of sore throat/coughing hell and into a deep sleep in no time. This time around, I feel nothing and stay awake for hours on end. Is there a third-party way to have the bottle tested to see if the pharmacist omitted the narcotic portion? I’d hate to make a direct, false accusation.

Robotic Pharmacy

AlexReynolds — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 01:11:07 -0800

What is the need for a human pharmacist in this day and age? I was reading the following thread about religious pharmacists refusing to dispense prescribed drugs that, for whatever reason, offend their moral sensibilities.

I am curious why the job of the pharmacist couldn't be replaced with an automated (robotic) operation, given a few observations:

• most if not all drugs, generic or otherwise, seem to be sold to stores in prepackaged dosages, eliminating the need for a pharmacist to mix products

• careless human pharmacists can make serious dosing or product errors and electronic prescription processes would further reduce interpretation problems

• nosy human pharmacists in an increasingly theocratic state seem prone to stick their business into others' private heathcare decisions

• drug stores would likely want to cut staff costs and reduce the likelihood of lawsuits from dosing or product selection mistakes or inappropriate decision making

Not that I want to put someone out of a job per se, but I'm curious what exactly are the roles of a human pharmacist today that can't otherwise be automated? What requires human intervention in this line of work?