A Clinical Pharmacist Error.

Once in a while I get a rather bitter comment from a “Pharmacist” who just got his shiny new degree and license and thinks he knows it all.  Now I was going to let you (the readers) be ‘The Angry Pharmacist’ for the day and give this guy a new ass-chewing, but I figured that I cant let this comedy gold go untouched.

Well, I think you were a little too harsh on the intern. I have been a
pharmacist for 3 years and if you had called and asked me to give a
copy, i wouldn’t have had a clue what you were talking about. The
funny thing is that, I still don’t know what you mean by giving a copy.
If you mean to give a transfer, i can understand that.

A few hints for the next time you put your clinical foot in your clinical mouth, don’t tell people how long you’ve been out of school (unless its like over 15) ESPECIALLY when responding to a rant about something you SHOULD OF LEARNED IN SCHOOL (did you even read my rant?).  Plus the fact that you cant put transfer/copy together is just shooting yourself in the foot.

I am typically a clincal pharmacist and i work in the ICU and emergency room setting and
so may not be familiar with all the details regarding a retail store or
how the insurance is run and all that extra things. I have filled in a
retail store before and yes I was lost but I don’t consider myself dumb
because of that.

So why in the fuck are you responding to this rant?  Oh, you’re a clinical guy who probably talks just to hear himself sound intelligent.  You responded to a rant about the lack of core retail pharmacy skills being taught in school by saying that you don’t work in retail.  Tell me if that makes any fucking sense what so ever?

I don’t think the intern was dumb because she or he
didn’t know what the term is, maybe he or she is used to a different
term. As much as I hate to say this, the dumbest pharmacist I’ve seen
in my life are the retail pharmacist.

You know that feeling that you would get when you see a retarded toddler run out into the middle of traffic after a ball? Yeah, I just got that feeling right now.  Its the feeling of pity, horror, but morbid amusement as to how this is going to resolve itself.
 

I hate to use the word dumb
because, I think it’s very inapporopriate and disrespectful. I think
it’s just a different forte.

Then why in the fuck are you responding if you know nothing about retail?

Most of them have no concept of the
pharmacology, basic clinical knowledge, disease states and
pharmacokinetics (a bit surprise you think it’s dumb). Giving a copy
will not save someone’s life, anyone off the street could probably give
a copy, kinetics saves a lot of lives everyday if you really and trully
understand it.

You’re right, us retail folk are all clinical dropouts who couldn’t cut it in the ‘labcoat lunches with the doctors’.  In fact, why aren’t all pharmacist just dropouts who couldn’t cut it in medical school so we had to ‘settle’ for pharmacy?  You’re a fucking idiot.  You are a huge fucking idiot.  You are one of those idiots who can recite the kinetic data for anything but can’t hold a fucking conversation with anyone to save your life.  You know what kills most people? Clinical pharmacists with huge fucking egos who fuck up, thats who.

I also want to mention that this is a free country,
foreigners are welcome here and we should not make fun of the way they
talk. Some of my best pharmacy professors were foreigners. As much as I
think it’s funny the way they talk, I don’t take it upon myself to make
a spectacle of them. I think you are very immature and should not be
practising pharmacy.

Yeah, they are welcome here, I’m not saying they shouldn’t.  However I should have the expectation to have clear and easy to understand English being said to me when dealing with people’s lives and medication.  So tell me Mr Clinical Guy, would you rather offend someone or kill someone because you guessed what the person was saying.  I don’t make a spectacle of them, I tell them that I CANT UNDERSTAND A FUCKING WORD THEY ARE SAYING.  Let me take your mother’s medication over the phone by someone who can’t speak a clear word of English and see how you like that.

You have forgotten that you were once an intern
and there is still a lot of things you don’t know. I have retail
pharmacists that switch to hospital work and have not a clue what’s
going on. I calm them down and try to re-assure them that it will get
easier and that everything will be fine and that’s exactly what you
should be doing.. I have a retail pharmacist once try to enter an order
for 40mEq of potassium IV push, another entered an order for cefepime
and rocephin and zosyn for treatment of psuedomonas. these things are
pretty basic knowledge but it honestly did not cross my mind to call
the pharmacist dumb because I know it’s hard concept to grab if you’re
not used to doing all that. A doctor once asked if vanco would cover
for bacteroides fragilis and one the new retail pharmacist said “I
think so”. Well, bacteroides is an anaerobic bacteria, completely wrong
answer.  If everyone of us treated interns like you do, then we will
have no interns or no one will want to get into the profession of
pharmacy. You sound like one of these jackass arrogant surgeons at the
hospital, that knows nothing about drugs but thinks they are the alpha
and omega.

 Well don’t you get the Nobel peace prize for being the most compassionate and understanding pharmacist on the planet. Wait, did you realize what site you are on?  Did your huge clinical knowledge of kinetic data tell you that you are on THE ANGRY PHARMACIST site?  Guess not.  Maybe its like the copy-transfer thing.  If I made the site THE MAD PHARMACIST or THE MEAN PHARMACIST would you understand?

I know my fellow readers are going to rip you a new asshole for being such a douche, but seriously, your little comment was probably the most embarrassing thing I have ever read.

Comments #

Comment by DentonV on 2009-02-01 11:27:13 -0800 #

Another “Clinical Pharmacist” here, work the ER and so on. I’m finding this all hilarious. Aforementioned “Clinical Pharmacist”: Thanks for making us sound like wankers, you douche. TAP: Thanks for setting him straight.
Copies are fundamental. Just as matching the unit dose package to the order is fundamental. Just as the ability to reason through God-awful handwriting is fundamental. ANY pharmacist or intern should be able to do any this.
Also, props to my “Non-Clinical Pharmacist” brethren for saving my ass by hooking me up with refill histories. I know it’s a pain in your ass, but when the patient can’t remember shit, you guys come through. TAP should write a diddy about how I can return the favor.

Comment by Tommy on 2009-02-01 13:00:29 -0800 #

Wow, this clinical guy really is a douche bag. It’s egotistical clinnies like him that make me want to steer clear of “clinical pharmacy”. It’s basically like, “Hey, look at me! I finished at the top of my class, but have no friends! Yay!”
I am currently a 3rd year pharmacy student and it is sad that they don’t really teach us anything about the retail setting in pharmacy school. But I picked up how to do a copy/transfer in my first internship in the summer after my first year of school. It was quite amusing during my 2nd year internship at a oncology clinic. No one really knew how to run the outpatient pharmacy so I was stuck there all day doing stuff that I assumed most pharmacists would know how to do.
Maybe clinicians should start doing refresher CE’s on how to pick up phones and give a proper copy.

Comment by josh on 2009-02-01 13:34:01 -0800 #

Dearest TAP,
It’s still “have” and not “of.”
“Have,” as in “SHOULD HAVE” or “SHOULD’VE,” but absolutely not “SHOULD OF.”
You can deny my comments, but I won’t stop trying to help you.
Love,
J

Comment by rph3664 on 2009-02-01 14:20:34 -0800 #

This reminds me of the fresh-out-of-school Pharm.D. we hired a few years ago who wasn’t even licensed yet, who tried to tell our oldest pharmacist that he didn’t know what he was talking about because he didn’t have a Pharm.D.
Mr. 1966 (the year of his graduation, NOT his birth) is usually pretty laid back, but in this case, he let that know-it-all pipsqueak have it.

Comment by 20 Years in Clinical on 2009-02-01 14:32:31 -0800 #

Sorry, you just lost a regular reader. Just cause you don’t understand what some one else does as their job, don’t write it off.
If we all work together, perhaps we can address the issues within pharmacy that prevent us ALL getting correct recognition. Let’s stop fighting within the profession.

Comment by Amanda on 2009-02-01 17:43:27 -0800 #

Like Josh, I’m a little embarrassed at the large amount of typos/errors in both of your writings. Clinical or retail, pharmacists should be able to speak/write correctly, especially when they know lots (or at least a few) people will read it.

Comment by Adam on 2009-02-01 17:52:12 -0800 #

I’m a 3rd year student, too. I’ve worked in retail for almost 10 years, since I was 16. Douche bag “clinical pharmacist” is dumb. Sorry for using a word that isn’t in your “forte”, but seriously, get a life. I get so sick of jackasses in my class that think they are pharmacy gods because they are going to be “clinical pharmacists”. I’m in Rho Chi with all the rest of them and I couldn’t give a flying shit about clinical bullshit. Any one off the street with a calculator could plug and chug some of those kinetics equations, too. And what kind of doctor doesn’t know vanco’s coverage…I call bullshit on that one.
By the way, I know since you don’t work retail you might not know what a douche bag is: a douche bag is meant to clean out your pus-filled odiferous snatch. Buy one.

Comment by ~PHARMACY TECH~ on 2009-02-01 18:18:31 -0800 #

Ok…so I normally wouldn’t point out grammatical errors because that is not what this site is for, and grammar is not my forte, but since Amanda had to make a point of trying to make you look illiterate, I have to question…”lots”. I believe it should be “a lot of (or at least a few)…”or “they know many (or at least a few)…”. TAP, you are my frickin hero and I wish to hell we could get a pharmacist like you at our pharmacy. I have worked at the same pharmacy for 7 1/2 years and gone through 8 pharmacists…4 were worth a shit, the other 4…well, no comment. Our pharmacy is in a very small town which keeps the good pharmacists from sticking around…lets just say S.Dakota…enough said! Well Keep up the rants, and if you need any more ideas, which I doubt you do, let me know. The other tech and me have a list of about 20 topics we would like to rant about! Have a frickin awesome week.

Comment by a pissed off peer on 2009-02-01 18:26:50 -0800 #

First of all, TAP, you are THE BEST!!!!My staff fights over who loves you the most (of course, I win). As a retail pharmacist, I have always maintained that I couldn’t bitch too much – my woes were my own fault because I engage in a profession that prolongs the life and encourages the procreation of people who shouldn’t breed. (Ah Darwin, I fail you…). Evidently I’m off the hook because the stupid gene has wormed its way into our profession, given the textbook example of our clinical pharmacist friend.
First of all, as you duly noted, Captain Obvious, Pharm.D. fails to recognize that “angry” word. Ooh, could it be he is of the English-speaking challenged population of which he is so defensive….
Secondly, my dumb retail pharmacist ass actually DOES save lives, you fucking moron. I see and consult more real people in a week than you probably have seen in your whole three years of egocentric kinetic bliss. When Mrs. Jones is refilling her nitro every 5 days, I’m the one making sure she gets to your services in the ER, dillweed. If it wasn’t for us and the copys /transfers and insurance shit, the patients wouldn’t be actually getting their medicine – they’d go without. Oh yeah, and we also get to translate your clinical-ese in to real people language so that the patient actually understands what they are taking, how to take it properly and why they are on it. It encourages compliance, and there seems to be a SLIGHT correlation between compliance and positive outcomes.
Retail pharmacists will never escape the abuse they get from the public, especially as long as there is a cash regsiter in the pharmacy. I would, however, expect someone who has at least 6 years of PHARMACY college under their belt to grasp the concept of the important role a retail pharmacist plays, as well as the venting nature of TAP’s site (he’s like House for the pharmacist!). Our clinical friend needs to surgically remove the chip from his shoulder, inject a large dose of reality to combat the head-swelling and then see if he might fit through the door to the real world.

Comment by PrePharmD on 2009-02-01 18:43:26 -0800 #

(I have tried to leave this like four times and it keeps giving me errors, so I do apologize if it posts a million times, but I feel strongly enough to keep trying!)
“I have a retail pharmacist once try to enter an order for 40mEq of potassium IV push, another entered an order for cefepime and rocephin and zosyn for treatment of psuedomonas. these things are pretty basic knowledge but it honestly did not cross my mind to call the pharmacist dumb because I know it’s hard concept to grab if you’re not used to doing all that. A doctor once asked if vanco would cover for bacteroides fragilis and one the new retail pharmacist said “I think so”. Well, bacteroides is an anaerobic bacteria, completely wrong answer.”
No. Just fucking no.
This is the same problem we had with a graduate intern at my hospital. We hired her hoping she’d pass her boards in the next month but found that she came out of pharmacy school not really knowing shit. Okay, fine. You’re new. No biggie. Except she kept entering orders like she knew what she was doing, pretty much operating on the assumption that “someone else would catch the errors” – apparently not grasping the concept that, as a pharmacist, YOU are the person who is supposed to catch the errors, and once you enter an order into the computer, you are legally signing your approval of the order and giving permission for the dose to be administered.
Don’t cut these stupid people that much slack. It’s fine if they don’t KNOW but they need to take some fucking responsibility. If you don’t know how much K+ you can push, look it up. If you don’t know what to use to treat psuedomonas, look it up. If you don’t know what vanco covers, FUCKING LOOK IT UP. But don’t keep blindly transcribing physician orders. That’s not your job. Any tech could do that; you went to school and got your damn PharmD, use your brain.
If this intern had spent an entire ten hour shift on one page of orders, looking up each drug so she’d know what it was for, what a therapeutic dose was, what an unsafe dose was, and what it might have major interactions with, I’d have been so thrilled with her. Instead, when asked what she’d just entered, she got this confused look because she didn’t seem to understand the danger of not knowing what she was doing.
They’re not dumb because they don’t know the answers, but they ARE dumb because they’re not looking them up. Stop just fucking defending them and teach them to be useful and not kill people.

Comment by Steph on 2009-02-01 22:24:52 -0800 #

Wait.
Are there pharmacists who aren’t “clinical”?
Cuz, I don’t know any.
I do know plenty of pharmacists who wish they were REAL doctors, and run around calling themselves “doctor” while it thrills them to call all doctors by their first names. They seriously feel really superior to real pharmacists. Of course, they KNOW they couldn’t staff a pharmacy for any length of time–they’d break down in a minute.
But the smugness! It oozes out of them when they introduce themselves to other pharmacists–within the first five (two?) minutes they’re sure to slip in the fact that they are a “clinical” pharmacist–watch their self-satisfied smirk after they manage to inject that into the conversation. Oh, the thrill!
But the sad thing is, nobody really cares. When most people think of a pharmacist, they think of an outpatient or retail pharmacist and they don’t give a crap about how special the clinical pharmacist thinks he or she is.
And, truthfully, “clinical” pharmacy can be really, really, repetitive and boring, and protocol-driven. In the end, you’re still only allowed to do what the real doctor says you can do.
You just do your damned job and do it well. In the end, you’re either a good pharmacist or a not good pharmacist. But you’re a pharmacist, either way.

Comment by welsh pharmacist on 2009-02-02 05:18:08 -0800 #

We all have different areas of expertise, I am in retail (by choice, i found hospital to dull and god-doctor orientated).
I am not long in the tooth yet, and make no attempts to empart wisdom on anyone else, but I see hospital pharmacists with years of experience come into retail and really struggle, they even come to little me for advice, which makes me happy that they have that respect. The same is likewise if I went to hospital, theoretically my knowledge is fresh and up to date as i left uni only 2 years ago, but the clinical stuff that they can recite leaves me in awe.

Comment by RxDawg on 2009-02-02 08:03:37 -0800 #

I’m intrigued by the definition that some people have of “clinical pharmacy”. I mean, aren’t we all “clinical”? Sure, I guess retail pharmacists have some day to day activities that they do that don’t require “clinical” skills. Well guess what, hospital pharmacists do to. While a retail position and a hospital position may differ in some areas, we are very much alike in the most important one. We make sure that our patients get the appropriate and best medical care possible. I’d call that clinical pharmacy. And yeh, the poster that TAP called out is a complete douchbag. Have some respect for your fellow peers.
-Your friendly clinical hospital pharmacist.
P.S. Well fucking said PrePharmD

Comment by young Rxist on 2009-02-02 15:10:19 -0800 #

wow….I knew you like to rant (that’s why your site is interesting) but what you did was just too much. I think you should start respecting ALL those in the profession- and yes, sometime sthat means having more patience than you ever thought you’d need. Tp berate and tear someone else practicing the art of pharmacy is deplorable. How are we supposed to be taken seriously if our own brethren tear us a new one? Just because YOU don;t do clinical pharmacy, doesn’t mean it should be shot down like you do. I’ve done both- and I respect both.

Comment by PharmerCarla on 2009-02-02 20:53:21 -0800 #

I wonder if it ever occurred to him (or her) that some of us “no good” retail pharmacists actually like working retail. I happen to have worked in both settings, have managed other pharmacists in both settings, and still prefer retail to dealing with whiny ass PHARM Ds who think their shit doesn’t smell, that they are superior for having done 9 or 10 -four week clinical rotations and that still have to pull out a calculator to do a simple conversion. Get your freaking palm pilot/iphone out of your ass. I freaking guarantee that is where you plug in your lab values to get your revolutionary pharmacokinetic recommendations.

Comment by therantingrph.wordpress.com on 2009-02-03 10:30:27 -0800 #

Let’s be fair, (or not) and put the blame for these whiny self entitled brats where it belongs; at the feet of their professors. Thirty years ago when I took clinical courses, the instructors were the snottiest pieces of shit I had ever met. Even then, retail was below them. That has not changed. The difference now is that most of the kids, and lets not forget these are kids with mush for brains and very pliable egos, are all to willing to gulp down the kool-aid. They are the type who if they worked retail would never empty the trash, or dust a shelf. “Hey, I’m a Pharm D! I know how to look up pharmacokinetics and sound important.” Too bad you don’t know a single fucking thing about interacting with people. Reciting clinical stats does not make you a pharmacist. It makes you a fucking data base. The person you quoted in this post needs a week in my store and a boot up his/her ass. But there are some newbies who have escaped the mind molding. I have recently trained a few who understand that other colors exist besides black and white, and seem to have a grasp on reality. But until the pharmacy schools stop stroking egos and feeding their false sense of importance, the good ones will be few and far between. Keep up the good work.
The Ranting R.Ph.

Comment by The Ole’ Apothecary on 2009-02-03 18:23:55 -0800 #

Pharmacy internship is the place for learning about retail pharmacy before graduation and licensure. In that sense, retail pharmacy *is* taught in school. I didn’t have a decent exposure to retail when I was a student, and I suffered for it later. I think it would be a good idea for the several state boards of pharmacy to require some kind of balance between the two types of practice experience for interns: say, 500 hours retail, 500 hours hospital, and the rest elective.

Comment by Pharmacy Dick on 2009-02-03 23:38:21 -0800 #

Clinical person, please shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down. Three years experience, shut the fuck up. I worked 5 years as a retail pharmacy technician/intern, and 10 years as a Pharmacist in retail. I’ve worked the last three years as that idiot retail pharmacist working in the hospital setting. Thank you very fucking much for making all us hospital Pharmacist look like
Ass-hats. Retail not only takes just as much smarts as hospital, but also requires you to think like a businessman too. I sucked at business, so I dropped out of retail. I feel like I took a step back, my job is less stressful, and I salute any pharmacist that can put up with the shit they have to deal with in retail. What the fuck do you think goes on in retail? English should be a requirement to work in a pharmacist, great English, not passible on the subway English. People’s lives are at stake based on hearing what that person is saying over the phone, much more so than figuring out if you should start someone on Vanc 1250 q12h, vs Vanc 1500 q12h. Get your fucking trough prior to the third dose, go back to your fucking office, and stay off the fucking internet if you can’t figure out what you are reading. This douche probably cries him/herself to sleep every night with their Palm Pilot. Thanks TAP, I need a good cathartic rant.

Comment by Cynical Intern on 2009-02-04 13:49:15 -0800 #

Am I the only person here who can see that TAP and readers are not ripping on this guy because of how he practices pharmacy, but rather because he has an ego the size of Montana about himself?
I’ve noticed that even in my 4th year class now, a number of my classmates who are interning at hospitals come off as slightly arrogant, and feel that they’re better than those of us ( probably around 90% of us ) interning at retail pharmacies. Annoys me to no end.

Comment by Phex on 2009-02-04 20:30:51 -0800 #

We have a few teachers who are holier than thou clinical pharmacists at my school who despise retail pharmacists. They think they are dumb and worthless and don’t contribute to anything. Lets us all remember the famous saying “those who can’t, teach.”
Quite honestly, most of the clinical pharmacists I have met are some of the more socially inept morons I have ever met.
No, TAP was not to hard on the intern. What dumb ass intern doesn’t know what a copy is? He should have an extra 500 hours of retail work added on as a requirement for his PharmD.
While foreigners are welcome here, they do not have a right to practice pharmacy. It is something that is earned. If you can not communicate in pharmacy (or medicine for that matter), then you should not be practicing. Period. End of story. Too many lives are at stake for some foreign lazy ass schmuck to say celexa instead of zyprexa and not realize his accent can account for that mistake. (Just speak in a fake american accent when calling in scripts and maybe we can understand you better)
If a physician asked if Vanc covered bacteriodes then he should probably re evaluate his career choice. What a dumb shit. Granted we are all fallible but something that blatantly ignorant deserves a second look. Especially in a field that expects perfection.
“Giving a copy
will not save someone’s life, anyone off the street could probably give
a copy, kinetics saves a lot of lives everyday if you really and trully
understand it.”
So if a patient is out of town and needs his/her antiepileptic medication, getting that copy to fill it is not saving his/her life? It potentially is. What about their Plavix, tenofovir, and nitro spray?
Anyone off the street could give a copy? Do you remember anything at all about working retail? Physician offices hire fucking cadbury cunt creme scumbag fuck asses to call in scripts to the pharmacy. Why? Because they don’t have any restrictions as to who can call them in. Why? Go ask the fucking AMA why and they will tell you because it saves the physician more money at the expense of the patient’s safety. Oh wait, no they won’t. Most likely the AMA will ignore you or berate you for not being a physician hanging off of their left testicle like Tarzan doped on on adrenochrome. So no, no one off the street could give or take a copy.
I will agree that kinetics can save lives everyday. But not every patient needs kinetics now do they sweet cheeks? I really don’t think that grandma nerdlinger getting her nexium 40mg needs you to draw a level out of her fat German heroin assaulted veins. To be quite frank, MOST PATIENTS GETTING DRUGS DON”T NEED KINETICS!
You seem to have a high and mighty view of yourself. Lets get one thing straight sugar tits, just because you are a clinical pharmacist does not make you a smarter, better, more successful, more intelligent, and especially not a more compassionate person.
You are in the same boat as us Macgyver. When you are handed a pencil, black rubber dildo, and a pint glass full of pregnant mare urine, you still have to turn that into a lock pick to open the door to fix the problem.
Amen brothers. Much Love.
-Phex
-3rd Year PharmD/MBA Candidate

Comment by Rx Student on 2009-02-04 21:01:16 -0800 #

Wow…TAP, there is definitely some miscommunication here. Or maybe it was sarcasm you were attempting. I clicked on this link to The Happy-Go-Lucky Pharmacist and ended up reading all these angry rants. And, since they upset me, I decided to spend 3 hours reading all the ones you’ve ever written. Next time, when you decide to write about the bad things in the profession, would you consider naming it “The Angry Pharmacist,” or something to that effect. Also, as for your poor grammar, you’re in America, dangit, learn to speak Spanish.

Comment by Dave on 2009-02-06 02:00:38 -0800 #

Seriously, what the hell is this?? I come on this site at quarter to four in the morning because this last day has just sucked the life out of me and I’m trying to prepare my soul for yet another weekend at my 24 hour pharmacy… and I see people trying to correct TAPs grammar. Hilarious! Here he is telling all of us that know (and don’t know) about why retail can suck and people are trying to correct his grammar. From personal experience, I’ve observed that people correct other people’s grammar outright if they’re pissed (for some sanctimonious tight-ass reason) when there’s nothing else to point out but they want to let their distress at something “inappropriate” be known. Lame. Yeah, that’s the word: Lame. Personally, I think it’s a monumental achievement that TAP can even type his witty posts after a day at the ole’ apothecary. Most people I know would just drink themselves into a coma after having to deal with the fat, american public for the better part of the day.
In a politically correct world (vomit) it’s great to see someone who sometimes throws it back in the faces of people who enjoy preaching…

Comment by chris on 2009-02-06 06:18:36 -0800 #

Clinical pharmacy. Hmmm, yes it is important. Knowing compatability and what drug to use for which big bad bug. But, isn’t that what the reference material is for? I’ve been out of pharmacy school for 20 years. Most of the antibiotics and some of the bacteria we have now weren’t even around then. I have no problem saying: “Hang on let me look that up and check on it for you.” I have a great many clinical pharmacy friends and collegues and the ones that have graduated recently should know more than I do. I’ve had 20 years to drink away my brain cells. But, most of them don’t like dealing with patients and wouldn’t last a month in retail dealing with insurance companies and the public. As I said, I’ve been out of school 20 years, and things have changed. However, getting a “copy” or a “transfer” is not one of them. I’m not saying the person is dumb, but did they ever work retail before?

Comment by http://openid.aol.com/rxintern71 on 2009-02-08 22:55:47 -0800 #

Come on guys – Retail and Hospital pharmacy is very different. Just because this intern had no idea what a copy is, doesn’t make her dumb. If we ask TAP or any of the other retail guys to get Neo and Levo drips ready stat, I doubt they could come up with the drugs, let alone what concentration or what to put it in. At the same time, ask an ICU Pharmacist what a Group # is and they would probably have a no clue as well.
Needless to say, both areas are specialized, sharing a common profession. So time to come together for the common good instead of bashing each other. SO knock it off and improve our profession! Otherwise, I’ll send both groups patients from HELL – To retail, the 70 year old who wants to show her you her boob rash while asking where the kitty litter is, and the ICU RPHs the GI Bleeders who med history includes 5 different “little white pills” that she took this AM.
-no longer a-
RxIntern ’71

Comment by AO on 2009-02-09 18:46:24 -0800 #

TAP it’s hard to take you seriously when you’re saying things like “SHOULD OF LEARNED IN SCHOOL” while at the same time complaining that an intern needs to “learn some fucking English”

Comment by Chris on 2009-02-10 00:00:16 -0800 #

Some people may find that the truth is a hard pill to swallow, but Pharmacy life is what it is. (CRAZY)

Comment by BS ‘01 PharmD ‘08 on 2009-02-11 15:02:19 -0800 #

I was specifically taught in pharmacy school that a “copy” is what you make on a copier and a “transfer” is the transfer of a prescription from drug store to another.
….but I do realize that retail pharmacists are needed in order for me to have the opportunity to live in “Kinetics Bliss.”
P.S. Kinetics is but a small part of my training/job description.

Comment by BB on 2009-02-12 23:16:22 -0800 #

Here, here! I completely agree with TAP! I’m graduating from pharmacy school in 4 months and I look at some of my classmates and cringe at the thought of them out practicing and f*cking up. Honestly, if the GRADUATE intern couldn’t give a damn transfer, then 1) he never paid attention in school (I KNOW they teach law!), 2) stupid intern never tried to do anything worthwhile on rotation, and 3) stupid intern never worked. Don’t even think I sympathize with another student just because I’m a student pharmacist. Get real!!! What bothers me even more about that intern is how did you graduate from pharmacy school and never even ATTEMPT to learn how to give a copy??? You would think he would’ve tried to figure that kind of crap out within the first year of school. And for all the pharmacy workers who dont know what “copy” means in pharmacy lingo- where have you been?!? Are you kidding me? Seriously?

Comment by OUT FOR LIFE on 2009-02-14 09:06:04 -0800 #

Thanks Angry for capping on this clown. I just want to make a few things perfectly clear.
1.) These Pharm D’s are NOT doctors of anything. They have self authorized this title with a total disgregard for the academic definition of a doctoral degree, which is to defend a dissertation based on original, as in previously unrealized, research. They have not done this. Therefore, the title is stricken and unrecognized by academia outside of the pharmacy school schmucks.
2.) The typical Pharm.D has one more year of schooling than the B.S. degree. During this year, they round. I, as the rest of the pharmacists who recieved a B.S. in Pharmacy, rounded for anywhere from 3 to 5 months as an extern. It’s not as if they are so superior.
3.) Unless things have drasticaly changed in the last 10 years, the Pharmacy education is well rounded (clinical, industrial, and retail) are at least topically discussed. ANYONE GRADUATING FROM PHARMACY SCHOOL OR AS AN INTERN SHOULD KNOW WHAT A COPY/TRANSFER IS, AND THEY SHOULD KNOW BOTH NAMES FOR THIS TRANSACTION, just as I know the basics on Aminoglycoside dosing even though I haven’t done it since I rounded. I still know you need Vd, Creatine Cl, etc. Do I know everything about it? No, but I know the basics. Copy/Transfer is as basic as it gets.
4.) With regard to the great kinetisist, I would have been impressed 20 years ago, but now, you have computer paradigms that generate all the conceivable permutations of this dosing. You just need to perform data entry. Give me a break. A transfer nowadays is actually more difficult. I rounded with the Physicians (they are not academically considered doctors either)and the Clin Pharm guys and basically they just verbatim dosed according to their little pocket guides, so it wasn’t even like they were relying on their own information (no, it was the information determined from original research by the REAL DOCTORS, the PHD’s).
5.) This guy obviously is amongst the English challenged (check his verb-subject agreement or lack thereof.) No wonder he was so ticked about Angry calling that out. I lived in a Latin American country for 3 years, and in order to be employed there, I had to prove I was fluent and understandable in Spanish. We definitely need to bag the PC crap and do that here.
6.) Retail pharmacy is one of the hardest jobs anywhere. I didn’t like it. That’s why I got a PHD in Pharmaceutics (yes, Mr. Pharm D, a real doctorate), so I could work a normal, focused day. I worked retail for 12 years, and I can tell you, it is way harder than any other pharmacy position.

Comment by Post Bacc PharmD Guy on 2009-02-15 18:25:01 -0800 #

OUT FOR LIFE: Oh give me a break on the “you’re not a doctor of anything” crap. It’s all symantics…..it is widely recognized that a “doctor” of something is one who has achieved the highest level of education in that field, whether it be engineering, pharmacy, law, medicine, or your beloved pharmaceutics.
The term doctorate comes from the Latin docere, meaning “to teach”, shortened from the full Latin title licentia docendi, meaning “license to teach.”
OUT FOR LIFE: Kinetics and rounding is just a small part of my day……it amazes me at all of the new things hospital pharmacists are doing now.
….I left retail a few years ago……and I thought it was called a “transfer”….who calls it a “copy” anymore?

Comment by C on 2009-06-10 00:53:15 -0700 #

I think there are a lot of dumb ones out there. Need some proof? Precept a student from the newly formed, non-accredited private pharmacy school in WV. As for “clinical pharmacists”, most of those at my hospital are not highly regarded by physicians and are hated by us regular “staff pharmacists” because of their holier than thou attitudes and bogus therapeutic ideas. I’ve met very few that I respect more than the retail and hospital staff pharmacist.

Comment by A on 2009-07-07 08:08:27 -0700 #

Are all pharmacists this angry? I have to say that was one of the best rants I have read in a while. Thanks

Comment by PharmIntern on 2009-07-27 14:57:43 -0700 #

Who the hell said TAP doesn’t understand what the know-it-all “clinical pharmacist” does? How do you know he’s never worked in a hospital? Think before you type.

Comment by Mike on 2009-08-08 10:23:00 -0700 #

WOW! There are many truly pissed-off people looking/posting at this blog. Nice job, everyone. I practice both clinical (hospital setting) and retail (now-rare, independent setting) and love them both. I can state clearly, however, that after 20 years in a strictly clinical setting (toxicology) I never worked so hard and felt so challenged as when I began working in a busy retail pharmacy. I have deep respect and admiration for all of my peers out there.

For the record, in California Pharmacy Law, the term “transfer” is cited many times. The word “copy” as a synonym for “transfer” does not appear at all. Familiarity both terms (or more, if there are any) is a good idea.

Godspeed to us all.

Comment by copharm on 2010-02-26 19:29:10 -0800 #

i normally agree, but ‘something you should’ve learned in school’ is grammar. just because should- uv sounds like ‘of’ doesn’t make it so. it’s have and a contraction there of, as in: should’ve. soooo, hahahahaha ignorant fuck!!!

Comment by Dave on 2010-08-18 19:57:05 -0700 #

Im a tech who has worked his way up thru pharmacy to a management level, and let me tell you I have just about seen it all in the way of stupid RPh’s. One pharmacist was given an order to check, it was colace caps in a small bag with a label covering the cap, he didnt look to make sure what it was nor checked the bottle. Just felt the bag and signed off on on. He was asked if he saw it, he said “No, I can tell by the way it feels” Thats just down right lazy.
I have coined a term over the years for RPh’s like this. It’s called “Patch Disease” When you obtain the Patch that says “RPH” you feel you are exempt from work, and basicly just get to enjoy your $100K salary.

Comment by Ashley on 2010-08-25 15:47:48 -0700 #

Way to tell him! You know, you should post a rant about the former classmates from college who all seem to think that pharmacy school is easy.

Comment by Joe CPHT Senior - soon leaving pharmacy after 6 years of 600+ Rx a day on 2011-02-07 02:23:31 -0800 #

kudos for the great replies i am roflmao

Comment by bcmigal on 2011-02-10 09:25:31 -0800 #

And just what is it that you “manage”?

Comment by Mike Forbes on 2011-09-28 14:27:00 -0700 #

tI had a lady call me on the phone and ask me what her pill was. The description was “it’s a small round white pill” when I said I needed a little more information she said “and you’re a pharmacist?!!” I thought it had to be a radio station or prankster, but no one said anything so I think she was real. Any pharmacist can be made angry with some of the stupid shit we put up with, but there is always that person who you help and makes your day (mentally not physically you pervs). Does anyone know the law on documenting errors made by a pharmacist. I searched —“what is required of a pharmacist after they make an error”—- and shorter versions and I got this sight, So laws, specifically Pa, for documenting errors? Mike Rph 21 (years)

Comment by Jfpharmd on 2012-03-06 17:54:46 -0800 #

Out for life , I do not flaunt my PharmD . However your interpretation is inaccurate . I went to school the same amount of time as a dentist and optometrist . We call them doctors .. Don’t attack the PharmD. This was my third degree, it was well earned . I am not superior because of it , but I am accomplished and that deserves credit not your bashing .

Comment by John T. Christ on 2012-04-30 17:23:04 -0700 #

I am not a pharmacist, but I have a big book of pills and I can do anything you can. Count by five? No problem. I can even count in fractions and whole numbers. Has Earl had prescriptions filled here before? Who gives a shit, just as long as he has cash. Call the doctor for orders? Fuck no, I just look in my book and dispense what ever looks the prettiest color. Be an angry pharmacist, not really, but I am homocidal so don’t fuck with me. Real life apothecarists cant Rx Mari Jane/Cheeba/THC/The Killer Weed. Hell, I sell it freely. It is best for what’s ailing you. Your mark up/profit on drugs sucks. I make upto 3000% profit on my “prescriptions” wink wink, nudge nudge. Think about that before you went and wasted years and $$$ going to school. THANK YOU TIME/LIFE BIG BOOK OF PILLS!!!!

Comment by John T. Christ on 2012-04-30 17:30:05 -0700 #

I ought to hit you with my jar of Eye of Newt, you twit! What rock you been hiding under? All you have to do is follow the directions on the package.

Comment by Dr Majesto HaHa on 2012-08-09 17:48:47 -0700 #

Retailers are a bunch of counter monkeys. The WagMarts are not hiring anymore and yet hospitals are demanding well trained (Clinical PharmDs) but can not find any. Derpy-Doofs, costumer beaten, supervisor boot licking retailers, smugly pat themselves on the back for being able handling the counter-life. mean while the clinicians are laughing on the cool kids table.

Comment by Hospital RPh on 2013-06-13 17:27:29 -0700 #

I’ve been in hospital for the past 5 years, got a part time job at walgreens on the side and lasted a week. Mad props to all the retail pharmacists out there.

Comment by Jenni on 2014-03-10 18:08:46 -0700 #

I’m trying to find out if there’s angry pharmacy technicians out there. Do you know any blogs? I feel like techs get no respect….ever.
Jenni

Comment by Anonymous patient on 2015-01-03 14:09:47 -0800 #

As someone who has been hospitalized for lengthly stays for cancer twice, I must say that my opinion of hospital pharmacists is that they are dumb as f*ck. They routinely insist on substituting Advair for my Symbicort, even though Advair makes my asthma worse (the powder) and my Pulmonologist and I have it all worked out. They also arrogantly take away my Pepcid AC “because I am taking Prevacid, too”; once again, I take BOTH upon he advice of my PULMONOLOGIST (who saved me from constant steroids and ER visits) as well as the surgeon who took out half my pancreas. I end up having to argue which is no fun when you have cancer. In addition, hospital pharmacists whine about my Atarax for nausea (one of the only things that work for me during chemo), and set up bizarre dose schedules for other meds, such as trying to give me one Prevacid in the morning, and one in the evening; or they insist I take my Prevacid AFTER dinner (WTF??). They also try to OD me on my Coreg routinely by trying to make me take it 8 hours apart.

I NEVER have these types of issues with retail pharmacists, who actually know what they are doing and are customer-focused. My opinion of hospital pharmacists is … well ,,, they’re not too bright.