Pharmacy schools traditionally have focused on providing students the clinical skills and body of knowledge necessary to safely enter practice after graduation. This is, of course, critically important and should make up the bulk of pharmacy education; however, pharmacists who have been practicing understand that real life requires more than that.

Since I started my side hustle in medical writing, I have come to realize that it is essential to diversify income sources. Few companies have all their revenue coming from one product, and virtually no investor would recommend having everything in just one type of investment. Yet many people are fine with all their income coming from one source. Even if you’re drawing a high salary, a layoff or an unforeseen situation where you are cut off from that income will result in earnings going to zero.

When many pharmacists talk about developing their skills or advancing careers, they often talk about it within the context of clinical knowledge and skills: pursuing board certifications, moving into a more ‘clinical’ role (though I think it’s time to stop using that word), or taking certificate courses to enhance clinical knowledge. While these are all excellent pathways, in this post we’ll look at other, nonclinical career-enhancing skills that are often overlooked.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a surge in demand for health care, leading to widespread shortages of PPE, staffing, hospital beds, and more. During this time, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) issued a report that raised concerns about the alarming conditions, which one nurse described as ‘pandemic nursing,’ and which was increasing the risk for errors.

In my first job out of school, I worked as a float pharmacist for a national chain and was fortunate to be in an amazing district, where I learned a lot and had great experiences in numerous stores. After about a year, I got the chance to pursue my dream and move to Hawaii, where I worked for about 8 months as a staff pharmacist at a long-term care pharmacy, and then later became its manager. I’ve managed a couple of different pharmacies since.

You give a lot as a preceptor, but you get so much in return. Not only have I learned a lot from students working with me in pharmacy, but also the pharmacy practice and patient care have benefited as well. By helping catch potential errors, taking an active role in process improvement projects, jumping in the trenches with me during particularly busy times, and even making my job of hiring easy (I’ve hired a former pupil), students have left a lasting impact on rotation. Let’s look at how you can be sure your students are getting just as much out of being there as you’re getting out of them being there.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination campaign is thankfully in full force now in the US, with >128 million doses administered and almost 14% of the population having been fully vaccinated as of March 23, 2021. In Northeast Florida, where I work, we are aggressively vaccinating. The health system I work for, for example, has held clinics that have vaccinated close to 2500 people in 1 day (in addition to >5000 employees). Also, our health department, as well as other health systems,

Pharmacy practice has changed significantly in the past 10 years. There’s been a large shift as the industry becomes increasingly consolidated and mail-order pharmacies continue to take a larger share of the national prescription volume. In addition, pharmacists participate in more patient care activities like conducting MTMs, dispensing travel vaccines and contraceptives, and doing point-of-care testing.

In 2018 the opioid crisis led to over 67 000 deaths, and while improvements have been made, it is still a leading cause of death nationwide. Being on the front lines is where we can have the biggest impact. Florida, where I practice pharmacy, now even requires patients to be given a handout discussing alternative treatment options for pain each time they are prescribed an opioid.

With the recent Emergency Use Authorization of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and others likely not far behind, now is the time for pharmacies to prepare for some mass immunization efforts. Here’s what you can do to get ready.

There’s nothing that can muck up a busy day like a Board of Pharmacy inspector walking through the door, unannounced, to poke around your pharmacy. Even for a pharmacy in good order, an inspector can take up to an hour of work time or more, all while prescriptions and vaccinations are backing up or you are forced to balance both the inspector’s queries and the needs of your patients.

Medications for cardiovascular disease dominate the list of most widely-prescribed drugs in the US , and there's no doubt you probably prescribe them nearly every day in your practice. However, lurking behind some of those therapies are dangerous drug interactions. This quiz covers the top 5 interactions I see regularly in my practice as a community pharmacist.

While historically most people have associated sabbaticals with universities and tenured professors, more and more companies are realizing the benefits of employees taking sabbaticals and are even offering them to full-time employees. In other words, the stigma associated with gaps in employment is diminishing as work culture changes. Contrary to popular belief, a sabbatical will not necessarily hurt your chances of future employment.

I have been a pharmacist for almost nine years, and my career path has been somewhat unconventional in that I have been a manager for almost eight of those years. I took my first job with Walgreens and worked there for a little under a year before moving to Hawaii, where I took a job in long-term care. I was hired on as a staff pharmacist but (unknown to me, although certainly not a bad thing) I was actually being brought on to eventually become the manager of the pharmacy.

In a previous article, I talked about where a lot of the pharmacy jobs are and brought up the Aggregate Demand Index (ADI), which aims to measure demand in each individual state as well as the nation as a whole. It also aims to measure demand in multiple traditional settings, which I’ll discuss, as well as non-traditional settings you might not have thought of.

I have been licensed in a total of three states in my career and have learned some hard lessons along the way about obtaining licensure. In fact, I think this is one of the most important topics not covered in pharmacy school (I have precepted probably 30-40 students and have never had one say that pharmacy school prepared them for it).

It’s no secret community pharmacists could use more hours in their day. With unpredictable volumes, the implementation of non-dispensing activities like vaccinations, and MTM that need to be completed between dispensing, pharmacists often feel stressed and short on time throughout their day.

The upcoming flu season has many healthcare professionals especially worried this year. COVID-19 alone has stretched the healthcare system to its breaking point in many places, and it remains to be seen whether we will face another surge of infections during the peak of the flu season. To make matters worse, influenza and COVID-19 are both upper respiratory illnesses with similar presentations, and the possibility of co-infection further increases the chances of misdiagnosis.

Picking up the pieces after a break-in might feel like an insurmountable task, but it’s absolutely manageable if you have the right approach. If your pharmacy was broken into, here’s a guide to get you back up and running. For this article, we’ll divide action items into three major categories: legal, safety, and financial.