A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Encouragement and/or opinions wanted - MQ slave

Posted: Feb 27, 2010

Hey all, I'm seriously thinking about dropping MQ and transcription in general as the outlook looks grim. I was thinking of going to school as a pharmacist. If anybody knows what such job is like and can give me their opinion and maybe some encouragement to make such a move, I would appreciate it. TIA!

Encouragement? - Go for it!

[ In Reply To ..]
Were you thinking a pharmacist or a pharmacy tech? I think both are needed right now. My advice is to GO FOR IT. Make a plan and work that plan with a vengence. This job has shrunk our lives down inch by inch until all we know is the borders of our desk and the glare from the computer screen. We are actually arguing with a machine about how sentences are to be constructed. Then we get on this board and argue with each other about whether someone is a troll or not. Where does this fit in the scheme of things? The whales are going crazy, I think I might be going crazy as well!

Encouragement/options - itype2

[ In Reply To ..]
To become a pharmacist, you may need 2 years of college prerequisites plus a 4-year degree. These are some, but not all of the the courses you need:
Anatomy
Physiology
Pharmaceutical Care
Microbiology
Biochemistry
Pharmacology
Toxicology
Pharmaceutics
Chemistry (Physical, Organic)
Statistics
Medicinal chemistry
Communications
Pharmacy management
Pharmacy law
Health Systems in Society
Quality assurance
Pharmacotherapy

I think pharmacy tech is a 2-year program. However, I would like to say that MT is not the only profession that has tanked. Every employer out there is trying to function with less and less staffing. Everyone is having trouble finding work. If you can afford to go to college for 4-6 years then I would say becoming a pharmacist would be wonderful, it depends on your age and your career goals, only you can decide.

Pharmacist-Some things to consider - before getting loans for school.

[ In Reply To ..]
Is 6 years of schooling feasible for you? If not, then MAYBE pharmacy tech is an option which is more like 2 years.

As far as opinions for either job, I would not look here on a MT board. I would search out boards for pharmacists/pharmacy techs. From what I understand, those jobs are kind of hard to find, depending upon what part of the country you are in. Keep in mind jobs in every field are scarce in part due to this recession or depression we are in (whatever your viewpoint is that we are in the middle of).

Also, the pay can vary again depending upon what part of the country you are in. I personally don't think the pay is that great for pharmacy techs. Also they are on their feet all day, if you are used to sitting all day for transcription that would take some getting used to. Do a google search for the pay scale and then seek out a pharmacist or pharmacy tech board and ask people who are in the field right now for their opinions of the pay, eas of getting hired/finding a job, the future of the field.

But I would get out of transcription. It is nothing like it used to be, that is, work is certainly not plentiful, flexibility does not exist anymore like it used to, and forget about offshoring--EMR will make us obsolete in the long run. There will be some work here and there, smaller hospitals, clinics, but I really don't see how even they will escape the government mandated EMR. It will catch up to them eventually, too.

I am on my way out of transcription too. I have had enough and I can see the future is not promising in this field anymore.

Whatever you decide to do, I think it is wise that you are leaving transcription.

pharmacy -- - -- very demanding

[ In Reply To ..]
The education involved in becoming a pharmacist is quite extreme.

Lots of very serious chemistry, both organic and inorganic. You have to be an outstanding academic student to study pharmacy.

Pharmacy tech is not the same as pharmacist.

My dad IS a pharmacist. - Everything is changing.

[ In Reply To ..]
My dad has been a pharmacist since 1970. He is now semi-retired. He only had to go to school for 4 years, now it is 6 years. My dad was also a manager and pharmacist at a drug store in a mall for 18 years and now works at Walgreens. Walgreens and other pharmacies have turned out to be like Medquist Big Wigs and all the other corporate offices out there in this world. Big companies really do not care much for their employees. The company has taken away a lot of benefits, retirement packages, pensions.

My dad has worked every holiday and it was hard to take time off for vacations, etc. He worked every other weekend for 30 years. My dad puts up with a lot of crap from the customers. They complain about this and that. They yell at him as to why the drugs cost so much. They cannot understand why the drugs cannot be filled RIGHT NOW because their kid is so sick. Quite a few abusers coming in and wanting their pain meds, but cannot be filled. He gets yelled at and abused quite a bit from customers. Then there are a few he loves and they are so kind to him and give him cookies because they are thankful for my dad helping them out with advice, etc.

It is very demanding job and companies expect you to fill a lot of prescriptions in so much time (like you are on production or something) and you better not screw up the drugs. You have to question everything what the doctors have written on a prescription or sent in as doctors make mistakes, but if you filled the drug and gave it to the patient, even though you did what the doctor ordered, the pharmacist is responsible.

In the 1980's, when I was a kid, I had people ask what do my parents do for a living, I used to say, "My dad makes and sells drugs." Haha. Joking of course. Also, my dad worked a lot. Once my dad had a cop car drive him to work during a snowstorm because he was needed at work as a pharmacist. My dad worked many, many Thanksgivings and Christmas. When I was older and had my own family, my dad decided to work every holiday to help the pharmacists who had young kids so they could at least be home with their families for the holidays.

My dad used to make the drugs and count them out. Now it is pretty much all done by the drug companies and all bottles are color coated. Also have to learn the computer system, which my dad could not stand using. He liked the old way of course.

YOU DEFINITELY STAND ON YOUR FEET AND SOMETIMES FOR ONE SPOT 8 HOURS A DAY. Also my dad worked shifts.

My dad ended up spending half his life working the third shift and one time, he was robbed with 2 gunman in the Walgreen's store. Luckily, there was a back door for the robbers to escape, otherwise, the cops told us my dad would have been shot.

As for 2-year pharmacy techs, my dad said it is not worth it. They do not get paid that much for the schooling you have to do. My friend is one and she thought she would like it, but unfortunately does not like the hours and holidays.

Also my mother was very sick and the insurance back then was a 30-70% coverage. My mom's medical bills ended up over 100,000 years ago and so my dad had to pay the 30% while insurance covered the 70%. So, I guess he made money, but we hardly saw it because it went to bills.

He is now semi-retired and wants to quit because of how the company has treated him. Took away a lot of benefits. He just does not know what else to do if he quits. This was his life, working as a pharmacist.

Thanks for sharing. I kind of figured it was the same - bull where ever you work now.

[ In Reply To ..]
My local pharmacist I have had for years told me the same thing a couple years ago when I asked her about pharmacy tech jobs. She said exactly what you said here.

Pickins are getting slim in the USA for good paying decent jobs where you are treated like a valuable employee.

Boy oh boy it seems your dad paid his dues and worked hard for his money. You know, I remember when they used to make the formulations the meds in the back, too. That seems like a long time ago in a whole different world.

Thanks again for sharing you dad's story.

You are welcome. I do know that my dad - did state

[ In Reply To ..]
if you are thinking of becoming a pharmacy tech, you would be better off being a pharmacist. Again, it was only 4 years of schooling a few years ago, now 6.

Also my neighbor/cardiologist, cannot stand his job. He went to school for years and took his first job here in the Northwest as a cardiologist. Moved here with his wife and 2 little kids. He basically got screwed. He works for a private practice that is affiliated with Providence. He and his partner signed a contract and even the contract was changed on them. He lost 20% in pay and bonuses. He was so upset that he absolutely had a hard time even wanting to go to work. He immediately looked for another job and honestly, very hard to find a cardiologist position. He found one back in the mid west and will be moving to his new job soon. Really sad how big corporations are treating employees anymore.

Just so you know, my dad really likes his job and what he does, NOT THE COMPANY who runs it. My dad always wanted to own his own drug store, but never happened because the big companies kept buying the small drug stores. My dad and I would laugh because we thought maybe the higher ups who run Medquist also operates Walgreens.

When my dad was a manager/pharmacist at a local drug store in the mall, it was called Cunningham's Drug Store. The big guy who owned the drug stores wanted it to be huge and all over the United States. He died and gave the 12 stores to his son to manage. What did that son do? Sold almost all of them, but kept the ones in Hawaii and Florida. Very greedy son. My dad wanted to buy the store, but the son would not let him.

Anything else, let me know. I am sure you would make a great pharmacist. I would work in small towns and that have private drug stores. I told my dad to be a pharmacist in a hospital and screw Walgreens, but he had too many years in Walgreens and he said now you have to take a test and/or go back to school for special license to work in a hospital because of how they operate which is different.

The old days were so much better. So much more friendly to one another. It was more caring and wanting to be helpful. Now it is nothing but stress because of having to fill orders and time is money and better have those 1,000 prescriptions done in a couple of hours, etc.

My dad ALWAYS went to work even when he was sick with a cold. Always. The only time he did not go in to work was for a week because his back went out. He was on his feet so much and then he stepped down wrong on a curb when he was done working and went to his car and threw out his back. That was pretty bad. The company gave him a really hard time about it too. Always giving him guilt trips.

Okay, I will shut up now. It is just those memories back then of my dad. Last thing, as a kid, I was really proud of my dad being a pharmacist. It was cool.

Gee, forgot to mention. - About the cardiologist?

[ In Reply To ..]
Gee, the whole reason I brought up about the cardiologist was that he WISHED he went to school pharmacy school instead. He wishes he was a pharmacist instead of a cardiologist. Being a doctor anymore is not worth it. His brother is almost finished with pharmacy school and looks like he will do better overall than becoming a doctor. I think that says a lot!

Pharmacist - BOMT

[ In Reply To ..]
This was a great post. Your dad sounds like a GREAT guy. Another reminder that corporate greed is proliferating through America at the employee's expense.

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