I am a legacy pharmacist who is finding it harder to navigate the evolving waters of today's job market, and environment. The independent sector is continually shrinking, and my geographical area has gone from years of a pharmacist shortage now to a pharmacist glut. Corporate control is ever tighter. We are under siege from what feels like third party extortion. Owner pharmacists are working days that they used to take off, now for fear of the dreaded DIR fees. So many stores have closed. Piecing a schedule together used to be easy, but is now the most difficult it has ever been for me. When I said this recently to a young man that will graduate and take boards next spring, he said it is hard for him to hear that with a quarter of a million dollars debt for his education. Wow.
My first couple years after passing boards were as the pharmacy department head in a tiny little hospital in my hometown. Past that, I have spent my career mostly in the independent realm. I was a store owner for about 14 years. In an effort to save my very small practice from forces beyond my control, I became active in the politics of pharmacy on the state and national level. My store didn't survive. The year I closed, we lost a third of the independent stores in our state. Since then, I have worked regular and random relief in several places at any given time for about the last 25 years. There were two short stints in chain pharmacies at two different points. I did a lot of long term care consulting over about 15 years. I have done compounding over time pretty much from student years until now. I resisted doing the immunization certification for a long time, but after the few years I have been giving vaccines, I know I should have done that sooner. A couple years ago, I did a pharmacogenomics certificate class, and would like to find a good way to incorporate this into independent practice. I would say my range of experience is pretty good.
So, here I am to share my insight and experience of the profession of pharmacy. I'm hoping embracing where I have been will bring a better path forward. I'm a Legacy Pharmacist, but I'm not finished yet!