Honest Opinions

[lamzee]

Are you serious? Would you honestly suggest anyone live in that crime infested den? You wouldn't want the neighbours knowing you had pharmacy keys anyway!

[johnep]

Go on I used to drive through Tallacht on way to the wicklow mtns via the military rd and glendalough. tallacht must be a wealthy place judging by number of horses wandering around there.
johnep

[lamzee]

Pity their owners are all banged up.

[the old merlin]

Originally Posted by pharout

I'd appreciate any input from those who are registered. I have been commenting here for approx 1 month and reading to gauge current discussions/activities in the UK. My wife and I are considering relocating there. She is an EU national and living/working there will not be a problem for me. Other than a brief stent she did as an exchange student in Brighton, we are pretty much unfamiliar with England. We are considering this to be in close proximity to Spain where she is from (as there are no jobs there). We are both pharmacists in the US in different capacities and have different questions we would like answers to, to help guide our decision:

Me: I have primarily a clinical background in Primary Care with a PharmD, post-doc residency and board certification. I do prescribe, order/interpret labs/take students and residents/disease state management/oversee drug utilization and prescribing variability based on our formulary.

Questions:
-I would like to continue in the clinical realm of pharmacy perhaps in this capacity or clinical program development. Any suggestions as to the best career path?
-I probably will have to undergo the overseas assesement program, pre-reg training and test. I understand the process, although am not happy with it. But I'll take one for the team. Once I've completed this mess, can I rely on my strong clinical background for a position or will they simply look at "post UK registration experience"?
-there are only 4 overseas assessment programs (all expensive). Any preference to the one in Brighton, Aberdeen, Sunderland (I can't remember where the other was...)?

My wife:
Pharmacy degree in Spain. Masters degree in pharmacology in US and has worked in US as both pharmacist and in research. Can get licensed there pretty easily. Unsure which direction she will go. Works in a similar capacity now as a locum for a large multi-site company.

Simple questions about community pharmacy practice for her:
-If you recieve vacation there, can you actually take it all at once or could you say use it to take long weekends throughout the year?
-Does the system there (as it does in the US) require you to count out quantities when dispensing, place in a bottle, and place a label on each prescription? Or is a "package" dispensed (as it is in Spain)?
-Can physicians phone-in prescriptions there?
-Is the public generally respectfull or disrespectfull of your position?
-Do you have to deal with billing issues or insurance issues?

That's it for now, sorry for the long post. We're really just trying to sort things out now, so that we come to the best decision in terms of career, place, etc.

As far as actual jobs are concerned, have you looked at Pharmaceutical Journal Recruitment Portal

Good selection, and I would suggest that you could look at Primary Care. In this country, though this means working with GP's/Prescribing Advisors to sort out "most economical prescribing", best value etc.

Good luck!