I need help on what to do about my pre-reg

[ukpharmgrad]

I hate my pre-reg placement. I have hated it from day one. Here is some of the things that have been happening.

On the first day, the guy acted like I was so stupid. He gave me the job knowing that I had never worked in a pharmacy before. Also I left during my fourth year at uni and came back a year and a half years later. So many things were forgotten. He knew this too. He kept piling work on top of me. This was just the first day. Granted it was very busy (just my luck) but he could have been more understanding instead of tutting and rolling his eyes. Whenever I do anything wrong he laughs at me and has encouraged the others who work in the shop to do so too.

When he was ill he kept coughing and sneezing without closing his mouth. He has dandruff and is always scratching himself. Sometimes has bad-breath which stinks up the whole store. There is food that has been there for a long time. He is the dirtiest man I have ever come across. I confronted the guy on the Wednesday of my first week and told him that I didn't appreciate the way he was treating me. He said that i don't deserve any respect and 'you must earn it'. Fair enough.

But after that day, I have been made fun of because of my weight (even though the last prereg guy was fat too), called a he/she, a lesbian and a thief. Whenever I use the till to serve patients, him and his wife look over my shoulder. I have made errors on the till but whenever I do, I would always call him or his wife over immediately. Whenever the till is low, I am stared at and made to feel uncomfortable. I tried to ignore this but one day, his wife was working instead and at the end of the day, the till was low. I had called her over before because of an error that I had made. We wrote it down to remind ourselves what had happened. So expecting her to tell what had happened she didn't. When I went to get my coat at the back of the store, I heard her and 2 others saying that I had taken it. The most ridiculous thing is that I am fortunate enough to have parents who have worked hard to be able to be in the position to help me out and if they were to openly accuse me of stealing, I have the means to sue.

The only reason he would call me a thief is because he is a racist. One of the girls who works there even called me a black b*tch. Also, I have to wear a lab coat even if it is hot. I didn't have a lab coat before and so had to wear his for a week. His was so dirty and smelly it was unbelievable. It was so embarrassing and ofcourse he didn't admit that it was his coat. Now apparently I stink and ofcourse he uses it as an excuse to sometimes not bathe or brush his teeth because I get the blame.

They don't always say these things to me but they say it loud enough for me to hear. Or if I walk over to a group of people talking, they would stop. If I walked away, they would then start laughing. If I complain, I am told lies and that I am imagining it and told to leave if I don't like it.

I also suffer from back pain whenever I am stressed and need to sit down often. Whenever I sit down he starts shouting at me and asks me why I am sitting down. Then when I say my back hurts, he laughs at me.

He disrespects me in front of the customers, rolls his eyes at them when I make errors and so they laugh at me. He b*tches to them about me (I have asked some of them and they confirmed this)

As a result of all this bullying, I have taken many days off and I have been late 4 times. My work has suffered which ofcourse re-inforces the fact that I am stupid to him. I am too scared to ask him for help or even go over to the customers to talk to them. I have lost all confidence in myself. I thought I was doing well. Sometimes he will tell me that I have learnt more than most pre-reg people have done by this time but then if anyone is present he patronises me and says that I wouldn't get any competences signed off at all.

I feel like there is no one to turn to. I have spoken to him about his conduct and I have been threatend with the sack. I am scared to lose my job but yet I am terrified to go to work. Also, he has had 10 years experience in pharmacy and I feel his side would always be taken. He is also a funny guy and everyone likes him and so how can I prove what type of a person he is and none of the staff would stick up for me. I spoke to someone from the society and I was crying to them on the phone. I told her to have a word with him and she did. But she then phoned me back and sounded like she believed everything he had said. He told her that I was disrespectful (not true) and that I was always late (which is true but he doesn't tell her why) and that I didn't have many compentence sheets (he has never looked at my competence sheets at all). He is such a good liar. He is able to mix the truth with lies.

I cry every single day I get home and on the weekends and I believe I may be clinically depressed. I don't know what to do. Am I just being sensitive? I am going to the doctor on monday to see what is happening with my back and head.

[Defblade]

Replied by PM

[ramroum]

Hi,

I think this is terrible. The pharmaceutical society should send an inspector to all the pre regt placements and talk to the vulnerable pre reg students and try to help them somehow. I think some pre reg tutors have too much power over their trainees that they become bullies ( they know that they can not sign their trainees off, not let them go to the exam... etc.).
The pre reg year is a horrible year; full time job+ writing too many evidences+ finding time to study+ coping with bullying tutor and tecs(even some assistants are bullies)+ trainees are expected to know everything and be better than the very experienced tecs (10 or 20 years experience) and they are supposed not to make any errors because they are pharmacists !! = feeling down and depressed.

[admin]

This is horrendous. I have met some young people who occasionally approach me with some problem, and they look so scared to ask a even simple question. I have often had them say things like "I can't believe you're prepared to help me, he/shs is so horrible to me......etc etc".

One of the reasons I started this forum was for people to hopefully connect with somebody who may be in a similiar situation, or just need a helping hand. This obviously applies to everyone, not just pre-reg students. This is not the first post we have had like this, although it does seem to be one of the worst.

I wonder if others think it might be possible to form some kind of article to send to the PJ based on these posts. Of course the individuals would be kept totally annonymous, but I feel the experiences of these young people should be heard.

Has anybody got any opinion or ideas on this?

[ymdawd]

I would start by getting some good legal opinion for starters. Join the PDA .. ?
Oh yes and document everything. Who knows how useful it could be,?

Might also be a good time to ask yourself is this really what you want to do.? If it is then you basically have two choices. One is to stick it out for the year and get on the register or move pre-reg posts.

[paco]

Stick with it. You've passed the exams, just get qualified and get out of there. Good luck

[SolomonQ]

being a pre-reg myself i cannot report the same situation with me, but I can believe everythin said and i dont think its uncommon.

Hope I am not too late in offering my advice But the million dollar question is what have your two reviews been like, has he given you atleast satisfactory reviews. if not then ur in big trouble becuase you might not be able to take the first pre-reg exam if he does the same in the next one.

For all future pre reg students reading, if the same happens or if you get treated badly or dont find enough supportin the establishment of the pharmacy, JUMP SHIP ASAP. try to sort out a placement somewhere else, even if it is for minimum wage. you probably lose at most 4K in wages, that can be made up say if you work as a locum for 3 months instead of gettin a fixed job straight away. 3 months is about the time you lose in registration if you dont sit the first exam.

[parent of pre-reg student]

I agree wholeheartedly with Solomon Q in retrospect - we kept hanging on believing that goodness, justice and right would eventually prevail - what naive fools we were! Jump ship after a few weeks of negativity, jump ship if bullying is the norm - that's how the establishment operates. My daughter discovered a reign of terror - no exaggeration - leading to low esteem and staff inability to move on. They were given orders as if they were dogs and were often in tears. Don't forget - students are humans with rights too, but the advocacy in the Uni/educational system disappears in the workplace, so in a tiny operation, there will be no one turn to. Who judges the judges?

[stefg123]

Im sorry for what you are goin through
I have had a tough couple of months in my pre-reg Im so glad its going to be over soon
I also worked with a husband and wife divorced couple (she rules the roost!)
things have happened and im goin to write a real strong review once ive finished the year

dont get me wrong they arent as bad as how you describe-but well ive been to one training afternoon the whole yr-they (or rather she) even though she knows nothing about pharmacy refuses to let me go-they complained about my hospital placement

the technician rules the dispensary
theres such a blame culture in the work-its awful
they bitch
they dont want to embrace the contract complain about service the health board runs, totally dont enthuse a young pre-reg

and then my tutor basically works with the technician and when i do something remotely wrong she glares at me-then when the technician goes home shes fine-whats the point in that-is she trying to be authoratative

i absolutely hate it-so much so im seriously considering quitting pharmacy altogether

the bosses make mistakes left right and centre but nothings said its all a joke-the pre-reg gets the blame for everything

id report him if i was you
these people are supposed to be here to help us-do what i did-start standing up for yourself-it will work you'll see-

[stefg123]

also ive been very stressed with the whole thing this last couple of months and felt very low

the thing is-i felt the whole time i had to go through this thing on my own-a disadvantage of working in an independent

ive only found this board recently

btw my tutor really doesnt care about the yr-i tried to raise my concerns with him a few times last week and it was brushed off-i was professional and mature about the way i went about it-but to no avail

my impression is-that peple woking in pharmacies are so used and set in their ways that when someone comes and disrupts that they either embrace it-or act like complete bollocks' you're disruptin their routine and they dont like-get straight onto the pre-reg managaer!!!!! get this sorted-they're gettin bloddy paid for havin you there