Should i study pharmacy?

[ac24]

Should i study Pharmacy and become a pharmacist?

What are the pros and cons of working as a pharmacist in retail in the UK?

Ive got to make a decision fairly soon so would appreciate as much information as possible.

Im currently thinking to study maths instead of pharmacy. What do you guys think? obviously they lead to very different careers.

[love]

if i was you i would definatly study pharmacy, it seems like the most rewarding career i can think of. The job is so interesting and you get to meet many different kinds of people. Its non stop learning though and you do have to put up with some very angry people. however how far is a maths career really going to take you ? and personaly after a while of doing the same thing every day it would get very boring. If you can get some work experince in a pharmacy if you havent already done so, you will find out whether it is the right job to do.

Remember studing pharmacy is going to be very hard work and it isnt just about sticking lables on boxes!

[love]

i have cut and paste this quote from one of our member!

Don't be put off by the likes of Linnear- some of us really do love our jobs.
I've been the manager of "my" seaside pharmacy for 5 years now, and I have a great time, great staff, great customers and great customer relations. I thought I'd get bored of doing the same thing day in, day out, but somehow no two days are ever the same,and the months just fly past. Mine is an intensely gratifying job, I can't begin to tell you how moved I am when I get "thank You" cards from patients, and not just at Xmas!
To this day I still have no idea what made me choose this line of work- I started off wanting a Maths degree!- but I can honestly say that I have never regretted my choice.
A pharmacy degree will open up so many opportunities for you, so just knuckle down, get registered, and then take your pick of careers![/QUOTE]

[ac24]

that sounds interesting... have you worked in retail before?
the reason why i asked was because most people in this forum work in retail and say it is pretty bad and boring.

Maths can lead to a huge variety of careers so im not worried about that.

What do others think?

[Zoggite]

most people in this forum work in retail and say it is pretty bad and boring.

Who said "boring"?

Maths can lead to a huge variety of careers so im not worried about that.

Don't let the careers-thing cloud your mind: what is it that you'd like to do? what's making you even consider the two subjects?

[ac24]

i would happily do either.. theyre both subjects which i think i would enjoy.

Careers are important.. whats the point of spending 4 years of uni doing something then ending up in a rubbish job?

[admin]

if i was you i would definatly study pharmacy, it seems like the most rewarding career i can think of. The job is so interesting and you get to meet many different kinds of people. Its non stop learning though and you do have to put up with some very angry people. however how far is a maths career really going to take you ? and personaly after a while of doing the same thing every day it would get very boring. If you can get some work experince in a pharmacy if you havent already done so, you will find out whether it is the right job to do.

Remember studing pharmacy is going to be very hard work and it isnt just about sticking lables on boxes!

Here's what I did today, and do most days.

I got there after driving for 45mins, at 8.30am. I checked scripts until 1pm when I got the chance to get a sarnie. I then did the same until 6.30pm. My legs were hurting and I was bored stiff all day long. Why was I bored - because I had spent the best part of nine hours sticking labels on boxes and putting them in bags. Oh a nice guy gave me a horrible luck and a tut because we didn't have the drug he was prescribed in - bit of a change there I guess.

The place I work in has another pharmacist as its so busy. He's been qualified longer then me. I asked him what he'd say to a young person thinking of studying pharmacy, and his reply was "don't do it!"

Oh I nearly forgot, we did have a bit of fun. I bet one of the staff I could call another member of staff "tubs" at least 12 times before she said anything about it. I got up to 19, so I won the bet!

Sure there are occasionally interesting bits in retail, but I'd say they make up about 5%. Boring, factory type work, just churning out scripts makes up the rest of the time.

The money's ok, which is the best thing I can say really. It's basically the same thing every day.

[Zoggite]

Blimey, Admin, what's got into you these days?!?

[admin]

Blimey, Admin, what's got into you these days?!?

I'm just fed up. I did exactly the same today as yesterday. At one point the superviser had to go to the Dr's which left me and one 18 year old girl, who has been working in a chemist for about six weeks. So that's me and her on a busy Friday afternoon - ridiculous.

So obviously that led to a massive queue of angry people, as it usually does. This job just seems to get worse to me.

How's things with you?

[ac24]

thanks for the replies so far..

so what do you all think of starting a retail pharmacy business?

I know i would have some 1 that i can trust to maybe do this with (my sister).

Please give me all your opinions.. ive already found out a few things about this but i want to know what all of you guys think!

[admin]

I'm just fed up. I did exactly the same today as yesterday. At one point the superviser had to go to the Dr's which left me and one 18 year old girl, who has been working in a chemist for about six weeks. So that's me and her on a busy Friday afternoon - ridiculous.

So obviously that led to a massive queue of angry people, as it usually does. This job just seems to get worse to me.

How's things with you?

I forgot to add this bit. The Saturday lad came into the store to let us know he has got the grades he needed for his uni place. He saw we were so stretched/stressed he stayed and worked for a couple of hours. I rang head office and asked if I could pay him out of the till. The answer - NO !

Can you believe that? I gave him a tenner out of my own pocket - that's all I had on me.

[Zoggite]

I rang head office and asked if I could pay him out of the till. The answer - NO !

You see, that's where you went wrong: next time, don't ask Head Office, just go ahead and act decisively, show resourcefulness, initiative, and leadership skills and pay the poor lad out of the till!

[admin]

You see, that's where you went wrong: next time, don't ask Head Office, just go ahead and act decisively, show resourcefulness, initiative, and leadership skills and pay the poor lad out of the till!

I guess I was worried they would see it as stealing out of the till. I was going to give him it anyway for passing his exams - he's a great lad and has helped me a lot in the past. I felt bad that it had to work for it really.

You know the company Zo.........

[Linnear]

You see, that's where you went wrong: next time, don't ask Head Office, just go ahead and act decisively, show resourcefulness, initiative, and leadership skills and pay the poor lad out of the till!

The companies want you to show resourcefulness and initiative as long as it fits in with their mantra of less money going out, less staff and less stock.

I left the CO-OP because my shop had a serious shop-lifting problem. Busy store in Plymouth which was bellshaped so there were nice corners at the front of the shop that you couldn't see.

I turned the gondolas around so that I could see into all the corners from the dispensary, shop lifting was cut by about 85-90%.

But the area manager made me put them all back because the gondola ends weren't facing people as they walked in the store!

I'd love to see how much money that made as opposed to the losses that I had cut but you know how these companies work. Some tw*t at head office justifies his job by saying that this must be done and so it's done that way.


A chain down here bought fifty or so shops from an independent. Each one of these made more money than any of the chain's stores that they already had. I thought that it would be good for them to look at the new shops and see where they were going wrong with their own. But they just made all the new ones exactly the same as their old ones. Every one of these shops now makes less money than it did under the independent. One shop had twelve staff and used to do 4-500 Rxs a day plus hundreds a day in perfume.
It now does about 100 Rxs a day and has four staff and on a good day will take about £200 in total!

The only reason I can see for this is that HO were afraid that if they looked at where they were going wrong it might be theri job that wasn't needed!

[richtagg]

Oh I nearly forgot, we did have a bit of fun. I bet one of the staff I could call another member of staff "tubs" at least 12 times before she said anything about it. I got up to 19, so I won the bet!

Ha ha ha, brilliant What did she say when she finally snapped?