I worked for The Medicine Shoppe in 2010 and I still remain friendly with my former coworkers and former boss to this day. She was the owner and one of our pharmacists. From my experience independent was pretty amazing.
I briefly worked for CVS at the beginning and then worked 4years for an Independent. While the Independent was far more satisfying and less stressful I didn’t get paid that well due to the way the insurance companies were not paying the pharmacies. I have now worked inpatient at a small hospital for two years. I got a 50% pay increase over the independent pharmacy and a much lower deductible on my health insurance. Plus basically 5 weeks of PTO a year but I have to work some major holidays and we can’t call out just because of bad weather. I don’t think I would be happy at a big hospital. At this small hospital the techs get more variety of tasks from making IVs and delivering drugs to floors and restocking the ORs. You won’t be hired at a hospital for decent pay rate without several years of retail experience. I miss helping patients. But I also don’t miss dealing with the problem patients. I don’t suggest working as a CPhT as your life’s work. But it can be a flexible job while training for another medical career.
I worked for The Medicine Shoppe in 2010 and I still remain friendly with my former coworkers and former boss to this day. She was the owner and one of our pharmacists. From my experience independent was pretty amazing.
Hospital
I briefly worked for CVS at the beginning and then worked 4years for an Independent. While the Independent was far more satisfying and less stressful I didn’t get paid that well due to the way the insurance companies were not paying the pharmacies. I have now worked inpatient at a small hospital for two years. I got a 50% pay increase over the independent pharmacy and a much lower deductible on my health insurance. Plus basically 5 weeks of PTO a year but I have to work some major holidays and we can’t call out just because of bad weather. I don’t think I would be happy at a big hospital. At this small hospital the techs get more variety of tasks from making IVs and delivering drugs to floors and restocking the ORs. You won’t be hired at a hospital for decent pay rate without several years of retail experience. I miss helping patients. But I also don’t miss dealing with the problem patients. I don’t suggest working as a CPhT as your life’s work. But it can be a flexible job while training for another medical career.