Over the weekend, I worked for the first time in over a month. And let me tell you, it was hectic. Since christmas break, I've been enjoying the luxury of being a "stay at home mom" to my doggy and sleeping in on the weekends. Although it was wonderful experience, bills have to be payed and ya girl was getting broke. I work as a pharmacy intern at Kroger pharmacy, and have been working for the company for the past 5 years. Stores like Kroger, Walmart, and Target are considered retail pharmacies in the world of pharmaceuticals. Retail pharmacies are mainly major corporations that provide the convenience of medicinal care while shopping for groceries. Retail pharmacy, like other retail careers are fast paced and busy. This saturday was a pretty normal pace for me and allowed me to adjust at my own pace. Then came Sunday! After church, everyone was rushing in to buy groceries for the Super Bowl and pick up their medications along the way. This caused long lines, cranky people, and constant ripping and running. As a pharmacy intern, my daily tasks are to counsel patients, provide immunizations, count medications and much more. Since I am able to do more than the typical pharmacy technician, I am given more complex tasks. For example, I can give glucose and cholesterol screenings during my shift. During these screenings, I have to be able to tell the patients about their results, explain their values and provide daily lifestyle advice. Another task, I get to do includes medication reconciliation to patients. During these sessions, I go over the patient's maintenance medications, explain what disease state they are for, and answer any questions they may have. Although, I get to do these beneficial things, retail pharmacy gets redundant after a while. It seems like you are completing the same tasks every time, seeing the same patients every month, and repeating the same information. I enjoyed the experience, but after 5 years I am ready to move on to bigger things such as clinical pharmacy.
I would have to agree that sleeping in on the weekends are the best, but it's always nice to make some money. I can only imagine how busy you are during a work day. My roommate is a pharmacy major and works a couple times a week at the pharmacy in Meijer, and I see how busy she is. Kudos to you for being a pharmacy major and working. Also - I waitress in the summer time and rude people are the WORST! You go girl!
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