Hospital Pharmacist Q&A | Salary/Pay, Pharmacy School Regrets, Career Switch, Replaced by AI?!

After 8 years of school and 1 year of residency, I finally accomplished my goal of becoming a clinical inpatient pharmacist! I'll be recording my pharmacy journey - navigating life as a first time pharmacist fresh out of my pharmacy residency. I'll also show you a glimpse of what my life is like outside of work as well!
Todays video is answering your questions about pharmacy! If you have not seen my first video yet, you can watch it here: • Questions for a Hospit...
Feel free to skip around to the questions you are interested in:
00:31 - Average salary for clinical pharmacist?
01:11 - Can you be a hospital pharmacist forever?
02:18 - Does it make sense to work in retail first before a clinical pharmacist role?
04:20 - Did you work while in pharmacy school?
06:12 - How did you pay for your tuition?
07:24 - What kept you going in pharmacy school?
08:11 - What advice do you have for pharmacy students?
09:54 - Do you need an assistant?
10:08 - Do you think pharmacy has a future or will they be replaced by AI and technology?
11:39 - Do you think clinical pharmacy is worth it?
12:22 - Do you think clinical pharmacists truly make an impact or are they replaceable/unnecessary?
13:30 - What are some things you did in pharmacy school that you will not do again if you go back?
14:02 - What would you recommend for an incoming pharmacy class to focus on to have a good chance of hospital residency and eventually a hospital pharmacist job?
15:47 - Did you suffer from imposter syndrome? When did you start to feel confident in your ability?
17:06 - What skills should I work on to be a competent clinical pharmacist?
18:34 - Will a major in human genetics and molecular medicine make me more employable? Can you elaborate on how I can go into specialties such as oncology or infectious disease?
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[@adamsnetiker]

Just found this video, great to have someone record their journey. I'm about to start a pharmacy technician program to become a CPhT but ultimately want to go all the way for a PharmD. Still have 25-30 years of work left, so we'll see how it goes... but I'm sure these videos will be super helpful!

[@christiannoh]

Thanks for the information. Dr. Sarah!

[@emmanuelagana3766]

Beautiful. Thank you very much

[@nickboi3784]

Thanks for the video Sarah! Im 17 and I really want to go into pharmacy, and I have so many questions that I need answered before I fully decide on that, and your videos are helping me out so much!

[@SarahPharmD]

Awww I am happy to hear my videos are helpful!! Yes, definitely do your research and get your questions answered before you commit to a profession ☺️ glad to hear you are being proactive!

[@user-es5jq6yy9l]

I'm a pharmacist and unless you are mobile and have a residency don't do it!

[@GritGrindGrow]

P2 here, I appreciate the video, wonderful content. My question, when you first started at your clinical position, did you ever feel like you were expected to know everything right away? Did you ever feel like you didn’t know enough?

[@SarahPharmD]

I was expected the know the basics/fundamentals of hospital pharmacy, but I definitely wasn't expected to know everything! It is not realistic to expect a pharmacist to have everything memorized. The best pharmacists are the ones that know WHERE to look up to find the correct the information (clinical studies, clinical references, etc) and having an understanding of what your knowledge deficits are and taking the time to fill in those gaps :)

[@majorpain8004]

I’m currently working as a pharmacy tech in an acute care setting while also going to school to become an EMT basic. I’m almost done with EMT school and I also have almost 2 years of pharmacy experience. I’m sterile compounding and aseptic technique (IV) certified and I’m planning on getting my hazardous compounding and preceptor certification. I don’t plan on getting a bachelors since from what I heard most pharmacy schools don’t require you to have one they only require you to have your prerequisites in order to apply. I plan on taking things a little slow on getting my prerequisites done so by the time I apply I should have about 6 years pharmacy experience and 4 years of EMS experience would this help me stand out or even get scholarships to help pay for pharmacy school (assuming my gpa is also good)? How would my experience compare to the average pharmacy school applicant?

[@SarahPharmD]

Your experience as pharmacy tech and EMS sounds phenomenal! I am pretty sure you will definitely stand out from the average pharmacy school applicant :) Wishing you the best of luck on your journey - I am sure you're going to do great!

[@Memedued]

So, I'm doing my application for pharmacy school right now, and I don't want to work while I'm going to school, at least not for the first two years. I know there are people who are strong and can do it; HOWEVER, I'm not strong enough to do both simultaneously, at least not in grad school. Undergrad is one thing, but grad school? NOPE!

[@AmxndeepSxngh]

Hi Sarah, I wanted to know what if there was no need to work in hospital for 10 years would you still follow the same path or do something else?

[@SarahPharmD]

Yes I still would! I love my current job as a hospital pharmacist and intend to be one for a while ☺️ unless other factors cause me to need to change in the future (life style changes that requires me to have a different work schedule or needing to move away etc)

[@abrar_9291]

@@SarahPharmDwhere R U live and work.

[@decormommy]

My son is in high school, thinking about going into pharmacy, but so much information on the internet says pharmacy is oversaturated and not a good career choice anymore. Do you agree with that?

[@SarahPharmD]

When I was in high school, pharmacy was such a hot and growing field. By the time I graduated pharmacy school, it was becoming very saturated. However, after several years of working as a pharmacist, I am starting to hear the number of graduating classes is starting to shrink again. With every profession, its hard to predict! I hope that by the time your son finishes pharmacy school (if he ends up pursuing pharmacy), the job market will have balanced out. It also depends on what field of pharmacy he wants to pursue!