The Happy PharmD Blog
We Get Pharmacists Jobs They Love
The Feelings and Symptoms of Burnout
The term burnout was coined in 1974 by the psychologist Herbert Freudenberger. He used it to describe the consequences of severe stress and high ideals in "helping" professions. Since then, we now realize how common it is in the workplace. Burnout has three...
How I Landed a New Pharmacy Job in 2 Months in a Pandemic – Happy PharmD Review
Over the years, The Happy PharmD has been actively engaged in helping pharmacists create a better future, within and outside the profession. The goal has been to ensure that pharmacists love what they do and get adequately rewarded for it. The feedback from...
How to Become a Drug Information Pharmacist | Medical Writing
If you want to download this guide + 48 other pharmacy career paths for you to access later, you can download it here. This article is a part of a series of The Many Paths of Pharmacy, which has 48 other pharmacy career paths. Summary - Pharmacists in Medical...
How Money Matters Plague the Pharmacy while Impacting their Hospital’s Existence
How to Become an Ambulatory Care Pharmacist | Ambulatory Care
If you want to download this guide + 48 other pharmacy career paths for you to access later, you can download it here. This article is a part of a series of The Many Paths of Pharmacy, which has 48 other pharmacy career paths. Summary - Pharmacists in...
How to Become a Medical Science Liaison Pharmacist | Medical Science Liaison
If you want to download this guide + 48 other pharmacy career paths for you to access later, you can download it here. This article is a part of a series of The Many Paths of Pharmacy, which has 48 other pharmacy career paths. Summary - Pharmacists in Medical...
How to Become a Community Health Center Pharmacist | Community Health Center
If you want to download this guide + 48 other pharmacy career paths for you to access later, you can download it here. This article is a part of a series of The Many Paths of Pharmacy, which has 48 other pharmacy career paths. Summary - Pharmacists in Community...
How to Become a Clinical Pharmacist | Clinical Pharmacy
If you want to download this guide + 48 other pharmacy career paths for you to access later, you can download it here. This article is a part of a series of The Many Paths of Pharmacy, which has 48 other pharmacy career paths. Summary - Clinical Pharmacist A...
How to Become a Cardiology Pharmacy Specialist | Cardiology
If you want to download this guide + 48 other pharmacy career paths for you to access later, you can download it here. This article is a part of a series of The Many Paths of Pharmacy, which has 48 other pharmacy career paths. Summary - Cardiology Pharmacy...
How to Become a Pharmacist in Associations | Associations
If you want to download this guide + 48 other pharmacy career paths for you to access later, you can download it here. This article is a part of a series of The Many Paths of Pharmacy, which has 48 other pharmacy career paths. Summary - Pharmacists in...
Visualization
In the 1976 Olympics, the Russians were accused of cheating due to their racking up gold medals in nearly every event. Rumors and assumptions were made they had to be abusing drugs to be winning these medals at an unprecedented number. But as the passing drug tests...
Don’t Rely on New Year’s Resolutions to Make a Change
Did you know that 92% of New Year’s Resolutions are never achieved? Perhaps, in a society that expects overnight success, we've set ourselves up for disappointment.Perhaps our goals were not broken down into bite-size things that we could tackle.Perhaps we didn't...
How to Become an Academic Pharmacist | Academia
If you want to download this guide + 48 other pharmacy career paths for you to access later, you can download it here. This article is a part of a series of The Many Paths of Pharmacy, which has 48 other pharmacy career paths. Summary - Pharmacists in Academia...
Self-Care
Does prioritizing self-care means betraying your patient care? I asked this question to myself when I was working as a hospital pharmacist and slowly burning out. Our patients have always been our priority as the sole reason for the pharmacy profession, is to take...
Examining the Friction Between the Union and Management – Why Filing Grievances May Do More Harm Than Good – Part Two
I previously wrote an article about unions and management. Two of the hospitals that I worked at had unions. In these facilities, most non-management employees (pharmacists, pharmacy techs, lab workers, nurses, x-ray techs, speech therapists, etc.) belonged to the...
How Other Departments Exceed Their Boundaries and Exert Their Influence Over the Pharmacy
I was very lucky. I had a good boss. He made me the pharmacy manager of the pharmacy in the main hospital. This was shortly after our hospital merged with a smaller hospital. He was the Director of Pharmacy at this smaller hospital. He made a woman the pharmacy...
Do Pharmacists Speak Well of Pharmacy? A Word Sentiment Analysis of Pharmacy Subreddits
Introduction The circumstances for the pharmacy profession are certainly unprecedented, even excluding the COVID crisis. The last two decades have brought about significant changes to the pharmacy profession, some notable changes include mass adoption of the PharmD...
Becoming An Exceptional Leader By Acquiring Traits That Are Extremely Necessary
Cash on delivery. That’s when you must have a check ready when they deliver the merchandise. If the check isn’t there, the merchandise is put back on the truck and taken away. Our hospital wasn’t cash on delivery. We were cash in advance. When our pharmacy ordered...
Recognizing The Signs that Your Facility May Close – Getting Out Before it’s Over
My second pharmacist job was at a hospital. I was there for eighteen years. I enjoyed working at the hospital. I’ll admit it had its moments. But it was a good place to work. The hospital was ahead of its time. We performed innovative procedures. The physicians...
Appreciating Retirement By Making Certain That The Right Ideas Are In Place
I knew in January that I was going to retire later in the year. That was good. It meant that I had a lot of time to plan. Retiring doesn’t mean that you just stop working. There were a lot of things to do before I retired. And since I’m married, my wife and I did...
Examining the Friction Between the Union and Management: Why Filing Grievances May Do More Harm Than Good – Part 1
My first hospital pharmacist job was at a union hospital. That meant every pharmacist, every pharmacy tech, every nurse, every x-ray technician, every lab worker, every security guard— everyone who was not management, was in the union. I didn’t mind being in the...
How To Approach Choosing Your Fourth Year Rotations
Many of you that say the fourth year, the year for rotations in many programs, is the best year of pharmacy school. The freedom that you have during rotations is the glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel toward you becoming a pharmacist and your dream realized. It...
The 2020 Pharmacist Salary Guide
Looking for the 2022 Pharmacists Salary Guide? Click here. Here we are, back with our annual salary guide. We provide these each year not only to provide insight into what may be the most preferable pharmacy jobs, but also to aid you in any raise negotiations you may...
Obtaining Great Comfort From My Past While Experiencing Life’s Times of Crisis
My wife and I are big baseball fans. Our team is the New York Mets. We’ve gone down to spring training about ten times in the last twelve years. We have a blast! We stay at our favorite hotel, eat out all the time, and enjoy the games. This year was no different. ...
She Quit Her Job to Create Her Dream Career
When Krista first talked with us at The Happy PharmD, she had a very negative outlook on her career in pharmacy. I hated going to work. I felt like I was in a rut that I was never going to get out of. I was miserable. She thought she would likely be doing the same...
The Happy PharmD Q1 2020 Review
You know, I imagined 2020 going a lot differently… Despite COVID-19, the world moves on, as does The Happy PharmD! We continue to help pharmacists transition into work they love and help many find better employers. I’m thrilled by what we accomplished, so let’s jump...
Overcoming Impostor Syndrome to Decrease Pharmacist Burnout
I recently read an article on the Becker’s Hospital Review about how overcoming impostor syndrome decreases physician burnout. After reading, I thought it would be interesting to discuss the factors that are influencing burnout in the world of pharmacy. Not long ago,...
Starting a Business in Natural Family Planning
A Pharmacist Who Recommends a Non-medication Approach: Starting a Business in Natural Family Planning When Emily came to us for coaching, she felt stuck in her current position. She was looking for practical advice about how to get started with a side hustle and how...
When You’re Stuck in a Pharmacy Job
Quote at the top: I’ve reached the height of my career. Is this what I’m going to be doing for the next 30 years?We usually don’t become aware of something until it happens to us. When my wife was pregnant with our first child nine years ago, I remember walking into...
Creating an Effective Pharmacy Team – It’s More Than Putting A Bunch of People Together
I was reading a major pharmacy journal. The article was talking about forming a team. The author was discussing which would be better: having an outstanding individual or having an outstanding team. The author and his article favored the team. Do I agree? For the...
Should You Leave Pharmacy?
Quiz: Should You Leave Pharmacy? Pharmacy is in tough times right now. Many people are wondering, How do I get out? They may say, "I don't know what I want to do, but it's certainly not this.” When our coaches begin working with a client, we often start with this...
Stop Networking and Do This Instead
It feels like everyone is talking about the importance of networking; it’s really become one of the ‘hot topics’ and even a selling point of conferences (in all industries, not just pharmacy). With some pundits estimating that 70% of jobs aren’t even listed and are...
Why Do Pharmacists Feel Like Impostors?
Imposter syndrome. I hear about it all the time. It runs rampant in pharmacy, in particular. Why is it though, that after all pharmacists have done—both academically and professionally—to prepare for a career in pharmacy, they feel like a fraud? Imagine this: It’s...
Pharmacy’s Mass Exodus: Why So Many Pharmacists Want to Leave the Profession
No one joins the profession of pharmacy thinking, I can't wait to make my company more money! Yippee! No one joins pharmacy thinking, Oh boy! I can't wait to be yelled at by a boss because I am not meeting a certain metric! At the heart of every pharmacist is a desire...
Five Day-to-Day Times That Inspired Quotes and Made Common Events Anything But
A Creative Solution for Pharmacy’s Job Crisis
Why Certified Pharmacy Technicians Provide an Essential Service and Should Be Properly Compensated
S1E1: An Introduction to the Happy PharmD
I’m Alex Barker, I practiced pharmacy at a Veteran Affairs Hospital for 5 years. All the while, I built businesses on the side, unrelated to my day job or pharmacy, so a few pharmacists reach out to me, saying things like, “I want to start something too.” This all...
Relocating and Navigating the Pharmacy Job Market Into a New Pharmacy Niche
Nana found out about The Happy PharmD after reading Indispensable and seeing our work on social media. After reading through the book, she decided to move forward to find a different and more fulfilling career. She was working at a community pharmacy and part-time at...
Creating a Side Hustle in Nutrition
When Jess Goff started working with us at The Happy PharmD, she was feeling desperate to get out of her pharmacy job. She felt unsatisfied by the work she was doing but wasn’t sure how to approach a career change. “I wasn’t sure how to make a change in an intelligent...
My Valuable Philosophies – How They Developed at the Most Unexpected Times and Influenced My Career
I did possess certain values when I first started working. Values such as a strong work ethic and extreme loyalty were very important. Yet, many of my philosophies resulted when I least expected them. I’d like to share some as follows. My Dad’s Story Back in...
Why Fixing Yourself Doesn’t Work in Pharmacy
Pharmacists have demanding work environments. Many on their feet for 10 to 12 hours a day. Those hours are hard on the body and leave little time and energy to rest. People tend to assert self-care as a cure-all for exhaustion. Defined as “any activity we do...
TrueLearn Review: What Should You Use to Study for the NAPLEX?
What should you use to study the NAPLEX? Unless you have unyielding confidence or haven't spoken to any of your classmates, you're probably aware that NAPLEX passing rates have been pretty abysmal in recent years. When I studied for the NAPLEX back in 2012, I made...
How to Be an Indispensable Pharmacist: How to Create Pharmacy Job Security During the Coming Recession
4 Steps to Secure a Career During Pharmacy School
How My Common Interviews are Anything but Routine and Why I Always Expect the Unexpected
2019 Q3 Review – What Holds Me Back
Reflections of a No. 2 Pharmacy Manager Achieving Second Place Through Good Decision Making
I never rented a car from Avis. I’ve rented from other companies, like Hertz or Enterprise when I’ve gone on vacation. But never from Avis. I’ve heard of Avis, though. Actually, I’ve heard of most of the major car rental companies: Avis, Hertz, Enterprise,...
8 Reasons Why Pharmacist Moms Are Miserable
Recently, I posted on the Pharmacist Moms Facebook group this question: What do you feel is the most challenging thing about balancing work and life? The answers and attention this conversation drew up were all at once fascinating, heart-breaking, inspiring, and...
This Pharmacist Mom of Triplets Created Her Own Non-Retail Pharmacy Job
Rachel Prescott felt like she'd been hit by a bus every night after her shift. At the time, she was a pharmacy manager working 95 hours every two weeks in a high-volume store with regular turnover. The self-proclaimed "fixer" exhausted every possible effort to make...
How to Improve Your Pharmacist Resume in 60 Seconds
A pertinent thought came to mind the other day. I reflected on a recent hire I made for my own company. The applicant's resume was excellent enough. My eyes scanned the well-designed PDF for an estimated twenty-two seconds. What's funny is I did this subconsciously. I...
Empowering Your Team to Apply Six Sigma Principles That Analyze Data and Improve Processes
The Happy PharmD Summit: How to Get Past the Pharmacy Career Struggle
The Fatal Pharmacy Resume Error So Many Pharmacists Commit
2019 Q2 Review – A Life Goal
Four Ways to Conquer Job Stress Which Eliminate the Aggravation that Causes Daily Exasperation
Five Key Points to Remember Before or After Losing Your Job
The rumors were flying in my hospital. The pharmacy was going to be outsourced. That meant an outside company would be running the pharmacy. We would still be housed in the hospital, but an outside company would be in-charge. This was not the first time one of my...
Side Hustles: The Secret Path to Creative Fulfillment
Should You Hire a Pharmacist Resume Writer?
