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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 question:

“What is it that you really want to do for work? Is it pharmacy?”

Some pharmacists are torn by this question. After all, we spent so much time, energy, and money into developing this career asset.

Some feel like they just want to completely leave pharmacy behind. But for many, it seems like nothing more than a fantasy to consider other things they could be doing with their life. We’ve helped people in such situations get into different industries like programming, insurance, financial consulting, real estate, and public health.

After many exchanges like the ones mentioned above, we decided to create this simple quiz to help you consider different routes in pharmacy.

Question #1:

Do you spend the majority of your time at work dreading the tasks you have to complete?

A. Yes. The majority of what I do is unpleasant at best and ultimately leaves me feeling worse than when I started.

B. No, the majority of my time I feel fulfilled in what I do, and I enjoy my work.

Question #2:

Have you spent longer than six months considering a new career path?

A. Yes. For at least the last six months, I’ve considered __________ (starting a business, writing a book, getting more education to get into a new field, etc.).

B. Not really. I’ve thought about maybe looking elsewhere, but I don’t feel that much of a need for a change.

Question #3:

Have you fully exhausted all the different career paths available to you as a pharmacist?

A. Yes. I’ve researched the paths that are interesting to me, but I know that none of them would be a good fit based on my natural strengths, personality, and gifts.

B. No, I haven’t really done much looking.

Question #4:

Is there something that is preventing you from practicing pharmacy (legally, medically, or otherwise)?

A. Yes. There, there are obstacles in my path that prevent me from practicing pharmacy in my current state, and/or I have physical limitations that prevent me from being able to handle many pharmacy jobs.

B. No, I can practice anywhere. I don’t have any physical limitations; I can lift whatever I need to and sit or stand as much as I need to.

If you’ve answered no to most of the questions, you’re likely a great fit to continue in pharmacy, just maybe in a different area. If you’re wondering what career paths you could choose, check out PharmacistSummit.com, where we showcase multiple pharmacy careers.

If you’ve found yourself providing more yes answers than no answers, you may want to consider leaving pharmacy. If you’d like to talk to one of our career consultants, we can set you up with a free consultation to help point you in the right direction. We can give you options as to where you could go next, based on our work with hundreds of other pharmacists.