I agree with you 100%....I think it's a great profession for women that allows you the flexibility to have the best of both worlds. I'm home 4 days a week with DS and I since I make a good wage I still get to substantially contribute to my household. I don't think there will ever be a time where I don't work at least one or two days a week. Between 4 weeks paid vacation and my 401K it's silly for me not to work.. Plus I actually do like being a pharmacist. Sometimes the hours sucks but I feel like (for the most part) I am well-respected and fulfilled in my job.
As far as the pay differential between hospital and retail I would say it is about 8-10 dollars an hour less in the hospital (added up working full-time over the course of a year that's $15,000-$20,000 dollars that I would rather have in my pocket). And it is definitely location-based not experience-based. I'm probably only making a few dollars an hour less then my partner who has been licensed at least 10 years longer then me.
And I do agree things are changing in the profession....I'm in south Florida and the market is pretty saturated and a lot of young graduates have had to move out of the area to find a job (especially in the hospital)...a far cry from just a few years ago!
Florida was one of the last states to allow pharmacists to immunize. We are allowed to give the flu shot, pneumonia, and shingles.
In the states pharmacy is now a "Doctor of Pharmacy" program across the board, It used to be a 5-year registered pharmacist degree (my dad is a pharmacist and that is what he has). So I got my 4 year bachelors degree THEN went to 4 years of pharmacy school. Technically a bachelor's degree is not required to get into pharmacy school but I would say the majority of people do. Thankfully I had no loans from undergrad but I went to a local private pharmacy school which set me back $25 K a year (yikes!).
Currently I work Tuesdays 8a-4p, Thursdays 2p-10p at a regular store then I work Saturdays wherever they need me. I would love to just have something 3 weekdays but we will see. DS starts preschool in August 3 mornings a week so we will re-evaluate then....plus who knows what will happen when we have #2 (I would love to go down to just 2 days a week after #2). DH works from home and I have my parents and in-laws close so we are pretty flexible.
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Re: KellyR