Any Pharmacists on here? Quest for FIRE

[gwix98]

Dave,

A little story that may interest you:

Our former pharmacist who was working at local
pharmacy here in the PNW was either approached or
had some contact with WalGreens.

Said that they would want an experienced pharmacist
to relocate in the greater Phoenix area for 6 years.

For that 6 year committment they would pay him
1 million dollars. Guess thats how desperate they were for pharmacists at that time...hard to believe that
is a true story..and maybe its just a story, but
its nice to know you are in a career path with options!

gwix

 

[P.S.]

Hmm.. seems like quite a pickle, but be encouraged that the median/average household income is much less than yours.
We have basic phone service with verizon which is less than $10/mo, each phone call a few cents. One feature- caller ID. Long distance calls, we use MCI phone card from Costco @3 cents/min. Dial up internet $12/mo. No cell phone but we probably will get one in the future, most basic plan, expressly used for emergencies only, no convenience calls.
I have only ever heard bad things about leasing a car...maybe is there a way out of that?
I know family time is very important to you but I guess you weigh the burden of debt vs. paying it off and make your decisions. Moonlighting would bring in extra money.

 

[dougie790]

This thread kinda died off. I was hoping to hear from somebody working in the field saying hang in there, blah blah, you will get there cause I did it working at CVS/Rite Aid, etc. Or even better would be someone in my particular area, home infusion. The salary is a little less but its a much better lifestyle and environment. Thanks for your responses and insight. I know I just have to cut out as much as we can cut out.

 

[Martha]

What is home infusion anyway? Curious.

 

[REWahoo]

What is home infusion anyway? Curious.

Good question. I think it may be shorthand for "giving the real estate market a shot in the arm", but I'm interested in hearing it from a professional..

REW

 

[Nords]

What is home infusion anyway? Curious.

Sounds pretty painful... I don't know how they make the entire house fit through that "little" needle...

 

[dougie790]

Haha, good one. Home infusion is an area of pharmacy that deals with IVs given in the home. The patient leaves the hospital and can continue IV therapy in the home, with nurses visiting periodically. The patient is taught how to administer and maintain everything. We also do long term patients with chemotherapy, nutrition, and pain management. Insurance covers these treatments when they want to get the patient out of the hospital or when they wont pay for inpatient treatments. So basically I am in an office and we mix everything in a sterile cleanroom and the IVs are delivered to the patients home and then nurses visit them as needed. It has good hours, 830-5 M-F (which may seem normal to others, but in the pharmacy world these are very rare), however we are on call 24/7. It is a very challenging and interesting practice dealing with novel therapies and backgrounds that you would not be exposed to in retail. I guess it could be summed up as the middle ground between hospital and retail pharmacy if that makes any sense.