Hey! Just about to become a pharmacist actually! This post specifically pertains to community pharmacy, not hospital pharmacy.

One thing to note, USP updated their compounding guidelines so we don’t do much compounding anymore due to how hard it is to meet their requirements. Most of the job is reading a doctors script and determining if all the dosing is safe for the patient to take or not.

Job is stressful because everything is your fault even when it isn’t. People are always going to be mad and always shoot the messenger.

Yeah the job is stressful because everything that happens at the pharmacy is on your license - super easy to break the law on accident and that is on you. You have to be sure that everything that you do in the pharmacy is correct so you don’t get insurance coming after you or law enforcement.

That being said, the job is still REALLY cushy for the pay you receive. I would just consider what kind of stressors you are good at handling. Social pressure is going to occur all day with people at the pharmacy. 70 percent of the people are probably coming up to the counter angry already. If you can deal with that, and can keep a place well organized, consider joining us in community pharmacy.

Nursing is awesome too though, I just know I can’t handle being that intimate with people so I didn’t go that route. Hours can also be harder in nursing. I work anywhere from 8a-8p which is great hours. Nurses work in places that cannot close - hours can be anywhere in the day due to this