I still remember my 1st day working as a pharmacist like it was yesterday. It was kind of rough mainly due to technical issues. I started on a Saturday & I had 1 technician scheduled to work 8 out of the 9 hours that the pharmacy was opened. This was lucky considering a lot of stores don’t even have any technicians on weekends.
I worked with the same company as an intern and a graduate intern, so when I became a pharmacist, the operating system got confused about my role, so it internally didn’t identify me as having authority to do pharmacist duties. This meant that I wasn’t able to data verify, product verify, nor override the counsel screen to sign prescriptions out.
I immediately called the company IT help desk.
Pro tip: always have important contacts for the company accessible (i.e. district manager, IT Help Desk, etc…)
Unfortunately, they weren’t able to fix the problem for at least 3 hours! That meant we were 3 hours worth of work behind.
The only way to move forward when something like that happens is for you to be calm and to tell your patients that you’re having technical issues. Hopefully most will understand and be willing to come back in a few hours.
I truly hope nothing like this ever happens to you guys because that was scary, especially for the 1st day ever!
So How Should you Approach Your First Day of Work as a Licensed Pharmacist?
As a new pharmacist (and as a floater pharmacist) make sure to call the new store the day before to ask the staff pharmacist what you can expect of the store or if there’s anything unique about the store that you should know about:
Good questions to always ask:
1). Where is the alarm system? Some stores can have alarm pads or keys; & some are located in different areas. You don’t want to set off the alarm because it is LOUD.
2). How early do they fill controlled medications? Some stores have internal policies to fill between 0 to 3 days early, depending on the manager and district manager.
3). How do you work their gates? Some are electric (where are the buttons?), and some are manual.
4). Are their passwords for computer and account access updated on their floater sheet? Nothing worse than not being able to log on and then locking the system out.
Use the table below as a guide to help prepare for your 1st shift. (For best viewing purposes, use your desktop or tablet devices)
| Before Coming to the Pharmacy | Morning During your Shift | During your Shift | Closing During your Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Call the pharmacy the day before to ask questions and if there’s anything you should know about the store | Arrive at least 15 minutes earlier than opening time to prep or get acquainted with the store set up | Drink water & eat in between | Leave any pertinent notes, if applicable |
| Create a cheat sheet of information that you might need that you can easily carry in your white coat | Log the fridge/freezer temperatures | Call any pharmacist if you are ever stuck | Make sure the order is done, if applicable |
| Iron your white coat | Sign the pharmacist logbook (if required by state board) | Take your time data verifying and product verifying so that you can be thorough and to get acquainted with the process | Log the fridge/freezer temperatures |
| Carry a pen in your white coat. I also use a plastic pen protector to protect my white coat from pen stains  | Log on to the computers and open all windows that you’ll be using | Check all locks | |
| Carry a calculator (or you can opt to use the store’s) | Do anything else that may be required the company |
I hope your first day as a pharmacist is smooth and successful.
Share your story below in the comments on what your first day working as a pharmacist was like!
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