How To Transition From Retail To Consultant Pharmacist Job

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Recently, a retail pharmacist two years out of pharmacy school asked me about how

to get into a long-term care consultant pharmacist position without experience. First, connect with your long-term care contacts from your rotations (ie, if you did a long-term care rotation during pharmacy school) and with pharmacist contacts you know who are in the long-term care setting.

Making those connections is going to be instrumental in helping you get into long-term care consulting. What you do with the connections is a longer conversation. Just knowing people is not enough. How you approach them and how you convey why you are the best pharmacist for the position is equally as important. Pharmacists come to me regularly to get coached on how to approach connections or network beyond current contacts to get the job they want.

Next, review your skill set & experience. What is your experience with long-term care consulting? If you have only been working for CVS, then chances are you have not done any nursing home consulting. If you don't have experience, you can still get into the role, but you would need to overcome hurdles of convincing the pharmacy hiring manager that you are the best pharmacist for the role.

This may mean persuading them that you review charts easily to make interventions, you work closely with geriatric patients and counseling them on their medications, and that you have worked with nursing home providers. This can be tough if you live in a geographic area with other pharmacists you're competing with in this tight job market who are more experienced than you and who have direct experience in the long-term care setting.
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You could also look into getting your Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (CGP) certification and be board-certified in geriatrics. The next testing window is July 1-Aug 31 and the deadline to sign up is June 15: http://www.ccgp.org. Here is the review information: http://www.geriatricpharmacyreview.com

Depending on where you live, you may also need a separate license to practice consultant pharmacy. Arkansas, for example, requires an "at large consultant pharmacist" permit. Look into your state board of pharmacy license requirements.

FL requires a that you finish a consultant course sponsored by the FL Board of Pharmacy and get a special license. During your certification process, you will need to have a consultant pharmacist preceptor. Get to know your preceptor well and who may be able to refer you to a facility if they are impressed with your skill set.

An easier way to get into a consultant pharmacist position without prior experience is to get your foot in the door first. Get a position as a staff pharmacist servicing nursing homes and get to understand the inner workings of a nursing home pharmacy .

Impress your pharmacy manager while working in that role, get clear about the pharmacy's requirements for a long-term care consultant pharmacist, and then create a plan for moving into that role eventually.

by: Chen Yen

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