Coding bootcamp + PharmD

[Realized RPh]

Anyone know any coding savy pharmacists that work on updating pharmacy systems for CVS WBA or other? I work at Safeway where we use EPS and I feel theres lots of opportunity to improve the DUR interface especially. Any coder with basic tech experience could make the rest of the system work but I feel like there could be a lot of opportunity for a code savy and clinically knowledgable pharmacist to get a job making the DUR process more streamline in many systems. Thoughts and experiences?

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[Pharmacy is a Scam]

No experiences, but my thoughts are that this is something which is where is no “market” for. Reason being that this would most definitely be a type of job in the corporate retail setting and you’d maybe only need 2-3 pharmacists to work on building out new software, since the same software would be rolled out to the thousands of stores in the nation. Suppose you had IT pharmacists at the district or even regional levels - that wouldn’t make sense because there are still hundreds of districts across the U.S. and you’d have to streamline the strategy across the enterprise and that would quickly lead to a “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario.

 

[Realized RPh]

Appreciate the input. But anyone with actual coding experience got more feedback? I am not talking about a local IT pharmacist working for Safeway help desk or as a trainer, I am asking if there is any pharmacists who work along side the 1000s of computer science grads writing code for our pharmacy systems? Including hospital ones and mail order ones. I heard WBA invests 2.4 million a year into their software updates plus clinical information is always updating and therefor the DUR pharmacists have to do will have to have new code written for it which 99% of coders won’t have the clinical knowledge to prioritize correctly. I think there are more than 2-3 jobs out there for this if you are qualified which not many pharmacists are especially with how dumb our profession is becoming lol

 

[SF2]

Former pharmacist, current data scientist. I have been coding for the last 2 years in Python, R, SAS and SQL including launching a predictive analytics platform utilizing real-time data with a focus on developing user-friendly interfaces. Let me start by saying that marketing yourself as a pharmacist with programming skills is extremely challenging. My recommendation is to build a portfolio of projects and build your network. Once you have built your credentials, my recommendation would be to quickly move into a manager or director level position where you lead developers and do as little programming as possible yourself.

Networking is probably the most important part of this. If someone is convinced you can add value to their organization, then small sums of money are generally not an issue and positions for $150-200k per year where you are the only applicant can appear out of thin air. By the way, $2.4 million per year on updates is not a lot of money, but I'm sure that there is wiggle room in the budget depending on who you know.

 

[ecrofom]

Yes, these companies employ a limited number of pharmacists that work with IT with these systems. These pharmacists would be on the corporate side, probably with very little programming knowledge.

 

[mentos]

If you can code then why bother with a pharmD? Jobs are much better for programmers and software engineers.

 

[PharmtoCS]

The myth is that a PharmD and coding skills act synergistically by improving your marketability and by allowing you to enjoy the supposed pay, prestige, and job security of a PharmD while enjoying the less stressful lifestyle of a programmer.

The reality is that having a PharmD and coding skills improves your marketability only marginally as real opportunities are far and few between and companies will typically not pay programmers more simply for having a PharmD. The average programmer probably gets paid more than the average new PharmD grad at this point, and that is without even taking into account the student loans of the PharmD.

 

[abrahamdrinkin]

So my understanding is that most DUR stuff if built out of subscriptions from other companies, like Medispan and FDB, not st the software level. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[ecrofom]

That is correct. The real opportunity with the combo is to enable those with the combo to move up the ranks slightly quicker than just a PharmD on its own - these are for director, senior management, and higher positions. They'll give you the higher pay and possibly even more relaxed lifestyle than programmers. There's only a very limited # of these spots available and your competition probably won't be as tech savvy.

If you were to say MD + Programming... then ya, you're not going to beat the MD pay and it's better to focus on specializing as a physician.

On the flip side, if you start your own business it'll give you a big edge if you can write code or at least be very tech savvy.

 

[ecrofom]

If you can code then why bother with a pharmD? Jobs are much better for programmers and software engineers.

Problem for programmers is that they constantly have to keep learning and staying on top of trends. There's ageism that happens too.

During the current tech boom, sure you can get paid just as well or better than PharmD's... but you still have to be a damn good programmer... not everyone is cut out for it! It's also not always as relaxed of a job as people think!

 

[alpha12]

Companies don't look for pharmacists to write their pharmacy software. They look for programmers. Doing a coding bootcamp will help you get coding jobs but your pharmacy degree won't make your more attractive. And to get a job at top firms like google facebook netflix apple is tough and requires a lot of skill. Just knowing a programming language wont be enough. You will need knowledge of data structures and complex algorithms.

 

[alpha12]

If you can code then why bother with a pharmD? Jobs are much better for programmers and software engineers.

Exactly.

 

[lord999]

It really depends. Most straight and pure programming jobs in the industry get exported to India, Russia, or the Ukraine if the company is cheap, or Ireland or the Antipodeans if quality is needed for the long haul.

For full stack development, there's a short term bonanza for basic Python, R, SQL for startups and beginning analytics. We'll see if this lasts, but the enduring currency is still SAS, S Plus/R, FORTRAN, Assembly for certain embedded microprocessors like the Z80 or Motorola, and C for the major systems. Knowing the various flavors of SQL and also with protocol understanding (XML/HL7 and JSON) are always marketable.

But three things:
No one with any sense of a mature system leaves business logic to be hard coded in a system, that is a mark of a new system or an extremely incompetent developer. You build an engine, and use that engine to bild templates (classes) for less technical personnel to use. The drug vocabularies, order sets, and even Numpy libraries work that way (based on C and FORTRAN ones). That's basic system architecture. There are jobs for pharmacists in developing business logic without being hardcore programmers. Maybe try there first and see if you want to be more involved or just want the paycheck.

This isn't the first time we had a coding bonanza. Java and Ecma had it's day, and COBOL had it's day. They come and go. Can you program and keep up with nondocumented features and systems? That skill outlasts the fad until your hair is grey. Else, you'll be treated like a starving Java programmer today. And, outside government, there are no old programmers who are just average.

You don't get hired in the industry for just coding as you don't for just pharmacy. It's the same problem that it's what YOU bring that gets you hired. I don't sell programming or coding, I sell regulatory compliance with the FDA Office for biostatistics matters. Sure, I code, but you're hiring me for knowing how the ICSA fellow thinks in one of those offices, writing my routines to be easy to read, and being able to explain in English or the the ICSA preferred language that whatever your company is trying to show in statistics, that it was done above board and technically correct. Sell solutions, not tools if you intend to make it. Don't sell on tool use like full stack, sell on building easy to use platforms or engines for data collection.

 

[pharmalt82]

Unfortunately, to my own surprise, there is apparently no real market or demand for this combination or really any such combination of coder + nurse/doctor/etc.

The way the software market in healthcare works is that the customer (institutions) ask for software to be made by software companies and engage in a continuous conversation to develop and maintain the software. There is very little room for a liaison who can do both, once again to my surprise. It seems counter-intuitive and unproductive but apparently, it's not.

I learned this from a pharmacist who went to a quality coding bootcamp in NYC and he said he learned this the hard way.
Smart guy too.
After having a good job in "healthcare coding" he came back.
He is currently a hospital RPh and does a small of IT-related work for the hospital too.
None of his work at the hospital is related to his coding experience.
He did like the bootcamp as a good break from pharmacy but, he says that the software industry sucks compared to healthcare for most of the jobs available. NYC was fun though. This was about 2-3 years ago.

 

[alpha12]

Unfortunately, to my own surprise, there is apparently no real market or demand for this combination or really any such combination of coder + nurse/doctor/etc.

The way the software market in healthcare works is that the customer (institutions) ask for software to be made by software companies and engage in a continuous conversation to develop and maintain the software. There is very little room for a liaison who can do both, once again to my surprise. It seems counter-intuitive and unproductive but apparently, it's not.

I learned this from a pharmacist who went to a quality coding bootcamp in NYC and he said he learned this the hard way.
Smart guy too.
After having a good job in "healthcare coding" he came back.
He is currently a hospital RPh and does a small of IT-related work for the hospital too.
None of his work at the hospital is related to his coding experience.
He did like the bootcamp as a good break from pharmacy but, he says that the software industry sucks compared to healthcare for most of the jobs available. NYC was fun though. This was about 2-3 years ago.

Not sure why your friend was so adamant about coding in healthcare. If he was a good programmer, he would have landed a job in any industry/

 

[pharmalt82]

The entire SDN forum fawns over engineering, finance, accounting, and coding like they're easy gold mines and that these careers are defeating us lowly healthcare workers.
The grass is greener where they can't see the grass. So, they imagine nice things in that field.

The changes in pharmacy right now are nothing compared to what goes on in engineering.
My uncle had his entire field in mechanical engineering destroyed in 2 months due to global market changes.
He had to spend 2 years unemployed before managing to switch into another field in mechanical engineering.
Imagine having to switch technical paths like that and having to learn an entirely new field.
Imagine sending out 200 job applications over a week and getting 10 responses only after 1 month and most of them being denials. That is the normal state of engineering.
Imagine trying to feed a family when your job can be outsourced.

Today, a pharmacist can still get a job in this country if he isn't being too picky about location.
It takes a bit of effort but it's doable.

Most of the whining I see in pharmacy is not by recent grads but by people who have been around for 20 years who take everything they have for granted. "$100k job? I deserve it without any work." is the attitude of most, but not all, old-timers in hospital and retail.

Not sure why your friend was so adamant about coding in healthcare. If he was a good programmer, he would have landed a job in any industry/

As a good standard hospital RPh who gets to make some key IT decisions for the hospital, he makes a stable living with a good lifestyle. He met his intellectual goals and is just happy now.

He still keeps in touch with his network of friends from bootcamp.

Here's what he had to say (paraphrased):
Outsourcing has only just begun. The coming wave of outsourcing in IT will make the 2000s look like a cake-walk.
Management isn't thrilled about high pay for coders and will snap it out of existence.
There are tons of capable desperate males in Eastern Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia that are willing to do the same work for pennies on the dollar.
IT is in a bigger bubble than pharmacy ever will be.

 

[SF2]

I disagree. Some jobs can't be outsourced, and those jobs tend to pay more.

Like I said, it is all about marketing yourself and building your network. If you can supplement your PharmD with a strong knowledge of epidemiology, economics, statistics, programming and machine learning, then you will be in good shape. I doubt this is achievable for 99% of individuals, but it is not impossible and there are very rewarding careers out there for those individuals that are willing to go the extra mile.

 

[Modest_anteater]

Appreciate the input. But anyone with actual coding experience got more feedback? I am not talking about a local IT pharmacist working for Safeway help desk or as a trainer, I am asking if there is any pharmacists who work along side the 1000s of computer science grads writing code for our pharmacy systems? Including hospital ones and mail order ones. I heard WBA invests 2.4 million a year into their software updates plus clinical information is always updating and therefor the DUR pharmacists have to do will have to have new code written for it which 99% of coders won’t have the clinical knowledge to prioritize correctly. I think there are more than 2-3 jobs out there for this if you are qualified which not many pharmacists are especially with how dumb our profession is becoming lol

" which 99% of coders won’t have the clinical knowledge to prioritize correctly " You realize a coder can just look up "clinical knowledge" themselves right? Or have a pharmacist prioritize/rank the data for them. There is no reason to get both degrees. You are underestimating a programmers ability.

 

[alpha12]

" which 99% of coders won’t have the clinical knowledge to prioritize correctly " You realize a coder can just look up "clinical knowledge" themselves right? Or have a pharmacist prioritize/rank the data for them. There is no reason to get both degrees. You are underestimating a programmers ability.

yep. I work at cvs as a programmer and I havent seen a single person that has a pharm d.

 

[ecrofom]

yep. I work at cvs as a programmer and I havent seen a single person that has a pharm d.

What's your job title? Was that your first programming job after school?

 

[Modest_anteater]

yep. I work at cvs as a programmer and I havent seen a single person that has a pharm d.

how competitive is their pay?

 

[alpha12]

how competitive is their pay?

I'd rather not reveal my salary but judging by this forum I get paid more than their pharmacists.

 

[ecrofom]

I'd rather not reveal my salary but judging by this forum I get paid more than their pharmacists.

On an hourly basis I doubt it

 

[alpha12]

On an hourly basis I doubt it

More than 60 an hour so I am pretty sure it is.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Software engineers can earn well over $60/hr easily.

 

[TheBlaah]

It's very easy if they're freelancer programmers. I've known several who worked for 100/hr straight out of college. Of course, being a freelancer means: no insurance, no PTO, unstable work hours, and hunting down employers for your pay.

If they're working as a salaried employee, I wouldn't say it's that easy to earn 60/hr. They usually start out around 60-80k (a little more if in California. If you're a truly excellent programmer from a reputable school, you can get recruited out of college at ~100k), then move to 100-120k after 2-4 years. Increasing your pay after that generally depends on your networking and skills, but generally it slowly begins to get harder to climb the ladder (though there are still more options for upward mobility than pharmacy). They'll eventually have to start applying for management positions if they want higher raises beyond the yearly evaluation.

I'm willing to bet that's probably the case with Luol as well, in that 60/hr isn't his first job.

I also agree that there's really no point in learning in-depth coding with a pharmD degree. There's maybe 1 in 10,000 jobs that would require it.

 

[alpha12]

it isn't 1st was

It's very easy if they're freelancer programmers. I've known several who worked for 100/hr straight out of college. Of course, being a freelancer means: no insurance, no PTO, unstable work hours, and hunting down employers for your pay.

If they're working as a salaried employee, I wouldn't say it's that easy to earn 60/hr. They usually start out around 60-80k (a little more if in California. If you're a truly excellent programmer from a reputable school, you can get recruited out of college at ~100k), then move to 100-120k after 2-4 years. Increasing your pay after that generally depends on your networking and skills, but generally it slowly begins to get harder to climb the ladder (though there are still more options for upward mobility than pharmacy). They'll eventually have to start applying for management positions if they want higher raises beyond the yearly evaluation.

I'm willing to bet that's probably the case with Luol as well, in that 60/hr isn't his first job.

I also agree that there's really no point in learning in-depth coding with a pharmD degree. There's maybe 1 in 10,000 jobs that would require it.

you are right. this is my second job and now i am at more than 120k. But compare both scenarios

cs
4 years bs approximately 50k in debt. Maybe even less if you are smart or have parents that pay for it
70-80k 1st job
120k 2 years later

pharmacy
2-4 years under grad
4 years pharmacy at 200k debt
2-3 years residency
80k job.

So tell me what path is more attractive. in cs you can be at 120 after 6 years after high school with low debt and your 1st job would be equiv to pharm school except you get paid instead of going into debt.

 

[TheBlaah]

So tell me what path is more attractive. in cs you can be at 120 after 6 years after high school with low debt and your 1st job would be equiv to pharm school except you get paid instead of going into debt.

Before I really get into it, I'm just going to point out that you're taking upper end of one occupation and comparing it to the lowest end of the other.

4 years of pharmacy at 200k debt.

Pharm.D. and Graduate Programs Tuition and Fees | AACP

AACP asks schools to report their tuition and mandatory fees for the upcoming academic year for first professional Pharm.D., postbaccalaureate Pharm.D. and graduate programs.

www.aacp.org

That shows the tuitions for every pharmacy school. The average for in-state is 31k and out-of-state is 39k, and there's maybe 4 schools on that list that reaches 200k. Maybe you're including undergrad debt too, but it didn't seem like it.

2-3 years residency.
While it is true there's an increasing number of residency positions out there, it's not so high to be a major factor in my opinion. About 3k out of 15k graduates go into pgy1, then another 500 go onto pgy2 per year. I do think it's ridiculous how many residency positions there are, as they don't match up to the number of hospital positions, but it is what it is. Quite frankly, most pharmacists will go into retail which does not require a residency.
I'm not even aware of any PGY3s. If there are any, there's probably like 2 of them. I don't know why you bothered to include it except to be hyperbolic or you're just not aware how rare it is.

80k job
Despite all the doom and gloom posts, 80k is not the norm (even for new grads). It could reach there someday due to saturation, but it's not there yet. The only areas where it might be normal are for government work or for pharmacists who are cut down to 30 hours and unable to pick up more shifts. If you want to refute this, please provide statistical proof because I really don't want to read 1-2 pieces of anecdotes.
Anyways, income is mostly affected by region. California still has the highest salaries for pharmacy (60-80/hr).


Despite all this, I do agree that overall, the prospects for CS has become better than pharmacy as of late. While I'm perfectly well off now, if I was making my career choice coming out of college now, it would not be pharmacy.

 

[alpha12]

Before I really get into it, I'm just going to point out that you're taking upper end of one occupation and comparing it to the lowest end of the other.

4 years of pharmacy at 200k debt.

Pharm.D. and Graduate Programs Tuition and Fees | AACP

AACP asks schools to report their tuition and mandatory fees for the upcoming academic year for first professional Pharm.D., postbaccalaureate Pharm.D. and graduate programs.

www.aacp.org

That shows the tuitions for every pharmacy school. The average for in-state is 31k and out-of-state is 39k, and there's maybe 4 schools on that list that reaches 200k. Maybe you're including undergrad debt too, but it didn't seem like it.

2-3 years residency.
While it is true there's an increasing number of residency positions out there, it's not so high to be a major factor in my opinion. About 3k out of 15k graduates go into pgy1, then another 500 go onto pgy2 per year. I do think it's ridiculous how many residency positions there are, as they don't match up to the number of hospital positions, but it is what it is. Quite frankly, most pharmacists will go into retail which does not require a residency.
I'm not even aware of any PGY3s. If there are any, there's probably like 2 of them. I don't know why you bothered to include it except to be hyperbolic or you're just not aware how rare it is.

80k job
Despite all the doom and gloom posts, 80k is not the norm (even for new grads). It could reach there someday due to saturation, but it's not there yet. The only areas where it might be normal are for government work or for pharmacists who are cut down to 30 hours and unable to pick up more shifts. If you want to refute this, please provide statistical proof because I really don't want to read 1-2 pieces of anecdotes.
Anyways, income is mostly affected by region. California still has the highest salaries for pharmacy (60-80/hr).


Despite all this, I do agree that overall, the prospects for CS has become better than pharmacy as of late. While I'm perfectly well off now, if I was making my career choice coming out of college now, it would not be pharmacy.

Do you tuition numbers include room and board because i was factoring that too.

80k seems to be the norm. you can make 50-55/hr as a pharmacist but if you only get 30hrs then you will only get 80k.

And I am not sure how you are getting I am at the upper echelon. Don't take my word for it. Just look at job postings
If i search for pharmacists jobs that pay 120k on indeed i will get 939 postings in the us

Pharmacist $120,000 Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com

615 Pharmacist $120,000 jobs available on Indeed.com. Apply to Pharmacist, Staff Pharmacist, Clinical Pharmacist and more!

www.indeed.com

if i did the same for software engineer i will get 65,575 and remember that is only subset of IT. You can also be in network, data engineer, etc.

Software Engineer $120,000 Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com

38,488 Software Engineer $120,000 jobs available on Indeed.com. Apply to Software Engineer, Front End Developer and more!

www.indeed.com

So by law of supply and demand, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest 120k developers/engineers are more likely than pharmacists. But whatever. I will leave you to your opinion.

 

[PharmtoCS]

That shows the tuitions for every pharmacy school. The average for in-state is 31k and out-of-state is 39k, and there's maybe 4 schools on that list that reaches 200k. Maybe you're including undergrad debt too, but it didn't seem like it.

Compound interest will put you over $200k. This includes for in-state schools which you have to borrow money for living costs.

 

[TheBlaah]

Do you tuition numbers include room and board because i was factoring that too.

80k seems to be the norm. you can make 50-55/hr as a pharmacist but if you only get 30hrs then you will only get 80k.

And I am not sure how you are getting I am at the upper echelon. Don't take my word for it. Just look at job postings

If you were factoring in living expenses as well, then 50k debt from a BS degree becomes far more unlikely. It's possible from an in-state low-tuition college, but I haven't really bothered looking into it. I assume anything out of state is probably more than 50k though.
And if you were factoring in room and board for undergrad, that means at most it'd be another 10k for the additional 2-4 years for pharmacy school.

For the 30 hrs, so you believe at least more than 50% of all full-time pharmacists are only working 30 hrs? Because I define the norm as being the majority.

I don't see indeed.com as a reliable source for salary data with its estimator. BLS, or even better OES, is generally better and provides its hard data/method design as well to back it up. Supply and demand doesn't quite work the way you're suggesting in your post.

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291051.htm#st

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151132.htm#st

So yes, top 25%, I would consider the "upper echelon" (take it as a compliment!).

Compound interest will put you over $200k. This includes for in-state schools which you have to borrow money for living costs.

Do you go around telling people what your current and future compound interest loan will be when they ask you what your loans are?
At a certain point, it is just implied and doesn't need to be said.

 

[alpha12]

If you were factoring in living expenses as well, then 50k debt from a BS degree becomes far more unlikely. It's possible from an in-state low-tuition college, but I haven't really bothered looking into it. I assume anything out of state is probably more than 50k though.
And if you were factoring in room and board for undergrad, that means at most it'd be another 10k for the additional 2-4 years for pharmacy school.

For the 30 hrs, so you believe at least more than 50% of all full-time pharmacists are only working 30 hrs? Because I define the norm as being the majority.

I don't see indeed.com as a reliable source for salary data with its estimator. BLS, or even better OES, is generally better and provides its hard data as well to back it up. Supply and demand doesn't quite work the way you're suggesting in your post.

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291051.htm#st

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151132.htm#st

So yes, top 25%, I would consider the "upper echelon" (take it as a compliment!).



Do you go around telling people what your current and future compound interest loan will be when they ask you what your loans are?
At a certain point, it is just implied and doesn't need to be said.

You could argue that indeed isnt a good for salary estimates but its very good for job postings as it aggregates postings from different boards and if you compare the number postings for pharmacists to other professions, you would see how bad it really is.

 

[lord999]

Do you go around telling people what your current and future compound interest loan will be when they ask you what your loans are?
At a certain point, it is just implied and doesn't need to be said.

Actually, yes. I never tell people how much the book value of a house is, I ask them what their mortgage terms are and reply that the house is actually the sum of the mortgage term payments rather than the recorded value. I actually say the same for my house such that I won't accept a price beneath that sum if I were to sell it (and I know that I could quite easily recoup that value).

Same with degrees, one shouldn't think about tuition + expenses unless they're paying cash, they should think of it as the net sum of the payments they made to it (including the sacrifices done for the cheats like military service). So my alma mater's three year tuition is now $186,027. If you do the normal 10 year repayment option (without forgiveness) and had completely unsubsidized loans at 6.6%, that's really $254,613. Doesn't matter what the sticker price is to me, what was actually paid is the reality.

There are few investments that outpace that percentage at the moment (and probably even more difficult), that should give anyone pause on the value proposition of a professional degree. Doing the numbers for medicine for in-state, I can't see how they ever turn out positive financially for any pharmacist conversion to physician if they are making less than $240k. The recapitalized starting loan is $162,000 and the 10 year payoff is $262k, you lose at least $600k (8 years at $100k though you make up about $200k from the PGY scale) from not working as a pharmacist and losing the 401k gains, and the salary difference needs to be at least 2:1 in favor of medicine to catch up in 20 years due to tax treatment and debt servicing. Faced with those sorts of numbers, a pharmacist conversion to MD/DO is not an easy risk to swallow, therefore, only those who get something out of the practice of medicine should apply.

 

[TheBlaah]

You could argue that indeed isnt a good for salary estimates but its very good for job postings as it aggregates postings from different boards and if you compare the number postings for pharmacists to other professions, you would see how bad it really is.

I agree completely. The job market is currently terrible and salaries are stagnating, or decreasing in the case for new grads.

Actually, yes. I never tell people how much the book value of a house is, I ask them what their mortgage terms are and reply that the house is actually the sum of the mortgage term payments rather than the recorded value. I actually say the same for my house such that I won't accept a price beneath that sum if I were to sell it (and I know that I could quite easily recoup that value)...

The examples we were using were including subsidized/unsubsidized loans, grad plus loans, and possibly parent plus or consolidated loans. Then of course, you have the different options for repayment (as you mentioned the 10 year repayment with or without forgiveness and the possible tax bomb at the end). All I'm saying is it's a bit ridiculous to start calculating all that based on hypothetical examples or while talking about it conversationally as there's too many variables. But yes, it is important to know the sum.

Yeah, converting to MD from pharmD is rough. Quite frankly, a pharmD doesn't add too much to a MD degree either. I would say the point where it's no longer fiscally responsible to make the transition is around P2 year. Makes me kind of feel bad for the youngest pharmacy graduate, cause the tuition from Chapman alone is 250k+, maybe 300k, then she plans to go on to med school.

 

[Lubeckd]

there are a lot of coding bootcamps and it is really saturated too. Im surprise one guy was doing data science, what made you go into it? doing machine learning as well? how is it better than software engineer? anyone interested in blockchain tech?

 

[sozetone]

Anyone know any coding savy pharmacists that work on updating pharmacy systems for CVS WBA or other? I work at Safeway where we use EPS and I feel theres lots of opportunity to improve the DUR interface especially. Any coder with basic tech experience could make the rest of the system work but I feel like there could be a lot of opportunity for a code savy and clinically knowledgable pharmacist to get a job making the DUR process more streamline in many systems. Thoughts and experiences?

Yeah, click the accept button on all of them and keep moving, forget DUR's man......99% of them dont mean anything. you will know when you stumble upon the 1% during your career. They stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[TheBlaah]

Yeah, click the accept button on all of them and keep moving, forget DUR's man......99% of them dont mean anything. you will know when you stumble upon the 1% during your career. They stick out like a sore thumb.

I'm sure most experienced pharmacists do this. But new grads and the neurotic by-the-book types? Forget about it, this is why they're so slow. They're bad at categorizing important DUR's and stuff you can ignore, so they just look into everything.