End of my first week...

Well, I have to say my first week was fantastic. It was also absolutely exhausting. Twice after work I came home, had some food, and fell straight to sleep watching the TV, something I haven't done for years. But I was tired from exhilaration, and excitement, and sheer pleasure of being what I was born to be.

But the week wasn't all filled with good news. I heard two good pharmacists I know and one good intern were "let go" by the company I work for. It is a sign of the times I guess. The two pharmacists were known to be on the slow side, but one of them had worked for the company for years, and was a really nice guy, whilst the other was a really sweet foreign graduate, who must be in the US on a visa related to working for the employer, so I really worry about what will happen now for her. I spoke with one person who believed that if that happens you have 30 days to find a new sponsor (very difficult in todays climate, but presumably even more so if you've just been fired) or your right to reside in the US is revoked. OMG, as the kids say. That means (if its true) then, since it can easily take 7 or 8 years (or more) to get your green card, you are technically on edge for all that time. I just hope that the economy doesn't get any worse (and of course I hope these good people find some good news quickly).

And then there's the intern who was let go. Apparently, and I didn't hear this first hand so its not absolutely true - meaning there may be something else I don't know - all he did wrong was fail his pharmacy law exam. I've got to say that I knew another intern who didn't pass earlier this year and that person was allowed to carry on (although the fact that it took nearly the three months one has to wait to be allowed to resit the CPJE® must leave one to question the story of why the result was delayed for so long) but that person wasn't dismissed for failing. But I did read the email I received before sitting the exams from my employer with dread, as it clearly said that failing to pass BOTH the Naplex® and the CPJE® first time and within 90 days of being eligible to sit (ie after completing the 1500 hour internship) might leave the company to reconsider the continued employment of the person with the company. But reading it as a threat isn't the same as believing that they would carry it out. But it seems that they have. Which means anyone who believes they have won the golden ticket when they get their visa stamped will have to think again, long and hard, until they have these two exams under their belt and they are fully-fledged US registered pharmacists. But even so, I can't believe they let this person go. I of course cannot go in to any details, but it is amazing what they did, absolutely amazing.

From the point of view of the foreign pharmacist, it is a tragedy - you risk everything, and potentially it comes crumbling down in an instant, having worked SO hard for so long to get so far. But what about the investment from the employers point of view? Aren't they wasting money training foreign interns to the absolute edge of becoming pharmacists, totally stuck like glue to their visa sponsor for years and years, but then choosing to let them go when they are potentially just 3 more months away from resitting the exam and becoming registered? It's not logical. I just don't get it.

And just to finish off the gossip from the first two pharmacists. What I heard, second if not third or fourth hand, is that they weren't dismissed on grounds of being slow, but were caught on technicalities for having signed out too late, or something like that. Apparently the company fines the store and the pharmacist is given a warning or two, or three, or possibly let go. But I have to ask what can you do if at one minute to closing a new patient walks up to the counter with an urgent prescription - do you satisfy the patient or risk getting fired? I will have to find out what you should do in these instances.

And just to close this blog, I bloody well signed out late on my last shift, as I got my times all wrong and forgot what time I was supposed to clock out at. Well, lets see what happens about that (hopefully nothing, but if I do get "written up" I'll let you all know).

But apart from all that sad news, my week was great, really fun, and I'm looking forward to next week now. And hopefully I'll have a more positive blog entry for you.

Steven C