Career Assignment

1
Career Assignment

• Government Pharmacist
• by Kevin Flannagin

2
Who did I interview?

• Travis Mitchell, PharmD
• Retail pharmacist and owner for 17 years
• Currently
• Pharmacy Leader at the Arkansas Department of
  Health Bioterrorism Preparedness
• He liked retail, but he likes this even better
• ADH hired a pharmacist initially for advice on
  management of the Strategic National Stockpile.
• Role is now expanded- in charge of all pharmacy
  related issues in case of natural disaster or
  terrorist attack

3
Quality of Life Issues

• Great hours 8 to 4, M-F. No holidays, no
  weekends
• Desk job no standing for long hours
• Lunch breaks takes as long as he likes
• Plenty of time for family and hobbies
• Work does not have to be your life

4
Positive Attributes

• Unlike retail, you decide when you want to be
  busy
• Variety, variety, variety
• Emergency distribution exercises
• Cooperating with other departments
• Pandemic flu preparedness
• Destruction of outdated small pox vaccine
• Warehouse management and planning
• Board of pharmacy relations

5
Positive Attributes

• Works in an interdisciplinary environment
• Doctors, Pharmacist, Nurses, Administrators,
  Politicians, etc
• Government employees are not what you may expect
• Travis described his coworkers as hardworking
  and passionate and very satisfied with their
  work

6
More Positive Attributes

• Work is appreciated
• The ADH realizes that pharmacists have much more
  to offer than dispensing or even their drug
  knowledge
• The ADH recognizes pharmacists for their
  analytical skills, because...
• We deal well with large amount of information
• We make logical decisions
• We recognize the importance of simplicity in the
  processes we design

7
Negative Attributes

• Protocol....
• May have to work through chain of command to get
  talk to the decision makers
• You can't just purchase something must get
  multiple bids
• Sometimes progress seems slow
• However, checks and balances serve their purpose
  and you learn to deal with them

8
Compensation Issues

• Salary (not hourly)?
• Competitive with other areas 90-100k/year
• Raises
• Merit raises every year
• 4.5 is the top raise. It is not unusual to
  receive top raise if you work hard
• Travis recommends keeping track of all of your
  accomplishments and projects and turning a
  summary in at the end of every year

9
Compensation Issues

• Overtime
• Not required
• Shift differentials
• Day shift only
• Holiday pay
• No holidays required

10
Compensation Issues

• Travel
• Some required
• Most travel expenses covered
• Plane tickets
• Government car, with 0.47/mile reimbursment
  (which more than compensates the cost of gas,
  according to Travis)?
• Your own car, still get the same reimbursement
• Hotel full reimbursment
• Travis' Tip charge the plane ticket or hotel on
  your credit card (instead of government card) so
  you can accrue miles/hilton points. Give receipt
  to employer.

11
Pension

• ADH offers a retirement account that you can
  contribute to pretax (he wasn't sure what it was
  called, not 401k or 403b)?
• No match

12
Insurance

• Life - 10k free up till age 65, then less from
  age 65-70, then none after age 70. Can purchase
  more for a few dollars a month
• Dental 2 cleanings a year, 1 x-ray, 80/20 on
  repair
• Vision 2 pair glasses or 2 contacts/family

13
Insurance

• Medical flat deductible, copay for physician
  visits, inexpensive
• Prescription 3 tier 5/10/?
• He was not aware of the other types of insurance
  offered (disability, supplemental, etc)?

14
Other pharmacists I met...

• I met three more pharmacists in the
  pharmaceutical services department at ADH
• They manage the pharmacy services offered through
  the ADH
• All said they love their jobs
• I woke up one morning and asked my wife if I was
  dreaming or if I really was going to work at the
  health department, said one pharmacist who used
  to work for a big chain
• You'd have to kill me if you want my job, said
  another

15
Pharmacists who work for ADH

• Besides Travis, ADH employs
• A Director of Pharmacy Services
• 3 Pharmacists that work in the Pharmacy Services
  dept
• 3 Inspectors
• The inspectors spend lots of time traveling and
  often stay at hotels in rural parts of the state.
  Travis said the inspectors really like their
  jobs, but that these positions aren't for
  everyone.

16
Travis' Advice

• Don't let work be your life get a hobby
• If you need to make some money, go work for one
  of the big chains for a few years, but in the end
  make sure you find a job you enjoy. Don't let
  money be the primary factor.
• If you're not a positive person, surround
  yourself with positive people. This makes all the
  difference in the world.