Pharmaceuticals?

[Asiangirltuner]

Just wonderin...

Does anybody here work for a pharmaceutical company or have friends that do? I'm graduating this year and am lookin' to get my foot in the door and am just looking for some pointers.

[ninjak84]

Get in touch with a Mr.Hagi from Shopper's Drug Mart.

Shopper's is hiring like crazy now. They have a $20k cash bonus if you sign with them soon.
The scholarship they hook-up is the best thing to happen to me, and they promise you a job once you graduate if you want. If you don't want to work for them after they pay for your school, then you can still work wherever you want, but then you have to repay the scholarship.

www.shoppersdrugmart.ca

Look it up, you might still be able to get re-imbursed for your tuition. If you choose to work for them, then you don't have to repay the scholarship, and you still get a $20k cash signing bonus.

Pharmacy is a dry industry right now, you shouldn't be having any troubles finding work.
Especially in the States, where you can make twice as much.

[szw]

How much do you make as a pharmacist?

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by szw
How much do you make as a pharmacist?

yeah anyone got some figures ?? I need to have a backup plan in case med skool doesn't work out for me in a few years

[ninjak84]

First year at Shopper's Drug Mart will earn you anywhere from $60-70k.
Pharmacists in the USA earn around $80-110k (USD), depending on where and what you do.

Pharmacy makes for a bad backup plan, because it takes a 4 year course to graduate. Also, there's only 3 schools in Canada that have Phamaceutical courses available.

[Asiangirltuner]

Thanks for the info ninjak84. I will look into it. Also, do you have any info on becoming a drug rep for a pharmaceutical company (etc. pfizer etc.).

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by ninjak84
Pharmacy makes for a bad backup plan, because it takes a 4 year course to graduate. Also, there's only 3 schools in Canada that have Phamaceutical courses available.

i mean backup plan for if I do not get into med school....either way its going to be 4 years or more....but I am hoping I won't have to revert to any backup plan :D hell with raking in the money...I want it to be arriving in dump trucks daily :D

can you tell me which 3 schools offer this program?

thx

[ninjak84]

Being a drug rep is kind of individual to each company, as far as I know.
Most will either ask you to take a simple course or exam.

If you know what company you'd like to represent, I would write them a quick e-mail asking them what the best way to go about things would be. You might even be able to find a Human Resources Co-ordinator contact on their homepage. Once you find a person to talk to in Human Resources, then you've got a great contact to work off of :)

[ninjak84]

Originally posted by nismodrifter
i mean backup plan for if I do not get into med school....either way its going to be 4 years or more....but I am hoping I won't have to revert to any backup plan :D hell with raking in the money...I want it to be arriving in dump trucks daily :D

can you tell me which 3 schools offer this program?

thx

Haha, good call man. Med school is a great goal though!
The 3 schools are:
University of Alberta, in Edmonton
University of British Columbia, in Vancouver
And the third one is in Saskatchewan, but I can't remember what it's called.....

[nismodrifter]

thanks alot

i got my goal set...if all goes well hopefully any back up plans will be useless for me :D

[ninjak84]

Originally posted by nismodrifter
thanks alot

i got my goal set...if all goes well hopefully any back up plans will be useless for me :D

Nice!:D
Good luck in med school man. With some work, you'll be rolling in a few years :bigpimp:

[sml]

Originally posted by ninjak84
First year at Shopper's Drug Mart will earn you anywhere from $60-70k.
Pharmacists in the USA earn around $80-110k (USD), depending on where and what you do.

Pharmacy makes for a bad backup plan, because it takes a 4 year course to graduate. Also, there's only 3 schools in Canada that have Phamaceutical courses available.

You forgot to mention the unfortunate part that your 1st yr earning is pretty much what you'll be earning for the next 10yrs! I've heard that people in pharm start off high and pretty much maxed out on their salary potentials. At least in Canada that is, now the states is a COMPLETELY different beast (WAY more $$$)... I heard that superstore pays its pharm the highest in Calgary... That'd be your best bet if money is your top priority. But to be honest, pharm is a pretty boring, dead end job. I wouldn't consider it as a backup plan for med school.

[Altezza]

2 of my neighbours are Pharmacists. They both say Superstore sucks, despite the higher pay. Job conditions are apparently horrible. One of them left Superstore pretty damn quick for less pay somewhere else.

[Asiangirltuner]

Does anybody know whom I can come in contact with if I'm considering a career as a drug rep for a pharamaceutical company (e.g. Pfizer, MerckFrost etc)?

[teknical]

my dad is a pharmacist, and he owns his own store downtown, called Tower Drugs. Some of you may have heard of it. I could talk to him if you wanted, or you could just go in and talk to him if you wanted.

[ninjak84]

Originally posted by sml
You forgot to mention the unfortunate part that your 1st yr earning is pretty much what you'll be earning for the next 10yrs!

Yeah, that's the truth unfortunately. :(
I'm moving straight to the USA once I finish my education!

[sml]

Originally posted by Pacman
I'm a pharmaceutical sales rep with Eli Lilly www.lilly.ca Let me know if any of you have any questions.

Pacman

That's a REALLY good company to work for if you want to be a pharm rep! :thumbsup:

[sml]

Originally posted by Pacman


It's not bad. We have been in the news quite a bit lately, as we just got FDA approval for a new erectile dysfunction drug that kicks ass on Viagra. I'm actually going to be moving to Saskatchewan to rep the drug for the Regina region.

My cousin's working for this company in the Southern US area. All I know is that she ain't hurting on the the money front and both her and her husband's been working for this company for the past 5yrs or so!

[CRX-R]

Originally posted by Asiangirltuner
Thanks for the info ninjak84. I will look into it. Also, do you have any info on becoming a drug rep for a pharmaceutical company (etc. pfizer etc.).

I have friends with 3 different drug companies, believe me they have one of the COOLEST jobs around, What they're mainly looking for is some sort of a post-secondary education. Not necessarily in pharmacology, they more or less look for strong sales and people skills as far as I know.

[TalonVelocity]

CRX-R> Pharmacology is not that you take to become a pharmacist. :)

to everyone: I have been looking into this job for over ayear now, and my Dad has been a pharmacist for over 25 years now, so anything you wanna know, I can answer. Whoever said pharmacists start out really high, but dont really get much higher throughout their career is totally right, what you start with will probably be within 15k of what you make after 20 years.

KEEP IN MIND THOUGH: pharmacy is almost (if not THE) hardest domain to get into in all of the uni courses. My Dad had a girl volounteer to work at his store for a while (my dad owns a pharmacy in Edmonton) to make it look good to her uni. She said that this year, of over 750 applicants, only 107 got accepted, Thats insane, she ended up not making it in, with an 84% avg! You need about an 87% to get into it, making it SUPER-HARD.

Great thing about this job is that its very easy to find one. There is ALWAYS a need for pharmacists, basically wherever you go.

My advice to anyone who has completed the course is to work up north. We lived in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories for 4 years, and my Dad made over 220,000/year, they will pay almost anything there, and will take almost anyone. The north is SOOOOO cool, the coolest place I've ever been. It would be a great idea to work there for a little while to save some money.

Yes, the pharmacists in the States get alot more money, but my dad said there job is very different though (Im not sure in what way)

so any more questions, ask, and I;ll ask my Dad.

oh and by the way Pacman, your company rocks! lol, they make my insulin :)

[TalonVelocity]

ah, Im type 1

[hash]

Originally posted by Asiangirltuner
Does anybody know whom I can come in contact with if I'm considering a career as a drug rep for a pharamaceutical company (e.g. Pfizer, MerckFrost etc)?

Not sure if this helps... but according to some of my profs... the best route to get into drug marketing is to start with a smaller company and get some sales experience first (unless you already have strong sales experience in the field). They're generally more willing to take fresh graduates.

Then, once you have a couple of years of experience under your belt, you can approach the larger companies.