Thursday, November 08, 2007

It was an OK Hate Mail. It Was A Far Better Illustration Of The Pompous Assholiness That Can Come With A PharmD

Presented for the amusement of all who work in retail pharmacy:

Just curious---do you do early fills for vicodin when the customer is hot and fuck up other people's pain meds when you don't like them?

Wow. I guess unattractive, poor or "lunatic" people just get fucked when it comes to healthcare. You're only in charge of saving lives...but I guess the hot people are worth saving more, huh?

Fuck off, dumbass.

-Dr. Anonymous, PharmD.

PS. Eat shit.


Here's the post that set off the person who insists on calling himself a doctor when he has the equivalent of a Master's degree. Long story short, we decided we no longer wanted the business of a customer who continuously acted like an asshole, and I ran him off. There was a throwaway line about me staying after closing if a customer was hot. It had little to do with the subject of the post, but you sure wouldn't know that from this comment would you? The (ahem) Doctor....snicker snicker.....jumped all over that hot comment like stink on the shit he recommends for dietary purposes. Probably because he's ugly. I've learned ugly people are super-sensitive to the fact that hot people like me get treated better than they do.

Early refills on controlled substances were never mentioned. Let it be noted that the (ahem).....Doctor with the Master's degree was the first one to bring it up. Wonder why that is? I'd say it might be a reflection of the way the (ahem)......Doctor with the master's degree runs his store if it weren't for the fact I would bet every single asset I own or will ever acquire that the (ahem).....Doctor has never set foot behind a community pharmacy counter.

Anyone who's read this blog for more than 5 minutes, especially if they're smart enough to be a (ahem).....Doctor.....,would have little doubt how I feel about the state of health care for poor people in this country. Funny how the (ahem).......Doctor........seems to assume that the person I wrote about is poor. Again, says a lot about the (ahem)..... Doctor's...... own biases.

Eat shit back 'atcha......

wait.......I'm sorry......

Eat shit back 'atcha Doctor......

Doctor.....bbbwwaaaahhhaaahhhaaahhaaaaa.......

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a huge fan of your blog and normally I'm right in line with you. This guy clearly has some issues and as a future PharmD his letter is embarrassing to the profession...but, the PharmD is a doctorate degree, not a "masters" as you claim. I don't plan on ever making people call me "Doctor" (as I wouldn't were I getting a PhD) but the PharmD is two more years of postgraduate education than a masters typically requires. I realize that many individuals are still getting their PharmDs after a mere two years of undergraduate studies, but it's only a matter of time until an undergraduate degree is required for entry into quality PharmD programs. Do you really need a PharmD to practice pharmacy? Well we haven't for over 100 years, but that doesn't cheapen the degree as you seem to imply.

Anonymous said...

PharmD = doctor of pharmacy

Regardless of the length of time it takes in comparison to other doctorate degrees, I will still refer to myself as a doctor. It's a title just like any other. Rip on the man for being a biased, ignorant, asshole, but not because he chooses to put Dr. in front of his name based on his degree.

I won't consider myself more intelligent or somehow more competent than my colleagues with a BS upon graduation. I'm quite certain that they can scan a label and push enter just as accurately as I can.

If for some reason you're jealous of those with a PharmD, go back to school and do the extra year. Don't bitch about it.

Jenn Siva said...

We all know you are a sweet little mushy guy at heart, who would never withold something from someone who needed it, for any reason pretaining to looks or personal preference.

And you are hot!!! So it only makes sense you would appriciate hottness in others!

Anonymous said...

Interesting ..... you assume the "Doctor" was a man. Seems like the "Doctor" isn't the only one with biases. Just wanted to point that out.

Erik & Devan said...

I love it when any type of doctor uses their credentials twice in their name.....

Either Dr Smith, or James Smith, PharmD is plenty. We'll figure out you are a doctor when we notice those funny letters at the end of your name.

Appleo Blush said...

What an ignorant asss-hoOoLe (little kid from Meet the Parents!) haha.
My friend recently got a job as an ONLINE Pharmacist! He saids it's the sweetest job ever- he just scans drugs and doesn't have to deal with loonies, addicts or asses.

Anonymous said...

Dear drug Nazi, I think you may enjoy this please tell me what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGip7x-sIuo

~Julie~

LD50 Rat said...

???????

Since when do you do ANY of that?

No one messes with a true lunatic, because why bother? Their lives are hard enough.

Smoking hot, tight shirt, no bra is still not gonna get your Dins or Soma any quicker than the refill date. No piece of ass is worth that much trouble.

As for Dr. Anonymous, he probably just does that so his mom feels good. What a loser.

LD/50 Rat

Anonymous said...

Try 'assholery' instead of 'assholiness.' (Think of the word tomfoolery, you'll see what I mean). It makes you sound more like a ...doctor or something.

DrugMonkey, Master of Pharmacy said...

Ian,

"but the PharmD is two more years of postgraduate education than a masters typically requires."

No it's not.

BSPharm was 5 years.

PharmD, 6 years.

Applying a complex mathematical formula heretofore available only to "doctors" with masters degrees, we get...... 6years - 5 years = 1 year extra for PharmD

Now let's go to our friend Mr. Dictionary:

"master's degree
n.

An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree."

Now to our friend Mr. Wikipedia:

"In the USA and Canada, a master's degree entails a one- or two–year course in which students would normally enroll after completing a bachelor's degree."

Complete Bachelors degree + One year course = Master's Degree. What I said was a PharmD is the equivalent of a Master's Degree, and now I've backed it up. I'll say it again:

I don't care if you call it the "ultimate doctorate degree better than all other doctorates in all other professions on the planet making its holder the doctorist doctor in the history of doctordum" degree. What you've got there, is the equivalent of a Masters.

Moving on.....

"Interesting ..... you assume the "Doctor" was a man. Seems like the "Doctor" isn't the only one with biases. Just wanted to point that out."

When I first wrote this, everywhere you see a "he" or "his" there was a "They" or "their".....I'm prefectly aware of your point, but I changed it because I thought it sounded funny. I don't think "he/she" sounds any better. What are you gonna do? *Shrug.*

Having said that, I would put a Benjamin up that the um...."doctor" is a man. Chicks generally don't communicate in the crude, direct, assholy way the um..."doctor" did. Other than Ann Couter, I can't think of one that does off the top of my head.

That's one reason I like hanging out with chicks better than guys. Plus I like having sex with chicks when they're hot, like me.

Anonymous said...

The only reason I would assume it was a woman and not a man is because women tend to get angry and defensive whenever a prettier woman gets away with something that the uglier woman would never be able to get away with. If you have never been a sixteen year old girl then you would never know how truly crude, catty, and downright nasty girls can be. An ugly, angry woman is bitter and scary.

Anonymous said...

I work in a pharmacy with a PharmD.
who signs everything with "Dr." in front of her name. We (all other pharmacists and techs) laugh and laugh behind her back...... We all know the degree has nothing to do with the quality of the individual's work.

Anonymous said...

For once, you're wrong, but only because of a technicality. There's a first time for everything. A PharmD is a doctoral degree the same as an MD is a doctoral degree. Its interesting, neither are from the root of the title, or PhD. In a technical sense, MD's are not doctors either. If you research this, you'll find that physicians adopted the title doctor to promote a scientific sense of research at a time when the leading treatments included blood letting and skull cracking. True story. Its taken pharmacy a couple hundred years longer, but apparently somebody decided to do the same. Then cheapened a useful degree by making it the entry level degree for every spatula holding modem jockey in retail as well.

As for the hierarchy, Masters and PhD are considered higher degrees than either the MD or PharmD. MD/PharmD are not true graduate degrees- no thesis or dissertation required. Do a little Wikipedia to confirm this, and you'll find the PharmD listed as an undergraduate professional degree- do the same for MD and guess what, its the same. It goes on to discuss the history of the title, and when the rip of from the academic title occurred, in 1221.

Anonymous said...

People who are really hot don't usually go out of their way to say how hot they are all the time.

Unless of course you are a rapper, and then it's a must.

Anonymous said...

So.... If I have a bachlors degree and 4 years of pharmacy school following that THEN can I call myself doctor? :)

Erin Flynn said...

Hahah! This post was perfect. If anything, those people with BSPharms (at least in retail) deserve more respect than the PharmDs - they've been around longer, they know the ropes, and when it comes down to it, that means a hell of a lot more!

Also, drugmonkey, are you sure you're not secretly from Boston? You've got that uncanny mix of wit and not-so-subtle innuendo I've come to associate with the city...

Pharmacy Mike said...

As a recent Pharm D graduate and current retail slave, I can whole-heartedly tell you that Drug Monkey is right about the stupid "doctor of pharmacy" degree.

C'mon everyone... let's not kid ourselves. A bunch of pharmacists got together and decided that they needed a degree that made them look on par with doctors (by doctors I mean MDs) and a step above nurses. The solution: The Doctor of Pharmacy!!!

Do you really think in these first few years of existence (the degree has only been around for about 10 years now) that the curriculum is that much more advanced than the BS in pharmacy. I'm willing to bet that most schools of pharmacy simply took their BS curriculum, stretched it out over another year, and added a few all important patient counseling classes.

That's why I'll never refer to myself as doctor. I'm not that full of myself.

Anonymous said...

Look, I did 4 years undergrad, 1 year of pre-req, 4 years pharm school and now I'm doing a year-long residency. I damn well earned the title of Dr. Although I wouldn't make anyone use it. I should though, I think I'll start with the techs at my float job this weekend....

The Welsh Pharmacist said...

There's a bit of transatlantic confusion here on my part...

A PharmD is just an extended pharmacy degree course? Not necessarily a pharmacist with a PhD?

Is it a bit like when the course over here changed from three years (BPharm) to four years (MPharm)?

Also, dose anyone know if it's possible to get college football games on tv over here?

DrugMonkey, Master of Pharmacy said...

Welsh Pharmacist,

A PharmD is most certainly not a pharmacist with a PhD.

Back in the day in the states, a Bachelors of Science in Pharmacy (BSPharm) was a five year degree. A student had the option of going an extra year to obtain the (ahem) "Doctor" of pharmacy degree. Hence my statement that "what you have there is the equivalent of a Master's Degree"

In 2000 this was changed and the PharmD became the sole entry-level degree for pharmacy. It cheapened the degree while pumping up the egos of those with inferiority complexes. A shame really, as I think "Master of Pharmacy" would be a way cooler title, and more appropriate.....

Hmmmmm....master of pharmacy....i really like that title.....stay tuned....

The Welsh Pharmacist said...

I used to go out, sort of, with a girl who thought that I was Brain of Britain because I had a Master's degree.

I wasn't really that fussed by it, those four years in university were piss-easy, generally...

And she was strange anyway.

Robin Fonner Andersen said...

_loved_ your comment about the "doctor" bit.
I used towork with a nurse who had a "Doctorate of Music". She signed everything "Dr BlahBlah" and would always refer to herself as a "doctor". She was _not_ a MD but she definitely tried to give everybody that impression.
As to the "Master of Pharmacy" thing, I think that's pretty cool. There's so much bickering over the job titles at work, I made up a certificate that said that I am the "maste of the universe". "Mistress of the universe" just doesn't sound so cool....

Anonymous said...

Main Entry:
1doc·tor
Pronunciation:
\ˈdäk-tər\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English doctour teacher, doctor, from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin doctor, from Latin, teacher, from docēre to teach — more at docile
Date:
14th century
1 a: an eminent theologian declared a sound expounder of doctrine by the Roman Catholic Church —called also doctor of the church b: a learned or authoritative teacher c: a person who has earned one of the highest academic degrees (as a PhD) conferred by a university d: a person awarded an honorary doctorate (as an LLD or Litt D) by a college or university
2 a: a person skilled or specializing in healing arts; especially : one (as a physician, dentist, or veterinarian) who holds an advanced degree and is licensed to practice b: medicine man
3 a: material added (as to food) to produce a desired effect b: a blade (as of metal) for spreading a coating or scraping a surface
4: a person who restores, repairs, or fine-tunes things

According to that definition from Merriam-Webster, a PharmD can call him/herself a "doctor" (see 1b). The reason why you don't feel comfortable calling yourself a doctor is because you don't really know much or have any real skills by working in retail. The doctors (MDs) that I work with call me "doctor." Did I insist that they call me that? No. I still consider myself a pharmacist. But to hear them call me "doctor" shows they respect my opinion.

BSPharms think PharmDs are being pompous and arrogant. PharmDs think BSPharms are "dumbed-down" pharmacists. Let the fighting continue. In the end, it all depends on the individual and what skills have been developed.

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I would have opted for the BS if it was still available but it wasn't when I entered pharmacy school. I don't really care myself, we're all pharmacist with different levels of experience.

-K.

Anonymous said...

I recently graduated with a Pharm.D., and I don't think that it makes me any better than anyone else who works in pharmacy. If anything, my limited experience can't hold a candle to all of those BS pharmacists out there who have been practicing longer than I've been alive. I also don't feel that it's fair to those who went back to school to get their Pharm.D. that it is no longer something extra - now just a dime a dozen. All that being said, I am not ashamed to sign my name with Pharm.D. at the end, and if someone wants to refer to me as Dr. that's fine with me. I still introduce myself to all my patients and colleagues by my first name.

Anonymous said...

It seems to me that Drug Monkey may have midwestern roots. Perhaps from a college that allows students to enter straight from high school and move directly into the professional program.

At the end of the day we aren't we (those that care-both are degrees of distinction) all playing for the same team--Team Patients' Needs First?

Golden

Anonymous said...

I was totally scammed by my university. I was interested in pharmacy because I liked drugs and organic chemistry. The pharmacy school of this university requires 120 hours of prereqs and implies competitive candidates will have completed a B.S. in microbiology or biochemistry with coursework from the other. The curriculum of this pharmacy school claims to be largely clinical, and most of the recent grads I have spoken with have gone on to do at least a year of residency. It wasn’t until I started looking around at other pharmacy schools did I realize this was not the standard. Having just finished the undergrad after five years and looking ahead to another five years I could totally use a little gold-star diploma dangling at the end of it. Not to have jerk-offs call me doctor, but it doesn’t exactly take 10 years to get an MBA…

That being said, I always laugh a little at the MDs that come through the pharmacy (I’m a tech-licensed cashier with a B.S. in microbiology who makes less than I did as a sophomore in high school selling shoes…go figure I’d buy into the inferiority complex above) and make a big deal about being a “doctor” (one guy seriously had “MD” after his name on his credit card so everyone would know to charge him extra). MDs/PhDs/PharmDs…they are all about as rare as air molecules and we all know dumb can’t be cured with a piece of paper, even if it’s framed.

As for golden’s second comment, at the end of the day I think the majority of /this/ is about ego. That’s okay with me though, I’ll take ego from my healthcare professionals any day of the week. Egos are ruthless and unforgiving mofos that force the slaves of insatiable self-inadequacy to drive themselves into early graves over the anal details. That’s a standard with which I can soundly sleep.

The people we should really be bashing are those dual degree bastards. What a great way to waste 7+ years playing a game of competing interests between a PhD and a professional degree only to come out at the end with a crappier version of each. Bleh…that was just long enough to be totally lame.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say that I did 4 years getting my BS degree and now I will do 4 more years in pharmacy school. That is just as long and as much work as someone getting a DDS, DO, OD, etc. degrees, so why should I be ashamed of being a Doctor? I don't want to call myself that, but if other people want to call me Doctor why the Heck NOT? And if I get asked what kind of degree I received from school I will say a Doctor of Pharmacy! That is a freaking DOCTOR! I won't be a physician or a dentist or a doctor of osteopathic medicine but I will have a Doctor of Pharmacy! That doesn't mean I know more than someone without that degree it just means I worked very hard, and very long to receive that title! My aunt is a nurse and she has more wisdom about medicine and the human body than any Physician(MD) that I have ever met, BUT she is NOT a DOCTOR and no matter how much she knows she didn't put in the time to get the degree so she doesn't get the respect from her fellow colleagues as Doctors that work there do, and she doesn't care, she knows how this world works, it is all about the NAME BRAND/TITLE right? But if I earn it I shouldn't be put down for it!

DrugMonkey, Master of Pharmacy said...

Future PharmD,

I'm sorry, were you talking to me? Because I didn't hear my proper title....

Anonymous said...

I said I DON'T want to OR need to be called that I just don't think anyone with that earned title should be put down for it! If they want to be called Dr then great they earned it. Everyone always says one puts others down because they are jealous or wish that they could be more like them, and if you are shy or you feel awkward of being called a Dr hey that's your problem but don't put others down that don't mind it okay!!! I am not saying your friends and random people should call you that, no that's ridiculous but when the environment is right why shouldn't people call you what you earned!!!

DrugMonkey, Master of Pharmacy said...

I can't heeeeaaaarrrrrr you......

The Master of Pharmacy is listening very hard, but can't seem to make out a word you're saying.

This makes the Master of Pharmacy sad.

Anonymous said...

Haha you are funny! I hope you understand what I am trying to say. It shouldn't matter what someone wants to be called. I understand if you don't want that and I understand if someone does! So shouldn't you do the same?