Questions asked...

- What are the typical work hours of a hospital pharmacist? Well in my case, it kind of depends on what shift you get.  Since hospitals are open 24/7, including holidays and weekends, someone is working early day shift and others 2nd and 3rd shift.  At one hospital, we had some pharmacists working 12 hour shifts (3 - 12 hour shifts) a couple that did 3 - 13.5 hour shifts to get the 40 hour per week.  I personally worked four 10 hour days - 7am-6pm (hour lunch).  I worked every fourth weekend.  Now the weekend rotation probably depends on the particular hospital.  The holiday rotation was usually two per year for me.  Christmas/July 4th, Thanksgiving/Memorial Day, etc...

- What are the common working schedules?

Typical 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shifts as mentioned above

- Is the method of income for hospital pharmacists in anyway related to Medicare reimbursement schema? If it is, I’ll never erase this cringe on my face :[…

Never has been related.  I made a salary (not hourly).  Today, I'm hourly working from home - with 7 hospitals and has nothing to do with medicare reimbursement or any other insurance situation.  In fact, I make a dollar amount per hour and actually time + half for anything over 40 hours per week.  The other hospital job was a straight salary; however, you could make something similar to time+half to volunteer for more.

- It seems to me that all this hype about shortages of available pharmacists is only the result of retail chains opening more stores than can be staffed. How is the job availability for hospital pharmacists?

In my particular area, there are always jobs available.  It really depends upon the area I believe.  I'm in a city that has 10 or more in a 60 mile radius.

- And last but not least, if people disdain retail pharmacy so much, why do most people choose it? Correct me if I’m wrong, but most graduating pharmacists sign up for retail right?

Hmmm...  I guess they do.  The money is enticing...  also the sign on bonuses alone can erase some student loan debt.  Other pharmacists really like people interaction and retail is all they knew prior to pharmacy school.  Some students do not enjoy the hospital environment.  Please keep in mind though, hospital and retail are only TWO of the many many opportunities.

Thanks a bunch! You wouldn’t imagine how much your responses mean to me. I can hardly dig up any information via Google.