Foreign Pharmacist Career

15/01/2024

Hi friends🙌

Here is a deal!

You know I've been doing leadership development and coaching for a few years now. This year, I'm taking this work to the next level through pursuing the International Coaching Federation Certification and starting executive coaching.

Throughout the following few months, I will be looking for the clients to coach for my certification requirements. This won't be a typical career coaching that I am doing for foreign medical professionals for a fee. Rather, it will be holistic coaching with the goal to enhance my clients' potential and growth.

Since the goal for me is to work out certain practices and tools for the certification, I will be taking clients pro bono (aka FREE of charge) or for a very small fee.

If you have been thinking of hiring a coach to help your personal and professional growth but have not done so yet (no wonder, it is a very expensive service), this is a great opportunity to try to work with a coach and see if you like it; and get some benefits of coaching, such as taking greater responsibility and accountability for actions and commitments, take action towards achieving your goals, improving job and life satisfaction and others.

Please DM me if interested.
My first spot is open for the next weekend.

03/10/2023

Remember this saying: "It's not the place that makes the man; it is the man that makes the place."

Most likely, the question of "where to live and get a license" will be of interest to those still outside the USA.

Usually, those who are already here came here either with their spouse/family and depend on the place of their work/children's schools, etc., or moved to relatives and most often do not consider the issue of a diploma transfer from the point of view of where it is easier and cheaper.

So let me put it this way: you can build a successful as a pharmacist in any state, whether it's an expensive state or a cheaper one, whether it has a lot of pharmacy schools or not.

But if you are considering moving, weighing the pros and cons and doing some financial planning would be helpful.

I gathered information on pharmacist and tech salaries, rent costs, price per square foot, the number of pharmacy schools in each state, and the number of pharmacist jobs.

Let's take two very different states, with different salaries and rent costs and analyze where conditions will be most favorable for a foreign pharmacist who came over to restart his/her career.

Take California, for example - the state with the largest population, incredible nature, ocean, biting taxes, and housing prices, and yet tons of opportunities for pharmacists... and Iowa - a state in the center of the US covered with acres of cornfields, farms, and very low population density.

Let's first break down where it's cheaper to live.

Let's look at salaries and the cost of rent/housing. The average salary of a pharmacist in California is higher by almost $16,000 a year. But also, the cost of rent for a standard apartment (a one-bedroom our way) is more than 2x the cost of rent in Iowa.

If you calculate (and I did) the annual cost of renting a home and compare it to your salary, you will see almost no difference (~$16k difference in salary and the same ~$16 difference in the cost of rent per year).

But this difference will be noticeable if you buy a home in California. The cost of housing in California is way higher than in Iowa; add to this high property taxes, and you'll have nothing left from your pharmacist salary.

In Iowa, however, you will still have some $ left after buying a house.

So, could you draw your own conclusions? My conclusion is that it is easier to start where the cost of living is cheaper. It is not a problem to move later once you've saved some money.

Let's see where you are more likely to succeed professionally. Let's look at the competition in the labor market: California has 8 pharmacy schools, almost 30,000 working pharmacists, and 8 pharmacists for every 10,000 people. In Iowa, there are only 2 pharmacy schools and only 3,000 pharmacists, but for every 10 thousand people, there are 10 pharmacists.

The job market is much more saturated in Iowa, and we can conclude that finding a job in Iowa will be even more difficult even though it is a remote rural state compared to California.

All in all, maybe I will surprise you, but in reality, your success will depend on 3 things:

- Your efforts
- Your connections
- The number of opportunities in general ..well, and luck)

I help foreign pharmacists find clarity and direction in their careers and achieve professional success in the US. You can schedule a free 15-minute exploration call with me.

12/09/2023

The reality is that having too many options can actually be counterproductive and lead to decision paralysis.

Here is a recent life example. Yesterday, I bought a rug for my daughter’s room. Even though I thought I had criteria for the rug, I got completely paralyzed when I entered the store with 20-30 options. Somehow, I managed to choose a rug, but while driving back home (and in bed), I was thinking, “What if there was a better one that I didn’t consider”? I decided to go to the store tomorrow, buy another one, compare them, and then return the one I liked less. Does this sound familiar to you?

I reflected on this experience and considered how it might relate to other areas of our lives and what lessons could be learned from it.

When faced with a multitude of options, it is common to focus on the positive aspects of the options we did not choose.

can make us unhappy with our choices, even if they're good. And while it may seem that having more choices leads to more freedom, sometimes the opposite is true.

The more choices we have, the more difficult it can be to make a decision and the less satisfied we may feel with the outcome.

Let’s extrapolate my experience with the rug to career choices.

I know that many foreign in the US are struggling to find themselves. And even if it might seem like you don’t have many options, in fact, you do.

You can start your licensure path through equivalency exams or you can go to the pharmacy school to get your “US-based” PharmD, or you can say: isn’t it a chance to start something new... and start your small business.

I understand that making choices can be overwhelming. It's easy to get lost in the sea of options and feel unsure of what path to take.

But here's the thing: every choice you make comes with an opportunity cost. That's why being intentional and clear about what you want is important.

I've been in that position before, where I felt uncertain and distracted by the fear of missing out. It wasn't until I started outlining what I didn't want that I was able to make more informed decisions about my career path. It gave me a sense of direction and purpose that I didn't have before.

So, if you're feeling lost or unsure, take a step back and think about what matters to you. Don't let the fear of missing out hold you back from reaching your full potential.

You got this!

P.S. I didn’t go back to the store the next day, but I felt dissatisfied for quite a while and wasted much energy even thinking about other choices I could have made. Taking time to research your options and align them with your can help you be more productive and happy in your career as well as in your personal life.

14/07/2023

Hi there!

I started the Foreign Pharmacist page on Linked In. It has great functionality as it relates to content creation and professional connection, so I decided to give it a try.

Please see my article about how working on self-awareness can help you grow your confidence. If you are interested in more insights on career and personal development, you're welcome to join!

Cheering for you!

Maturity does not come with aging. Maturity comes with . To some, it never comes, though. Not many people seek additional outside input on…

12/12/2022

Unlike my previous file with pharmacy schools for international pharmacist, this one is created specifically for those ✅WHO ALREADY HAVE GOTTEN THEIR US LICENSE and now want to get a Pharm D degree to further their clinical career.
(Download here https://www.veramal.com/pharmd-us-licensed)

To me, this is the best path (compared with skipping FPGEC and going to the entry level program) and here is why:

1️⃣It is way CHEAPER (see costs of different programs in the file in bio),and

2️⃣You are not loosing you salary while studying because all the programs are ONLINE ( and yes, these programs actually require you to be employed as a pharmacist while enrolled)

3️⃣In most cases you won't be required a language proficiency exam to apply

4️⃣You can be done in as little as 24 months!

I understand that people have different goals, but I will reiterate here: first❗ think seriously if you really want (and NEED) this "PharmD credential" and if you want to invest these $50-60-100k in it.

Remember, you CAN be successful🏆🎖️ without it and there are so many opportunities and career directions you can take in the pharmacy world!

I'm here to help you figure out your career path. Don't hesitate to reach out and schedule a free exploration call with me at veramal.com

16/11/2022

I know people who enroll in a PharmD degree program rather than going through the degree transfer path.

❓❕But should you apply to the entry-level pharmacy degree program, or is there a shortcut for foreign-trained pharmacists?

❓What’s the cost?

❓What are the schools that accept foreign-trained pharmacists?

❓How long is the education?

❓Is it in person or online?

I conducted an analysis of the US pharmacy school programs and put together this thorough guide on the pharmacy schools that expressly accept candidates with foreign pharmacy degrees.

🆓️ It’s FREE! Download your copy here:⬇️👇 https://www.veramal.com/pharmd

You're welcome🤗

And if you want to know more, reach out for a consultation!

⚠️P.S. If you are already licensed in the US, you would want to look at slightly different programs. Stay tuned, I will post the guide for you shortly.

11/11/2022

It's amazing how time flies and how we don't find time to stop and look back to realise our accomplishments.

Today, l found myself in the setting where I first was introduced to the US pharmacy.

I conducted a site visit to the pharmacy where I started my US pharmacist journey 10 years ago.

Back then, I was only allowed to count the pills under the tech supervision and had to ask questions like "what does NDC mean or what prescription verification is"...

This time, I was invited as a consultant to help improve pharmacy processes and enhance operations efficiencies.

Greatful for the opportunity to capture the progress that has been made and for the journey that brought me to where I am now.

31/10/2022

Dear foreign pharmacist colleagues, I will greatly appreciate your contribution to the foreign pharmacist's advocacy initiative.

The goal of this survey is to collect feedback from foreign pharmacists on the biggest challenges that they face on their way to US licensure and bring it back to the State Boards.

Your experience is very important! Please share below!

THANK YOU in advance!

Dear foreign pharmacist colleagues, I will greatly appreciate your contribution to the foreign pharmacists advocacy initiative. The goal of this survey is to collect the feedback from foreign pharmacists on the biggest challenges that they face on their way to US licensure and bring it back to the S...

28/10/2022

26/10/2022

As someone who have been in health and lifestyle business as a nutrition and fitness coach, I truly respect and value functional medicine pharmacists profession.

I'm so lucky to have Jacqui Onoz - a chronic fatigue coach and a pharmacist with years of experience as my guest this week!

When I met Jacqui at the summit this summer, I was impressed by her story (and more by her amazing personality🤗) of how she became a functional medicine coach.

Watch our live interview this Thursday, noon EST and learn about functional medicine career path!



medicine

20/10/2022

If I was more thoughtful about the time investment when I was taking my exams 8 years ago, I would have definitely bought a review course AND hired a coach to set the right mindset 😉

I could have shortened my time from the idea of a degree transfer to getting the license from 5 years to probably 2.5

Unfortunately, at the point of preparation to FPGEE nobody thinks about how important it is to accelerate. The truth is...the earlier you take the exam, finish the internship, and get licensed the earlier you start getting high salary.

So investments in courses and coaches will recoup with the first real pharmacist paycheck.

I help with strategic financial analysis. Reach out if you want to understand better your ROI😉