Temporary IHS Pharmacy Jobs – Indian Health Service – Selecting Travel Assignments
If your career path has crossed working with the Indian Health Service at some point in time, whether as a pharmacist or student completing a rotation, chances are that you will work with the IHS at another point in your career in some capacity down the road.
For pharmacists who are waiting for their Commissioned Corps call to active duty right now, an option available to you is working temporary pharmacist assignments through a pharmacist staffing agency that offers Indian Health Service assignments. This allows you to work in the IHS setting without losing out on experience and pay, while waiting for your paperwork to come through.
If you are recently retired from the Indian Health Service and wanting to do some relief work, travel assignments can be a great way for you to stay connected with the IHS, make money to supplement your retirement, and work when you want to.
If you are currently working for a relief agency and working in the IHS setting, but want to have more desirable work environments and locations to choose from, do research on how you can get the opportunity to do IHS assignments in desirable settings.
If you have worked for the Indian Health Service at some point in time, whether as a pharmacist or had exposure as a JRCOSTEP or during a rotation, doing contract pharmacist work in between jobs or as a career can be options to consider. One IHS-experienced pharmacist Read more
Pharmacist Job Market Update
Here’s the latest pharmacist job market update:
More job opportunities are opening up for pharmacists, as pharmacies & companies are more interested in hiring, compared to late 2009. Positions are getting filled quickly in areas saturated by pharmacists, especially those that are staff level ones with desired shifts. It is refreshing to see some pharmacies ready to hire and quick to make decisions. Pharmacists are having to beat other pharmacists to the punch, because once a coveted position becomes available, pharmacies are being flooded with applicants.
On the flip side, I am seeing other pharmacies take extra care in waiting for the right pharmacist, more so than in the past. I know one hospital that waited 8 months to find the right critical care pharmacist. The pharmacy director chose not to look at critical care trained residents who had only one year of experience beyond residency, nor critical care pharmacists without a residency. Their minimum requirements were that the pharmacist had to be PGY2 critical care residency-trained and have at least 2 years of critical care experience as a pharmacist. And the pharmacy director was willing to wait for someone who met that criteria and was the right fit.
I know another hospital that has waited months for the right candidate for a clinical coordinator position. They have been waiting for someone who is cream of the crop. Even staff pharmacist roles are not immune to this type of extra selectivity and hiring managers waiting for the right person. One pharmacy in Northern California has had a staff pharmacist opening for a few months. Despite receiving many qualified candidates, they have chosen to hold off on hiring until finding someone who is the perfect candidate.
Clinical specialists that are in high demand are Read more