Never Say Never



Never say never.  I still remember when I looked at the pharmacy director in the eye & said “I will never work for the IHS.”

Those were the days when my commute was walking down the hill to the Whiteriver hospital from the government trailers just 2 minutes away. The thing I looked forward to the most was walking back up the hill at the end of the day.  I had just finished an FDA rotation and couldn’t imagine myself working anywhere else.
I couldn’t wait to start my job there.  I wanted to work there after I graduated from pharmacy school, and they were excited about hiring me.  I was ready to just be finished & moved to D.C., but I had to go to Whiteriver first for another rotation.  Prior to being in D.C., I had just started to fall in love with having adventures and traveling while studying at Oxford University, and could not imagine living in the middle of nowhere where people thought I was a foreign exchange student  (On a softball field after a day at the Whiteriver hospital, I was asked if I was a foreign exchange student).

Whiteriver Indian Hospital: My first IHS home…would it be my last?

And then there was the pharmacy director at Whiteriver. He used to grill me.  I thought about how much I didn’t know, and that I really didn’t want to be working in a pharmacy anyway.  As much as I liked working with the patients at Whiteriver, talking on the phone all day long at the FDA Drug Information Branch was a much better fit for me.  At least I’d be able to look things up when people had questions.  I remember saying adamantly to the pharmacy director at Whiteriver, “I will never work for the IHS…I’m going to work for the FDA.”

He said to me, “Never say never” and I rolled my eyes to myself.

But my path took an unexpected turn when I was offered to cover an Indian Health Service travel assignment the summer before starting at the FDA. I thought what a great opportunity that was.  I could go have an adventure at a less remote IHS site and make money to travel in Europe.

Ok, I admit it.  It grew on me.  I ended up liking it. And I unexpectedly ended up meeting my now husband in Europe after that IHS travel assignment, and the rest is something I wish I didn’t have to admit to the pharmacy director at Whiteriver–he was right.  Never say never.  I ended up working at IHS/tribal sites instead of working for the FDA, because it allowed me the flexibility of doing my external PharmD and travel to see my now husband who was living in Europe at the time.

After contracting at IHS sites for a few years, I decided to start & grow RPh Temp Service because I noticed pharmacy directors would complain about being sent just a “warm body” by temp agencies. I wanted to raise the bar of of contract pharmacists available to the IHS, so pharmacy directors didn’t have to settle for warm bodies.

I wanted the pharmacy directors to feel as if their temp staff seemed like part of their permanent staff— pharmacists who would jump in wherever needed, knew what they were doing, had strong work ethic, and who appreciated Native American culture.

RPh Temp Service started out by connecting recently retired IHS pharmacists (and people who made IHS contracting a career) with IHS travel assignments. It evolved to include pharmacists with IHS experience who were in-between job situations, including those who recently finished residencies.  It gave them the opportunity to travel and have time off when they wanted to, while they figured out their next career move.

It’s been very rewarding to offer IHS-experienced pharmacists access to assignments they aren’t able to access through other agencies.

Now, are you ready to hear the kicker to the “Never say never”? Now the previous pharmacy director at Whiteriver where I did my rotation works with our company.  Who would have thought?

3 Simple Ways to Prevent High Pharmacist Turnover at Your IHS Facility




An Indian Health Service site called us recently & requested an experienced IHS contract pharmacist because their permanent pharmacist left unexpectedly. They’ve had trouble keeping the last 2 pharmacists they’ve hired. Each time they went to look for a pharmacist, they were in a crunch. Have you been in that place before, when you had to hire someone because you had a need, and then your new hire didn’t end up staying for long?

What can you do to prevent hires from not working out?

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. The best time to look for a new hire is when you don’t need one. That way, you can be making connections without that sense of urgency clouding your judgment. Network with pharmacists you meet at different conferences & trainings –ones that you feel could be a great addition to your team . Talk to them proactively about the possibility of working at your IHS/tribal facility (whether now, or down the road).

2. Ask interview questions that are a little off-beat and give you more insight about what drives your potential pharmacist hire. I went to my first interview last week since I was in pharmacy school (was asked to be a Board member of an organization), and was amazed that I guessed each question they asked me ahead of time. None of the questions offered any element of surprise to test me to answer in a non-prepared, spontaneous way (of course, I do have an unfair advantage from knowing what hiring managers typically ask, compared to other candidates). An example of an off-beat question is “What gets you excited about going to work every day?” or “What do you like to do as a pharmacist where you feel like you are really using your skills & interests?” (well, the latter one may not be as off-beat, but you get the picture…something different than the typical “why do you think you’re good for this position?”)

Aside from a couple of off-beat questions, ask questions that give you more than typical insight about your candidate. Want access to the top 10 pharmacist interview questions to ask, so you can prevent hires who don’t last? Click here now to get instant access to our insider’s interview cheat sheet:

3. Depending on your own goals of how long you want people to stay working at your pharmacy & what roles you need someone for, evaluate them with your needs in mind.

Sometimes you may want someone to work at your pharmacy more than they actually want to. Find out why they are applying—is there a good reason why they are interested in your facility?

Take the person’s own career path into consideration. Are they at a point in their career where this role you’re hiring for fits in well, or do things not really match up? One thing I see is pharmacy directors hiring a pharmacist based on fit and overlooking past behavior, and then being disappointed by their hire leaving within a short time frame.

One example of this is when a candidate seems to be a great fit, but tends to move every few years. If you’re looking for someone to grow longer-term than that with your pharmacy, then put your antennas out for how past behaviors don’t really match up with your needs.

While you’re hiring, if you want access to IHS-experienced temp pharmacists so that your pharmacy doesn’t feel the burden of being short-staffed, click here for your options.