Future for a reinstated pharmacist

I was recently reinstated as a pharmacist after a felony conviction, is realistic to think I can restart my career as a pharmacist?

I can tell you it's going to be hard. My license was reinstated just about a year ago and have been trying to get a job ever since. I've been told that you just have to find the right employer that is sympathetic to your situation. The recruiters are completely uninterested if your license is on probation because they don't want to represent that type of client (that's what I've been told a few times). I've not had luck with any of the big chains (Walgreens/CVS etc) either. I've just started applying to jobs all over Florida because I've had absolutely NO luck at all near where I live. At this point I'll take anything I can get, no matter where it is.

please contact me in regards to this post. we are going through the same issues and would like to talk to you about it.
thanks
Linda Baldwin

linda_baldwin6@yahoo.com

tnock in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania said: I was recently reinstated as a pharmacist after a felony conviction, is realistic to think I can restart my career as a pharmacist?

Yes but you must talk directly to the hiring people in the smaller chains....

SITUATION: Taking benzos & narcotics for my own use. Indicted on seven felony counts.
LEGAL: I was given a Suspended Imposition of Sentence on one felony count of "possession of a controlled substance without a prescription", 30 days in jail & 5 years probation (I had thrown myself at the mercy...). I served 18 days of jail time (reduced because I volunteered for community works projects). I only served 2.5 years of probation before release because I followed the rules to the letter & I listened to my probation officer. I petitioned the court for the Suspension & it was granted. Supposedly, the records are now sealed & getting dusty in the basement of the capital in SD. Nobody should have access to them.
BOARD: 6 month voluntary surrender of my license & 6 months suspension after legal decisions imposed. I had been in the SD Health Professions Assistance Program from the get go & was now placed on 5 years of probation by the board & ten years of monitoring by the SD HPAP group (yes, I spent 10 years calling in EVERY MORNING to see if I had been chosen for a random drug screen). So, everything was in place for 10 years of monitoring & rehabilitation.
OUTCOME: In 2001, about 30 days prior to my license reinstatement, I started applying for work. I was hired immediately by an independent retail chain & offered 3 other positions. All potentials knew my situation as I had made the papers & the evening news the previous year. Plus I had explained everything to them. I have been working full-time since then at two different retail stores, two different mail-order pharmacies, & a short stint at an infusion pharmacy. I applied for & was granted licensure in WA & OR without any hitches. I have been looking for work now for about 3 months & have moved to Michigan to be closer to my aging mother. It's slow going here but I think it's because I don't have license in hand yet. TO BE CONTINUED...

HUMBLE ADVICE: If you are SERIOUS about re-licensure, do WHATEVER IS ASKED OF YOU. You need to be humble yet eager, timid yet brave & have the drive to show everybody that you CAN get back to work. My board wanted to see involvement in therapy, community & my current employer's business. They wanted to see improvement every quarter. After ten years, I made it! License clear. That's when I applied successfully in WA & OR. DO NOT put the incident on any resume or CV. I used to explain everything at the very first interview but no longer do that. You can just see their face drooping & their eyes immediately look away from you, even when it's a phone interview. I now do not disclose anything to a future employer until I am made an offer or they bring it up in the interview. Even if the interviewer thinks they are immune to "addiction bias", it's still going to be there. Legally, I can answer 'No' to the question "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" because of my Suspended Imposition of Sentence was invoked & my slate is clean (The judge himself told me that later). However, I must answer 'Yes' to "Have you ever had your professional licensed suspended, etc. etc". The real kicker is the fingerprints. As far as I know, they will ALWAYS be in a database kept by the FBI. Whether or not they link you to a criminal record is something I don't know. Both OR & WA did fingerprint & background checks & still licensed me "in good st&ing". It was terribly, terribly difficult & is extremely hard to tell the story to a future employer. But not one single interviewer EVER made me feel shame, guilt or anger or berated me for my sins. So think of that when you get nervous about the interview, nobody is going to hurt you. But through hard work & excellent counseling, you can make it. Twelve years of being contrite & law-abiding seems to have done the trick. Now if I could just fix our economy. =)

Hello,
I was just lately had my Rx license fully Re-instated and im currently looking for a job in Michigan,. How's your job search going? I got in trouble for gambling and the larger chain have been saying NO.

I posted a comment above what looks like 19 months ago when I was desperately looking for a job for about a year and a half. I can say that I just celebrated working for 1 year at an independant pharmacy. I got kind of "lucky" because my PRN facilitator hooked me up with an interview with another pharmacist in PRN that owned a pharmacy. So there is hope out there. Unfortunately, I think the pharmacy is going to be closing soon so here I go again looking for jobs. Such is life though. Just because we are "clean" doesn't mean things are always sunny. However, they are easier. Atleast since all this has happened I have had my criminal record sealed so I can now answer "no" to those annoying "have you ever pled guilty...." questions. Being on probation with the board of pharmacy is always the hard part to explain to potential employers. I agree with "2hsprn" above that you can just see an interviewers face drop when you start telling them about why you had gaps in your employment.
Oh yeah, there is also this new law in Florida that if you have been convicted, pled no contest, etc to any felony after July 2009, you are ineligble to renew your license. I SQUEEKED by literally with mine being in Jan 2009. I read about another prn pharmacist who went through all the expensive rehab, getting license back etc, just to not be able to renew with this very new law.

Hello DL!
I've been in MI about 3 weeks so have roughly 3 weeks to go before I get my license. The 1st week I was here I had 2 face-to-face and 2 phone interviews. I've backed off a little because they all seem hesitant to make offers without your license in hand. So, I'm getting all set up to hit everybody really hard when I get the license.
So far it looks really good! Between all my auto-searches and LinkedIn there is about 400 openings in MI for pharmacists. So the field is ripe! I would think the gambling thing would be less of a deal-breaker than drug use so I think you'll be okay. Just keep at it!
Jay

Good for you FL! You know it's tough but it can be done. Plus, the more you interview the better you get at it. Always is uncomfortable but as I said before, nobody has ever lashed out at me or hit me or closed their notebook and walked out. The only person you have to fight is yourself, and it sounds like you're winning.

BTW, since I was spending the money on NABP I went ahead and applied in OH and IN, too. It's only $50 for each additional state and I figure I can still be fairly close to Ma if I find the right spot.

Best wishes to all!
Jay
toad_toad@fastmail.fm

That's a good idea..I'm going to apply for Illinois, Ohio and Arizona based on the info I got from www.hirenetwork.org that rates states according to rehab factors for felons. In Hawaii hey cant even ask about felony until after they offer u a job.