Timelines and predictions...

This entry is going to tell you about the problems around getting a Social Security Number, a "FULL" intern license, and the timeline for actually starting work and getting paid. I am writing this on August 4th 2008, prior to these events actually happening to me, but can at this point explain what I think will be the timeline of events given what I currently know. When I actually apply for real I shall probably give you a whole different set of stories but even what I know now is worth telling. After you are told that your visa/work-permit starts on October 1st, you may think that your employer is expecting you to turn up for work on that date in a shirt and suit, ready for enrollment in to the company and a lecture on health and safety in the workplace and a work schedule for the month ahead. They wont, and you shouldn't expect that to happen either. When you filled out the forms for the H1B visa application I would imagine most, if not all employers, would have required you to have obtained a valid deficiency letter for the state that you will be working in. The purpose of the deficiency letter is to show your employer that the state board of pharmacy have accepted all your documentation for becoming a graduate intern, but have not yet received the all important Social Security Number (SSN) which cannot be applied for until after 1st October. In the pile of information that comes from your employer with the visa paperwork are forms that enable you to apply for an internship prior to receiving the SSN, however not all boards will accept this letter (from the US Government), and California's pharmacy board is one of those that wont. They demand to see the actual SSN or they wont issue an intern license. So for me atleast, I have to wait until the 1st of October before I can apply to immigration for my SSN, which I am told should take about 2 weeks to receive. Once I have that, THEN I can apply to the Californian Pharmacy Board for my full intern license. I am told that the normal turnaround time to receive that is 3-6 weeks! So I can expect a minimum delay of 5 weeks, and a maximum of around 8 weeks, from the 1st of October, to actually receiving my intern license - and without my intern license there is no way my future employer is going to let me start working. So, that means if I am lucky I might start work around the first week of November, and if I am unlucky I might not start working until the first week of December. That means, at least in theory, that I might not receive any wages until the last day of December, and even that might not be a full months check. So you should arrive in the United States on October 1st expecting to not receive any income until the last day of December - 3 full months! One final note before I sign off until the fall when I actually report on how the process has gone for me, is that different states have different lengths of internship. Many are like California (as far as I am aware at least) 2080 (***see note below***) hours long, which means doing a 40-hour week and taking no holiday is exactly 52 weeks long, before you are able to sit the NAPLEX and State Law Exams. Then you have to wait until they post their results to you, wait until you can apply to the state board for a full licensure, and wait until that has been approved. So it may easily take well over 13 months from starting work before you get fully qualified and start earning a proper income. So if you badly budget your internship, and think you might delve in to your savings to see you through until you qualify, keep in mind that from October 1st of one year, it may easily take you until the February 16 months later before you finally make it. At this point in time, I would predict that I become a fully registered R.Ph. in January 2010, and it'll be interesting to see how right or wrong my prediction will prove to be. Next update wont be until October, so enjoy the rest of the summer! Farmacyst (****WRONG!!!! As has been pointed out to me by numerous kind readers, the California pharmacy board require proof of 1500 hours before being allowed to sit the Naplex. So that's 1500/40 = 37.5 weeks, plus any days off or holidays, so realistically around, say, 39 or 40 weeks. Then its around 3 weeks to get the first exam (as far as I am aware at this point) and perhaps another 3 weeks for the second exam, and then another 3 weeks to get the results - so if you pass everything first time round (and currently I am hearing a lot of people are FAILING the law exam) then thats 48 weeks from start date. Since I started mid November I now amend my prediction to (if I pass both exams first time) mid October 2009*****)