I'd like to know what your opinions are on what major changes in health care have occurred in the United States and How they will influence the way we practice pharmacy. Thanks

If you read some of the other most on this board (like pharmacy ---> medicine) it will help to introduce you to the current issues in pharmacy. The future of pharmacy hasn't been settled although as one pharmacists recently told me, "that until meds can be zapped into a patient, pharmacy will be around". Technology and technicians will not be able to replace pharmacists any time soon, so don't be scared by them.....

"Technology and technicians will not be able to replace pharmacists any time soon, so don't be scared by them....."

That is one of my major concerns about pursuing a career in pharmacy -- whether or not there will still be a need for pharmacists 20 years from now. I hear some people saying that automation is going to take over the industry, and others saying that pharmacists will always be around. I'm not sure what to think.

Brill.... you definitely don't have to worry about having a useless degree if you pursue pharmacy. The field is MOST DEFINITELY changing, and to be honest, the final picture of what the profession is going to be hasn't been painted. Automation and Technicians will never be able to replace the COGNITIVE services that a pharmacist provides. A pharmacist's duties will definitely change, and the retail setting may not be a primary area of practice in the future, but rest assured that you will be needed and valued.

If you go to aacp.org they have an article entitled "Professionally Determined Need for Pharmacists services in 2020." I found this article tonight and I think it answers some of the questions about what pharmacy may look like in the future. The biggest change was that there you be a 25% in traditional distributive demand while a huge increase in cognitive services. The article projected a shortfall of 157,000 pharmacists by 2020.

If you read the article you will notice that most of the shortfall is because of a projected growth in clinical pharmacy. Will this happen? It is hard to say, but even if it doesn't, the article still projects a shortage over 50,000 pharmacists in 2020.

I think it comes down to the reality that pills can not be zapped into patients. Because physical pills are needed and are dispensed at ever increasing rates, I believe I will easily be able to keep work in pharmacy for next 40 years after graduation....