- Joined
- Sep 4, 2018
- Messages
- 207
- Reaction score
- 237
Managed care, pharma etc. has consistently been referenced as a “safe haven” for pharmacists in terms of overall job stability/growth/opportunities. More and more retail and hospital pharmacists are looking to avoid piss-poor work conditions, getting laid off, relocating to BFE etc. and are now desperately trying to get into these nontraditional areas, as are students that are currently in school who are trying to avoid what their predecessors (c/o 2016-2018) are experiencing in the growing unemployment market.
Well I am here to tell you that it is SATURATED in the nontraditional realm as well. Increasing healthcare costs put additional budgetary strains on PBMs and innovation in industry is evolving towards a bimodal boom-or-bust approach from an R&D perspective (just compare the number of pipeline drugs in hyper-orphan disease states versus “traditional” drugs in development in the last 3 years), leading to constant turnover and reshuffling of the deck as companies are constantly merging, getting acquired, etc. Point being, it is hard to hold a stable job nowadays even in the nontraditional realm, and the number of contract/temp workers similar to per diem workers in retail/hospital has also blossomed in recent years.
That being said, while the academic buzz words in the clinical pharmacy realm are “provider status”, “MTM”, “clinical care” etc, the academic buzz words in the nontraditional realm are “formulary management”, “HE&OR”, “value-based whatever” etc. but the jobs even in this realm are not there. I know several folks who did fellowship programs to try and get into HE&OR or market access etc., only to find themselves unemployed for several months after fellowship and/or taking roles irrelevant to their training (such as a sales rep role— not even an MSL).
Desperate fellows are now preying on equally desperate students by starting these “interview prep” services (seriously, just check out pharmaleap), and saturation in industry has spurred the growth of completely BS fellowships on the same scale of PGY3 residencies (seriously, there are MTM fellowships now... what?). But what’s worse about these phony fellowships is that they are completely unaccredited and are held to ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY (unlike ASHP-accredited residencies which must fulfill some minimum standards at least), making it a prime business opportunity for companies trying to cut down on labor costs.
Doom and gloom is permeating this field, folks. The grass ain’t greener on the other side.
Well I am here to tell you that it is SATURATED in the nontraditional realm as well. Increasing healthcare costs put additional budgetary strains on PBMs and innovation in industry is evolving towards a bimodal boom-or-bust approach from an R&D perspective (just compare the number of pipeline drugs in hyper-orphan disease states versus “traditional” drugs in development in the last 3 years), leading to constant turnover and reshuffling of the deck as companies are constantly merging, getting acquired, etc. Point being, it is hard to hold a stable job nowadays even in the nontraditional realm, and the number of contract/temp workers similar to per diem workers in retail/hospital has also blossomed in recent years.
That being said, while the academic buzz words in the clinical pharmacy realm are “provider status”, “MTM”, “clinical care” etc, the academic buzz words in the nontraditional realm are “formulary management”, “HE&OR”, “value-based whatever” etc. but the jobs even in this realm are not there. I know several folks who did fellowship programs to try and get into HE&OR or market access etc., only to find themselves unemployed for several months after fellowship and/or taking roles irrelevant to their training (such as a sales rep role— not even an MSL).
Desperate fellows are now preying on equally desperate students by starting these “interview prep” services (seriously, just check out pharmaleap), and saturation in industry has spurred the growth of completely BS fellowships on the same scale of PGY3 residencies (seriously, there are MTM fellowships now... what?). But what’s worse about these phony fellowships is that they are completely unaccredited and are held to ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY (unlike ASHP-accredited residencies which must fulfill some minimum standards at least), making it a prime business opportunity for companies trying to cut down on labor costs.
Doom and gloom is permeating this field, folks. The grass ain’t greener on the other side.
Last edited: