Pharmacist outlook in South Carolina

[futuredoctort93]

Hi, I'm a pre-pharm student looking to settle in South Carolina as a pharmacist more specifically in Florence or Darlington SC, as well as Columbia or Myrtle Beach. I know Florence and Darlington could somewhat be considered rural. I'm really interested in working at WAGS. I want to be a permanent Staff Retail Pharmacist or Pharmacy manager but is it true only per diem is left? Again Florence is likely a rural area so I would guess its not in very high demand.

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[Angela1234]

Call some of the pharmacies in those area or stop by and talk to new hires. Do you know any recent graduates of schools in that area?

 

[Tonyg89]

I work at a CVS in Myrtle Beach. We are pretty busy year round here and we just got a batch of new grads, but they haven't been placed at positions yet.

 

[PCPharmD]

I'm a rising P2 Walgreens intern, and I live 30 minutes away from Florence. In our district, Florence would actually be one of the least rural and most desirable locations with the rural places being Bennettsville, Dillon, and Marion/Mullins. Florence doesn't compare to Greenville or Charleston, of course, but for our district it is the place where most people would want to live.


Twelve new grads were hired in our district this year, but that is all I know. I'm not sure if they are full time, per diem, etc. The job market is definitely tight, though.

 

[spacecowgirl]

SC just opened a new pharmacy school and I believe opened a 3rd campus for SCCOP in Greenville. I would be a little worried about saturation in a state that small with 3-4 campuses.

 

[PCPharmD]

...worried about saturation in a state that small with 3-4 campuses.

This is truth.

When Presbyterian announced their pharmacy school in 2008, the only other pharmacy college in our state was SCCP with the MUSC and USC campuses. By the time PC opened doors to the first class in fall 2010, South University was opening a satellite campus of it's Savannah, GA program in Columbia, SC that year, too.

I do appreciate that our faculty is upfront with us about the job market; they make no claims of an easy six figure income. They encourage all of us to work hard, do well on rotations, get involved with state and national organizations, find internships, participate in community service, etc. They also encourage us to borrow wisely. Does everyone listen? Of course not. But it is what it is.

As far as I know, I believe the SCCP Greenville campus only offers the third professional year at this point. I'm not sure that they accept additional students there; I believe P3s from the MUSC and USC campus just have the opportunity to finish their third year of school there and are then given preference for APPEs in the upstate if they transferred to the Greenville campus. I could be mistaken, though.

At any rate, whether the Greenville campus starts accepting additional students or not, I have heard that that there will be another pharmacy school opening up in the region in a few years at High Point University in NC.

OP, to say the least, I don't think you would be guaranteed a job in SC by the time you finished school.