Why are so many people here negative about Pharmacy?

[Gombrich12]

"However, here in FL, saturation is brutal. I am still unemployed. And many people from the class before me have not been able to secure jobs! not prn or part-time either! 2 years jobless!"

You guys needed to leave the state a year ago. If I was a hiring manager I would throw a resume in the trash if it was from someone who graduated two years ago and had done nothing since then. Why would I hire you over a new grad who still has all that therapeutic knowledge fresh in their head?

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[PAtoPharm]

lol, "is not as bad". Well, just like colors, saturation is also subjective. I am pretty sure saturation "is not as bad" in Alaska. However, here in FL, saturation is brutal. I am still unemployed. And many people from the class before me have not been able to secure jobs! not prn or part-time either! 2 years jobless!...Yes, the answer is easy, "well if there are not jobs in your state, then move somewhere else". It would be nicer if you did not have to spend around 1000 dollars/state to be able to practice and have a shot at applying for jobs out of state. This is in addition to moving expenses, etc. God forbid if you have a family and need to move it across the nation.

Also, another issue with saturation is that job conditions decline at the speed of light. Your skills become recyclable, you are just "another one of the thousands", you are as replaceable as toilet paper, you become compliant with all the BS they throw at you, you are in-mute mode. You get the "pharmacy manager" or "pharmacist-in-charge" job because the law requires it, not because corporate wants you. All while receiving emails from your beloved student loan servicer aka "we have one goal: we are here to help you"...

Being "selfish" is not helpful either. "Oh so I am a pharmacist and I have a job, so I am good", but what about the upcoming THOUSANDS of pharmacists coming up. Isn't professional union/sympathy with your peers one of the essential components that delineates a great career? Instead of being cut-throat because of fear of losing your job? Consider this statement from the AACP website.
AACP - Academic Pharmacy's Vital Statistics

"Total first professional degree enrollment was 63,460 in fall 2015."

Imagine those 63,460 new pharmacists graduating soon. Imagine that ~1000 new pharmacists ready to "eat poop" want your pharmacist job. Add on top of this more pharmacy schools opening up...And no, tuition is not decreasing at all. Even in AACP website they write.

"For fiscal year 2014-15, national mean reported pharmacy school revenues were $28.0 million and median revenues were $18.9 million. The top reported source of revenue was tuition and fees."

The bubble is real, they want government money using you as the "future pharmacist that will be part of the interdisciplinary team of health care members, bla bla, BS!..."

Everything would be awesome if student loans did not exist. You would try pharmacy, apply for the next 5 years, nothing worked. You go and pick another career and keep going. Once you are locked in with the heavy student loans. The opportunity cost of changing careers is abysmal.

If you don't mind me asking, how are you currently paying back your loans? Via IBR/REPAYE? If so, have you considered going back to school to do something else (e.g., PA, perfusionist -- only a 1-year program and cheap)? If you don't mind paying on an IBR/REPAYE plan for the rest of your career, then the total amount in loans you end up taking out becomes a moot point (as long as the tax bomb thing is eventually amended).

 

[PharmerIsMe]

If you don't mind me asking, how are you currently paying back your loans? Via IBR/REPAYE? If so, have you considered going back to school to do something else (e.g., PA, perfusionist -- only a 1-year program and cheap)? If you don't mind paying on an IBR/REPAYE plan for the rest of your career, then the total amount in loans you end up taking out becomes a moot point (as long as the tax bomb thing is eventually amended).

I am not paying anything yet because I am unemployed. I applied for IBR and I qualified for it. Based on their calculations, I am below the 150% of the Federal poverty line as head of household, so I don't have to pay anything.

I would go back to school only if the program is free. Changing careers at this point in time is not an option for me. I think I will have better chances using all the money I have left to get licensed in other states.

For all the pre-pharmers out there. If you get free tuition or your parents are wealthy, then, enjoy the ride, expect the worse, and when things materialize (it will) just jump the ship and try something else. Otherwise, stay away from pharmacy. Don't become another batch number. At the moment, there is too much uncertainty to deal with.

 

[Sine Cura]

People actually think the tax "bomb" provision will be amended (for those who don't qualify for PSLF)? You can claim insolvency so there is no incentive for lawmakers to amend anything.

Have fun proving insolvency to the IRS

 

[PAtoPharm]

I am not paying anything yet because I am unemployed. I applied for IBR and I qualified for it. Based on their calculations, I am below the 150% of the Federal poverty line as head of household, so I don't have to pay anything.

I would go back to school only if the program is free. Changing careers at this point in time is not an option for me. I think I will have better chances using all the money I have left to get licensed in other states.

For all the pre-pharmers out there. If you get free tuition or your parents are wealthy, then, enjoy the ride, expect the worse, and when things materialize (it will) just jump the ship and try something else. Otherwise, stay away from pharmacy. Don't become another batch number. At the moment, there is too much uncertainty to deal with.

If you could've dropped out of pharmacy school at the end of your second year, would you have done so? Do you think it's too late for someone to quit at that point? Just curious

 

[TerryTerry]

So much negativity in this thread, but the job situation in South Florida is really that bad.
Sad thing is that nobody signed up to be a pharmacist to be a sucker... but in real life we need to suck hard to find a job without some kind of connection.

I know some people here are really talented and have no problem finding job during any given time... The truth is these real talented ones will always thrive no matter how job market is saturated.
However, many blend pharmacists cannot help but feel bad about the fact that their doctorate degree is nothing special when it comes to finding a job and securing their life.
They are not bad or incompetent... but not being exceptional is becoming a new crime when it comes to being a pharmacist with doctorate degree.

 

[PharmerIsMe]

If you could've dropped out of pharmacy school at the end of your second year, would you have done so? Do you think it's too late for someone to quit at that point? Just curious

It depends. Quitting would be a good strategy ONLY if there are better or less uncertain job prospects for whatever you pick after dropping out of pharmacy school. If you drop out and you are going to work flipping burgers for the remaining of your natural life, then, off-course it is one of the worse decisions ever. But if you drop out and your new career will allow you to find a job easier than pharmacy and help you pay those loans effectively in the long run with better job security, then, by all means, go ahead. Also, consider which career are you going to jump into. Many will be asking if you will not ditch them too. True story, a friend of mine dropped out at the end of P1 year. He went back for two years to do more course work, applied to med school, got rejected the first year everywhere. Applied again next year. Now he is an M2. He is now 31, no family. But the dude worked so hard and studied so damn hard like 13+ hours a day till he got in. He told me he got scrutinised in many places because of him dropping out of pharmacy school. But he demonstrated academically that he wasn't BSing anyone. He is in a lot of debt too, but his job prospects are way better at the end of the tunnel.

Personally, I wouldn't have dropped out of pharmacy school during any year because I actually envisioned myself since little becoming a pharmacist (my undergrad degree is related to medications), owning my pharmacy, the "apothecary dude" and all the "pharmacy romanticism". It hurts that the profession is currently hard on us, but many times is also the captain mentality that we have to keep in mind..."captain sinks with his ship". Entering pharmacy like any other career, getting in so much debt, dealing with all the regulations and crap, etc... with the sole purpose of cashing the paycheck at the end of the month will get old fast and most likely will make anyone miserable in the long run.

If you have zero loans or relative low debt, and you can live without being a pharmacist, jump out of the ship, now! and swim away as fast as you can. Find a nice little boat or small island, then, turn around and watch us pharmacists already in the ship battling to keep the ship afloat.