applicant pools getting bigger or smaller?

[mozart_fan]

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What do you think. In a few years, will applicant pool pharm schools get bigger or smaller????

 

[WildOrchids27]

What do you think. In a few years, will applicant pool pharm schools get bigger or smaller????

BIGGER! Everyone and their grandma wants to be a Pharmacist.

 

[faradayampere]

definitely bigger, and the quality is better as well =) ... no doubt about it

 

[EarlyEditionDude]

More schools = more applications = more seats = more competitive = bad for pharmacist's salaries around the year 2008-09

 

[JD_USD]

If you're in a profession where 6 figure incomes are offered at the entry level, could it really be that "bad" in ten years?? Are those of you who are looking for financial progression during the pharmacist shortage expecting salaries parallel do that of MD's?? If so, remember that pharmacists get way better hours!

 

[ultracet]

It is my personal opinion that when people finally realize there is no shortage and they have saturated the market beyond belief and ignorantly opened so many schools we will be dropped down to at best, $50K perhaps $60K but really nothing over that.


Enjoy it while it lasts!

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Are they opening about 50 schools a year I'm not aware of?

With the baby boomers aging, I doubt our demand will decrease. 4-5 new schools a year won't kill us. However, when they all begin to die off...watch out.

 

[kwakster928]

there is no shortage of pharmacist in this country! wake up people who still believe in this.

 

[bananaface]

there is no shortage of pharmacist in this country! wake up people who still believe in this.

LOL. A pharmacist I worked with once said, "There aren't too few pharmacists. There are too many grocery stores." We had a ton of low volume stores in that town.

 

[young skywalker]

Just wondering, but what evidence does anyone have that we are anywhere close to reaching a saturation point for pharmacists in the united states? Everything I have read has only pointed toward greater need. Anything that differs from this train of thought seems to be based on speculation, i.e. machines will take over our jobs, more schools will be saturating the market, etc. etc. Is there an article, some data, somewhere that suggests that the demand for pharmacists is diminishing that someone could share?

 

[b*rizzle]

Are they opening about 50 schools a year I'm not aware of?

With the baby boomers aging, I doubt our demand will decrease. 4-5 new schools a year won't kill us. However, when they all begin to die off...watch out.

According to the Dept of Labor, no one has anything to worry about. Relax kids! 😀 Have a look for yourselves!

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm

 

[LVPharm]

Pharmacy Manpower Project​

 

[skb135]

Ahh, good ol’ supply and demand. Yes, pharmacy pay may fall. Although I think it’s unlikely that it will fall all that much. Hmm, what can I do to minimize this problem?

 

[xxdakinexx]

The pool is getting bigger, but the demand is also increasing.

 

[dgroulx]

The demand for pharmacists is bigger in rural areas. Walmart has a big expansion going in rural areas, especially here in the south. Other pharmacies open up because of the competition. When I interviewed with Eckerds (now CVS) last year for an internship, they said that pharmacists were needed a couple of hours north of where I live. I checked it out and the average age is 63.5, there are no nice restaurants, no night clubs, but you can live on a 5 or 10 acre lot. I'm okay with this, but not many young graduates want that kind of quiet life. There are no openings in the nearest city to where I live, the Tampa/St Petersburg/Clearwater area.

 

[young skywalker]

The ADI is very interesting, I'm not sure exactly how that number will play out in the long run, or exactly how useful it is. What affect does that have on clinical pharmacists? Also if all this is true, are not other health professional fields also in trouble? Medical, dental, opto, nursing?

 

[ultracet]

The most amusing thing to me is absolutely the manpower project. I had to do a presentation on the shortage this last semester.

The manpower project actually says that the number of dispensing pharmacists will decrease SIGNIFICANTLY to right at 100,000 people. it then states that the number of clinical pharmacists will increase and that is where the demand will be in the future. However with the language of the medicare act.... What person in their right mind would hire a rph at $100,000 when an RN can do it for $50,000. I know that pharmacists are more qualified blah blah blah
But
Who does all the hiring? Who makes the decisions where to cut bugets? A pharmacist who knows what a great asset they are? more than likely not!

I personally would take a half priced RN and train him/her in whatever medication reviews i felt most benificial. and not pay for a pharmacist.

Ok now lets look at the number given by the manpower project of 100,000 dispensing pharmacists...
lets say EVERYONE now working retires, even the recent graduates.....
there are currently close to 50,000 students currently in pharmacy school...

At best 9 years to put out 100,000 pharmacists.

I enjoy how upset people get when someone says there's not a shortage....
Exactly why does it matter if there is or isn't???????

Are you just scared that you won't have a job when you get out??
What degree could you get other than one in medicine that you would be guarenteed a job when you graduate??

are you afraid that the world of pharmacy will come to this realization that there really is not that much of a shortage and tell schools to accept less people or worse not accredit them?

I really am just curious what difference it makes.

 

[b*rizzle]

I enjoy how upset people get when someone says there's not a shortage....
Exactly why does it matter if there is or isn't???????

Are you just scared that you won't have a job when you get out??
What degree could you get other than one in medicine that you would be guarenteed a job when you graduate??

are you afraid that the world of pharmacy will come to this realization that there really is not that much of a shortage and tell schools to accept less people or worse not accredit them?

I really am just curious what difference it makes.

Is it really that unreasonable to be worried about not having a job when you graduate? 😛 Conversely, I also think people need to realize that saying there "is not a shortage" does not automatically imply that there will not be a job for him/her when he/she is out of school.

 

[LVPharm]

Let's see if we can stoke the flames!

Pharmacist shortage seen rising in U.S. - Washington Times

 

[paddyboy777]

Let's see if we can stoke the flames!

Pharmacist shortage seen rising in U.S. - Washington Times

This article is unfortunately like a lot of other articles. Does not help students in decision-making. The article implies that the temporary shortage is caused by credential creep from B. Pharm to Pharm D. Data quoted states that there was a shortage before the change to Pharm D. The leap in open positions has been worked down over the past few years (in spite of a jump in the number of prescriptions) and this means that the shortage will become a surplus if things continue. Obviously, school deans and the retail industry want more graduates.

230,000 Pharm professionals right now
Average age 42
Let us say they work until 67
Attrition due to retirements - approx. 8000 assuming 4% attrition/yr
Number of graduates (including new schools, expansion of current schools and immigrants with foreign degrees - 400/yr) - approx. 9000
Seems like a balance unless retail needs decrease as per the manpower study quoted i.e. drop to 100,00 in retail.

Please let me know if I am wrong.