College freshman here.

[Lastnv]

I'm in college still fulfilling general ed. requirements for a B.S. in Chemistry. I have plenty of time to decide what I want to do.
Pharmacy school has been my goal since high school but after reading online and these forums I don't know if that desire is enough to endure being unemployed and debt up the ass after 8 years of school and hard work.

Assuming I graduate in 2015 and get into pharmacy school, and graduate pharmacy school by 2020 what do you think the job market is going to look like for Pharmacists? Is the salary still going to be 110k average? Will the "baby-boomer" pharmacists free up more jobs by then?

Roseman school of health sciences here in Henderson, NV where I live (Las Vegas) is in the accreditation process to open an MD granting Medical School and may start accepting students in 2015-16. Roseman is my first choice for pharm school since its accelerated and right here in my backyard.

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[1800callsaul]

I'm in college still fulfilling general ed. requirements for a B.S. in Chemistry. I have plenty of time to decide what I want to do.
Pharmacy school has been my goal since high school but after reading online and these forums I don't know if that desire is enough to endure being unemployed and debt up the ass after 8 years of school and hard work.

Assuming I graduate in 2015 and get into pharmacy school, and graduate pharmacy school by 2020 what do you think the job market is going to look like for Pharmacists? Is the salary still going to be 110k average? Will the "baby-boomer" pharmacists free up more jobs by then?

Roseman school of health sciences here in Henderson, NV where I live (Las Vegas) is in the accreditation process to open an MD granting Medical School and may start accepting students in 2015-16. Roseman is my first choice for pharm school since its accelerated and right here in my backyard.

There will always be jobs for those who have connections and are worth their salt. That's in any field. Get your butt into a pharmacy, work hard, impress people, and most importantly see if you can see yourself doing this job for the rest of your life.

That being said, I wouldn't go into pharmacy if I had to go over again. That's coming from a guy that has a job and has ZERO student loans. Here's why:

You have to realize that pharmacy, especially retail, is a lot like professional sports. You're probably only good for 10-20 years. The current workplace trend is to fire/ lay off the older pharmacists with accrued benefits & higher salaries in lieu of recent grads. I only know of 2 pharmacists in my district with grey hair. I've heard that a major chain is paying something like 48/ hour in Philadelphia/ NYC. One of my classmates is getting 38/hour in a hospital in the same area. Rural areas are still paying more; I'm working with that same chain and getting paid close to 60/hr to live in a farm town. I really think salaries are going to drop soon. Declining reimbursement from insurance companies and all these new grads is not a healthy situation for salaries.

Consider all your options if you're really hellbent on healthcare. PT, optometry, traditional MD/DO, & PA.

Best of luck.

 

[type b pharmD]

There will always be jobs for those who have connections and are worth their salt. That's in any field. Get your butt into a pharmacy, work hard, impress people, and most importantly see if you can see yourself doing this job for the rest of your life.

That being said, I wouldn't go into pharmacy if I had to go over again. That's coming from a guy that has a job and has ZERO student loans. Here's why:

You have to realize that pharmacy, especially retail, is a lot like professional sports. You're probably only good for 10-20 years. The current workplace trend is to fire/ lay off the older pharmacists with accrued benefits & higher salaries in lieu of recent grads. I only know of 2 pharmacists in my district with grey hair. I've heard that a major chain is paying something like 48/ hour in Philadelphia/ NYC. One of my classmates is getting 38/hour in a hospital in the same area. Rural areas are still paying more; I'm working with that same chain and getting paid close to 60/hr to live in a farm town. I really think salaries are going to drop soon. Declining reimbursement from insurance companies and all these new grads is not a healthy situation for salaries.

Consider all your options if you're really hellbent on healthcare. PT, optometry, traditional MD/DO, & PA.

Best of luck.

Anecdotally, I would say the vast majority of retail pharmacists I encounter are over 45 .. and a good number over 50.. hospital I've seen a lot of younger pharmacists but.. this may be reflective of the easier career in the past.

To the OP .. (I have changed my tune slightly on this lately) ... I would avoid pharmacy unless you can confirm or have confirmed that you truly enjoy the day to day work. It is more fast paced grinding and corporate than majority of other healthcare provider careers and while I disagree that job stability is decreasing, job availability definitely is. The jobs are going to individials with great people skills and sincere motivation rather than just people with diplomas. You will have to work in a rural area as well at least at first, which can be a turn off to some people.

That said, I would do pharmacy again if I had to restart. I really enjoy the work! If I wasn't going into pharmacy I would probably look for a different type of high paying retail management.. because that is really what the job entails.

I really don't think that pharmacy careers are time limited like being a pro sports player is. There are plenty of superstars in their late 40s out there in my experience.. they are usually managers because they have enough experience to expertly game the system to bring their revenues and efficiency to the max. However I do see the lazy people in their 60s on the verge of being laid off because they just can't handle the modern day pace and stresses.

 

[boriqua]

In the 2012 graduating class at my school, only 41% of the class has full time employment. the other 59% are part time, floaters, or just unemployed. I see people who are 2-3 years older than me posting on school job sites trying to network their way into employment. I think from this picture, you can imagine what it's going to be like in 2020

 

[Stilltrying1288]

There will always be jobs for those who have connections and are worth their salt. That's in any field. Get your butt into a pharmacy, work hard, impress people, and most importantly see if you can see yourself doing this job for the rest of your life.

That being said, I wouldn't go into pharmacy if I had to go over again. That's coming from a guy that has a job and has ZERO student loans. Here's why:

You have to realize that pharmacy, especially retail, is a lot like professional sports. You're probably only good for 10-20 years. The current workplace trend is to fire/ lay off the older pharmacists with accrued benefits & higher salaries in lieu of recent grads. I only know of 2 pharmacists in my district with grey hair. I've heard that a major chain is paying something like 48/ hour in Philadelphia/ NYC. One of my classmates is getting 38/hour in a hospital in the same area. Rural areas are still paying more; I'm working with that same chain and getting paid close to 60/hr to live in a farm town. I really think salaries are going to drop soon. Declining reimbursement from insurance companies and all these new grads is not a healthy situation for salaries.

Consider all your options if you're really hellbent on healthcare. PT, optometry, traditional MD/DO, & PA.

Best of luck.

PT and optometry aren't any better off atm.

 

[farmadiazepine]

don't do pharmacy. do something else. you will be looking way too long for a job, or you will be working part time not getting enough hours to pay the bills which is what i hear so many new grads and younger pharmacists complaining about.

 

[DiomedeaExulans]

The job market is generally bad right now in 2013 and will continue to get worse in the foreseeable future. The salaries are already declining in some places, and many pharmacists only work part time, so they are definitely not earning $110k. The baby boomers will not be freeing up a lot of jobs becuse many of them lost their retirement funds in the recent financial crisis or have relatives to support who have been affected by it. Even if their retirement rate does increase, that will not be enough to accomodate the excessive number of new graduates. Pharmacy will not reward you for your talent and hard work unless you are the distict manager's cousin. Look elswhere and good luck.

 

[pharmalt82]

There will always be jobs for those who have connections and are worth their salt. That's in any field. Get your butt into a pharmacy, work hard, impress people, and most importantly see if you can see yourself doing this job for the rest of your life.

That being said, I wouldn't go into pharmacy if I had to go over again. That's coming from a guy that has a job and has ZERO student loans. Here's why:

You have to realize that pharmacy, especially retail, is a lot like professional sports. You're probably only good for 10-20 years. The current workplace trend is to fire/ lay off the older pharmacists with accrued benefits & higher salaries in lieu of recent grads. I only know of 2 pharmacists in my district with grey hair. I've heard that a major chain is paying something like 48/ hour in Philadelphia/ NYC. One of my classmates is getting 38/hour in a hospital in the same area. Rural areas are still paying more; I'm working with that same chain and getting paid close to 60/hr to live in a farm town. I really think salaries are going to drop soon. Declining reimbursement from insurance companies and all these new grads is not a healthy situation for salaries.

Consider all your options if you're really hellbent on healthcare. PT, optometry, traditional MD/DO, & PA.

Best of luck.

I have to disagree with you on the pro sports thing. I have, with my own 2 eyes seen pharmacists in the 65+ range (one 74, one 69, one 66) do a better job than 20 somethings. Hard to believe, but its true. They were standing, not complaining and doing work because they had nothing better to do and actually liked working.
Also, have you seen doctors and PAs recently? They are swamped with physical and mental work as well. I've seen plenty of hospitalists complaining of physical work.
Desk jobs are traps.They sucker you into thinking that you have something good going and then boom: you're fat, lazy, annoying, dead, etc.
If you become a doctor or pharmacist without really wanting to become one and without actually knowing what it entails, you are in for a bad ride.

Walk into a hospital and look at doctors and PAs, they're constantly sitting and getting up, which becomes even more annoying than just standing for 8 Hours.

 

[Amicable Angora]

There are those who do not look and land in a hole.
There are those who look and do not see, so land in a hole.
There are those who look, see the hole, yet willingly step in the hole.
Finally, there are those who look, see the hole, and avoid the hole.

Which one are you?

 

[pharmalt82]

There are those who do not look and land in a hole.
There are those who look and do not see, so land in a hole.
There are those who look, see the hole, yet willingly step in the hole.
Finally, there are those who look, see the hole, and avoid the hole.

Which one are you?

Yup, there are no holes in becoming a Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer, Optometrist, Programmer, etc.

 

[Amicable Angora]

Yup, there are no holes in becoming a Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer, Optometrist, Programmer, etc.

So I guess everyone lands in the hole?

 

[type b pharmD]

So I guess everyone lands in the hole?

Some jump in without regrets.

Compared to say being a phd faculty doing adjunct or post doc work for $8/hr at this life stage, or working at best buy or starbucks, being underemployed as a pharmacist sounds pretty nice especially if you love the work.

 

[Amicable Angora]

Some jump in without regrets.

Compared to say being a phd faculty doing adjunct or post doc work for $8/hr at this life stage, or working at best buy or starbucks, being underemployed as a pharmacist sounds pretty nice especially if you love the work.

True true.

 

[SMDoc]

Go to PA school. Far more opportunities than pharmacy/specialties, shorter school/less debt, more patient interaction.

 

[zelman]

...Walk into a hospital and look at doctors and PAs, they're constantly sitting and getting up, which becomes even more annoying than just standing for 8 Hours.

This sort of perspective can change when you're standing for a 14 hour shift. Not every pharmacist job is in a hospital, or state with applicable labor laws.

 

[knight on horse]

IF you are pro, IF you make connections, you'll be set

I have those things but have been content to coast away.. one day I will be old and these will sift through my hands like sand.

Gotta catch 'em all!

I would go MD, corporate, research (< have to be pro or certainly impoverished), or a high IQ field if you are able

That said, pharmacy could no doubt benefit from some stars to advance the field