Debating pharmacy, alternatives?

[fauxden]

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Durrr, everyone happy with their jobs in pharmacy is out enjoying their lives right now, not posting on the forums like Faux and his ilk.

I'm happy with my job. I just like reading these forums because I find it entertaining while in class or studying or whatever. I've got a great intern spot at an independent compounding pharmacy. I am just looking at the road ahead and nervous. And ooooooo... my ilk..... how frightening. Sounds like a mom telling her babies not to hang out with bad kids like me and the other people who are just trying to look ahead.

 

[Electrode]

Personal perceptions & experiences about a profession will never be enough reason for you to try & discourage people away from it....especially, when it's a question of the future.

You know why? Because there is always a chance that they will be presented with better opportunities & circumstances than what was presented to either you or me. It is one of the numerous key morals SDN doom-&-gloom "cast reporters" seem to not notice or ignore.

Moreover, we're talking about a profession rooted in health care. It's always damn funny how people frequently try to compare the current job market of pure law with the future of pure pharmacy, a health care profession. I find it disappointedly shameful that people who claim to be pharmacists (ie if they really are), find it a great idea to sit or stand up & make posts that directly instruct prospectives not to go into the profession.....because of a bad job market? Seriously??

Don't you know there is a difference between being informative & being instructive...?

 

[quimicosoy]

Yes guys I feel you, I am graduating this semester with a bachelors in chemistry, and I was accepted to pharmacy school for the fall semester. I am 27 and I have been thinking about the same stuff as you all guys have, and it does not look really well, but considering other options it is the same in the science field, I have worked in hard core research in the university laws, and talking with the Ph.D students, they are really mad about it, the get pay really low, and they work for like 12 hours a day, and they even have to go on weekend to complete experiments. Many of them are in their early 30's and living in rented rooms, single, and without job security. It is sad which ever way you look at it. I wanted to do research, but after reading and looking all the stuff that this post-Ph.D students have to suffer is hard. At least the health care field it is more widespread, and the chances are greater, and the pay probably will NEVER go below 40 thousand dollars a year. At the end of the day, one has to love the profession, so you can feel proud of it even when times are really bad. If it is all about money, then, it will be really depressing. I was born in south america, and you have to live down there to see how people manage to live. Pharmacist, doctors, dentists, etc...and they still live happy.

Just stick on it, and you will eventually find something.

 

[rxlea]

Hmmm...so, anyone willing to wager when a pseudo-tier system begins to develop?

 

[R2pharmD2]

Hmmm...so, anyone willing to wager when a pseudo-tier system begins to develop?

We need a legit (or at least more legit) ranking system first. I'd put the over/under at 3 years though if I had to guess.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Hmmm...so, anyone willing to wager when a pseudo-tier system begins to develop?

What's the driving force for the development of the "tier system?" The vast majority of pharmacy jobs are available in chain retail. I don't see the chains EVER caring much where someone went to school. While their criteria might have previously been "a license and a pulse," the shortage will cause the chains to start to seek the candidate who will work the hardest, in the toughest conditions for the least amount of money.

I don't think we'll see a tier system like the one some people point to in law. The barrier to entry in pharmacy is just too high. They'll never be as many pharmacy schools as there are law schools. They'll never be as many pharmacists as there are lawyers.

There is no significant tier system in medicine. Absent a desire to go into research or (perhaps) certain very, very competitive specialties, one can enter almost any field of medicine with an MD from any US medical school. Rankings are something that status hungry premeds obsess about, but if you compare the match lists for "Top 10" medical schools to those of "lower ranked" schools, they are pretty similar. I've seen it said time and time again on this site that, "The best medical school in the United States is the one that YOU can get into."

I sometimes think that the people who are calling for a tier system in pharmacy are mostly students and alumni from "highly ranked" schools who would like to believe that this would protect them from feeling the pain of the shortage of residency positions and jobs. I don't think that school reputation has the power to protect any of us. Everyone will (more or less) continue to feel the effects of oversupply equally, at least until the market changes and the economy turns around. JMO.

 

[R2pharmD2]

I sometimes think that the people who are calling for a tier system in pharmacy are mostly students and alumni from "highly ranked" schools who would like to believe that this would protect them from feeling the pain of the shortage of residency positions and jobs.

I think that a tier system, based on a more informative and accurate ranking system than we currently have, could actually benefit newer schools. I'd bet that a number of the newer schools would end up ranking highly if the rankings weren't based strictly on reputation and opinion. You have been invited for interviews for a substantial number of residency positions, right? That's an example of how at least some new schools are producing competitive grads, and a proper ranking system could factor that sort of data in.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I think that a tier system, based on a more informative and accurate ranking system than we currently have, could actually benefit newer schools. I'd bet that a number of the newer schools would end up ranking highly if the rankings weren't based strictly on reputation and opinion. You have been invited for interviews for a substantial number of residency positions, right? That's an example of how at least some new schools are producing competitive grads, and a proper ranking system could factor that sort of data in.

Perhaps. I'm not optimistic that a better ranking system will be developed. I think we're stuck with US News and World Report. The US News rankings exist to sell magazines. What impetus is there for a ranking system? And who will implement it? It won't be any organization WITHIN pharmacy, that's for sure.

 

[R2pharmD2]

Perhaps. I'm not optimistic that a better ranking system will be developed. I think we're stuck with US News and World Report. The US News rankings exist to sell magazines. What impetus is there for a ranking system? And who will implement it? It won't be any organization WITHIN pharmacy, that's for sure.

You may be right. Us News does use somewhat better methodologies for their law and undergrad rankings though, and they could adopt similar models for their pharmacy rankings if they were so inclined. I'm not holding my breath, but if they conclude that they can make more money by improving the way they rank pharmacy schools then they'll do it.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

You may be right. Us News does use somewhat better methodologies for their law and undergrad rankings though, and they could adopt similar models for their pharmacy rankings if they were so inclined. I'm not holding my breath, but if they conclude that they can make more money by improving the way they rank pharmacy schools then they'll do it.

I'd say that the "Pharmacy School Rankings" issue is not a big seller. The number of students wanting to go to pharmacy school vs. the number aiming for medical school is very small. I don't have concrete numbers, though. That's probably why they don't spend a lot of time or effort on it.

I still think that individual students, wherever they go to school, will need to differentiate themselves to succeed. No one will be able to coast solely on school reputation. Even a student with a weird academic past who goes to a diploma mill can go 5/5 for residency interviews! 😉😛

 

[R2pharmD2]

I still think that individual students, wherever they go to school, will need to differentiate themselves to succeed. No one will be able to coast solely on school reputation. Even a student with a weird academic past who goes to a diploma mill can go 5/5 for residency interviews! 😉😛

Agreed! 👍

 

[FarscapeGirl]

Yes guys I feel you, I am graduating this semester with a bachelors in chemistry, and I was accepted to pharmacy school for the fall semester. I am 27 and I have been thinking about the same stuff as you all guys have, and it does not look really well, but considering other options it is the same in the science field, I have worked in hard core research in the university laws, and talking with the Ph.D students, they are really mad about it, the get pay really low, and they work for like 12 hours a day, and they even have to go on weekend to complete experiments. Many of them are in their early 30's and living in rented rooms, single, and without job security. It is sad which ever way you look at it. I wanted to do research, but after reading and looking all the stuff that this post-Ph.D students have to suffer is hard. At least the health care field it is more widespread, and the chances are greater, and the pay probably will NEVER go below 40 thousand dollars a year. At the end of the day, one has to love the profession, so you can feel proud of it even when times are really bad. If it is all about money, then, it will be really depressing. I was born in south america, and you have to live down there to see how people manage to live. Pharmacist, doctors, dentists, etc...and they still live happy.

Just stick on it, and you will eventually find something.

Pursue the job you think you want/will tolerate the most. If you want to more directly help people, be in a clinical setting, and learn lots about drugs, go to pharmacy school. If you're flexible and willing to move, you'll probably get a job somewhere (the West Coast, parts of it anyway, aren't nearly as saturated). But, if you want to do research and really think it's for you, go get a Ph.D.

Graduate students may work long days and sometimes even weekends, but I work almost every Saturday morning as a pharmacy intern. I'm way busier now than I almost ever was in grad school. I left research because it wasn't for me (I can't stand not having a project that's not working out and all the uncertainty), but there are pros to it as well. When I finished my degree, I had no student loans to pay back. I got a stipend that was enough to live on. My husband has a post-doc now, and although he's working on grants now, he's usually much less stressed than I am. He goes in a lot at night and the weekends, but that's partially because he chooses to (and it depends on the particular project, too). But he also stays home with me Tuesday mornings until I have class and comes home early a lot, meets me for lunch, etc. Plus, in grad school, you don't have that constant stress of exams and more exams and more exams. And people tend to be more mature, too.

Don't just think about money (although not having money can give you stress). But not being happy with your job is no way to go through life. It makes you pretty miserable. Think about a class you had that you hated, and imagine going there 40 hours a week for an indefinite amount of time (basically until you took the time to apply to another what you think might be a better class and someone let you in it). Not fun at all.

 

[American Princess]

Personal perceptions & experiences about a profession will never be enough reason for you to try & discourage people away from it....especially, when it's a question of the future.

You know why? Because there is always a chance that they will be presented with better opportunities & circumstances than what was presented to either you or me. It is one of the numerous key morals SDN doom-&-gloom "cast reporters" seem to not notice or ignore.

Agree