I start pharmacy school in a few weeks, but I've been having second thoughts. Similar to others, I am worried about the job outlook and debt. If I go to pharmacy school, I will have about 200k in student loans counting undergrad. I enjoy working in a pharmacy, but I am nervous about taking on such a debt in an unsure job market.
For the last few months, I've been contemplating doing something else. I have a BS in biology. I enjoy nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle. It would take about two and a half years for me to become a nutritionist. I would have significantly less debt, but also a much lower salary.
I am torn. I do not want to work for years and spend thousands of dollars only to find that there aren't any jobs available. However, I am already enrolled in a pharmacy program. I could use some advice.
It is definitely getting harder to find jobs, and I would be leery about starting now when many think if it comes to a head, many project it in 2020. However, this site has always been doom and gloom to the max, so take what you read here with a grain of salt.....it's a very small sample size of the actual profession. Read posts all the way to 7+ years ago and you will read similar things to today about the market being dead.
That being said, if you do start pharmacy now, I would only do it under these circumstances (my perspective is mainly retail based):
1. Go to an established school, not a new diploma mill. While your school doesn't have to be tops in the nation, you want to go to one with a good rep and an established record/network with hospitals and chains in your state to land a job afterwards. Now with more students pumped out, employers are looking more and more at where you went to school. They can be more picky and trust me, they will. If you can only get into an overly expensive lower tier school, I would improve my resume and reapply to a better school next year....it simply isn't worth the money and risk, to me.
2. Bust your ass/don't think you can just show up to class and graduate and be handed a job. If you want clinical/hospital, get good grades, have leadership in clubs, present a research poster, etc. If you want retail, get a job by at least summer after P1 and make a good impression and work at least several shifts a month. With retail, work exp trumps being in all those school clubs, and is how most people get a job now after graduation. Don't just go home and study and have no exp and expect a job to be waiting for you.
3. Be flexible. Gone are the days of multiple job offers for having a pulse and a degree. Be willing to move or take on a starting job that isn't ideal. The key is to start working soon after grad. Just realize it may take years before you land a job and location you really want (aka what most people have to do when starting a career in general). Location especially you may have to sacrifice starting out.
4. Realize if you do land a job, now the real work begins. Esp in retail, most will only offer 32 hr/part time float starting out unless it's an area desperate for pharmacists. Consider if your lifestyle and loan payments are doable if worse case, you only get 32 hrs. Also be willing to drive to pick up extra work and don't just do the bare minimum...if you show you want to be a help and not a pain in the ass, managers will want you when a full time home store position pops up.
If you can do these things, you should still be able to find something. Just know that it will now take much more work and effort than it used to. If you truly like the job and are confident you will work to separate yourself, then go for it, under the right circumstances. If you just see pharmacy as a big paycheck and want to just punch the clock at school and work, run.
