I'm not making anywhere close to 100K. Pharmacy as a career is looking really grim.
Reasons I'm considering making the switch:
1. The pharmacy market is saturated. It is hard to get even 30 hrs/wk. We have no job security since there are a ton new grads willing to work in terrible conditions for 25 hrs/wk with no insurance.
2. Retail pharmacists are tied to dispensing a product. Doctors perform a service that is in demand. We are only there because the law says we have to be there. These drugs would sell just fine right off the shelf. If the public starts demanding that more drugs become OTC, the middle man (pharmacist) is out of a job. In addition, more and more insurance companies are requiring their members to use mail order pharmacies, putting the local independent pharmacies out of business. Insurance companies also often reimburse us below cost, so we hope to make up the loss with more volume, but that can't happen so long as more and more members are required to use mail order. More volume also means a busier store, which can lead to more stress and more dispensing errors.
3. One-dimensional knowledge. I think our "drug expert" knowledge is pretty one-dimensional considering healthcare is such a big field. Our drug knowledge isn't that great compared to a doctor's, especially a specialist's, either.
4. Intrusive State Boards, the DEA, and insurance companies: Every year they keep on adding more rules, more regulations, and more ways for us to screw up and get in trouble.
I like the healthcare field, but I see the writing on the wall in the pharmacy market and I'm looking for a lifeboat.