Job outlook in less populated area?

[escse]

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I am a Pre-Pharm. I got my offer, and I have been informed of the issue with saturation. I don't actually know how bad it is (I mean, I saw numbers and testimonies, but I don't work in the field yet), but yes I am aware that this issue exist, and there are many who basically say that you shouldn't even come at first place.

Now, when I asked professors about this during my interview, the reply I received was like "oh yes, finding a job in the city is nearly impossible...it is extremely saturated...but if you are willing to go to the rural areas, you will be fine..."

How true is this statement?

I do know some current pharmacy students, who had confirmed me with the issue of saturation, but none of the people I know can tell me anything about rural jobs, as none them thought about moving.

Well then. Is it realistic then, to treat rural jobs as a possible future choice of career? Or are they, like how the job market of pharmacy seemingly is, saturated? Or, is wage the issue?

Thank you.

 

[Chalupa_Batman86]

Back in 2006-2010, both metro and rural areas offered very nice opportunities. Now we fast forward to 2010-2014 and saturation hits metro areas pretty hard. But, there are still opportunities in rural areas. What do you think is going to happen next? You guessed it. 2014 to the present, people from coastal metro areas are flooding rural markets in TX, MS and VA. The glory days are done.

 

[Sine Cura]

Keep in mind that there are fewer pharmacist jobs in rural or small-town areas compared to large metro areas obviously. You just need a few new grads to fill these openings. If you want to work somewhere or anywhere, you will probably find a FT job but it might be pretty far from a major metro area.

As an example, Roseman University in Henderson, NV (part of the Las Vegas metro area) graduates a ****-ton of pharmacists every year. When I was looking for work several years ago, there were FT retail job openings in Mesquite, NV (90 miles from Vegas), Pahrump, NV (60+ miles), and down in western Arizona (100+ miles). At least these areas are close to Vegas. Now, I see one job opening at a CVS in Elko, NV, which is closer to Salt Lake City (230 miles) than Reno (290 miles).

 

[escse]

Thank you and Thank you - both of you.

Obviously, I am worried about the outcome of my future. My offer came from SUNY Buffalo; the school probably is good enough judging by the rank, but I am seriously worried about job availability in where SUNY Buffalo is located at, aka NYS,. It seems like Chalupa is in NY? and thank you Sine Cura, I have never heard about how things are in NV before; that was valuable information.

I did grow up in a small town, so I seriously don't mind to relocate back to places that are far far far far far away from metro areas, provided that jobs exist. Be it Alaska (yeah, I saw that thread where a person went to Barrow), Montana, or North Dakota - whatever. Location doesn't matter. Job does.

But I still wonder if there is anything that I have overlooked. Sigh.

 

[bananaface]

If you look on Indeed.com you can see where current openings are. It gives you an idea of where you might relocate for a job.

 

[Pestle&Mortar]

I am not a pharmacist yet but the outlook on retail pharmacy seems to be getting saturated however I posit that the future of pharmacy is still green in clinical settings. I see big chains taking control of retail (if they haven't already), and ergo driving pharmacy salaries in the way they prefer. The way I see it is that, clinical pharmacy will be the ideal route in the oncoming years. Which makes getting a residency an investment.

 

[TheBlaah]

I am not a pharmacist yet but the outlook on retail pharmacy seems to be getting saturated however I posit that the future of pharmacy is still green in clinical settings. I see big chains taking control of retail (if they haven't already), and ergo driving pharmacy salaries in the way they prefer. The way I see it is that, clinical pharmacy will be the ideal route in the oncoming years. Which makes getting a residency an investment.

Some of your statement is not technically wrong. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacists.htm#tab-6 has an excel sheet with employment by industry. The number of retail jobs are shrinking while hospital are increasing. However, retail make up more than 70% of the jobs while hospital is around 20%. Hospital jobs are predicted to increase by 5%. 5% of 20% is basically an increase of 1% of jobs compared to the total number of jobs.

Also, you should look at the number of residency positions opening up. They're increasing at a extremely high rate (I'd say 20-25% every year). Very soon, there won't be enough jobs for all these residents.

 

[Sine Cura]

"seems"

"still green"

LOL