Newest California pharmacy school: University of California, Irvine

[confettiflyer]

A $200-million donation threatens to tar UC Irvine's medical school as a haven for quacks
A $200-million donation threatens to tar UC Irvine's medical school as a haven for quacks

Okay okay technically we heard UC Irvine intended to open a pharmacy school when Bill Gross donated $$$$ to open nursing, but the new $200M Samueli donation moves up the timeline.

What do you all think?

Given the law school is pretty amazing right from the start, and how well the UCSD launch went, I think once this one opens, anyone who goes to any of the other lesser known/lower ranked/vocational+ schools (I’m looking at you West Coast U and your office campus next to Disneyland) won’t stand a chance getting any decent rotation or residency spot.

Plus there’s UCIMC built in and the rest of the UC hospitals available up and down the state.

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[gwarm01]

Finally, the underserved LA area will have a pharmacy school.

 

[quickpic007]

Finally, the underserved LA area will have a pharmacy school.

I thought there was already several in LA area #jokingnotjoking

 

[gwarm01]

I thought there was already several in LA area #jokingnotjoking

I remember a few years back when a school was opened in the area with the justification that Orange County didn't have its own pharmacy school.. Every county must be served!

That's reasoning is about as sound as Larkin's for opening in Miami. I think a poster here accused me of being racist when I suggested they drive to or move near one of the other two pharmacy schools in the Miami metropolitan area.

 

[lord999]

Well, at least there's better eating for my taste next to UCI than UCSF Parnassus. I'd eat at Sam Woo's every day. There wasn't even a cafeteria on campus when I was a student.

 

[steveysmith54]

Doesn't even matter anymore... when we had 9 pharmacy schools, maybe I would have been alarmed... we are at 14 now, another one will not make a difference... pharmacy is scewed regardless of 1 more school...

 

[PharmtoCS]

But...but...but there is only 1 other pharmacy school in Orange County! 1 isn't enough!

 

[BidingMyTime]

I forgot what poster it was a few years ago suggested we all go in and start our own pharmacy school? We really missed the ball on that one. Perhaps it's not to late? Granted it's not the "passive" income everybody wants, but it could be pretty close. Depending on how many posters here sign on, we'll just divide the class load between us all. It will be a "distant learning" set-up, and we can use "group learning", so all we'll really have to do is draw up the syllabus to hand out to the students to teach themselves. Start-up costs can't be too bad. Say we all chip in $5,000, charge $50,000 per student. I know this sounds too good to be true, almost like a Ponzi scheme, but it's working for all the 50 or more new colleges in the past 15 years, I think it could work for us.

 

[confettiflyer]

UCI creates pharmacy school, will enroll students in fall 2021

The school joins the medical and nursing schools and a public health program that’s under development to form the Samueli College of Health Sciences.

www.ocregister.com

UCI Pharmacy School
Fall 2021

I figure that gives that one school in an office building sandwiched between Disneyland and the 5 freeway a few years to freak out and find better rotation sites since I’m assuming UCIMC and other high quality sites will prioritize their own.

Maybe time to transition to academia, haha.

 

[Judgment Dragon]

Hirsch said the doctoral pharmacy program will start with about 60 students in fall 2021.

 

[steveysmith54]

All I can say is this a very humbling profession.
Some of these high achieving students who enter their inaugural class will face a lot of disappointment when they receive 40-45 dollars/hr offers from CVS in 4 years.

 

[Marzapan]

All I can say is this a very humbling profession.
Some of these high achieving students who enter their inaugural class will face a lot of disappointment when they received 40-45 dollars/hr offers from CVS in 4 years.

The job market will be that good in 4 years?

 

[steveysmith54]

The job market will be that good in 4 years?

HAHHA... maybe.... hopefully 40-45 dollars an hour as perdiem.

 

[Marzapan]

HAHHA... maybe.... hopefully 40-45 dollars an hour as perdiem.

There are posts of $25-30/hr offers now. Granted, California might not be there yet but it's coming...

 

[steveysmith54]

There are posts of $25-30/hr offers now. Granted, California might not be there yet but it's coming...

Maybe not from chains. But, I could def see independent pharmacies going that route. $30-$35 an hour full time with benefits.

 

[Gombrich12]

Maybe not from chains. But, I could def see independent pharmacies going that route. $30-$35 an hour full time with benefits.

"They even paid for my white coat and future AA meetings!" - some new grad in 2025 after accepting their $35/hr float position at CVS

 

[PromisedNeverland]

Next thing you know, Cal State will open up a pharmacy school

 

[confettiflyer]

Next thing you know, Cal State will open up a pharmacy school

I believe legally they cannot per their charter, or some law that I cannot think of right now. Or maybe I’m confused.

 

[confettiflyer]

Maybe not from chains. But, I could def see independent pharmacies going that route. $30-$35 an hour full time with benefits.

Lol that’s less than what our techs make

But seriously these UCI grads will be like the UCI law grads...immediately floating to the top-ish, while the generic-office-building-next-to-freeway school of pharmacy (GOBNTFSOP) will suffer from float pool hell.

UCSD opened at the tail end of the boom (2006) and it’s seen as a rival to UCSF. Now that’s impressive. UCI will have a similar track, IMO.

 

[radio frequency]

I’m happy to see reputable state schools open pharmacy schools to counter the garbage dumpster fire for-profit private pharmacy schools.

 

[Marzapan]

I’m happy to see reputable state schools open pharmacy schools to counter the garbage dumpster fire for-profit private pharmacy schools.

I don't think the solution to countering saturation is to open up higher quality schools...

 

[radio frequency]

I don't think the solution to countering saturation is to open up higher quality schools...

No, it’s not. But I like the idea of forcing those other schools out of business as a long term play for the profession.

 

[Marzapan]

No, it’s not. But I like the idea of forcing those other schools out of business as a long term play for the profession.

Even if there were 15,000 quality grads each year the profession is still doomed. "Quality" doesn't matter if you continue to play a zero sum game. The diploma mills will die out eventually... just leave them be and they'll rot.

 

[Judgment Dragon]

UCI will probably accept applicants with single digit percentile PCAT scores anyways.

 

[Xenophylia]

I don't think the solution to countering saturation is to open up higher quality schools...

Maybe Uber/Lyft have been disappointed with the quality of recent grads from the private "dumpster fire" schools....

 

[Marzapan]

Maybe Uber/Lyft have been disappointed with the quality of recent grads from the private "dumpster fire" schools....

It must really take something to be worse than the foreigner Uber drivers who know 0 English and don't talk to you the entirety of your ride. Do these new grad-converted-uber drivers actively get traffic violations with passengers in their car or something?

 

[lord999]

I believe legally they cannot per their charter, or some law that I cannot think of right now. Or maybe I’m confused.

Correct, the only higher degree grants are only what the UC Board of Regents allows due to the California Master Plan For Higher Education. Unless the UC Board of Regents (not CSU) allows it like in the cases of Education and Nursing, that's not going to happen, and unlike the others, the PharmD is the undergraduate qualification degree for professional use now, not a higher equivalent.

 

[lord999]

Also, UC Merced gets screwed again. That's the one university in the UC system that would make sense to imbue with health professions as it serves a geographically distinct region and could use an economic injection, but their representation at the state level has always been terrible.

Too bad there couldn't be a pharmacy school at Santa Cruz, that would probably attract good faculty at least due to the living circumstances.

 

[BenJammin]

All I can say is this a very humbling profession.
Some of these high achieving students who enter their inaugural class will face a lot of disappointment when they receive 40-45 dollars/hr offers from CVS in 4 years.

$40/hr for a PIC job maybe. Pharmacy students will be competing with currently licensed pharmacists and advance practice techs by the time they graduate.

 

[Xenophylia]

It must really take something to be worse than the foreigner Uber drivers who know 0 English and don't talk to you the entirety of your ride. Do these new grad-converted-uber drivers actively get traffic violations with passengers in their car or something?

Yes...these individuals from "dumpster fire" schools were told for 7 plus years that they're graduating as "college educated professionals". They have been told they know many things while not necessarily knowing anything in reality. It makes them rather dangerous. Uber/Lyft would prefer pharmacists with true pedigree.

 

[steveysmith54]

No, it’s not. But I like the idea of forcing those other schools out of business as a long term play for the profession.

It doesn't work like that. Other schools will accept unqualified students, proly from community colleges, with government funded student loans who will further saturate the profession and decrease pay.

 

[confettiflyer]

It doesn't work like that. Other schools will accept unqualified students, proly from community colleges, with government funded student loans who will further saturate the profession and decrease pay.

They still need rotation sites, and View-of-the-Freeway University is literally closer to UCIMC than UCI campus is...they’re gonna get screwed. Maybe not now with 60 students, but eventually.

Can’t send them all to CVS. Maybe they’ll jack up tuition and pay some for-profit hospital out of desperation?

 

[PharmtoCS]

It doesn't work like that. Other schools will accept unqualified students, proly from community colleges, with government funded student loans who will further saturate the profession and decrease pay.

Probably straight of high school with no GPA or SAT requirement. They'll offer "prereqs" at the same cost of their PharmD courses per unit.

They still need rotation sites, and View-of-the-Freeway University is literally closer to UCIMC than UCI campus is...they’re gonna get screwed. Maybe not now with 60 students, but eventually.

Not sure what the schools have up their sleeve next. They somehow got the state board to eliminate the 1,500 hour internship requirement, after all.