OMG, finding a pharmacy job...

[rph3664]

The people I know who work two jobs or crazy hours just really like to work, or they are working toward some financial goal.

I know a guy who is an overnighter at CVS and then works PRN at the VA on his off weeks. I asked him why once, and he said he just likes to work.

Or they're using it as an excuse to avoid family responsibilities. It's one thing if you HAVE to work multiple jobs; choosing to do so is another story.

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[rph3664]

- The big chains have their strategies to survive, which I am not able to discuss here.

Oh, heck, I first heard 15 years ago that as soon as an on-site pharmacist is not necessary for dispensing, Walgreens will immediately go that route.

 

[Sparda29]

Or they're using it as an excuse to avoid family responsibilities. It's one thing if you HAVE to work multiple jobs; choosing to do so is another story.

I don't have to work multiple jobs since I'd be pretty comfortable with what I make from full-time is enough, but I choose to work the additional job for more high-priced lifestyle.

 

[xiphoid2010]

Or they're using it as an excuse to avoid family responsibilities. It's one thing if you HAVE to work multiple jobs; choosing to do so is another story.

shushhhh... Don't tell my wife that I don't like "diapiee changieee".

 

[rph3664]

I was told at one of the interviews I went on in 2011 that many students are doing fellowships and residencies, if they can get them, just so they will have a job. I know I've said that here before.

 

[owlegrad]

I was told at one of the interviews I went on in 2011 that many students are doing fellowships and residencies, if they can get them, just so they will have a job. I know I've said that here before.

I don't know if that makes any sense. The time frame involved...it's not like I can just say, hey I want to do a residency because CVS didn't hire me.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I don't know if that makes any sense. The time frame involved...it's not like I can just say, hey I want to do a residency because CVS didn't hire me.

Exactly, I am even telling P-4s who are interested in residency that they must weight the benefit in training against the increasing competition resulting from the delay into the job market. Even as I was going jnto residency in 2010, the issue was getting cloudy, more so now. At this point, I'm recommding that if they have a hospital job offer from their internship site, they should take it and study up for board certification after work (even knowing half of them will likely slack off and not do it).

 

[Rutgers2015]

Exactly, I am even telling P-4s who are interested in residency that they must weight the benefit in training against the increasing competition resulting from the delay into the job market. Even as I was going jnto residency in 2010, the issue was getting cloudy, more so now. At this point, I'm recommding that if they have a hospital job offer from their internship site, they should take it and study up for board certification after work (even knowing half of them will likely slack off and not do it).

I thought most hospitals don't interview you until you've graduated/are licensed? Like if you're a tech in a hospital through school...

 

[minette]

I would venture to say that most (not all) of the people that complain about the job market as a pharmacist have never had to compete for good jobs among people that did not have the opportunity to seek higher education.

Try starting at the bottom working for 8 dollars an hour and working your way up. You would have a whole new appreciation for what is available as a pharmacist.

 

[BenJammin]

Exactly, I am even telling P-4s who are interested in residency that they must weight the benefit in training against the increasing competition resulting from the delay into the job market. Even as I was going jnto residency in 2010, the issue was getting cloudy, more so now. At this point, I'm recommding that if they have a hospital job offer from their internship site, they should take it and study up for board certification after work (even knowing half of them will likely slack off and not do it).

That's why I would never go the residency route in a million years. Didn't match with anybody but I was offered a hospital job so I took it and ran. Doesn't make sense to do a residency when a retail chain doesn't want to hire you since specialization isn't as available.

 

[BMBiology]

I would venture to say that most (not all) of the people that complain about the job market as a pharmacist have never had to compete for good jobs among people that did not have the opportunity to seek higher education.

Try starting at the bottom working for 8 dollars an hour and working your way up. You would have a whole new appreciation for what is available as a pharmacist.

and those who are making 8 dollars an hour don't have $250,000 in student loans.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I thought most hospitals don't interview you until you've graduated/are licensed? Like if you're a tech in a hospital through school...

No. I was offered a staffing position before the matching date. Many hospitals would offer staffing positions to interns that had worked for them multiple years with positive feedback. I wasn't the only one, there were at least half a dozen that I know of in my class, and at least 3 of them took the offers.

It was a tough choice to go with a safe bet or invest more time to risk for a better job opportunity. Couple of years back, the odds were still good for becoming a unicorn with a PGY-1, I certainly wouldn't be where I am today without it. However, the standards have been rising every year and PGY-1 is increasingly looking like par for the course for a hospital staffing position around here. So if you can secure one at your internship site without an extra year, then you might want to seriously consider that.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

and those who are making 8 dollars an hour don't have $250,000 in student loans.

Is this person making $8 per hour better off than a pharmacist with debt?

 

[iFarm]

This thread has had 1300+ views in one day.

 

[vardenafil]

I have a license in 3 states with almost 10 years experience and i haven't had full time work in almost 2 years now. Jobs are scarce! if you have one even if its only part time hang on to it

 

[SHC1984]

There was a Costco that opened in Bucks county here about a year ago...every pharmacist in 3 counties applied for the position from what I understand. Costco is the retail unicorn job. Techs that get paid $20 an hour. $150k out of the gate. More calm and rational customer base. It's pretty damn nice. (Though I still maintain that retail overnight is the best position in all of pharmacy.) A fresh grad competing for that job would have to have some crazy mojo to even have their resume looked at.

My friend is the valedictorian of her class and her CV is so impressive. 1000000X better than mine. She had research, held a TONS of leadership positions, tons of community service etc. She was offered a Target position but Costco didn't have a position for her. SO yeah...it does show how competitive they are.

Target called me and offered me an interview. Costco won't even do that. They are so MEAN!

I did overnight when I was doing my nuclear rotation. I had to take benadryl at 6pm to sleep till midnight so I can get up and go to work from 1am to 9am.

If you don't mind taking benadryl to sleep everyday then its okay but I really prefer not doing that every single day.

Yup. There is a pharmacist who works at my hospital. He worked at a state hospital for 30 years and retired from there. He is collecting a pension which is 70% of his last year's salary which was ~140k, so his pension is about 98k. On top of that he works 2-3 shifts a week at this hospital at a rate of about $70/hour and plays golf the rest of the week.

A job like that is probably EVEN HARDER to land than Costco and Costco is bad enough...the ENTIRE STATE of Texas have no positions and Texas is the least saturated state!

Look at it from a business point of view. If you're getting paid $120k which is about $500-$600 per day + benefits, and you want to take it easy filling 50-100 scripts/day, especially if a lot are $4 generics, then your pharmacy is going to be operating at a loss. This can only go on for so long until someone in corporate decides to squeeze you or shut you down.

Now with Obamacare coming, my personal predictions are:
- A lot of plans will have mandatory mail order to save costs.
- Very few cash patients left to milk, and with almost everyone on insurance, reimbursement will be so tight that the weaker retail pharmacies will go out of business i.e. Rite Aid, Target and some grocery store pharmacies, some independents.
- We used to be ok doing either brands or generics, but insurance will shut out brands and give piss poor reimbursement on generics.
- The big chains have their strategies to survive, which I am not able to discuss here.

That's a good point...but if that is the point to be made...then I would think Walmart is the MOST secure retail chain to work for. Afterall Walmart is the RICHEST company in the world...so I think their chances of going bankrupt is the lowest...Walgreens and CVS have a chance of going down too.

Is this person making $8 per hour better off than a pharmacist with debt?

Depends on how much debt. A pharmacist make about 5K to 6K a month after taxes. If you get to KEEP ALL of that then I would say it's worth it since that is above average salary. (Although there are still plenty of people that make more with LESS schooling)

BUT if you only get about 2K a month after making payments to your debt...then NO you are NOT better off...since most people make 2K to 3K a month....You will be JUST LIKE everyone else...except 1) they have a much more relaxing life...they relaxed while you studied your ass off in school. 2) They get to work a lot less hard...while you are stressing out at your job (pharmacist's job ain't easy) they do not have a tenth of your stress. 3) You will be stuck with a six figure debt while they don't have to worry about it. 4) pharmacist salary is pretty stagnant...other job's salary increase faster. 5) They don't have to worry about NOT getting a job due to saturation and SURPLUS of students. Pharmacy DO. I think we all know that now. 6) They don't have to worry about getting fired for cheaper labor since pharmacy students are graduating by the dozens. Again only pharmacy's problem.

I think you get the point. Sure a pharmacist with debt can still pull in 2k a month...but hell that's what everyone else makes and everyone else don't have those 6 issues to worry about......

 

[BMBiology]

Is this person making $8 per hour better off than a pharmacist with debt?

Is this person making $8 an hour also going to 8 years of schooling?

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Is this person making $8 an hour also going to 8 years of schooling?

Pretty much irrelevant. Can a person making $8 per hour support their family? Who will have a higher standard of living? The person making $8 per hour or a pharmacist making $55 per hour with a large loan payment?

 

[BMBiology]

Pretty much irrelevant. Can a person making $8 per hour support their family? Who will have a higher standard of living? The person making $8 per hour or a pharmacist making $55 per hour with a large loan payment?

really? time invested is irrelevant? is it also irrelevant if the pharmacist can't find a job?

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Depends on how much debt. A pharmacist make about 5K to 6K a month after taxes. If you get to KEEP ALL of that then I would say it's worth it since that is above average salary. (Although there are still plenty of people that make more with LESS schooling)

BUT if you only get about 2K a month after making payments to your debt...then NO you are NOT better off...since most people make 2K to 3K a month....You will be JUST LIKE everyone else...except 1) they have a much more relaxing life...they relaxed while you studied your ass off in school. 2) They get to work a lot less hard...while you are stressing out at your job (pharmacist's job ain't easy) they do not have a tenth of your stress. 3) You will be stuck with a six figure debt while they don't have to worry about it. 4) pharmacist salary is pretty stagnant...other job's salary increase faster. 5) They don't have to worry about NOT getting a job due to saturation and SURPLUS of students. Pharmacy DO. I think we all know that now. 6) They don't have to worry about getting fired for cheaper labor since pharmacy students are graduating by the dozens. Again only pharmacy's problem.

I think you get the point. Sure a pharmacist with debt can still pull in 2k a month...but hell that's what everyone else makes and everyone else don't have those 6 issues to worry about......

You realize that $8 per hour is about $1200 per month? Would you want to live on that? Support a family on that? I've done it (as a single person) and it sucks. I will take my six figure salary + debt.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

really? time invested is irrelevant? is it also irrelevant if the pharmacist can't find a job?

Yeah, time invested is irrelevant if you need food stamps and Medicaid to support your family, which is what most $8 per hour workers have to do. There is no scenario where an $8 per hour worker comes out ahead of a pharmacist making $55 per hour (or whatever), regardless of debt.

 

[BMBiology]

Yeah, time invested is irrelevant if you need food stamps and Medicaid to support your family, which is what most $8 per hour workers have to do. There is no scenario where an $8 per hour worker comes out ahead of a pharmacist making $55 per hour (or whatever), regardless of debt.

A pharmacist who has a doctorate degree and needs to go on government subsidies like income based repayment because she can't pay back her $250,000 student loan is not better than someone who is going on food stamps to feed her family. I am not going to hijack this thread so I will leave it at that.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

A pharmacist who has a doctorate degree and needs to go on government subsidies like income based repayment because she can't pay back her $250,000 student loan is not better than someone who is going on food stamps to feed her family. I am not going to hijack this thread so I will leave it at that.

Better? As in, a better person? No. And no one is suggesting that.

But a pharmacist on IBR is without a doubt better off financially than someone making $8 per hour.

You do understand the difference between "better" and "better off" I hope.

Edit: you sure have a weird obsession with IBR.

 

[Rutgers2015]

No. I was offered a staffing position before the matching date. Many hospitals would offer staffing positions to interns that had worked for them multiple years with positive feedback. I wasn't the only one, there were at least half a dozen that I know of in my class, and at least 3 of them took the offers.

It was a tough choice to go with a safe bet or invest more time to risk for a better job opportunity. Couple of years back, the odds were still good for becoming a unicorn with a PGY-1, I certainly wouldn't be where I am today without it. However, the standards have been rising every year and PGY-1 is increasingly looking like par for the course for a hospital staffing position around here. So if you can secure one at your internship site without an extra year, then you might want to seriously consider that.

Is it possible things have changed in recent years? I really hope that's the case I would love the peace of mind!

 

[awval999]

a pharmacist who has a doctorate degree and needs to go on government subsidies like income based repayment because she can't pay back her $250,000 student loan is not better than someone who is going on food stamps to feed her family. I am not going to hijack this thread so i will leave it at that.

^this

 

[All4MyDaughter]

^this

You really think the financial situation of an employed pharmacist on IBR is as dire as that of a (nearly) minimum wage worker struggling to make ends meet?

 

[Hope1974]

If you've got a ton a debt and no job, it's an easy "yes". The person making 8 bucks an hour could go to school for something marketable like say PA and come out on top. In the mean time the jobless pharmacist has potential to make good money, but if there really are no jobs, he or she would be forced to get a lowering paying job. Because at some point you realize some income is better than "no" income- plus you need health insurance, and lemme tell you, even as a healthy person with mammograms in my history for preventative measures- health insurance outside of a job, is a *itch to get. Any way, because the pharmacist has a lower paying job, it would take longer for the loans to get paid off. So, the 8 dollar an hour person can come out on top, because he/she wasn't stupid enough to go to school for pharmacy.

 

[rxlea]

You really think the financial situation of an employed pharmacist on IBR is as dire as that of a (nearly) minimum wage worker struggling to make ends meet?

I guess it's hard to understand if one has never experienced it....like most things when people talk about money and taxes and medicaid babies.

 

[pezdispenser]

Hey guys, I think you've gone off track with this whole $8/hr vs RPh thing. The original reference was:

Try starting at the bottom working for 8 dollars an hour and working your way up.

So consider the crucial part that the person starting at $8/hr is probably just a high school kid with no family to support, and could eventually work their way up to something better paying, without having to go into student loan debt like a pharmacist.

With that in mind, do carry on.

 

[pezdispenser]

That's a good point...but if that is the point to be made...then I would think Walmart is the MOST secure retail chain to work for. Afterall Walmart is the RICHEST company in the world...so I think their chances of going bankrupt is the lowest...Walgreens and CVS have a chance of going down too.

Well Walmart as a whole is not going out of business, but I'd still be worried that they might make cuts in their pharmacy department like reducing RPh overlap and tech hours.

And sure, Walgreens and CVS can go down too, but their primary business is selling prescriptions, with not much else to fall back on, so you bet they will be fighting hard and coming up with strategies to stay in business.

 

[joetrisman]

I guess it's hard to understand if one has never experienced it....like most things when people talk about money and taxes and medicaid babies.

What, no escalades? Your state must be broke

 

[Billy Madison]

Your life is what you make of it. Everyone experiences challenges. Having a doctorate does not guarantee you a good job, but neither does having any degree out there. I know plenty of poor people with higher education, as well as comfortable people with a high school diploma or GED.

Go into a field because you enjoy it, want to make a difference, etc. Make your own path, your own destiny. Life is not fair and society owes you nothing.

 

[MountainPharmD]

You are obviously not a democrat and Obama supporter! I thought Uncle Sugar was going to provide everything.

 

[SHC1984]

No. I was offered a staffing position before the matching date. Many hospitals would offer staffing positions to interns that had worked for them multiple years with positive feedback. I wasn't the only one, there were at least half a dozen that I know of in my class, and at least 3 of them took the offers.

It was a tough choice to go with a safe bet or invest more time to risk for a better job opportunity. Couple of years back, the odds were still good for becoming a unicorn with a PGY-1, I certainly wouldn't be where I am today without it. However, the standards have been rising every year and PGY-1 is increasingly looking like par for the course for a hospital staffing position around here. So if you can secure one at your internship site without an extra year, then you might want to seriously consider that.

I am on a hospital rotation right now. I do half clinical work and half staffing work. I will have to say that the clinical is much more interesting. I can understand why someone would want to go on a residency to do ALL clinical work and avoid the staffing part.

If you don't do a residency you will be left with all staffing work...that can get BORING.

Well Walmart as a whole is not going out of business, but I'd still be worried that they might make cuts in their pharmacy department like reducing RPh overlap and tech hours.

And sure, Walgreens and CVS can go down too, but their primary business is selling prescriptions, with not much else to fall back on, so you bet they will be fighting hard and coming up with strategies to stay in business.

Good point. I'll keep that in mind. So far I only looked at Target and Costco.

Target likes me and is offering me an interview....Luckily I have worked for them before and know how to answer their interview questions very well!

I'll look into Walgreens too since I work for them before too. IF I can get a STAY AT HOME JOB LIKE YOU I'll be happy!

 

[SHC1984]

You realize that $8 per hour is about $1200 per month? Would you want to live on that? Support a family on that? I've done it (as a single person) and it sucks. I will take my six figure salary + debt.

I took out 80K in student loans and spent 8 years of my life in college....if I don't make A LOT MORE MONEY than MOST PEOPLE (that didn't do jack their entire lives)...then I have wasted my time. And so has anyone else that's in my shoes. If a PharmD don't make MUCH MORE than the general public then you have wasted :
1 your youth
2 your time
3 your money
4 your energy

General public's salary around 2K to 3K a month....I better make much more than that or I have wasted my time, money, energy, and youth completely. I am only talking about ADULT's salary here. Teenagers work for $8/hr but I don't compare myself to young people. 2K to 3K is an average adult salary.

 

[mustang sally]

Bunch of IBR haters in this thread.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Bunch of IBR haters in this thread.

IBR was great for me during residency and while I was getting my business started. Most of my co-residents deferred their loans during residency (or is it forebearance?)... I don't see how that's better than IBR.

 

[Pojman]

What is the shame in IBR in the first place? There is nothing wrong with paying a lender back according to the terms which they want to be paid back right?

 

[pezdispenser]

IBR was great for me during residency and while I was getting my business started. Most of my co-residents deferred their loans during residency (or is it forebearance?)... I don't see how that's better than IBR.

We discussed IBR in the other thread: How to save over $100k on your student loans

My conclusion was that on a pharmacist's salary, if you make the 15% IBR payment for 25 years, you can completely pay off a loan up to about $220k, so nothing gets forgiven at the end. Also, if your interest rate is 6.8% it's already pretty bad, and by stretching it out to 25 years, you will pay a ship load of interest.

Actually, I just realized that the government had it all figured out so that very few people will get anything forgiven under IBR (besides PSLF). There is a lifetime limit to the amount of federal Stafford loans you can take out, and thus there is a limit to the loans you can put on IBR. For health professional students, the limit is $224,000. Notice how close that is to the $220k I calculated that you will pay off after 25 years on a pharmacist's salary?? Well actually GradPlus loans may add on some more on top of that, but then there are cost of attendance limits as well.

The limit for undergrad students is only $31,000-$57,500 depending on certain factors. So even with a $40k salary, you will probably pay that off before 25 years. The people you hear about with hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans from just an undergrad degree or even worse, a career college certificate, have got to be taking out private loans which are not eligible for IBR.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

We discussed IBR in the other thread: How to save over $100k on your student loans

My conclusion was that on a pharmacist's salary, if you make the 15% IBR payment for 25 years, you can completely pay off a loan up to about $220k, so nothing gets forgiven at the end. Also, if your interest rate is 6.8% it's already pretty bad, and by stretching it out to 25 years, you will pay a ship load of interest.

Actually, I just realized that the government had it all figured out so that very few people will get anything forgiven under IBR (besides PSLF). There is a lifetime limit to the amount of federal Stafford loans you can take out, and thus there is a limit to the loans you can put on IBR. For health professional students, the limit is $224,000. Notice how close that is to the $220k I calculated that you will pay off after 25 years on a pharmacist's salary?? Well actually GradPlus loans may add on some more on top of that, but then there are cost of attendance limits as well.

The limit for undergrad students is only $31,000-$57,500 depending on certain factors. So even with a $40k salary, you will probably pay that off before 25 years. The people you hear about with hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans from just an undergrad degree or even worse, a career college certificate, have got to be taking out private loans which are not eligible for IBR.

Is this supposed to be advice for me? I'm honestly not sure how it relates to my comment about using IBR during residency.

What is the shame in IBR in the first place? There is nothing wrong with paying a lender back according to the terms which they want to be paid back right?

There's nothing wrong with it. I think it can work just fine for people who are not earning a full "pharmacist salary" for whatever reason. That could be residents/fellows, pharmacists starting businesses (often not profitable out of the gate), people working part time, etc. I have been on IBR since I started residency last year. I'll be redoing my payment arrangements shortly (as well as making a principle payment of about 40 to 50% of my total loan balance), but I'm glad the program was there. Allowed me to reduce my monthly obligation during residency and kept me out of deferment/forbearance.

 

[BMBiology]

In short, 15% x 25 years income based repayment (most do not qualify for 10% x 20 years IBR) works if you are a pharmacist:

(1) who doesn't make a full pharmacist salary and
(2) who marries someone that makes significantly less than you since this will lower your monthly repayment and
(3) who has a few children since this too will lower your monthly repayment

Please note: the loan forgiven will be taxed (I don't think this will change for "well-paid" healthcare professionals).

 

[spacecowgirl]

Shoulda wiped down the break room table.

 

[KARM12]

Shoulda wiped down the break room table.

 

[MistressReznor]

I highly regret becoming a pharmacist. I had no idea back then that the job market was like this. I found 1 job after sending out my resume to hundreds of employers. You can't even chose what type of pharmacy or where you want to live. I'm stuck on the west coast by myself, and I miss my family and friends.

 

[mustang sally]

My idea for IBR is to use it to give yourself more wiggle room in payments when you need it, then pay as much as you possibly can each month. You don't need to use the entire term to pay off the loans or necessarily try to get your loans forgiven. A financial advisor even suggested this strategy as a way to make oneself more marketable for mortgage applications.

IBR is a valid payment plan, so why not utilize it if you qualify?

 

[mustang sally]

I highly regret becoming a pharmacist. I had no idea back then that the job market was like this. I found 1 job after sending out my resume to hundreds of employers. You can't even chose what type of pharmacy or where you want to live. I'm stuck on the west coast by myself, and I miss my family and friends.

Sorry to hear about your struggles. All of us (non-unicorns anyway) are in the same boat. I miss my home sometimes, too. Keep on fighting the good fight! Hopefully things will turn around someday.

 

[pezdispenser]

Is this supposed to be advice for me? I'm honestly not sure how it relates to my comment about using IBR during residency.:

No it is more directed towards students who think IBR is some sort of magical pot of gold at the end of a 25 year rainbow that will forgive all your loans.

Also, it sort of works like a credit card in that the high interest rate already takes this into account. So over the years you keep making payments, which on paper, go mostly towards paying the interest and don't even make a dent in the principal. Then after 25 years you've paid so much in 'interest' that the lender has already gotten back their principal and they don't really care if they have to forgive any balance. Also, the forgiveness is taxed so the government/lender screw you again.

There's nothing wrong with it. I think it can work just fine for people who are not earning a full "pharmacist salary" for whatever reason. That could be residents/fellows, pharmacists starting businesses (often not profitable out of the gate), people working part time, etc. I have been on IBR since I started residency last year. I'll be redoing my payment arrangements shortly (as well as making a principle payment of about 40 to 50% of my total loan balance), but I'm glad the program was there. Allowed me to reduce my monthly obligation during residency and kept me out of deferment/forbearance.

My idea for IBR is to use it to give yourself more wiggle room in payments when you need it, then pay as much as you possibly can each month. You don't need to use the entire term to pay off the loans or necessarily try to get your loans forgiven. A financial advisor even suggested this strategy as a way to make oneself more marketable for mortgage applications.

IBR is a valid payment plan, so why not utilize it if you qualify?

These are good points. Actually I did a similar thing with my loans before IBR came out. I had $51k in loans with interest rates between 2.22% and 5.75%. I could have easily paid them off in less than a year, but instead I consolidated some of them to stretch them out on the 20 year extended repayment plan. This brought the total monthly payment down a little, allowed me to focus on saving for a downpayment on a house, and also improved my back-end debt to income ratio for the mortgage application. After I bought the house, I went back to focus on the student loans and paid them off within a couple of years (actually still at a rather leisurely pace due to the low interest rate).

 

[BMBiology]

The problem is not just the high tuition, it's the number of pharmacists graduating each year.

If you are a pharmacy tech with a subpar GPA and PCAT scores and making $12 an hour , why not become a pharmacist? So what if you going to be $250,000 in debt? It is still a lot better than being a pharmacy tech (at least for now).

And guess what? They are getting accepted especially to the new pharmacy schools....many of them are for-profit pharmacy schools. 28 new pharmacy schools and counting are applying for full-accreditation:

https://www.acpe-accredit.org/pdf/ReportofProceedingsJune2012.pdf

Just to give you an idea....10 years ago, there were just 4 pharmacy schools in California. Now, there are 8 pharmacy schools and 3 are planning to open. An increase of more than 300% in just 10 years?

Ever heard of Nortre Dame of Maryland (no, not the one in South Bend)? How about University of New England? West Coast University?

These new graduates have already flooded the market and many of them can't find full employment. Ever owe $250,000 and can't pay it back?

 

[think]

I am also in the same boat as some of you guys here. Can not find full time work and I have applied every where. I loved this field and everything about it but sometimes I regret it because I have not even been able to use my skills at all. Loan payments are creeping up and I have no idea what to do. Maybe start working for that $8-$10 job so at least I can pay something back.
What are you guys doing to stay positive and keep going? I am so disappointed and sad

 

[BMBiology]

Don't ever default on your student loans. If you do, your credit score is going to take a nosedive and it will be on your credit report for 7 years. Your credit card company will reduce your limit and it is going to hurt your chances of getting a mortgage in the future.

Go on IBR. Do whatever you have to but don't default on your student loans.