Pharm D as a career option and future

[garry84]

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Hi ppl,

I am 30 yrs old. I have Bsc degree. Now I am thinking to go for Pharm D. But I don't know how is the career in this field. How is the job security as a staff pharmacist. Will I able to find a job in retail stores when I will graduate? How are the job prospect now a days. Pls share your experience and knowledge.

Thanks

 

[jyso]

Ya my sister is a senior high school and is considering pharmacy as a major too..But Im a little hesitant in encouraging even my own sister at this moment.

Right now with the economy not being so great a lot of the retail chains have put a cap on how much the company can spend on paying their pharmacists (therefore their is a hiring cap), and they are trying to cut corners every way possible. Hospitals now a days want you to have experience off the back (right after graduation) or they require you to do a residency (so more training/externship stuff).

Pharm D. was/is a 6 year program (2 year undergrad and 4 years of professional education). But I believe starting from the class of 2015 they will have to do 5 years of professional education (so 1 extra year of schooling). But I do know that the state pharmacy school here just welcomed the freshman class who are the first to undergo the 7 year program.

The job market is very saturated in most populated metro city areas as of right now. There are pharmacy jobs available but hard to come by unless you have had previous experience with that certain company. But if you never worked for that company you do have a chance of getting hired by them... but only they would relocate you to a remote area to the middle of nowhere. So if you are single and have the luxury of moving to say like Ohio or West Virginia, Texas etc. then you can find a job right now.

But one thing you have to ask yourself is, if the job market is saturated now... there will be over a thousand pharmacist graduating each year before you finish pharmacy school, so I think the job market will be even more saturated by then. These days there are more pharmacist graduating then there are pharmacist that are retiring.

But then again it all depends on if the economy will improve by the time you hypothetically graduate. So honestly it's a crap shoot.

 

[Its Z]

like Ohio or West Virginia, Texas etc. then you can find a job right now.

there will be over a thousand pharmacist graduating each year before you finish pharmacy school,

Really? OH, WV, & TX... you think job market is good?

1,000 grads each year? Try 12,000+ per year..

 

[Soonersyko]

Really? OH, WV, & TX... you think job market is good?

1,000 grads each year? Try 12,000+ per year..

I can sense the sarcasm but are you sure about that? I graduated somewhat recently and was offered 5 different jobs in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Plano. I didn't have that many hours outside of required rotations either (less than 500 I think). Obviously I went a different route but there are still jobs out there.

 

[owlegrad]

I can sense the sarcasm but are you sure about that? I graduated somewhat recently and was offered 5 different jobs in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Plano. I didn't have that many hours outside of required rotations either (less than 500 I think). Obviously I went a different route but there are still jobs out there.

Only 5? Things are worse than I thought...

 

[Soonersyko]

Only 5? Things are worse than I thought...

Eh, I didn't do much interviewing since a retail job was my plan B so I wouldn't call it bad for my efforts.

 

[Allure]

When my friends ask me if they should do pharmacy now, I always tell them not to and they never listen to me. All they see is that pharmacists make over 100K and how "easy" it is to just count some pills to give to people. If you have to take out $100K in student loans and not have a job..then it's not a good investment. My co-worker was an intern with one of the big chains for a few years, but they couldn't offer him the job because there was only 1 opening and they had to offer it to the other intern who's been with the company for over 10 years. I really can't tell how pharmacy is gonna be in the next 10 years. We all thought the shortage would continue until 2020, but that didn't happen.

 

[J ROD]

I am advising folks if you are not getting in this yr....then dont bother.

My little state just got two new pharm schools.....


pharmacy is going the way of law........🙁

way too many folks for too little jobs!!

 

[garry84]

I am advising folks if you are not getting in this yr....then dont bother.

My little state just got two new pharm schools.....


pharmacy is going the way of law........🙁

way too many folks for too little jobs!!

in which state 2more pharmacy schools.

 

[J ROD]

in which state 2more pharmacy schools.

SC

We now have 4 pharm schools:

SC College of Pharm (SCCP) - Two campuses (USC & MUSC), Presby College, and South.

I also believe there is plans to expand a third branch to the Upstate at the SCCP.

WAY too many.....

 

[Its Z]

I can sense the sarcasm but are you sure about that? I graduated somewhat recently and was offered 5 different jobs in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Plano. I didn't have that many hours outside of required rotations either (less than 500 I think). Obviously I went a different route but there are still jobs out there.

The seesaw reached past the equilibrium of supply and demand in 2010 and the tipping point has shifted. Market wasn't too bad in 2009...it was showing signs of saturation in select markets throughout the metros in the US. It will be interesting in 2011.

 

[BelowTheMean]

When my friends ask me if they should do pharmacy now, I always tell them not to and they never listen to me. All they see is that pharmacists make over 100K and how "easy" it is to just count some pills to give to people. If you have to take out $100K in student loans and not have a job..then it's not a good investment. My co-worker was an intern with one of the big chains for a few years, but they couldn't offer him the job because there was only 1 opening and they had to offer it to the other intern who's been with the company for over 10 years. I really can't tell how pharmacy is gonna be in the next 10 years. We all thought the shortage would continue until 2020, but that didn't happen.

I've told this to so many thatve asked me about pharmacy and they go "oh really?" then reply with "oh but there's always a job in (insert random city in middle of nowhere) with 30k bonus". Then now that they've graduated and can't find that bonus even in random city, usa, they go why didnt you warn me. People believe what they want and tend to think you're just lying because you dont want them to be like you or something...i dont know...but haha.

 

[J ROD]

The seesaw reached past the equilibrium of supply and demand in 2010 and the tipping point has shifted. Market wasn't too bad in 2009...it was showing signs of saturation in select markets throughout the metros in the US. It will be interesting in 2011.

I graduated in 2010 and it was hard in my area but not impossible.

I know things are looking worse for the 2011 class.

2014 will be the test in my state when all these schools in my state graduate new PharmDs for the first time.

 

[iFarm]

OP,

The up-front costs (tuition), the risk of not earning enough of a return (future job market and salaries), and the opportunity cost of 6-8 years of schooling, no longer make pharmacy school as great of an investment (relative to 5-10 years ago).

Of course, if being a pharmacist is all that you ever wanted to do, find a reasonably priced program (you still shouldn't overpay) and don't look back.

 

[Athelas]

Follow your dreams and interests - BUT prospective students go into six figure educational debt with EYES WIDE OPEN regarding the current supply vs demand situation.

 

[rph3664]

A new graduate is going to have a much easier time finding a job than an experienced person like me, because they have to pay me more and can't get away with dinking me around the way they could with someone half my age.

😡

 

[lorain]

i discourage all my friends and fam to go into pharmacy and go into other options that arent as saturated, PA school any1?

 

[samuricool]

Im not naive enough to believe that its the worst, but Ohio has to be among the top few areas that are saturated at the moment. Sure some of the more rural parts you can probably still find a spot, but not the 'major' spots in any of the 3 c's. We have five schools pumping out grads with the sixth graduating their first class this year (I think . . . maybe it was last year I cant remember right now).

And honestly, maybe Im just a bit cynnical but I still tell people to go for it if its what they want to do. I would rather have applicant A who is smart enough and has good people skills etc. than applicant B who is just applying because the job pays well and who probably isnt as smart or has as good people/communication skills as applicant A. I know its idealistic, but I still think that if you are a great candidate you can fight your way into the job that you want. It may be getting harder and harder to do it, but Id rather see the person who really wants it in that spot before the person who is just going into pharmacy for the money.

 

[bigmike7104]

Is the job market just as bad for clinical pharmacy and pharmacy specialist like nuclear pharmacy ect..

 

[PharmyDude]

i discourage all my friends and fam to go into pharmacy and go into other options that arent as saturated, PA school any1?

When someone discourages pharmacy and encourages PA school I shutter... Glorified nurse anyone. NO THANKS! I would love to be working 40 years as a PA and then take orders from a 20 something recent D.O/M.D graduate. NO THANKS! 😛

 

[tungsten87]

When someone discourages pharmacy and encourages PA school I shutter... Glorified nurse anyone. NO THANKS! I would love to be working 40 years as a PA and then take orders from a 20 something recent D.O/M.D graduate. NO THANKS! 😛

If you're a good PA you actually get a decent amount of autonomy... they aren't really glorified nurses.

 

[Filler]

When someone discourages pharmacy and encourages PA school I shutter... Glorified nurse anyone. NO THANKS! I would love to be working 40 years as a PA and then take orders from a 20 something recent D.O/M.D graduate. NO THANKS! 😛

LOL, well in the real world there is a possibility that some day your going to be working as a pharmacist with 40 years under your belt, all the while taking prescription orders from 20-something year old PA's.

The irony.

 

[Filler]

If you're a good PA you actually get a decent amount of autonomy... they aren't really glorified nurses.

👍

I agree that they aren't glorified nurses, PA's are taught under the medical school model. If anything their curriculum is more rigorous than the average pharmacy curriculum.

 

[tungsten87]

👍

I agree that they aren't glorified nurses, PA's are taught under the medical school model. If anything their curriculum is more rigorous than the average pharmacy curriculum.

PA curriculum is extremely rigorous and they spend (i think) more than double the time on rotations.

 

[owlegrad]

LOL, well in the real world there is a possibility that some day your going to be working as a pharmacist with 40 years under your belt, all the while taking prescription orders from 20-something year old PA's.

The irony.

 

[Samus2008]

I wouldn't accept the prescription orders without a licensed M.D/D.O singing off on them. And first I would "mistakenly" reply "I'm sorry, I don't believe we take prescriptions written by medical assistants. bwhahahahaha JK

 

[hckyplyr]

When someone discourages pharmacy and encourages PA school I shutter... Glorified nurse anyone. NO THANKS! I would love to be working 40 years as a PA and then take orders from a 20 something recent D.O/M.D graduate. NO THANKS! 😛

........Clueless

 

[lorain]

When someone discourages pharmacy and encourages PA school I shutter... Glorified nurse anyone. NO THANKS! I would love to be working 40 years as a PA and then take orders from a 20 something recent D.O/M.D graduate. NO THANKS! 😛

haha too bad its so different in the real world

the hospital i did most of my rotations, the ortho PAs did all pre-op stuff , all post op stuff(discharge), saw p atients in the office, and assisted in the surgery depending on the residents situation....and oh yea, they all raked in 100K+ too

guess the jokes on us then👎

 

[drift]

I wouldn't accept the prescription orders without a licensed M.D/D.O singing off on them. And first I would "mistakenly" reply "I'm sorry, I don't believe we take prescriptions written by medical assistants. bwhahahahaha JK

how insecure about themselves would someone have to be to stoop to this level? Anyone who knows anything about PAs knows that they are 'assistants' namely by title. A PA is as much of an 'assistant' to a hospital as a PharmD is an 'assistant' to a hospital. My hospital employs both, and this is true.

Many/Most states have Rx rights for PAs with no co-signature required; if you wanted a physician to sign-off every time an Rx is filled, then you wouldn't be doing your job and thus likely get fired.

As said before, a PharmD in a clinical setting is worth their weight in gold/platinum/unuptanum (take your pick). I use them daily for consults on drug-interactions, which frankly, I have no expertise on. I see a bigger role for clinical pharmacists in the future.