pharmacy 10years from now

[humtum]

hey everyone

what do you guys have to say about pharmacy job market 10 years from today? do you think it will drop as it happened for phycial therapist.

just curious,

 

[ultracet]

Yes I do.
I honestly believe that the "shortage" is not really much of anything and we will be flooding the market with all of the new schools opening up.
The manpower project showed a decrease in the number of dispensing pharmacists needed in the year 2012( i think that was the year) while there will be more clinical pharmacists needed. I honestly don't think there will be the need for that many clinicians.

i guess that's just one of those things we'll have to wait and see about.

 

[OSURxgirl]

I think we have nothing to worry about. Pharmacy chain stores are opening at an alarming rate. The population is aging. New meds are constantly being developed. Rx volume is increasing. I think we are going to evolve past our dispensing role now, too, now that we will soon be able to be reimbursed for providing medication therapy management services. All the new schools popping up can't turn out pharmacists quickly enough. Small class sizes coupled with 4 (or at least 3) year programs means we won't be flooding the market anytime soon.

 

[Crazy_Norwegian]

I think we have nothing to worry about. Pharmacy chain stores are opening at an alarming rate. The population is aging. New meds are constantly being developed. Rx volume is increasing. I think we are going to evolve past our dispensing role now, too, now that we will soon be able to be reimbursed for providing medication therapy management services. All the new schools popping up can't turn out pharmacists quickly enough. Small class sizes coupled with 4 (or at least 3) year programs means we won't be flooding the market anytime soon.

Very good points...also, don't forget that a lot of those aging boomer pharmacists will soon be retiring. Plus, it seems an unfortunate trend that pharmacy schools are starting to prefer students with bachelor's degrees--turning a six-year odyssey into an eight-year one. I've also read that some schools are looking into three years of preqs. Both those trends may have an effect on the number of graduates...

 

[cure4cancer]

and don't forget, theres a buncha pharmacists out there that want to be doctors...

well in canada at least since we only need 5 years in total education ( in a university ) to become a pharmacist

 

[JD_USD]

Forget about filling vacant spots at Walgreens to pill push. Demand for pharmacists are not to supplement pill dispensing roles. Pharmacists have evolved into a more sophisticated form of what is basically "THE DRUG EXPERT". This expertise will be put to use in other areas such as pharmacogenomics, participating in disease management as the drug expert, having the drug expertise to properly directly dispense ECs & similar reproductive products, chronic disease managemnt (i.e.-diabetes and asthma), OTC drug counseling, Rx drug counseling b/c HMOs are ever decreasing the time allocated for physician-patient interaction (other than diagnose, prescribe, and see ya!), overseeing safety in drug prescribed by physicians, and MORE, much, much more.

Pharmacists can be qualified as drug experts because they are. Who else studies the mechanisms of drugs for 4 years??