Pharmacy degree worthless they say?

[RunningMochi]

Hello!

First time poster on this forum. I was originally pre-med, but am now considering pharmacy (more so because I am now not so sure I want to do what physicians do). I'm a little late in the game, I have my bachelor's and have been working for some time. Pharmacy sounds appealing, but in researching the career I hear a lot of "don't become a pharmacist, it's a worthless degree" and such and it's scaring me. Can anybody shed some light? Thanks!

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[PharmtoCS]

Pharmacy is "worthless" because it is a terrible return on investment for your education. You're taking out a very large amount of loans for a professional degree that will grant you terrible yet still declining job prospects, a poor work-life balance, and very little autonomy. Pay continues to fall, tuition continues to rise, schools continue to churn out record numbers of graduates each year, and chain mergers may eliminate jobs.

There are better fields out there, i.e. computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, physician assistant, etc. that pay as well as pharmacy, offer better job prospects, provide a better work-life balance, and most importantly do not require you to take out $200k+ in loans and spend another 4 years in school.

 

[APN-59 rph]

Hello!

First time poster on this forum. I was originally pre-med, but am now considering pharmacy (more so because I am now not so sure I want to do what physicians do). I'm a little late in the game, I have my bachelor's and have been working for some time. Pharmacy sounds appealing, but in researching the career I hear a lot of "don't become a pharmacist, it's a worthless degree" and such and it's scaring me. Can anybody shed some light? Thanks!

Most likely you will drop 150k plus...go to school for 5 more years...fall into what is likely to be a jobless nightmare...When (if) you get hired you will be running nonstop trying to accomplish tasks that are borderline professional esp. when compared to an MD an NP a PA etc. You may or may not get a snack or a break to the head. You will definitely not sit down.....I have just described your basic fast moving chain (the double drive up..don't forget it). There is almost no way to predict how working conditions change when you hit the street in 5 ish years. But they are not likely to get better. Look into this VERY carefully..I could be wrong. I don't know how the hospitals are and there are other positions in this field. Oh...the concept of the Super Tech seems to be catching steam..look into it...i.e. no Rph on the premises.

 

[Amicable Angora]

And please don't be that student that starts applications thinking, "I'm never going to work retail."

 

[RunningMochi]

I don't think I would mind working retail, I found out I love working in customer service and I love fast paced environments. But I'm not sure I would want to do retail for the rest of my life. I wanted to try also doing inpatient/clinical and research as well. That's why pharmacy was so appealing to me 😕

 

[SnozzBerry]

All of these pre pharmers and pharm students wanting to try and play doctor (i.e. "Clinical" pharmacy) without going to medical school reminds me of the great quote by a famous weight lifter: "Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder but don't nobody want to lift no heavy-ass weights!"

 

[Humble Sloth]

I don't think I would mind working retail, I found out I love working in customer service and I love fast paced environments. But I'm not sure I would want to do retail for the rest of my life. I wanted to try also doing inpatient/clinical and research as well. That's why pharmacy was so appealing to me 😕

inpatient/clinical and research

you want a phD not a phake pharm degree. Pharmacy is a blue collar degree for the working class mindless *****. You won't be doing any research with this worthless piece of paper.

 

[thethingsicarrie]

Pharmacy is way different than MD. From what I've been able to experience, it's a versatile degree. You can work retail, if you change your mind, you can do pharmaceutical industry, you could even do hospital pharmacy or open up your own independent pharmacy. The whole work/life balance is something everyone sacrifices as a professional no matter what professional career you decide to follow. So although you might not get a snack break or lunch break, some doctors don't get to sleep for hours. and you're going to be on your feet all day, so go buy some Sketchers and call it a day.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Pharmacy is way different than MD. From what I've been able to experience, it's a versatile degree. You can work retail, if you change your mind, you can do pharmaceutical industry, you could even do hospital pharmacy or open up your own independent pharmacy. The whole work/life balance is something everyone sacrifices as a professional no matter what professional career you decide to follow. So although you might not get a snack break or lunch break, some doctors don't get to sleep for hours. and you're going to be on your feet all day, so go buy some Sketchers and call it a day.

There is the illusion of versatility of a PharmD given that the vast majority of the jobs are in retail. Jobs in hospital and the pharmaceutical industry are very competitive to land and typically require residency or fellowship, which in turn are very competitive to land.

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[thethingsicarrie]

There is the illusion of versatility of a PharmD given that the vast majority of the jobs are in retail. Jobs in hospital and the pharmaceutical industry are very competitive to land and typically require residency or fellowship, which in turn are very competitive to land.

Sent from my SM-N910V using SDN mobile

Everything is competitive, though. You can't expect to work in healthcare and do the bare minimum to land a decent job. It all depends if you want to do your PGY and work in that field for however long. Then if you want for whatever reason, you can switch to retail. It doesn't look "good" of course but at least you have that option.

 

[Humble Sloth]

Everything is competitive, though. You can't expect to work in healthcare and do the bare minimum to land a decent job. It all depends if you want to do your PGY and work in that field for however long. Then if you want for whatever reason, you can switch to retail. It doesn't look "good" of course but at least you have that option.

Pharmacy is EASY to get in but HARD to land a job in after you get the degree.

Medicine is HARD to get it but EASY to land a job in after you get the degree.

Which one would you rather have? risk before you invest 200,000 USD and 4 years of your life or risk after.

Pharmacy is a terrible occupation you clearly know little about it. Look up the government BLS job growth for pharmacy.

HINT

MUCH SLOWER THAN AVERAGE

 

[APN-59 rph]

Pharmacy is EASY to get in but HARD to land a job in after you get the degree.

Medicine is HARD to get it but EASY to land a job in after you get the degree.

Which one would you rather have? risk before you invest 200,000 USD and 4 years of your life or risk after.

Pharmacy is a terrible occupation you clearly know little about it. Look up the government BLS job growth for pharmacy.

HINT

MUCH SLOWER THAN AVERAGE

After being in the biz for going on 30 years (not all full time fortunately) it has never really changed except for the pay. You show up...check prescriptions..get continually interrupted...essentially high speed piecework with a phone BUT the pay has gone up and up and I had other really professional activities on the side to justify the horrible waste of talent in my day job....The difference now LISTEN UP..is that the days of walking into a high paying drudge job are disappearing fast..These operations are screaming for automation...the little guys are getting beaten up financially. I took a copy from a chain a few days ago....and got briefed on 14 hr days....no lunch ...swamped...drive up...no help...and then there is the pay....fine for me...good luck for you....The pharmacy schools? Forked tongues....Associations? forked tongues....chains....forked tongues. I figure that about 10% of you will make it work.....All for only a quarter mil....

 

[Humble Sloth]

After being in the biz for going on 30 years (not all full time fortunately) it has never really changed except for the pay. You show up...check prescriptions..get continually interrupted...essentially high speed piecework with a phone BUT the pay has gone up and up and I had other really professional activities on the side to justify the horrible waste of talent in my day job....The difference now LISTEN UP..is that the days of walking into a high paying drudge job are disappearing fast..These operations are screaming for automation...the little guys are getting beaten up financially. I took a copy from a chain a few days ago....and got briefed on 14 hr days....no lunch ...swamped...drive up...no help...and then there is the pay....fine for me...good luck for you....The pharmacy schools? Forked tongues....Associations? forked tongues....chains....forked tongues. I figure that about 10% of you will make it work.....All for only a quarter mil....

I can't agree more. Pharmacy is for phools.

 

[Sine Cura]

Everything is competitive, though. You can't expect to work in healthcare and do the bare minimum to land a decent job. It all depends if you want to do your PGY and work in that field for however long. Then if you want for whatever reason, you can switch to retail. It doesn't look "good" of course but at least you have that option.

It's a fallacy that pharmacists can use retail as a fallback. It won't be a reliable one. Hiring managers don't really want to consider pharmacists with background outside of retail as they are seen as a "flight risk" unless they are really shorthanded and have no viable applicants. This actually occurred at my store as the other pharmacist hired at the same time as me for a trash store quit in 5 months because allegedly he "couldn't handle the stress"--background in LTC. Chain retail is all about pumping Rx out so what did he really expect? (And aren't there productivity quotas in LTC?) Stupid. Patients do not go specifically Walmart for a quality experience. And it's ****ing Walmart, not CVS. Not like you are doing 400 Rx a day with 3 techs and 1 RPH.

What a waste of time for a hiring manager when they could just hire a new grad who is stuck with 6 figures of student loan debt and has less incentive to quit because of all the other new grads being pumped out nationwide.

In retail you can intern for years and not get a job at the end. You can say that these interns were outclassed and didn't prove themselves to be up to the task, but in the end there are only so many positions in pharmacy compared to PA, NP, etc. a CVS district of 20 stores is open for at least 76x20 = 1520 hours, or the equivalent of 38 pharmacists using the crude estimator of 1520/40 = 38. There may be three CVS districts to cover a major metro area. Couple that with actual declines in nominal wages, not just real wages stagnating due to inflation, in the worst-saturated areas for new pharmacists and this is the new norm.

 

[Amicable Angora]

Everything is competitive, though. You can't expect to work in healthcare and do the bare minimum to land a decent job. It all depends if you want to do your PGY and work in that field for however long. Then if you want for whatever reason, you can switch to retail. It doesn't look "good" of course but at least you have that option.

So you're saying we need to do a PGY1 to even be remotely competitive?

 

[PharmtoCS]

Everything is competitive, though. You can't expect to work in healthcare and do the bare minimum to land a decent job. It all depends if you want to do your PGY and work in that field for however long. Then if you want for whatever reason, you can switch to retail. It doesn't look "good" of course but at least you have that option.

Pharmacy jobs have always been competitive. 10 years ago it was very difficult to land a spot in pharmacy school but you would get $30k signing bonuses upon graduating and getting licensed. Now with so many new pharmacy schools, it's really easy to get admitted as long as you have a pulse and are willing to sign away $200k+ in loans. However, for those who graduate, it's difficult to find a job and much more so to land one outside of retail. The problem is that are now a lot more students who will end up with astronomical debt and limited/no salary to pay it off.

Which leads to...

So you're saying we need to do a PGY1 to even be remotely competitive?

More and more graduates fighting for residencies and fellowships for long term job security and not having to work retail even it means taking a 50-70% paycut for 1-2 years while working 55+ hours a week.

 

[Amicable Angora]

Pharmacy jobs have always been competitive. 10 years ago it was very difficult to land a spot in pharmacy school but you would get $30k signing bonuses upon graduating and getting licensed. Now with so many new pharmacy schools, it's really easy to get admitted as long as you have a pulse and are willing to sign away $200k+ in loans. However, for those who graduate, it's difficult to find a job and much more so to land one outside of retail. The problem is that are now a lot more students who will end up with astronomical debt and limited/no salary to pay it off.

Which leads to...



More and more graduates fighting for residencies and fellowships for long term job security and not having to work retail even it means taking a 50-70% paycut for 1-2 years while working 55+ hours a week.

I'm aware of that. I was just pointing out to the poster that these are components that do contribute to our degree being "worthless."

 

[PharmtoCS]

I'm aware of that. I was just pointing out to the poster that these are components that do contribute to our degree being "worthless."

Definitely agree with you there. I was quoting your post to support your point of education inflation, that is jumping through more and more hoops to stay competitive in the job market.

 

[Amicable Angora]

Definitely agree with you there. I was quoting your post to support your point of education inflation, that is jumping through more and more hoops to stay competitive in the job market.

The most riduculous trend is picking PGY1 fresh graduates over veterans with like 5+ years of exp

 

[deleted462159]

Might've been covered since I haven't read the whole thread but...

It's not worthless. Pharmacists are increasingly doing more clinical services, even in the retail setting. However, it may be challenging to land your dream job. Even in retail, if you're in a market like Southern California, it's so saturated that many retail jobs are part-time (or "full-time" but ~30 hrs a week). If you wanted 40 hours a week, you may need to be open to floating across several stores.

Trends show retail pharmacy jobs declining. However clinical pharmacist jobs in hospitals, and other hospital jobs in PBMs, wholesalers, etc. are increasing. Depends what you want to do, really.

 

[quickpic007]

After being in the biz for going on 30 years (not all full time fortunately) it has never really changed except for the pay. You show up...check prescriptions..get continually interrupted...essentially high speed piecework with a phone BUT the pay has gone up and up and I had other really professional activities on the side to justify the horrible waste of talent in my day job....The difference now LISTEN UP..is that the days of walking into a high paying drudge job are disappearing fast..These operations are screaming for automation...the little guys are getting beaten up financially. I took a copy from a chain a few days ago....and got briefed on 14 hr days....no lunch ...swamped...drive up...no help...and then there is the pay....fine for me...good luck for you....The pharmacy schools? Forked tongues....Associations? forked tongues....chains....forked tongues. I figure that about 10% of you will make it work.....All for only a quarter mil....

Most def. Been in RX for close to 10 yrs...Salary still great but tough conditions, very high speed...
Quarter Mil is outrageous but def what i been seeing/hearing.
I would not recommend having to have 2k loan payment per month...ridiculous

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

Pharmacy is way different than MD. From what I've been able to experience, it's a versatile degree. You can work retail, if you change your mind, you can do pharmaceutical industry, you could even do hospital pharmacy or open up your own independent pharmacy. The whole work/life balance is something everyone sacrifices as a professional no matter what professional career you decide to follow. So although you might not get a snack break or lunch break, some doctors don't get to sleep for hours. and you're going to be on your feet all day, so go buy some Sketchers and call it a day.

Sorry, but you're gonna have a lot more versatility and job openings as a MD than you would as a PharmD. I don't know who told you this, but they're lying to you.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

Might've been covered since I haven't read the whole thread but...

It's not worthless. Pharmacists are increasingly doing more clinical services, even in the retail setting. However, it may be challenging to land your dream job. Even in retail, if you're in a market like Southern California, it's so saturated that many retail jobs are part-time (or "full-time" but ~30 hrs a week). If you wanted 40 hours a week, you may need to be open to floating across several stores.

Trends show retail pharmacy jobs declining. However clinical pharmacist jobs in hospitals, and other hospital jobs in PBMs, wholesalers, etc. are increasing. Depends what you want to do, really.

I'm always amazed by these posts here on SDN Pre-Pharmacy. Why do the least experienced people (pre-pharmers) think they know more about the field of pharmacy than the actual pharmacists? It's almost as if they're blowing hot air.