Pharmacy future

[Rx126]

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Please help me with this. I recently got accepted to a private pharmacy school and am waiting for a public to notify me. This forum has been instrumental in my success with tips, encouragement etc. I have learned and used so much info.

However, I keep reading all these posts that has the outlook of pharmacy as not very good. Too many pharmacists are saturating markets, Obama healthcare changes might hurt us, salaries decreasing as work loads increase, Walgreens may be closing pharmacies, job outlook in a few years will be ugly etc etc. I recently read an article that showed that recent law and wall street grads can't find jobs in their field and have to start paying back loans. Very scary situation.

Usually I ignore all the doom and gloom, but everyday I read more and more posts that indicate that the 100+K dollar investment may not pay off in the end. Am I overreacting here. Does a lot of this depend on the economy in 3 or 4 years, or is this a problem that is going to persist? I know location makes a big difference too, I guess its another thing I have to think about when making my decision. UGH

Oh well, thanks for any posts guys, they are greatly appreciated. I am in no way an expert in this area so hopefully some of you can shine a light.

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

going to pharmacy school is not that much more different than getting an MBA or JD. it doesn't entitle you to a six figure job after you graduate. having that education is great, but obviously there is that price of taking on those loans and by no means is there any guarantees.

 

[ValeRx]

Well I guess if we took everything we read here as fact, the economy would never bounce back, global warming is going to melt the polar ice caps and we will all drown, the ozone layer will completely disappear, Earth's magnetic field will collapse and we will be fried by solar winds and ionizing radiation and pharmacists will make 10 dollars an hour, if you can even find a job because there are absolutely no available positions out there.

 

[dangerdog]

Please help me with this. I recently got accepted to a private pharmacy school and am waiting for a public to notify me. This forum has been instrumental in my success with tips, encouragement etc. I have learned and used so much info.

However, I keep reading all these posts that has the outlook of pharmacy as not very good. Too many pharmacists are saturating markets, Obama healthcare changes might hurt us, salaries decreasing as work loads increase, Walgreens may be closing pharmacies, job outlook in a few years will be ugly etc etc. I recently read an article that showed that recent law and wall street grads can't find jobs in their field and have to start paying back loans. Very scary situation.

Usually I ignore all the doom and gloom, but everyday I read more and more posts that indicate that the 100+K dollar investment may not pay off in the end. Am I overreacting here. Does a lot of this depend on the economy in 3 or 4 years, or is this a problem that is going to persist? I know location makes a big difference too, I guess its another thing I have to think about when making my decision. UGH

Oh well, thanks for any posts guys, they are greatly appreciated. I am in no way an expert in this area so hopefully some of you can shine a light.

You might do private school because you like small private schools, but from a financial point, they cost too much for the same amount of return in the end.

If you go to a public school for $60K total, it's not bad of a investment risk. The picture darkens when you get saddled with $120K loans.

 

[confettiflyer]

well pharmacy classes tend to be relatively even across the board, public or private. the main variation you'll find is new vs. old program, so you'll have classes between 75 and 300 students (which is not a huge difference).

Public vs. private class size comes into play more with undergrad, where you can go from <1,000 at a small liberal arts college to 50,000+ at a giant public university (or <30 students in a class to >750 at a lecture at the public).

It's a no brainer if you're comparing in-state vs. out of state tuition, in-state is the way to go.

As for the outlook of pharmacy...so long as you're an articulate, responsible, and efficient pharmacist, there will be a job waiting for you out there (you'll have to look for it). What the future contraction in pharmacy will do is instead of giving EVERYONE a job upon graduation, companies will get to now pick and choose who they want. It's the idiots that skate by with a 2.0 and can't hold a conversation with anyone that will have issues finding a job. You sound pretty level-headed, though.

 

[ValeRx]

well pharmacy classes tend to be relatively even across the board, public or private. the main variation you'll find is new vs. old program, so you'll have classes between 75 and 300 students (which is not a huge difference).

Public vs. private class size comes into play more with undergrad, where you can go from <1,000 at a small liberal arts college to 50,000+ at a giant public university (or <30 students in a class to >750 at a lecture at the public).

It's a no brainer if you're comparing in-state vs. out of state tuition, in-state is the way to go.

As for the outlook of pharmacy...so long as you're an articulate, responsible, and efficient pharmacist, there will be a job waiting for you out there (you'll have to look for it). What the future contraction in pharmacy will do is instead of giving EVERYONE a job upon graduation, companies will get to now pick and choose who they want. It's the idiots that skate by with a 2.0 and can't hold a conversation with anyone that will have issues finding a job. You sound pretty level-headed, though.

I expected better from you.

 

[Quiksilver]

well pharmacy classes tend to be relatively even across the board, public or private. the main variation you'll find is new vs. old program, so you'll have classes between 75 and 300 students (which is not a huge difference).

Public vs. private class size comes into play more with undergrad, where you can go from <1,000 at a small liberal arts college to 50,000+ at a giant public university (or <30 students in a class to >750 at a lecture at the public).

It's a no brainer if you're comparing in-state vs. out of state tuition, in-state is the way to go.

As for the outlook of pharmacy...so long as you're an articulate, responsible, and efficient pharmacist, there will be a job waiting for you out there (you'll have to look for it). What the future contraction in pharmacy will do is instead of giving EVERYONE a job upon graduation, companies will get to now pick and choose who they want. It's the idiots that skate by with a 2.0 and can't hold a conversation with anyone that will have issues finding a job. You sound pretty level-headed, though.

and we have a winner

 

[confettiflyer]

I expected better from you.

I'm in a good mood, what can I say.

Hey off topic, "relived of duty" and straight up "discharged" are two completely different things, right? Actually I think I just answered my question, but wanted to double check. They had something about that jet accident near MCAS Miramar in Dec. on the news.

 

[ValeRx]

I'm in a good mood, what can I say.

Hey off topic, "relived of duty" and straight up "discharged" are two completely different things, right? Actually I think I just answered my question, but wanted to double check. They had something about that jet accident near MCAS Miramar in Dec. on the news.

Relieved of duty basically means you've been fired from your position or can no longer act in a certain capacity. If you've ever seen a movie (and I hate saying this) when someone gets in trouble and they say, "you've been relieved of duty" that's what it means. Discharged means you're out of the military. Although being relieved of duty can sometimes lead to discharge.

If a pilot crashes his jet, he will be relieved of flight duty, which means he can't fly anymore. Similarly, when a ship hits another, runs into something, etc, as has happened in the past, he is relieved of duty/command and can no longer command a ship.