Pharmacy in Australia?

[quartel]

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I've looked around and there isnt many threads about Pharmacy in Australia.

Im a 26-yr-old Canadian that got accepted into James Cook University for Bachelor of Pharmacy.

I have heard from members on this board that pharmacy is profitable over there because you have to be a Pharmacist to own pharmacy and less competition from the walmarts and the shoppers drugmarts.

How much do Pharmacists make in Australia? Will my Pharm BS be good enough or will I need to go an extra 2 yrs for a pharmD?

I have these concerns because my parents are old and I will have to shoulder the burden of not only taking care of myself but being able to provide for them too. If I seem uninformed about anything please give me your insight as I do care about being successful in the field.

thank you

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

yeah..but do you speak Australian?

 

[aboveliquidice]

yeah..but do you speak Australian?

No... yet another door slams in my face 🙁

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

No... yet another door slams in my face 🙁

But if you drink Foster's, you might pass as an Austrailian.

 

[Mentis]

I happen to be fluent, m8.

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

I happen to be fluent, m8.

You must be Austrailian!!

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

To OP,

Congrats on getting accepted. Good Luck in Austrailia.

 

[fhx06]

Beware of toads.

 

[aboveliquidice]

But if you drink Foster's, you might pass as an Austrailian.

bs... they drink XXXX - except for making fun of Americans, no one knows foster

 

[JMUofM]

Yeah nobody drinks fosters there...its all VB and Tooey's. Which James Cook campus are you attending?

 

[LiveLoveFartRepeat]

No... yet another door slams in my face 🙁

You'll find your way around the language barrier after a while. If you are single, you know the best way to learn a new language🙄 if yur not,well.. take classes.

Good luck

 

[yatzek]

But if you drink Foster's, you might pass as an Austrailian.

I'm aussie, feel free to PM me whenver you want, I live by sydney (parramatta)
lol, I'm staying here in the states though... pharmacists get paid way more here BUT owning pharmacy you get paid a lot more there (independents are better off- no chains!)
we don't drink that ****! lol- we export it, tooheys, victoria bitter, hahn ice, carlton cold etc is what you'll see and its not sweet like bud

here is some slang to help you out
if you are "on the piss" or "pissed" = you are drunk or drinking (not mad)
if you are having a pissup = you are having a party/ getting drunk
safe to assume, piss= beer
trunk= boot
eraser= rubber (not condom)
whatsup= gidday
good/fair=fairdinkum
college=uni
gas station=petrol station
liquor shop= bottlo (bottle shop)


thats just a few of the top of "me" head (get used to people talking like that)
I was struggling with those when i first got here, i thought people were drunk all the time when they said they were pissed, lol... oh, and everybody american is a yank, whether NY or LA... you should be ok though, canada being in the comonwealth and all

 

[quartel]

I'm aussie, feel free to PM me whenver you want, I live by sydney (parramatta)
lol, I'm staying here in the states though... pharmacists get paid way more here BUT owning pharmacy you get paid a lot more there (independents are better off- no chains!)
we don't drink that ****! lol- we export it, tooheys, victoria bitter, hahn ice, carlton cold etc is what you'll see and its not sweet like bud

here is some slang to help you out
if you are "on the piss" or "pissed" = you are drunk or drinking (not mad)
if you are having a pissup = you are having a party/ getting drunk
safe to assume, piss= beer
trunk= boot
eraser= rubber (not condom)
whatsup= gidday
good/fair=fairdinkum
college=uni
gas station=petrol station
liquor shop= bottlo (bottle shop)


thats just a few of the top of "me" head (get used to people talking like that)
I was struggling with those when i first got here, i thought people were drunk all the time when they said they were pissed, lol... oh, and everybody american is a yank, whether NY or LA... you should be ok though, canada being in the comonwealth and all

thanks, i will pm you

 

[aussiepharmer]

Quartel, please do not be misinformed.

I am a 4th year student studying bachelor of pharmacy degree in Australia. Although "laypersons" may say that it brings you a lot of returns or such, they don't know what the actual story is. There has been increasing influx of pharmacy students gaining admissions WITH higher number of pharmacy schools in Australia. My year alone has 240 students!! And I've been hearing more people are having trouble getting intern positions, due to more competition for them. There are around 17 schools throughout the nation - 3 in New South Wales, 4 in Queensland, and 2 or 3(not sure) in Victoria, etc.

Not to be offensive or pessimistic regarding this profession, the reality is that pharmacist wage here truly does NOT relfect the amount of workload, stress, tuition, and effort put in during the 4 years plus the intern. One shocking fact is that parking inspectors without any edu credentials can earn starting AUD$28/hr, which is around the same as starting salary of retail pharmacists!!
Grade 1 hospital pharmacists(very beginning level of hospital pharmacists) start from $21/hr. Funny thing is, Australian minimum wage is pretty much $20 for 18 or over, like people working at Coles(An Aussie grocery). With a tuition of $13k(average) per semester and high rental rates(around $350/week), and property values that worth average of $400k to $500k or even more for a 2 bed room apartment or an average house, I suggest you to reconsider. Inflation has been a madness in Australia for the last several years. I heard that Sydney can be even more expensive than cities in England except London.
These are only just PARTIAL reasons for my plan to be licensed in US or Canada. Or maybe even the UK.

I highly recommend you to have a THOROUGH read on this facebook discussion about pharmacists' salaries in Australia(lower than nurses and medical imaging):

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5741593073&topic=3417

I have read so many Americans complaining about their career prospects, however, it is nowhere as bad as in Australia. Pharmacists are already in a huge surplus in all the big cities(and getting more serious in smaller areas) and unlike the US, have accepted excess of international students - roughly almost half(or a bit less) of the student population. It's a consequence of building up more pharm schools just because the pharmacy board deemed that there was a shortage of pharmacists. Even when I was a first year(2006), there was a slight shortage, but everything has flipped backwards now. And it's becoming not very surprising to hear that many pharmacists are quitting their jobs.

PM me if you have more quetions. I am quite hectic these days due to schoolwork and placements. I still have so much to talk about the job outlook of pharmacists in Australia. I bet it will fill numerous pages.