Pharmacy outlook

[Movingforward9]

What is the outlook on pharmacy going to be like if projections had to be made?
I have already done some basic work in pharmacy such as filing and counting pills as well as shelving them. How do I prepare for my degree in Pharmd? Do I have to attend a very prestigious university for my masters or not? Or can I skip my masters and head to my Pharmd?

Does my undergrad school matter? I currently attend a cal state which im sure you know is in California. Do they care?

Meanwhile is pursuing a pharmacy technicians license worth it? I need some practical experience while I am in school or else they might ask what have you got to show for yourself? Your resume is blank or inadequate.

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[PharmtoCS]

What is the outlook on pharmacy going to be like if projections had to be made?

Much worse than today's already terrible state. There are roughly twice the number of students graduating from pharmacy schools each year than there are projected job openings via growth and retirement.

How do I prepare for my degree in Pharmd?

You don't need to. Pharmacy schools will take just about anyone with a pulse who is willing to sign away $200k+ in loans.

Do I have to attend a very prestigious university for my masters or not? Or can I skip my masters and head to my Pharmd?

No.

Does my undergrad school matter? I currently attend a cal state which im sure you know is in California. Do they care?

No.

Meanwhile is pursuing a pharmacy technicians license worth it? I need some practical experience while I am in school or else they might ask what have you got to show for yourself? Your resume is blank or inadequate.

Yes. You definitely want to work in a pharmacy, preferably as a pharm tech, before you go to pharmacy school.

There are other professions, i.e. computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, physician assistant, etc. that provide job prospects that are as good if not better than pharmacy and decent pay without you having to graduate with $200k+ in loans and spend another 4 years in school. Those who graduate in computer science experience one of the best job markets with recruiters contacting them all the time and six figures without the PharmD loans.

 

[Movingforward9]

Yeah but there are busts and booms in computer science. The medical field will always have sick people in it and the jobs simply will not go away.

Much worse than today's already terrible state. There are roughly twice the number of students graduating from pharmacy schools each year than there are projected job openings via growth and retirement.



You don't need to. Pharmacy schools will take just about anyone with a pulse who is willing to sign away $200k+ in loans.



No.



No.



Yes. You definitely want to work in a pharmacy, preferably as a pharm tech, before you go to pharmacy school.

There are other professions, i.e. computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, physician assistant, etc. that provide job prospects that are as good if not better than pharmacy and decent pay without you having to graduate with $200k+ in loans and spend another 4 years in school. Those who graduate in computer science experience one of the best job markets with recruiters contacting them all the time and six figures without the PharmD loans.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Yeah but there are busts and booms in computer science. The medical field will always have sick people in it and the jobs simply will not go away.

10 years ago, everyone said the same: that pharmacists and nurses will always be needed. The problem is that there are many more people entering the field (while taking out astronomical amounts of loans) than there are job openings. The number of yearly pharmacy school graduates has doubled in the last 10-15 years, now chain pharmacies and hospitals are reducing staff. A lot of new grads are having trouble getting enough hours as floaters, if they're lucky enough to land jobs.

Computer science is growing right now. Pharmacy is not, and may even shrink in the near future as mergers and acquisitions (CVS + Target, Walgreens + Rite Aid) eliminate some pharmacist positions.

 

[PharmtoCS]

tl;dr: pharmacy is also susceptible to boom and bust cycles, except that we're currently in a slow and painful bust right now, similar to the law profession. It has job security no better than that of engineers even though it requires a ton more debt and schooling.