The stinky reality of being a pharmacist and future pharmacy profession..

[WhiteSnows]

You got a job offer? Good for you! I am just pointing out the facts so that pre-pharm students can understand what they get themselves into. Really....I am a pretty successful person, not a "failure to handle life" as you stated above. I have houses, 401K, stocks, guns, gold, reserve cash, beautiful wife. If there's a job posted, I am sure I will get it before you. It may sound cocky but I just know it.

I don't get a job offer, I got a Business offer which is paid for. And I am not being cocky either. You came all the way here to tell others not to study pharmacy because blah blah blah. And now you said you are a successful person which is contradicting to your original post.

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[Corpseman]

I've got gunz, I am successful!

 

[Jibby321]

I've got gunz, I am successful!

Merica!

 

[lisinopril]

I don't get a job offer, I got a Business offer which is paid for. And I am not being cocky either. You came all the way here to tell others not to study pharmacy because blah blah blah. And now you said you are a successful person which is contradicting to your original post.

I never told others NOT to study pharmacy. I just wanted to tell them the truth of being a pharmacist (reality) since a lot of pharmD students don't know what they get themselves into until already being in class and get ready to graduate. Also, due to the super crazy saturation in this profession, the least I could do here is to educate people so we will eliminate the ones that just want to enter this profession for quick money.

 

[WhiteSnows]

I never told others NOT to study pharmacy. I just wanted to tell them the truth of being a pharmacist (reality) since a lot of pharmD students don't know what they get themselves into until already being in class and get ready to graduate. Also, due to the super crazy saturation in this profession, the least I could do here is to educate people so we will eliminate the ones that just want to enter this profession for quick money.

You make a valid point.

 

[rxphd]

6-7 years of school is quick money?!?!

 

[lisinopril]

6-7 years of school is quick money?!?!

A lot quicker than 8-10 yrs old med school.

 

[rxphd]

A lot quicker than 8-10 yrs old med school.

Doing 6-7 already and adding 1-2 more is really not that big of deal

 

[Seahawksfan87]

I think every generation has an awakening where something they conformed dearly to their whole lives ended up being fraudulent, at least more than they ever imagined. For this generation, I think it is college - or at least, I feel that is the word on the tip of so many people's tongue. We're told by the College Board and our high school teachers that college is the only way but that is contrasted by the reality that some don't gain much from college either because it isn't relevant to their interests or because they would have gained more income or skills by working right out of high school.

For those of us going into pharmacy, we don't belong in this category of college deception, but another one - those who were deceived into thinking that graduate schools were immaculate institutions of high ethics that solely cared about serving the community and serving enlightenment. Health professional graduate programs try to drill into students a high degree of professionalism and ethics, all the while asking you to be grateful they are letting you pay $45,000 a year to serve them. We kowtow in this manner without second guessing because we assume these institutions are worthy of our highest respect. But when you notice that pharmacy schools are behaving exactly opposite to serving others like they teach and are just serving themselves (this is called hypocrisy), you might just find that the institution of pharmacy school is not worthy of your highest respect. New schools are opening up in already saturated areas, turning a blind eye to the betrayal this is causing to new pharmacy students that invested into this career so much. The schools know what is happening - they are not stupid. One can see this is because there is a lot of money to be made, even non-profits provide well-paying and stable jobs to faculty and administration ("non-profit "is another instant where you are deceived into thinking something is more well-intended than it really is). I am not saying we shouldn't respect the institution - I am just saying the following: there are college institutions both inside and outside pharmacy that are guilty of hypocrisy and deception when it comes to how much they really care about the community as compared to themselves. Therefore, these institutions don't deserve the level of respect they have you thinking you owe them.

I am not one of those who says college as a whole is a Ponzi scheme, but I will say that there is a "college deception" out there I hope more people start awakening to. At the moment, I can't think of a more fitting arena of righteous rebellion my generation can subscribe to.

 

[Koalafied]

Merica!

 

[lisinopril]

Next!

 

[lisinopril]

http://www.indeed.com/forum/job/pharmacist/Lies-about-pharmacist-job-market/t264349/p11

Some horrific stories about pharmacy job markets:

 

[koercive]

I recommend you guys to check out what's going on in the Pharmacy Forum to feel the pulse of the job market.

Explore non-traditional career options (see threads on Pharmacy Forum) as traditional jobs are going away. Expect retail jobs to decrease in pay.. and think about the automation that could replace some pharmacy jobs. Do your research before commiting time + money

 

[koercive]

Your post resonated with me..

Even non-profit universities are increasing tuition at an alarming rate. Financial aid money flows freely from the government as tuition skyrockets relative to inflation. People try to blame the left or the right. But it goes beyond that; our education system is broken. It’s not just about interest rates. Nothing is being done to curb the tuition rates or allowing tuition to be discharged by bankruptcy. I have read projections where the government will be making a profit from student loans.

The fed reserve rate is pretty much at 0%, yet students get reamed with 6-8% rates. Did you know that my Scottrade Margin account offered rates LOWER than my grad plus loans? Essentially, I can get money to gamble with at a better rate. I understand that the government is loaning money to students who may or may not have credit. But, when the debt is forever yours and not dischargeable by bankruptcy, you are creating a new class of indentured graduates. The government can go after your paychecks and social security if you do not pay back your loans.

Expect nothing to be done to solve the issue. Students have no strong lobbying groups. The only thing you can do is be savvy about your personal finance. Remove the consumerism lifestyle that we are expected to follow, decrease expenses, and try to increase income to pay off debt. That’s what I have set out as a recent grad with 6 figure debt. I will make overpayments when I can. I do not want to go with student loan forgiveness (I may use it in the beginning to be able to afford to live) since my loans will snowball into a larger amount with minimal income based repayments.

I think every generation has an awakening where something they conformed dearly to their whole lives ended up being fraudulent, at least more than they ever imagined. For this generation, I think it is college - or at least, I feel that is the word on the tip of so many people's tongue. We're told by the College Board and our high school teachers that college is the only way but that is contrasted by the reality that some don't gain much from college either because it isn't relevant to their interests or because they would have gained more income or skills by working right out of high school.

For those of us going into pharmacy, we don't belong in this category of college deception, but another one - those who were deceived into thinking that graduate schools were immaculate institutions of high ethics that solely cared about serving the community and serving enlightenment. Health professional graduate programs try to drill into students a high degree of professionalism and ethics, all the while asking you to be grateful they are letting you pay $45,000 a year to serve them. We kowtow in this manner without second guessing because we assume these institutions are worthy of our highest respect. But when you notice that pharmacy schools are behaving exactly opposite to serving others like they teach and are just serving themselves (this is called hypocrisy), you might just find that the institution of pharmacy school is not worthy of your highest respect. New schools are opening up in already saturated areas, turning a blind eye to the betrayal this is causing to new pharmacy students that invested into this career so much. The schools know what is happening - they are not stupid. One can see this is because there is a lot of money to be made, even non-profits provide well-paying and stable jobs to faculty and administration ("non-profit "is another instant where you are deceived into thinking something is more well-intended than it really is). I am not saying we shouldn't respect the institution - I am just saying the following: there are college institutions both inside and outside pharmacy that are guilty of hypocrisy and deception when it comes to how much they really care about the community as compared to themselves. Therefore, these institutions don't deserve the level of respect they have you thinking you owe them.

I am not one of those who says college as a whole is a Ponzi scheme, but I will say that there is a "college deception" out there I hope more people start awakening to. At the moment, I can't think of a more fitting arena of righteous rebellion my generation can subscribe to.

 

[BMBiology]

Your post resonated with me..

Even non-profit universities are increasing tuition at an alarming rate. Financial aid money flows freely from the government as tuition skyrockets relative to inflation. People try to blame the left or the right. But it goes beyond that; our education system is broken. It’s not just about interest rates. Nothing is being done to curb the tuition rates or allowing tuition to be discharged by bankruptcy. I have read projections where the government will be making a profit from student loans.

The fed reserve rate is pretty much at 0%, yet students get reamed with 6-8% rates. Did you know that my Scottrade Margin account offered rates LOWER than my grad plus loans? Essentially, I can get money to gamble with at a better rate. I understand that the government is loaning money to students who may or may not have credit. But, when the debt is forever yours and not dischargeable by bankruptcy, you are creating a new class of indentured graduates. The government can go after your paychecks and social security if you do not pay back your loans.

The interest rate is high because the government gives student loans to just ANYONE. There is a lot of abuse. People are using their student loans to buy a new car, to go on a vacation. We also have people who are stupid enough to borrow 200 k for a useless degree. They have no business sense. Some people are projecting the government will make a profit but that is based on the assumption that these people will pay back their student loans. I doubt it. These people will default.

If the government allows student loans to be discharged via bankruptcy then what is the point of trying to pay back your loans? Just default and declare bankruptcy. That is what doctors and lawyers did in the 80s.

 

[lisinopril]

Hyperinflation is gonna be huge one day...Mark my words. You can't just print money forever.

 

[Jibby321]

Hyperinflation is gonna be huge one day...Mark my words. You can't just print money forever.

That whole gold standard thing sounded pretty nifty back in the day.

 

[lisinopril]

That whole gold standard thing sounded pretty nifty back in the day.

You can't eat gold ...so why is it valuable?

1. You cannot just print gold like paper money.
2. Gold has been valuable assets for thousand years.
3. All countries accept gold as currecy and exchange.
4. Gold is easily to store and hide.

and finally

5. When shi***t hits the fan and economy collapses, gold price skyrockets.

 

[WhiteSnows]

Build a farm and start learning to make your own food because there will be a time when you cant buy a bread with a $100 bill.

 

[lisinopril]

Build a farm and start learning to make your own food because there will be a time when you cant buy a bread with a $100 bill.

Fed will print money for another 20 years....So what you said above might never happen in our life.

 

[LeilaBLewis]

I was with you until this point...nothing in life is certain 4 years out, much less tomorrow.

Has anyone else seen info out there saying that in the US pharmacist salaries grew more than any other type of job between 2011-2012? (Source: http://www.jobs.net/Article/CB-121-...e-How-Pharmacist-Earned-3rd-Best-Job-Ranking/) If that's true, it suggests that oversaturation is the main challenge. Like most other (all?) respectable fields, if you want to do well, you have to be one of the high-performers. And in pharmacy you will be reasonably compensated.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[lisinopril]

Has anyone else seen info out there saying that in the US pharmacist salaries grew more than any other type of job between 2011-2012? (Source: http://www.jobs.net/Article/CB-121-...e-How-Pharmacist-Earned-3rd-Best-Job-Ranking/) If that's true, it suggests that oversaturation is the main challenge. Like most other (all?) respectable fields, if you want to do well, you have to be one of the high-performers. And in pharmacy you will be reasonably compensated.

Just my 2 cents.

I don't believe in any sources published....I only believe on reality .

 

[clerkmaxwell]

 

[68quebec]

I wasn't happy to see this kind of thread, anything that saying about negative aspect of current pharmacy job market because I'm about to start the school.

I have done a lot of research to see the reality..and very sadly, this thread is true.

5minute, you were right. The job market of pharmacy is crazy now. Every year, at least 3 new pharmacy schools are opening. No matter how expensive the tuition is, people still get student loan and start attending school.


Demand and Supply is a universal law on market/economy. When there are more supply than demand (in this case, # of new pharmacy graduates are excessive supply), things are getting worse for them.


I found a great short article about flooding of new pharmacy schools.

http://thomasland.metapress.com/content/h8w6045602626246/fulltext.pdf


look at the last sentence.

If pharmacists do not provide a patient-oriented value to their employers beyond salary, this period of expansion will result in an oversupply that results in wage stagnation and reduction.



People.. if any of you have chosen pharmacist as your career path because you think it is 'the land of milk and honey', it's not true anymore.

i have to admit that lisinopril and 5 minute are correct.

The job market is saturated already..especially in big cities.




Make sure to see if you really have passion on field of pharmacy. If you look at how law schools are right now and 10 years before, you will see how pharmacy schools are going to be in 10 years too (the only thing that I can count plus is obama care..but to me, obama care is not a good idea anyways).



I'm not saying that stay away from pharmacy school. I'm still going to school..but it's because I already know what I'm going to do after graduate from school. Make sure to have brief future plan..and expect worse job market than right now.

 

[PharmDCandidate2014]

How many opportunities will provider status ACTUALLY be given to pharmacists?

There are still going to be 10,000 unemployed pharmacists looking to desperately offer their services for per diem hours or even tutor pharmacology when par diem doesn't pan out.

 

[lisinopril]

How many opportunities will provider status ACTUALLY be given to pharmacists?

There are still going to be 10,000 unemployed pharmacists looking to desperately offer their services for per diem hours or even tutor pharmacology when par diem doesn't pan out.

Pharmacists won't ever be the primary provider.....EVER...If it is such case, why would we have MD/PA in first place? We can still be the assistant providers in some cases. But in general, the nature of our job is primarily taking care of medication, not diagnosing.

 

[lisinopril]

I recommend you guys to check out what's going on in the Pharmacy Forum to feel the pulse of the job market.

Explore non-traditional career options (see threads on Pharmacy Forum) as traditional jobs are going away. Expect retail jobs to decrease in pay.. and think about the automation that could replace some pharmacy jobs. Do your research before commiting time + money

Unfortunately,people don't want to hear what they want to hear. You come here and warn them, they say you are a troll ! Also, you get banned for talking about "doom and gloom" too much...lol

 

[PharmtoCS]

I recommend you guys to check out what's going on in the Pharmacy Forum to feel the pulse of the job market.

Explore non-traditional career options (see threads on Pharmacy Forum) as traditional jobs are going away. Expect retail jobs to decrease in pay.. and think about the automation that could replace some pharmacy jobs. Do your research before commiting time + money

Retail still employs a good 60-70% of all pharmacists, followed by hospital. Non-traditional (i.e. clinical, research, etc.) jobs employ less than 5% of pharmacists, yet schools love to tell everyone that these niches in pharmacy have a great future, tremendous future job growth, etc. to get you to fork over $150k in tuition. Sure, we'll have baby boomers pharmacists retiring from the profession and needing more medications, but we still have a flood of 3-4 pharmacy school graduates entering the job market for every job opening.

Has anyone else seen info out there saying that in the US pharmacist salaries grew more than any other type of job between 2011-2012? (Source: http://www.jobs.net/Article/CB-121-...e-How-Pharmacist-Earned-3rd-Best-Job-Ranking/) If that's true, it suggests that oversaturation is the main challenge. Like most other (all?) respectable fields, if you want to do well, you have to be one of the high-performers. And in pharmacy you will be reasonably compensated.

Just my 2 cents.

I'm surprised that it wasn't software engineering/development where salaries have increased 10-20% every year over the last few years. Job growth in those fields has been tremendous. Graduates in computer science can earn a six-figure salary straight out of undergrad without having to spend another 4 years and go into $200k debt to earn the same (or slightly higher) gross salary pharmacists do.

The article also says that the stress level of pharmacists is "relatively low." From what I see, this cannot be farther from the truth.

 

[Chriskahn]

I'm surprised that it wasn't software engineering/development where salaries have increased 10-20% every year over the last few years. Job growth in those fields has been tremendous. Graduates in computer science can earn a six-figure salary straight out of undergrad without having to spend another 4 years and go into $200k debt to earn the same (or slightly higher) gross salary pharmacists do

Do you know how saturated the software engineering/development field is? I live in the Mecca of software engineering (Seattle) where there's Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Nintendo, Boeing etc. and those jobs have grads lining up around the block. It is extremely competitive, way more than pharmacy will ever be. Because those good jobs only exist in the city. And layoffs happen all the time. Now with pharmacy, you don't have to work in the city. There's at least 10 or 20 cities/towns around the Seattle area with a pharmacy at every corner.

( I know its not the same everywhere but I live in WA, and plan to for the rest of my life, so I'm using WA state examples)

Pharmacists won't ever be the primary provider.....EVER...If it is such case, why would we have MD/PA in first place? We can still be the assistant providers in some cases. But in general, the nature of our job is primarily taking care of medication, not diagnosing.

Not with that attitude. Pharmacists are already providers in WA state. There is a big push for federal provider status here in WA state, both UW and WSU are already getting students/faculty involved. Physicians should just diagnose so that pharmacists can do what is truly within our area of expertise, to prescribe. (Just like pharmacists in VA hospitals)

Think about it, how many mistakes have pharmacists seen when physicians get prescribe happy and don't know about drug interactions as much as we do.

 

[oldstock]

Do you know how saturated the software engineering/development field is? I live in the Mecca of software engineering (Seattle) where there's Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Nintendo, Boeing etc. and those jobs have grads lining up around the block. It is extremely competitive, way more than pharmacy will ever be. Because those good jobs only exist in the city. And layoffs happen all the time. Now with pharmacy, you don't have to work in the city. There's at least 10 or 20 cities/towns around the Seattle area with a pharmacy at every corner.

( I know its not the same everywhere but I live in WA, and plan to for the rest of my life, so I'm using WA state examples)



Not with that attitude. Pharmacists are already providers in WA state. There is a big push for federal provider status here in WA state, both UW and WSU are already getting students/faculty involved. Physicians should just diagnose so that pharmacists can do what is truly within our area of expertise, to prescribe. (Just like pharmacists in VA hospitals)

Think about it, how many mistakes have pharmacists seen when physicians get prescribe happy and don't know about drug interactions as much as we do.

if you want to fix things in pharmacy now, you have to look at how to fix the main problem here, i.e. this school expansion madness first instead of talking about a future with provider status... Sadly, many people, especially pharm schools, will tell you glamorous tales and feeding you all the Kool Aid they can about MTM, provider status, and all those junks... But why should they tell you to stop school expansion (i.e. kick themselves in the balls) ??

Just look at law schools. Their number of schools are ~ 200s now. Law school grads now are struggling to find jobs that are paying even 50-60K while carrying six-figure student loan debts. Pharmacy is gonna hit those magic numbers very soon at the current rate new pharm schools popping up and pumping out tons of new PharmDs... And mind you, lawyers do not need to stay in the cities or have to compete with a robot attorneys for jobs as they only have to compete with their own colleagues

the point is saturation caused by schools keeping on opening up and pumping up tons of grads with no new jobs in pharmacy. These are facts and sure things that are happening right now in pharmacy. Provider status and the potential demand/pays for it (e.g. the numbers of jobs that could be created from) are still uncertain things at the time being and in the near future.

Also this will be a very difficult battle that physicians will not easily to give up their prescribing privilege.

So stop talking about those unrealized carrots (not yet anyway) until you at least have them in your hands...

for most people with any common sense, I do not think they want to invest 6-8 yrs of schools + some more yrs for residency + 150K plus in student loans to get a chance fight for "provider status" to create their own jobs. Either that or looking at working at traditional pharmacy jobs w even less pays than now or no job at all.

still decided to go for pharmacy ?? If you are so passionate about pharmacy and also aware of the reality in pharmacy and preparing yourself for it, then I guess it is ok as the decision is nobody's but yours. But please do not ignore this reality !!

all that being said, the more I think about it the more I think that people will not stop going to pharmacy schools until wages hit 20-30 dollars an hour or there are enough horror stories of PharmDs with no job to pay back their six figure student loans (just like with many of Caribbean med grads). As for pharm schools, they would not give a damn about anything or anybody as they ALREADY collect your money in tuition and fees. They've already got paid. New schools will still keep on popping up like crazy there is no shortage of students with stats like 2.0s GPA + 50 and less on the PCAT who happily sign over their fed student loan checks for a slim chance to play "doctors" and fight for "provider" status or PGY-10... lol

Seriously, I see this saturation problem created by pharm school expansion madness having no solution but waiting for a market correction. An ugly one

 

[Chriskahn]

You do realize that being providers means more money right? I'm surprised that current pharmacists are not pushing for this to happen.

I'm really not concerned with new schools opening up at this point. I feel like provider status is more of a realistic goal versus getting the pharmacy board to shut down crappy schools and prevent new ones from opening.

 

[oldstock]

You do realize that being providers means more money right? I'm surprised that current pharmacists are not pushing for this to happen.

more money or not is still a wait-and-see. Again, this option is still not real at this point. It is more like a promise some pharmacy students or pharmacy professors/pharmacists make for themselves. It is not a reality (not yet) so there is no way you know how you can make money with it and how much.

And as you say, we do not see a strong movement, supported by pharmacists themselves, to push for this.

The reality is that you are investing 6-8 yrs of schools and more for residency + 150K plus student loans in this thing called pharmacy. I think anyone who is investing that much of time and money, should expect more than future wages are going to go down and jobs threatened to be taken away by tons of pharm grads pumped out by like millions of pharm schools out there (jk lol ) and robots/technology.

I'm really not concerned with new schools opening up at this point. I feel like provider status is more of a realistic goal versus getting the pharmacy board to shut down crappy schools and prevent new ones from opening.

that is why I have said above that there is no solution for this problem. Nobody wanna care or do anything about it (or can?). But market will do something about this problem soon with the law of supply and demand.

but please do not allow yourself to think that "provider status" (assumed it is a reality which creates demands/jobs) could do anything to fix this saturation problem caused by school expansion. At best, it would be a band-aid/short term fix. More likely, it would not be anything near enough to supply jobs for new PharmDs when there are 200-300s pharmacy schools (we are heading there soon )

 

[PharmDCandidate2014]

Pharmacists won't ever be the primary provider.....EVER...If it is such case, why would we have MD/PA in first place? We can still be the assistant providers in some cases. But in general, the nature of our job is primarily taking care of medication, not diagnosing.

If insurance companies are holding onto their wallets from reimbursing the currently practicing MD/DO/RN/PA's, I'm not sure why they'd all of a sudden feel like splurging on RPh/PharmD's taking care of business as providers. If pharmacists were to push this provider status, it would require everyone in the profession to be on the same page (very tough to do as there's often a conflict of interest between retail and hospital employees) and finally, speak out where a voice may actually be heard, i.e., state boards, Washington DC, you name it (also very tough to do as a good amount of pharmacists now have to focus on taking care of their $150K+ debt rather than traveling out of the way to get this agenda across).

These insurance guys are really about bottom-line, and I'm not sure they have the foresight to think long-term . . . Maybe I'm wrong here?

 

[PharmtoCS]

You do realize that being providers means more money right? I'm surprised that current pharmacists are not pushing for this to happen.

I'm really not concerned with new schools opening up at this point. I feel like provider status is more of a realistic goal versus getting the pharmacy board to shut down crappy schools and prevent new ones from opening.

Provider status doesn't mean that pharmacists can prescribe medications. It merely means that they can bill Medicare for services directly that still do not pay enough to justify a current pharmacist's salary, if at all. Provider status, like MTM and "pharmaceutical care" that pharmacy schools have advertised within the last decade, cannot be applied on a wide scale if there is no reimbursement to support it.

 

[rederza]

But all of this talk about provider status, what exactly do you think it means? If the main goal of provider status is simply to save our sinking ship it's not gonna happen.

Better come up with some actually viable idea.

Directly from their website: "APhA, in collaboration with other national pharmacy organizations, is currently studying possible options for legislative language that are primarily focused on amending the SSA. These options could include seeking recognition for pharmacist-provided services in Medicare Part B and/or formal recognition on health care teams."

They're still trying to figure out what they want to do. Don't hold your breath. It might be a shorter wait time to just go and be a provider instead of hoping you someday might be one.

 

[oldstock]

You do realize that being providers means more money right? I'm surprised that current pharmacists are not pushing for this to happen.

I'm really not concerned with new schools opening up at this point. I feel like provider status is more of a realistic goal versus getting the pharmacy board to shut down crappy schools and prevent new ones from opening.

in addition, anyone looking our healthcare system in from the outside will see how ridiculous it is that there are physicians fighting to keep their prescribing privilege with NP, PA, and now pharmacists, and maybe physical therapists or chiropractors in the future. Everyone wants that privilege now. So if everyone wanna be a "check", where is the 'balance" to prevent abuses and mistakes. Again it is easy seeing other people's mistakes and abuses than seeing your own.

Not to mention everyone in healthcare now is a "doctor": Doctor nurse, Doctor PA, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Pharmacy, Doctor of Chiropractice, etc... Everyone wanna play doctor and be called doctors... lol

 

[sharebear003]

There is no patient care in reality. I repeat NONE. If you want real patient care experience, go volunteer at RED CROSS.

or you could be a nurse.

 

[jokersmiles]

The first 1-7 is def true! Lol

.

 

[KBHopeful]

1) Who cares if someone calls you Dr. What does that matter? Why is anyone even discussing formal titles? If you can come up with one logical reason why formal titles have tangible value, that doesn't involve your ego, I'd like to hear it.

2) Don't be naive, you should know going into any school program that the school is going to paint the situation with unrealistic glamour. They sell education for a living.

3) You have been to a pharmacy at some point in your life. You know what goes on there. There is no reason to believe that you will be treated like a surgeon. In all your previous pharmacy experiences did you ever look over at the pharmacist and think.....Wow, that's an amazing admirable person. No, you didn't. So, why do you expect that now?

4) Even physicians are regularly treated with condescension. If you want respect from the general population, don't go into healthcare!

5) If you don't want to ring up milk. Politely ask the person to ring it up at the main register. Appologize and tell them that you have numerous prescriptions to process on the computer.

6) Enjoy your job for what it is, because it's not all that bad. You could be a tech.

 

[Humble Sloth]

1) Who cares if someone calls you Dr. What does that matter? Why is anyone even discussing formal titles? If you can come up with one logical reason why formal titles have tangible value, that doesn't involve your ego, I'd like to hear it.

2) Don't be naive, you should know going into any school program that the school is going to paint the situation with unrealistic glamour. They sell education for a living.

3) You have been to a pharmacy at some point in your life. You know what goes on there. There is no reason to believe that you will be treated like a surgeon. In all your previous pharmacy experiences did you ever look over at the pharmacist and think.....Wow, that's an amazing admirable person. No, you didn't. So, why do you expect that now?

4) Even physicians are regularly treated with condescension. If you want respect from the general population, don't go into healthcare!

5) If you don't want to ring up milk. Politely ask the person to ring it up at the main register. Appologize and tell them that you have numerous prescriptions to process on the computer.

6) Enjoy your job for what it is, because it's not all that bad. You could be a tech.

actually I think techs make more money than pharmD when you consider: Lost wages to 6 years of schooling, the tuition cost of 6 years of schooling, taxes, stress and lawsuits. So OP would be lucky to be a tech. Unfortunately once you get a pharmD they won't let you become a tech at CVS

 

[hye345]

actually I think techs make more money than pharmD when you consider: Lost wages to 6 years of schooling, the tuition cost of 6 years of schooling, taxes, stress and lawsuits. So OP would be lucky to be a tech. Unfortunately once you get a pharmD they won't let you become a tech at CVS

...did you really just compare the long-term earning potential of a technician (most of whom make a few bucks above min wage) to that of a pharmacist?

 

[Humble Sloth]

...did you really just compare the long-term earning potential of a technician (most of whom make a few bucks above min wage) to that of a pharmacist?

Yes they earn more than pharmacists. I know lots of long term techs making 25-30 USD an hour.

 

[Mounjaro]

Yes they earn more than pharmacists. I know lots of long term techs making 25-30 USD an hour.

Your over-exaggerations/doom stories are amusing and trolly, I enjoy your humor. Especially since it's accompanied with a koala.

 

[hye345]

Yes they earn more than pharmacists. I know lots of long term techs making 25-30 USD an hour.

First off, as long as we are going by anecdotal evidence, I know plenty of pharmacists who are pulling down $60+ an hour, and have opportunity to do overtime.

With the money aspect, the key word is 'long term'. The technicians you are talking about are those who have stuck it out with the same company for 10+ years. I doubt this is a very common occurrence, given the problem with turnover in most community pharmacies. Meanwhile, a newly minted pharmacist can generally expect to earn roughly double that hourly rate. That's a difference of roughly $30,000-$50,000 a year. Even factoring in a $200,000 loan, if you compare a 28 year old pharmacist with a 28 year old technician who has been a tech since he/she was 18, the pharmacist should catch up and surpass this senior technician after roughly 5-8 years.

Even taking out the money element, I'd still choose to be a pharmacist as opposed to a technician. Working at CVS as a pharmacist isn't exactly thrilling, but at least there is variety. Technicians on the other hand aren't (legally) allowed to do as much, so their work is probably even more dry and monotonous than ours. Not to mention it's essentially (and unfortunately) a dead-end job.

 

[Humble Sloth]

Your over-exaggerations/doom stories are amusing and trolly, I enjoy your humor. Especially since it's accompanied with a koala.

The only thing that is going to be cosmically hilarious is your lack of job when you graduate by not heeding my words.

 

[Humble Sloth]

First off, as long as we are going by anecdotal evidence, I know plenty of pharmacists who are pulling down $60+ an hour, and have opportunity to do overtime.

With the money aspect, the key word is 'long term'. The technicians you are talking about are those who have stuck it out with the same company for 10+ years. I doubt this is a very common occurrence, given the problem with turnover in most community pharmacies. Meanwhile, a newly minted pharmacist can generally expect to earn roughly double that hourly rate. That's a difference of roughly $30,000-$50,000 a year. Even factoring in a $200,000 loan, if you compare a 28 year old pharmacist with a 28 year old technician who has been a tech since he/she was 18, the pharmacist should catch up and surpass this senior technician after roughly 5-8 years.

Even taking out the money element, I'd still choose to be a pharmacist as opposed to a technician. Working at CVS as a pharmacist isn't exactly thrilling, but at least there is variety. Technicians on the other hand aren't (legally) allowed to do as much, so their work is probably even more dry and monotonous than ours. Not to mention it's essentially (and unfortunately) a dead-end job.

18-28 @ 40,000 a year is $400,000 the tech is ahead plus your loans so 200,000 is $600,000.00 the tech is ahead at age 28 and that doesn't even take into account high taxes for the pharm or the time value of money. Yes i agree with you that rph's job is more interesting but def not more lucrative. Pharmacy is for suckers and ppl bad with money.

 

[hye345]

18-28 @ 40,000 a year is $400,000 the tech is ahead plus your loans so 200,000 is $600,000.00 the tech is ahead at age 28 and that doesn't even take into account high taxes for the pharm or the time value of money. Yes i agree with you that rph's job is more interesting but def not more lucrative. Pharmacy is for suckers and ppl bad with money.

I highly doubt that an 18 year old technician would be making $40,000 a year. As you said, this rate is more exclusive for the long-term technicians. They start a few dollars above min wage (though ironically, not as high as interns start at), and work their way up. One of my close friends was a technician at CVS for 10+ years before going to pharmacy school, and opted to keep her tech pay while interning, since it was the higher rate. Keep in mind, this pay scale was determined in California, one of the higher-paying areas for both pharmacists and technicians. Her hourly rate? *Only* $20/hour.

Pharmacy definitely isn't a cash cow (at least not compared to a lot of other health care fields like dentistry or medicine), but c'mon, let's keep things in perspective here.

But, if you still insist on the general validity of this entire argument... next time you're at work, go up to one of your technicians and tell them that they should be grateful for rolling in the doe. See what they think.

 

[Mounjaro]

The only thing that is going to be cosmically hilarious is your lack of job when you graduate by not heeding my words.

Stop it koala bear, you're hurting my feelings.