Western Pharmacy School

[Ahnold]

Hello everyone,

Seeing as though I'm most probably going to end up attending western university of health sciences in august. I was just wondering what the general opinion about the school is on SDN, is it considered a good school. I originally decided to go there because they focus on clinical pharmacy, and thats the route i want to eventually take. The biggest drawback is the insanely high tuition of like 48k a year.

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[trailerpark]

What pharmacy school would ever say they don't focus on clinical pharmacy? That's 100% marketing.


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[steveysmith54]

going to Western will not hurt your chances or preclude you from pursuing "clinical pharmacy". Whatever that means, clinical pharmacy can range from administering a flu shot to dosing Vanco. I have no idea what they mean.... Is it a good school? Good is a subjective term. They have established rotations in credible institutions (not at UCSF/USC level), decent rate of matching for residencies, mostly qualified faculty, overall solid history of passing naplex/CPJE, and job placement. They are the 4th oldest pharmacy school in CA, having said that, like most schools. they are having a hard time filling the entire class with elite students. The profession no longer draws as many bright students as it once did, if you're a preceptor you've seen this first hand. What I mean is they have def graduated some incompetent pharmacist. Sounds like you have your mind made up on going there, so good luck.

 

[PharmtoCS]

If you want to be more involved in clinical duties, I would pick MD, DO, or PA. Despite what pharmacy schools say, the vast majority of the jobs are in retail and have always been. Taking out $200k+ in loans to enter a saturated job market, let alone one (clinical pharmacy) that makes up a very small niche of the profession, would be a terrible financial choice. You would probably have better odds winning at gambling than landing a clinical pharmacist position.

 

[steveysmith54]

If you want to be more involved in clinical duties, I would pick MD, DO, or PA. Despite what pharmacy schools say, the vast majority of the jobs are in retail and have always been. Taking out $200k+ in loans to enter a saturated job market, let alone one (clinical pharmacy) that makes up a very small niche of the profession, would be a terrible financial choice. You would probably have better odds winning at gambling than landing a clinical pharmacist position.

This is off topic. Professors/faculty/ deans have used the term "clinical pharmacy" as a selling point for decades. With the enormous saturation in the profession, I hear it even more now lol.

 

[Ahnold]

This is off topic. Professors/faculty/ deans have used the term "clinical pharmacy" as a selling point for decades. With the enormous saturation in the profession, I hear it even more now lol.

is the saturation really as bad as they say it is? Are there really unemployed pharmacists? It's hard to imagine that people go to graduate school for 4 years and come out with nothing but debt...surely it isn't that bad right?

 

[steveysmith54]

is the saturation really as bad as they say it is? Are there really unemployed pharmacists? It's hard to imagine that people go to graduate school for 4 years and come out with nothing but debt...surely it isn't that bad right?

A degree does not guarantee anything. A university started by our current president was deemed to be a scam. Who would have thought? I recommend expanding your imagination. Topic of saturation has been discussed here to nauseum, a simple search will suffice. Three most credible references to consider that somewhat accurately depict the state pf our profession are: BLS, HRSA, and Pharmacy ManPower Project (Proly biased as it is somewhat influenced by people in the profession)

 

[Ahnold]

A degree does not guarantee anything. A university started by our current president was deemed to be a scam. Who would have thought? I recommend expanding your imagination. Topic of saturation has been discussed here to nauseum, a simple search will suffice. Three most credible references to consider that somewhat accurately depict the state pf our profession are: BLS, HRSA, and Pharmacy ManPower Project (Proly biased as it is somewhat influenced by people in the profession)

I know that the saturation is discussed here. The reason why I was asking if it is as bad as people here make it out to be, is because the few people I know who are in pharmacy school or work as pharmacists in real life don't have any idea what I'm talking about when i mention saturation (I live in CA). Which is why I was wondering if it is an issue in existence only on SDN forums.

 

[AlwaysContrary]

is the saturation really as bad as they say it is? Are there really unemployed pharmacists? It's hard to imagine that people go to graduate school for 4 years and come out with nothing but debt...surely it isn't that bad right?

It's really not that bad. What the majority of people fail to realize is that it's difficult (definitely not impossible) to find a job in any profession in today's economy. It took a very good friend of mine, who had a business degree with a focus in HR, about 6-7 months before he finally found a job. Going clinical is a good option as it will open up many different options and, in my opinion, really shows what pharmacy is. Doing retail is not bad in the slightest but you will most likely be stuck doing retail the rest of your life.