I got accepted to Western's Pharm D and got the merit scholarship for 100,000 dollars. I'm pretty set on going to Western because I can save on living cost and I also wont have any debt after I graduate. However, I know that the pharmacy job market is saturated and Western is not the top tier school. Will there be a problem for me looking for a decent job in the future? I'm trying to avoid retail and do not mind working more east, such as Riverside/ San Bernadino area. I'm more interested in industry, academia, Am care, and possibly FDA. Thanks!
Western University Pharm D- Job market
- Thread starter A027911
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If you're thinking about working in Riverside or San Bernardino, fuhgeddaboudit since there are no jobs there either. You need to look farther east, e.g. middle of nowhere Arizona or New Mexico, and that is assuming those areas aren't already saturated or will be saturated when you graduate.
70% of the jobs are in retail so that is where most people end up whether you like it or not. Based on your interests it would be far more worthwhile to get a PhD.
70% of the jobs are in retail so that is where most people end up whether you like it or not. Based on your interests it would be far more worthwhile to get a PhD.
Hi! Thanks for replying. It will be very tough for me to switch now, especially I got accepted and a scholarship. Right now, PharmD is pretty worth it for me cuz I dont need to pay any loans after graduating. I'm pretty sure there will be jobs out there but just not a lot. Im more concerned about the network of Western and want to know where their graduates end up working. Thanks!
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He just told you where most grads are working now: they don't.
wannabepharm20
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Wow congrats! Did you apply for early decision? How was the interview? I have mine in two weeks!
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The jobs you mentioned, industry, academia, am care or any clinical setting, make up for about 20% or less of job market. Considering you would probably have to do both years of residency, your odds of landing a job in those fields are slim. In fact, finding any job as a new grad would be tough. I suggest you turn down the offer and find another profession
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It doesn’t work like that my friend. Try naming a pharmacy school, drug company or FDA office based out of the Riverside/ San Bernadino area. I’ll be waiting for your response...
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This is a statement detached from what is actually happening. I don’t think any CoP has some sort of “network” which their students take advantage of in order to secure employment.
Essentially you will graduate and the cord will be cut. Your on your own to create your own network. When the students at western graduate, most will randomly search for an open position until they find something. If you want a chance to end up in a desirable position, you better have some connections.
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deleted562805
If you want industry, you better start creating a network sooner rather than later, and also apply to internships. I suggest you look into Pfizer internship for industry. Also, you need a fellowship for employment in industry. Same thing applies to Clinical and hospital.
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Western's Data show that 20% of the graduates were unemployed in 2018. Pharmacy | Institutional Research and Effectiveness - IRE
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Only 20% ?, hmmm.....
There's one in Irvine and for Riverside/ San Bernadino area Im thinking of any Kaiser/ Academia such as Loma Linda. I'm also flexible with doing hospital. Just trying to avoid retail.
Interview is very relaxed! Just do your research and get enough rest before the interview! Good luck!
Merit scholar is based on everything. GPA, interview, reasoning test, and essays. They offer this amount of money to pull up their stats possibly. At the same time, they are creating incentives to attract people who are aiming for better schools i guess?
Hi my friend. Based on your name, I do wanna hear your background in pharmacy. I do not plan to be in the bottom of my class or not network at all. In fact, I know some recent grads from pharmacy school who landed great jobs and I am planning to have them refer me after I graduate. I just want to hear from people who graduated from western. I know it is hard to survive in the field of pharmacy but at the same time, it is hard for ANYONE if they dont make the most from school/ networking/ they suck at their jobs. I'm not in for the money at the same time I do not have any debt to pay off, which makes my life a lot easier. The reason I'm here not because I wanna quit but I want to see what I can do to make this better! Thanks
Thanks! I already know someone who works in industry and another person who works at a hospital! Will continue networking!
Thanks! already started networking and will continue! Thank you so much
I would not recommend going into pharmacy regardless if it was free or not if you want to avoid retail... Majority of grads end up in retail and that's if they're lucky enough to get a full-time job nowadays. Even though you get a big discount on your tuition, you have to consider opportunity cost.
Okay here is the thing.. I know MANY classmates who got into pharmacy because they know someone working in hospital setting because they set their eyes on just hospital and not retail... Guess what? When they graduated, they simply did not have positions opened at the time and they ended up in retail. You can't just expect them to shove out current employees or create new positions just because you graduate. There is a good chance you end up in retail and will have a tough fight on getting your way out of retail.
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Actually if you went into pharmacy school and tried to gear yourself towards a future in hospital or industry but missed (on matching for residency/fellowship, etc.) then you will end up unemployed and not even in retail at this point. This is because nowadays, retail pharmacies are only hiring their own interns as pharmacists and don’t even have enough jobs to place their own interns. So to think that “I can always do retail as a backup if I don’t match for residency” is believing in a very dangerous lie because your pursuit of “clinical” or “nontraditional” opportunities in school comes at the expense of interning, networking and sucking up to the people in hiring positions in the retail pharmacy sector.
But you do sound like you're in it for a cushy 9-5 desk job that tens of thousands of other pharmacists would kill to have.
There are better educational paths than a PharmD where most end up in RETAIL. Most pharmacy students don't want to do retail but end up getting stuck there since there are few other opportunities. "Quitting" a PharmD does not means quitting in life since there are far better options, i.e. a PhD which you can use to achieve your goals. "Quitting" to me means to just go through the motions without thinking critically whether a path is really the best choice for you.
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If you run a doctorate degree program and have a 20% unemployment rate, i would consider that a total, complete, embarrassing failure....
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Holy crap! 20% unemployment??? Imagine spending 4 years and $200k on a doctorate and then have nothing to show for it. Good luck ever retiring or ever buying a home, especially in CA
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This is headline making stuff. When is a legitimate news outlet going to finally break this?
My friend works at Kaiser as a hospital pharmacist in Southern California. Her Kaiser recently had a job opening for a hospital pharmacist and they received over 300+ applications.
The pharmacist job market in Orange County was saturated two decades ago. The job market in the Inland Empire such as San Bernardino, Riverside, and Loma Linda dried up 8 years ago.
As for Loma Linda Hospital, they only like to hand pick their favorite students from their own pharmacy school and carve out jobs solely for them and not for the outsider.
If you want to avoid retail, then pharmacy is not a good career choice because most graduates end up in retail if they’re lucky enough to find a job.
