What is the Pharmacy Profession like right now..? Saturation wise and salary wise.

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Oh yeah. That was a big layoff. Many of my friends worked there and they know there are no jobs for them in new york. I cant believe cvs and rite aid only took 5 of the 50, but i wasnt surprised. I'm hoping to hold on to my job for about 5 years. I know another round of layoffs is coming. I hire pharmacists for my company and we offered the new grads 47 an hour and they took it. Target forced all of their old pharmacists out as well.

$47 per hour at 32 hours per week for 52 weeks is $78K/yr. Should I become a state trooper for New York instead? ;)

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$47 per hour at 32 hours per week for 52 weeks is $78K/yr. Should I become a state trooper for New York instead? ;)

At an average gross salary of $112,000, State Police officers constitute the highest paid department in the executive branch -- and are eclipsed only by judges in state government. The average includes all ranks; troopers alone made an average of $101,000.

That is without the $200k+ loans you would have to take out for pharmacy, or even undergrad tuition.
 
That is without the $200k+ loans you would have to take out for pharmacy, or even undergrad tuition.
ye instead u get all the fun parts like being hated by people for being shady and dealing with the cop drama that happens alot.
 
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$47 per hour at 32 hours per week for 52 weeks is $78K/yr. Should I become a state trooper for New York instead? ;)
That's the thing. Pharmacy is not lucrative anymore. It isn't even close when you do the numbers. If you calculate the 150k which easily turns into 200k with interest plus 6 years of your life not working and the interest you would make if you kept that money in the bank. All our pharmacist only get 35 hours a week now and even if you make 60/hour that is only 115k per year after taxes it is like 75 k. Now you have to pay rent, student loans, health care, car payment and
cell phone bill. What is left not much. You also won't be able to pick up extra shifts either because instead of paying you we give you an extra day off somewhere else. Usually in the winter.
 
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Software engineering: $100k+/year with minimal loans = upper middle class straight out of college, great work conditions, and great job prospects

Pharmacy: $78k/year to pay off $200k+ debt = barely getting by, 4 years gone, poor job prospects, and poor working condiitions
 
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That's the thing. Pharmacy is not lucrative anymore. It isn't even close when you do the numbers. If you calculate the 150k which easily turns into 200k with interest plus 6 years of your life not working and the interest you would make if you kept that money in the bank. All our pharmacist only get 35 hours a week now and even if you make 60/hour that is only 115k per year after taxes it is like 75 k. Now you have to pay rent, student loans, health care, car payment and
cell phone bill. What is left not much. You also won't be able to pick up extra shifts either because instead of paying you we give you an extra day off somewhere else. Usually in the winter.

http://www.bestmedicaldegrees.com/salary-of-doctors/

https://benbrownmd.wordpress.com/

While the links don't compare pharmacy, there are many parallels that can be extrapolated to the pharmacy profession and rph1997 is on point. Many professions including pharmacy were good fields. However, rising tuition, student loan interest rates, cost of living (car, food, insurance, more **** (Iphone 18, Samsung S23) to buy to make you "feel happy", property taxes) make pharmacy a profession not really worth going into anymore especially if you want to live a good life. This varies by area of course where 100K has different buying power but undoubtedly it's less. 40K in the 1980s got you more than 110K does today.

The big added disadvantage pharmacy has that medical/dentistry don't have is job saturation/robot replacement/school expansion/pharmacy students flooding job market which is why there's a growing and growing voice of concern about the pharmacy profession outlook.

I would recommend being a state trooper if you can. My impression though is it isn't a field that is constantly expanding but it is very lucrative and very little work and very little brain which fits what most prepharmers are and are looking for and you get a lot of immunity from any errors (as recent events indicate) as opposed to pharmacy where you have to cover your ass and even then that might not help. Only problem I'd imagine is it's a white man's club. Many reports are written about the under representation in police forces, state troopers no exception if not worse least in my state. I'd also imagine you need connections to get in as well and white skin definitely helps (just the reality).

If you can, be a police officer, not a pharmacist or even doctor. The lifetime earnings/hrs as a police officer/teacher is vastly superior to getting a doctorate in pretty much any field these days. Before healthcare fields were great but now definitely reconsider.
 
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https://www.uttyler.edu/pharmacy/faq.php

Well here's our newest school. Can someone tell me why a state school has a tuition of almost 34k?

Because there will never be a shortage of students with a biology degree + GPA < 3.0 + lack of foresight and common sense to actually figure out that pursuing pharmacy school nowadays is financially risky.
 
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https://www.uttyler.edu/pharmacy/faq.php

Well here's our newest school. Can someone tell me why a state school has a tuition of almost 34k?

Can't speak for UT Tyler or Texas but declining state funding does contribute to rising tuition rates as schools try to find more. My impression of Texas though is it does fund their state schools better than others. I know states with even less higher ed funding and much cheaper pharmacy school tuitions. This does seem like robbery to me.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/mind-over-money.html

For those interested in bubbles, the term "pharmacy bubble" very well applies especially with new schools. Why more schools when we know the profession is heading downhill? Irrational behavior and wanting to cash in with student loans (you and your parents' federal tax dollars) and simple greed. School is a business which is why it's important to go to a reputable. The last time people tried to jump in what they thought was great (housing values going up 6% annually, bad mortgages) we had the Great Recession. The same now with pharmacy schools, irrational behavior and optimism pushing new school openings (which schools plan for years before) because they invested money in research and if they say, "well we cannot squander all the money spent looking into opening a new pharmacy school just because we are now starting to hear a lot of pharmacists expressing concern about the job market/outlook, we need to recover that investment! Lets open for a few years then try and cash out as the bubble collapses.

New schools and prepharmers are causing this profession to crash, akin to easy mortgage lending and speculative, disillusioned overconfident home buyers swayed by Bush's "every american should have a home" led to the housing bubble. Be warned prepharmers and do your best to get into a reputable, cheap, good reputation and long history school and let the others take the hit and suffer.
 
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Can't speak for UT Tyler or Texas but declining state funding does contribute to rising tuition rates as schools try to find more. My impression of Texas though is it does fund their state schools better than others. I know states with even less higher ed funding and much cheaper pharmacy school tuitions. This does seem like robbery to me.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/mind-over-money.html

For those interested in bubbles, the term "pharmacy bubble" very well applies especially with new schools. Why more schools when we know the profession is heading downhill? Irrational behavior and wanting to cash in with student loans (you and your parents' federal tax dollars) and simple greed. School is a business which is why it's important to go to a reputable. The last time people tried to jump in what they thought was great (housing values going up 6% annually, bad mortgages) we had the Great Recession. The same now with pharmacy schools, irrational behavior and optimism pushing new school openings (which schools plan for years before) because they invested money in research and if they say, "well we cannot squander all the money spent looking into opening a new pharmacy school just because we are now starting to hear a lot of pharmacists expressing concern about the job market/outlook, we need to recover that investment! Lets open for a few years then try and cash out as the bubble collapses.

I agree with you here.

just pure greed $$$$ !!

New schools and prepharmers are causing this profession to crash, akin to easy mortgage lending and speculative, disillusioned overconfident home buyers swayed by Bush's "every american should have a home" led to the housing bubble. Be warned prepharmers and do your best to get into a reputable, cheap, good reputation and long history school and let the others take the hit and suffer.

well, I am afraid that EVERYONE is going to suffer in the pharmacy profession. NO ONE is going to be immune !!


great posts about pharmacy and economics !! :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Can't speak for UT Tyler or Texas but declining state funding does contribute to rising tuition rates as schools try to find more. My impression of Texas though is it does fund their state schools better than others. I know states with even less higher ed funding and much cheaper pharmacy school tuitions. This does seem like robbery to me.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/mind-over-money.html

For those interested in bubbles, the term "pharmacy bubble" very well applies especially with new schools. Why more schools when we know the profession is heading downhill? Irrational behavior and wanting to cash in with student loans (you and your parents' federal tax dollars) and simple greed. School is a business which is why it's important to go to a reputable. The last time people tried to jump in what they thought was great (housing values going up 6% annually, bad mortgages) we had the Great Recession. The same now with pharmacy schools, irrational behavior and optimism pushing new school openings (which schools plan for years before) because they invested money in research and if they say, "well we cannot squander all the money spent looking into opening a new pharmacy school just because we are now starting to hear a lot of pharmacists expressing concern about the job market/outlook, we need to recover that investment! Lets open for a few years then try and cash out as the bubble collapses.

New schools and prepharmers are causing this profession to crash, akin to easy mortgage lending and speculative, disillusioned overconfident home buyers swayed by Bush's "every american should have a home" led to the housing bubble. Be warned prepharmers and do your best to get into a reputable, cheap, good reputation and long history school and let the others take the hit and suffer.
This may be simple economics to some people but....still...34k....really?!?! My tuition is 18k but it easily almost doubles already due to housing and living costs. This could very easily become ann end amount of 200k!

I've heard though, in the pharmacy forums that wages won't neessarily go down, only more people would find it harder to get a job. Can someone elaborate further on this for me as well?
 
This may be simple economics to some people but....still...34k....really?!?! My tuition is 18k but it easily almost doubles already due to housing and living costs. This could very easily become ann end amount of 200k!

I've heard though, in the pharmacy forums that wages won't neessarily go down, only more people would find it harder to get a job. Can someone elaborate further on this for me as well?

salary will def be going down. This is a no brainer ;)
 
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salary will def be going down. This is a no brainer ;)
They have been saying something like, better pharmacists will be harder to comeby so they are more likely to hang on to the good ones at the same rate. I don't really follow but I can see that as well.
 
They have been saying something like, better pharmacists will be harder to comeby so they are more likely to hang on to the good ones at the same rate. I don't really follow but I can see that as well.


they are prob basing their saying on the assumption that there are no other pharmacists who are better than you :)
 
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I do agree that pharmacy might be a bit tough in terms of job prospects but for some people it might be what they actually want to do and if it is they should follow their dreams and go for it and the job will eventually come. IMO anything is better than just having a crappy B.Sc. With just a regular B.Sc. there aren't any jobs available and you go back working at a fast food joint 50+K in debt.

A university degree is IMO no longer useful unless you're going to professional school to further your career. It is just a piece of paper that can be more useful in the toilet.
 
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I do agree that pharmacy might be a bit tough in terms of job prospects but for some people it might be what they actually want to do and if it is they should follow their dreams and go for it and the job will eventually come. IMO anything is better than just having a crappy B.Sc. With just a regular B.Sc. there aren't any jobs available and you go back working at a fast food joint 50+K in debt.

A university degree is IMO no longer useful unless you're going to professional school to further your career. It is just a piece of paper that can be more useful in the toilet.


:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
I do agree that pharmacy might be a bit tough in terms of job prospects but for some people it might be what they actually want to do and if it is they should follow their dreams and go for it and the job will eventually come. IMO anything is better than just having a crappy B.Sc. With just a regular B.Sc. there aren't any jobs available and you go back working at a fast food joint 50+K in debt.

A university degree is IMO no longer useful unless you're going to professional school to further your career. It is just a piece of paper that can be more useful in the toilet.

The same is already happening to some professional fields, including pharmacy. With the saturation, a PharmD is no longer enough, you need a residency, and in some regions even a PGY-1 is not enough. (PGY-10's, anyone? @oldstock ?) The key is choosing the right fields that are in demand. A bachelor's degree in engineering or computer science is a lot cheaper and will get you much farther than a professional degree in pharmacy or law that sets you back 4 years and $200k+, similar to how going to trade school gets you farther than a degree in the liberal arts from an Ivy League school.
 
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I do agree that pharmacy might be a bit tough in terms of job prospects but for some people it might be what they actually want to do and if it is they should follow their dreams and go for it and the job will eventually come. IMO anything is better than just having a crappy B.Sc. With just a regular B.Sc. there aren't any jobs available and you go back working at a fast food joint 50+K in debt.

A university degree is IMO no longer useful unless you're going to professional school to further your career. It is just a piece of paper that can be more useful in the toilet.
I don't think anyone intends to just stop at a bs bio or chem.
 
I do agree that pharmacy might be a bit tough in terms of job prospects but for some people it might be what they actually want to do and if it is they should follow their dreams and go for it and the job will eventually come. IMO anything is better than just having a crappy B.Sc. With just a regular B.Sc. there aren't any jobs available and you go back working at a fast food joint 50+K in debt.

A university degree is IMO no longer useful unless you're going to professional school to further your career. It is just a piece of paper that can be more useful in the toilet.


except the jobs might never come for most of new rx grads (~ 60% chance of being unemployed and this might be YOU in 2018 - 2022), this time 150-200 k in debts on top of your 50K+ undergrad.

Be warned :)
 
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Can't speak for UT Tyler or Texas but declining state funding does contribute to rising tuition rates as schools try to find more. My impression of Texas though is it does fund their state schools better than others. I know states with even less higher ed funding and much cheaper pharmacy school tuitions. This does seem like robbery to me.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/mind-over-money.html

For those interested in bubbles, the term "pharmacy bubble" very well applies especially with new schools. Why more schools when we know the profession is heading downhill? Irrational behavior and wanting to cash in with student loans (you and your parents' federal tax dollars) and simple greed. School is a business which is why it's important to go to a reputable. The last time people tried to jump in what they thought was great (housing values going up 6% annually, bad mortgages) we had the Great Recession. The same now with pharmacy schools, irrational behavior and optimism pushing new school openings (which schools plan for years before) because they invested money in research and if they say, "well we cannot squander all the money spent looking into opening a new pharmacy school just because we are now starting to hear a lot of pharmacists expressing concern about the job market/outlook, we need to recover that investment! Lets open for a few years then try and cash out as the bubble collapses.

New schools and prepharmers are causing this profession to crash, akin to easy mortgage lending and speculative, disillusioned overconfident home buyers swayed by Bush's "every american should have a home" led to the housing bubble. Be warned prepharmers and do your best to get into a reputable, cheap, good reputation and long history school and let the others take the hit and suffer.

New York and New Jersey sure know how to rip off their students. The two public pharmacy schools in this region are Rutger's Ernesto SoP and SUNY Buffalo. They each cost around $24-$25K in annual tuition, with the number increasing with time. Some "bargain." Doesn't help that NY/NJ tri-state area probably contains the most pharmacists per square mile, which just means more and more floaters/part-timers without FT benefits, 401K, etc. Texas, in comparison, has it mildly better but out of state applicants don't have the option to get in-state tuition when P2 year rolls around - someone correct me if I'm wrong. I honestly rather spend $24K on a solid MCAT tutor and retaking introductory pre-med classes than roll the dice with pharmacy school.
 
I do agree that pharmacy might be a bit tough in terms of job prospects but for some people it might be what they actually want to do and if it is they should follow their dreams and go for it and the job will eventually come. IMO anything is better than just having a crappy B.Sc. With just a regular B.Sc. there aren't any jobs available and you go back working at a fast food joint 50+K in debt.

A university degree is IMO no longer useful unless you're going to professional school to further your career. It is just a piece of paper that can be more useful in the toilet.

Follow their dreams huh?...See this a lot in prepharmers and that's fine really. If you're real passionate about it go for it but you also need to be grounded in reality and not disillusioned by what others will try to sell you which is a pharmacy education.

Watch the link on Mind over Money I posted. Everybody was living their dream right? Everyone was making money on the stock market, everyone was making money on their homes, 6% increase every year with no end in sight right? Everyone was living and pursuing their dreams, just like those still not wise enough yet still dream of pharmacy are jumping in not knowing what's gonna happen? Then what happened? Those dreams turned into NIGHTMARES! 14 trillion in value vanished! Retirements GONE! DREAM GONE!

Pharmacy school bubble is similar and is part of the overall bubble of college education and student loans. If you haven't watched the PBS doc on College Inc, then you really need to now the model hasn't really changed. Sell the dream, get the attendance, SOLD! And those dreams can also turn to nightmares. The students are going to come out empty handed and in a lot of debt. At least they'll have a pharmacy degree and not an English lit or similar degree. But a university degree can still land you a job but you would need internships, hard work and creativity and more uncertainty. A regular B.Sc or BA degree doesn't have a career path laid out for you but jobs are there for those degrees but you need to find that path yourself and there's some uncertainty to it. But is pharm school worth the additional cost? Varies person to person.

The pharmacy dream many prepharmers think of is no longer going to be there for them if they enter school now. It's going to be much tougher to get a job, and KEEP a job with the flood of grads.

In the future, I would try and avoid marry a pharmacy student. Just like I wouldn't want to marry a law student now.

And we're not scaring away students but trying to make sure no one makes huge financial mistakes because there's a pretty good chance 2018-2020 you won't have income to pay it back. Just hope deflation doesn't hit and make your debt so bad you want to tear your US passport and never come back. I'm also not a fan of having my federal tax dollars go to prepharmers who are not likely to pay it back and wasting that money when it can go somewhere better like research or NASA or Medicare or even military would be more useful. When or actually IF any of the prepharmers become taxpayers you'll probably feel the same.

So work hard, get scholarship, full ride for the love of god if possible
 
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This may be simple economics to some people but....still...34k....really?!?! My tuition is 18k but it easily almost doubles already due to housing and living costs. This could very easily become ann end amount of 200k!

I've heard though, in the pharmacy forums that wages won't neessarily go down, only more people would find it harder to get a job. Can someone elaborate further on this for me as well?

Pharmacy wages might go down, there's some indication it will and has. Particularly independent retails. Chains like CVS will pay well still though as they want good fast slave pharmacists and will pay well. It's also easier to manage less pharmacists then hire 2 for half the wage. Just increase the techs.

Wages will stay flat for most people. Though this is in every job and every profession, wages are going down and barely matching or below inflation. And inflation is already really low. And if we hit deflation then we've got bigger problems then just jobs.
 
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Pharmacy wages might go down, there's some indication it will and has. Particularly independent retails. Chains like CVS will pay well still though as they want good fast slave pharmacists and will pay well. It's also easier to manage less pharmacists then hire 2 for half the wage. Just increase the techs.

Wages will stay flat for most people. Though this is in every job and every profession, wages are going down and barely matching or below inflation. And inflation is already really low. And if we hit deflation then we've got bigger problems then just jobs.

I would like to add that take-home pay has fallen significantly and will continue to do so. Gross wages have remained flat or fallen somewhat, but the huge killer is the rise in tuition that puts us at record debt levels when we graduate.
 
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While I was riding home to my paid off house in my BMW, I couldn't help but think how much of my day was about minimizing shrink, protecting against audits, controlling inventory, and calling doctors to put directions on test strips and insulin. Back when I started in the mid 90s, we never did any of that. Focusing on the patient is almost impossible theses days with all of the other things you have to do. I started to remember actually caring about people more than my pharmacy's bottom line. Man have things changed. I am so glad my wife has a good job and We have no debt. You kids now a days are in for a life of debt and regret. I can't imagine being in my mid 20s lying awake at night thinking about shrink. When I was in my mid 20s I was dreaming about beautiful girls and exotic vacations.
 
Someone at my institution did 2 years of residency. Guess what his starting salary was at an academic hospital in a major metropolitan city? 97k. It was a take it or leave it offer according to him. Is it really worth it to do 2 years of residency for that pay?

I started for over 10k higher than that over 2 years ago at the same institution. I did no residency at all. I was pretty shocked, because I thought he would at least get a residency premium. Adjusting for inflation for between the 2 years we were hired makes his starting salary even worse.

I think this will be a major new trend at hospitals. Decreasing the starting wage of new employees and weeding out senior employees who make higher wages.
 
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Someone at my institution did 2 years of residency. Guess what his starting salary was at an academic hospital in a major metropolitan city? 97k. It was a take it or leave it offer according to him. Is it really worth it to do 2 years of residency for that pay?

I started for over 10k higher than that over 2 years ago at the same institution. I did no residency at all. I was pretty shocked, because I thought he would at least get a residency premium. Adjusting for inflation for between the 2 years we were hired makes his starting salary even worse.

I think this will be a major new trend at hospitals. Decreasing the starting wage of new employees and weeding out senior employees who make higher wages.


sad trend...

people who think they are immune from this over-expanding of pharmacy schools are really naive imho....
 
Going to pharmacy school now is like signing up for the Hunger Games. That's most likely how the job market will become by the time you graduate.
 
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Someone at my institution did 2 years of residency. Guess what his starting salary was at an academic hospital in a major metropolitan city? 97k. It was a take it or leave it offer according to him. Is it really worth it to do 2 years of residency for that pay?

I started for over 10k higher than that over 2 years ago at the same institution. I did no residency at all. I was pretty shocked, because I thought he would at least get a residency premium. Adjusting for inflation for between the 2 years we were hired makes his starting salary even worse.

I think this will be a major new trend at hospitals. Decreasing the starting wage of new employees and weeding out senior employees who make higher wages.

But does academic mean protected employment , research, and govt / union protections ? 97 would be a pretty good deal in that case.

Some retail is starting at 30-50k more !
 
Florida is opening up another school in 2016. I am not even sure the number of new law schools multiplied this quick in such a short time period.

http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/new-pharmacy-school-planned-miami?page=full

wow... that would bring the count to 142 now ?? Its not even February yet...

Jesus Christ...just a few days @rederza posted a link about a new school in TX and I just counted 140 schools a few wks ago last December....
 
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So now a community hospital is opening a pharmacy school? LOL and yes, this is a for profit hospital.

What is next? CVS School of Pharmacy?

Olstock Univeristy School of Pharmacy :) lol
 
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Olstock Univeristy School of Pharmacy :) lol
I've been pretty pessimistic about pharmacy, but I'm actually in good shape. My wife has a great job, our house is paid off and I had a good 20 years. What else can you do with this degree. I haven't gotten any good answers.
 
I've been pretty pessimistic about pharmacy, but I'm actually in good shape. My wife has a great job, our house is paid off and I had a good 20 years. What else can you do with this degree. I haven't gotten any good answers.

20 years ago things were definitely different in pharmacy. That was 1994-1995, before the PharmD was even mandated. You got in at the right time.

The way things are going now, the party will surely end in which no one gets a happy ending imho.
 
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some pharmacy schools are expanding their satellites. if you enroll this year, chances are there will be more than 50% unemployment for you. going to a top 10 school isn't really gonna help too much. and if rand paul becomes president he won't make vaccines mandatory so pharmacists wont really have the chance to do vaccinations
 
OP, after further research it looks like 50% of pharmacy students will be unemployed or severely underemployed. It mostly depends state by state.
 
While I was riding home to my paid off house in my BMW, I couldn't help but think how much of my day was about minimizing shrink, protecting against audits, controlling inventory, and calling doctors to put directions on test strips and insulin. Back when I started in the mid 90s, we never did any of that. Focusing on the patient is almost impossible theses days with all of the other things you have to do. I started to remember actually caring about people more than my pharmacy's bottom line. Man have things changed. I am so glad my wife has a good job and We have no debt. You kids now a days are in for a life of debt and regret. I can't imagine being in my mid 20s lying awake at night thinking about shrink. When I was in my mid 20s I was dreaming about beautiful girls and exotic vacations.

A BMW purchase used to be common during the golden days.
 
Hi Retail rph 1997. You are in the Buffalo area? Can you please contact me regarding information I have about the market there... It may help you out quite a bit... What is the name of your firm?...
Pharmacy is really bad in cities and rural areas are just bad. I hire pharmacists for my company, so for me my job is easier than ever. I got 80 applicants for 5 positions in rural ny and I took everyone over 50 and threw those out. Then I took all the new grads and threw those out. So that left me with the 5 to 8 year experience people. I started at 50 dollars an hour and went down. I got 5 people willing to take 45 to 47. Next year I will fire 3 to 5 more oldies and do the same thing. I am a pharmacist too and I wouldn't do the bench anymore. There are 10 people willing to take your place at any moment. I have so many stories on how we are doing this. The MBAs at the company have creative and ruthless solutions to make their metrics work.
 
I'm in my last year of pharmacy school. I believe it is a bad idea to go into the career if you're looking for something "secure" and pays 6 figures. A good recommendation is to work as a tech or volunteer in a pharmacy to see if you truly like it and be honest with yourself. The field is pretty saturated in most areas. I applied for jobs in San Diego and Los Angeles for fun in a company I've been an intern pharmacist in for 3 years, and was "no longer under consideration" just 2 days after applying.

However, if you're really passionate about pharmacy and are willing to re-locate to less desirable areas, you'll be able to find something.

Holy crap... this is exactly what the graduates I spoke to in the east coast said. This is insane, how at people still considering pharmacy anymore...
 
Complete noob here. What if you're endowed with a lot of money already, enough to open up your own pharmacy. What does that entail? How does it work? You just get a PharmD and then buy a place? Please be kind.
 
Complete noob here. What if you're endowed with a lot of money already, enough to open up your own pharmacy. What does that entail? How does it work? You just get a PharmD and then buy a place? Please be kind.

Go ask this in the Pharmacy forum. This sub-forum is mainly pre-pharmers or pharmacy students who wouldn't be too knowledgeable about it. The pharmacy forum contains both new and experienced pharmacist that will be able to answer your question.
 
Complete noob here. What if you're endowed with a lot of money already, enough to open up your own pharmacy. What does that entail? How does it work? You just get a PharmD and then buy a place? Please be kind.

It depends on the state in which you live. Buying a place in New York for example would be insanely costly. But if you are well endowed want to go that business route you may be able to do so. However, be cautious that a lot of independent pharmacies are shutting down because they can not compete with the big retails chains at all. Speak to an independent pharmacy owner about this.
 
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