Will the job market of PharmD be saturated in future?

[Williamlh1982]

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The PharmD has been very hot for a long time. With more and more students graduate and get licenced, not only the demand of Pharmacist must decrease, but slao the payment.
At least we have known some places did not need more pharmacist now.

Another reason is the job market for PharmD is "narrow"~we only could to be a pharmacist, and find a retail or clinical job. Not too much choice for PharmD.

So is it a good idea to choose PharmD nowadays?

 

[ZpackSux]

Supply and Demand curve doesn't quite apply to the Salary.

More applicant for the job doesn't mean an employer will bid out lower salaries to someone who's willing to do it for less.

 

[Requiem]

Supply and Demand curve doesn't quite apply to the Salary.

More applicant for the job doesn't mean an employer will bid out lower salaries to someone who's willing to do it for less.

Exactly. Too many variables go into salary. I guess you'd just have to be a more competitive applicant, [this includes fluency in English ]

I'm just messing.

 

[Jeddevil]

The PharmD has been very hot for a long time. With more and more students graduate and get licenced, not only the demand of Pharmacist must decrease, but slao the payment.
At least we have known some places did not need more pharmacist now.

Another reason is the job market for PharmD is "narrow"~we only could to be a pharmacist, and find a retail or clinical job. Not too much choice for PharmD.

So is it a good idea to choose PharmD nowadays?

You are so right. There is no future in pharmacy. Nobody should pursue a PharmD. (insert evil laugh here as I run to cash another WAGS bonus check )

 

[twester]

OMG, what have I done?! I ditched a career as a network engineer where the threat of layoff was constantly hanging overhead. When the greedy, criminal executives went into financial self-preservation mode and the layoff finally happened, I should have just stuck with it. Nevermind that I was nearly bankrupted after 18 months of unemployment. That was a much more secure place to be than working as a pharmacist ever could be. Right?

Now I find out there's no future for pharmacists as well? OMG, what have I done?!

 

[MountainPharmD]

The PharmD has been very hot for a long time. With more and more students graduate and get licenced, not only the demand of Pharmacist must decrease, but slao the payment.
At least we have known some places did not need more pharmacist now.

Another reason is the job market for PharmD is "narrow"~we only could to be a pharmacist, and find a retail or clinical job. Not too much choice for PharmD.

So is it a good idea to choose PharmD nowadays?

Thats a fine theory if the current number of prescriptions filled each year remains steady. Then yes, eventually there will be an over supply of pharmacists and the job market will tighten up.

Only problem is the the number of projected prescriptions filled each year is expected to double in ten years. I am quite sure the number of licensed pharmacists will not double in ten years. So if there is a shortage now there will be an even bigger one then. Take in to account there are alot of baby boomer pharmacists who will be retiring and the increasing number of females in the profession = plenty of jobs for a long time to come.

 

[dgroulx]

We were discussing this at work yesterday. The part time pharmacist I was working with was previously in the Tampa district. She floated for 3 years, then moved up to my region to find a permanent part time position as the 3rd pharmacist at this store.

A girl I met at the Naplex review was moving from Texas to Gainesville. They had to place her in Ocala, 30 miles south of Gainesville.

There's still a shortage in all the outlying areas, but the major cities seem to be saturated already.

 

[Caverject]

The PharmD has been very hot for a long time. With more and more students graduate and get licenced, not only the demand of Pharmacist must decrease, but slao the payment.
At least we have known some places did not need more pharmacist now.

Another reason is the job market for PharmD is "narrow"~we only could to be a pharmacist, and find a retail or clinical job. Not too much choice for PharmD.

So is it a good idea to choose PharmD nowadays?

no, its a horrible idea. Med school seems to be the way to go....

 

[MountainPharmD]

no, its a horrible idea. Med school seems to be the way to go....

Yep, I agree....Go to Med school....or better yet go to dental school...Pharmacy is a bad idea

 

[sdn1977]

The sky is falling, the sky is falling......oooops - thats just pollen😳

One more rx for Pataday - oh......the patent for Patanol will expire anywhere between 2008 & 2015, so now we've got Pataday in place (remember the Clarinex, Nexxium experience???).....expect Patanol to go OTC...

Not to worry - change is expected in our field - we're ok...but yeah - go to med or dental school - that will be a "sure" thing (oh right - I've got both in my family🙄 ).

 

[ucsd2011]

i was just browsing through the career section for sf general hospital and they only have 2 positions available for pharmacists...compared to 8 or so positions for nurse practitioners (which i thought weren't as needed as pharmacist)

 

[sdn1977]

i was just browsing through the career section for sf general hospital and they only have 2 positions available for pharmacists...compared to 8 or so positions for nurse practitioners (which i thought weren't as needed as pharmacist)

Go back & re-read the postings. There are 3 openings for full-time & 1 for part-time.

However, most hospital jobs - like most professional jobs in general, are not posted online.

 

[Farmercyst]

Go back & re-read the postings. There are 3 openings for full-time & 1 for part-time.

However, most hospital jobs - like most professional jobs in general, are not posted online.

Which to most people unaware of this fact would give the appearance of a weak job market.

 

[andrewattheU]

I recently read an article in my local newspaper that the job market for pharmacy is quite high at least in Washington State (most also make 90k+ a year here) and that many pharm students have multiple job offers before graduating. Keep in mind this is what I read about my state not the entire country

 

[MountainPharmD]

Which to most people unaware of this fact would give the appearance of a weak job market.

The job market is weak!!!! Everyone bail out on Pharmacy.....

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

i agree, markets in nyc are saturated like crazy. . . . seriously, dont pursue it. listen!!!

 

[andrewattheU]

oh lol there should be plenty of jobs for everyone the bottleneck is getting into the schools lol

 

[genesis09]

Even in some of the supposed saturated areas like the Chicago area, the average number of job offers at UIC is 4-5.

 

[futuredruggist]

There are many schools of pharmacy opening all over the place. Hopefully their existence is justified.

 

[Lisochka]

it seems that the market has become weaker in my area.
In our periferal hospital we had 3 positions open last may. They all filled this summer.
No vacancies so far expected in the nearest future.
However, our college opened up 20 more seats for applicants (in addition to 55 existing), which means 20 more pharmacists will graduate every year. There are few new schools in the Us opening every year.
I don't know, even if the prescription will double in the next 10 years, seems that the amount of pharm grads will triple lolMay be not triple, but I do not see any pharmacist at my work to be retiring in the next 10-15 years. They just graduated within the last ten years....

The whole market situation does consern me, and thats too bad because I like pharmacy 🙁
So, do you guys have any update in your areas?

 

[Priapism321]

it seems that the market has become weaker in my area.
In our periferal hospital we had 3 positions open last may. They all filled this summer.
No vacancies so far expected in the nearest future.
However, our college opened up 20 more seats for applicants (in addition to 55 existing), which means 20 more pharmacists will graduate every year. There are few new schools in the Us opening every year.
I don't know, even if the prescription will double in the next 10 years, seems that the amount of pharm grads will triple lolMay be not triple, but I do not see any pharmacist at my work to be retiring in the next 10-15 years. They just graduated within the last ten years....

The whole market situation does consern me, and thats too bad because I like pharmacy 🙁
So, do you guys have any update in your areas?

All jobs will be occupied within two years, the shortage is over, the market is saturated with mediocre graduates of start up schools. Here is the advice you are craving: cut your losses, get out now, that means drop out immediately if you are currently enrolled in pharmacy school.

 

[Megas]

If you are bound and determined to stay in pharmacy, you will have to work here in the rust belt. It's the only place with jobs left and no up-and-coming pharmacy schools. Where I'm at, we have floaters driving 1.5-2hrs one way to get here. Plenty of jobs, cow tipping for fun, waiting on hillbilles with summer teeth, but act soon, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before this paradise is lost.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Woo, rust belt!!!