Yet another new pharmacy school...

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
njac said:
Nursing salaries have MANY more variables than pharmacists. I bet yoü could find a RN at about every possible salary
Click to expand...

Yep. Nursing salary varies based on specialties, responsibilities, geographical location, and education.

When I was a new grad in 2005 --> only $54,000 (in South East) probably a little mor enow.

Experienced ICU nurse base pay currently --> $32/hr (in south east) while floor nurse may earn less.

NP--> Most NP told me, they started at $75,000. If lucky, you will get $80,000-$90,000. (but they don't have $100,000 of student loans and Most NP schools is flexible and allow you to work part-time as RN). It's not M-F like pharm school.

CRNA--> $100,000 from what I heard (but they can't work during school and will accumulate some amount of student loans)

Talking about the surplus of pharmacists and booming of pharm school.. Likewise, NP schools are also abundant.
And also there're talks about NP can't find jobs in allnurses.com and having to relocate. However, there're various specialties that will absorb that large amount of NP grads. Some NPs can go back to school and add another specialty.

http://allnurses.com/nurse-practitioners-np/this-absolutely-horrible-404697.html

The scary part is that NPs who can't find jobs have to work as a bedside nurses temporarily. ugh... so what's the point? People go to NP schools to escape from exhausting bedside RN jobs and continuing to do it after graduation.
 
Last edited:
Members don't see this ad :)
Jeez louise, can we get this one merged/closed, too?
 
wellwell said:
Jeez louise, can we get this one merged/closed, too?
Click to expand...
haha.. or make it sticky and make it into "too many pharm school" mega thread just like "the sky to falling" megathreads :)
 
Last edited:
When will the madness of opening more pharmacy school stop?
We are all going to have no jobs when we come out. :scared:
 
fRIHxrJARF_bill_ajntsa.jpg
 
RNtoPharmD said:
Yep. Nursing salary varies based on specialties, responsibilities, geographical location, and education.

When I was a new grad in 2005 --> only $54,000 (in South East) probably a little mor enow.

Experienced ICU nurse base pay currently --> $32/hr (in south east) while floor nurse may earn less.

NP--> Most NP told me, they started at $75,000. If lucky, you will get $80,000-$90,000. (but they don't have $100,000 of student loans and Most NP schools is flexible and allow you to work part-time as RN). It's not M-F like pharm school.

CRNA--> $100,000 from what I heard (but they can't work during school and will accumulate some amount of student loans)

Talking about the surplus of pharmacists and booming of pharm school.. Likewise, NP schools are also abundant.
And also there're talks about NP can't find jobs in allnurses.com and having to relocate. However, there're various specialties that will absorb that large amount of NP grads. Some NPs can go back to school and add another specialty.

http://allnurses.com/nurse-practitioners-np/this-absolutely-horrible-404697.html

The scary part is that NPs who can't find jobs have to work as a bedside nurses temporarily. ugh... so what's the point? People go to NP schools to escape from exhausting bedside RN jobs and continuing to do it after graduation.
Click to expand...

I'm so glad we have you to tell us about the nursing side =)
 
Nerdgirl said:
When will the madness of opening more pharmacy school stop?
We are all going to have no jobs when we come out. :scared:
Click to expand...

I think the job market will but much harder in the future but you can still find a job for now. 5 years from now... it will be more like do we want you and are you willing to take a pay cut =) WELCOME TO PHARMACY =)
 
BustyPharmD said:
I'm so glad we have you to tell us about the nursing side =)
Click to expand...

Thanks. I hope my view is somewhate accurate. I asked a few NPs about career choices and they recommended me to stay in Pharm school. I guess we always think the grass is always greener on the other sides.
 
this is scary stuff...maybe I should do medical school instead.
 
Last edited:
RNtoPharmD said:
Thanks. I hope my view is somewhate accurate. I asked a few NPs about career choices and they recommended me to stay in Pharm school. I guess we always think the grass is always greener on the other sides.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm sure every profession thinks the grass is greener on the other side of the fence at one point or another. Sometimes its gets to PharmD heavy. Your past experience and unquie point of view truely is benifical to these forums. PharmD's like everyone else, sometimes think we are the center of the universe =)
 
Members don't see this ad :)
ExPharmStudent said:
So now....to all the pharmacists out there....did I make the right decision to drop out of pharmacy school?
Click to expand...

why ask for our opinion when its pretty clear you have already made a decision on how u feel about the profession?
 
expharmstudent -- wow yikes...okay much better post, it's your decision/your life. granted, everyone i know who graduated here in '09 found a job and is doing fine. i don't think it's the end of the profession (real wages are likely to fall...see my previous discussion), and 4 years ago, no one would have been able to predict the national recession + potential health care reform on the horizon.

In other words, 4 years ago is ancient history.

did you make the right choice? well...you happy doing whatever it is you're doing now? your answer to that will answer the first question.

i was aware of the risks/potential bubble of pharmacy before starting, but i chose to ride it forward and see where it goes. i have a different viewpoint/background than you... i see openings in pharmacy niches (marketing, regulatory, etc...) but retail going to ****.

sounds like you based your entire understanding of pharmacy on retail...well, no wonder you left. you sound like someone who could have contributed to the profession.
 
you are not very bright are you....



ExPharmStudent said:
Ok..ok...you want something good and exciting....here it is:

The reason I dug up a month old thread is for a good reason....I just dropped out of pharmacy school....at first I didnt want to talk about it, but here is my story...

I am 23, I graduated from college with a degree in Biology, and I applied to Pharm school, and got accepted to one of the new schools built 4 years ago (I wont mention the name out of respect for my fellow classmates).

But...before I started pharmacy school....my pharmacy manager began warning me NOT to go to pharmacy school. Everything that has been posted in this thread about the future of the profession was exactly what my pharmacy manager told me.

He has been in the pharmacy profession for over 35 years, so I TRUST him.

I didnt listen to him because like all the other pre-pharmacy/pharmacy students I WAS IN DENIAL!!

I had spend the last 4 years in Undergrad preparing for Pharm School, so it was hard to change my career plans now.

So I accepted the offer of admission and moved to another state and began pharmacy school. ( I am orig. from Cali)

My goodness, it was a JOKE!

The pharmacy school was ONE BUILDING...TWO CLASSROOMS....no labs

Our rotation sites were sometimes 2 hours away from school at pharmacies in the middle of nowhere.

Some of our professors had just graduated from pharmacy school themselves.

And on top of all of this....they were charging us almost $36,000 tuition....almost three times as much as UCSF (the top Pharm school).

And when it came to housing....the places close to campus were REALLY ghetto, but since a lot of students had no choice but to live close to campus, the landlords were charging us ridiculous RENT!!

I felt like a piggy bank with all these people trying to suck out every penny they could.

And of course I applied for student loans....grad plus loan has an interest rate of 8.5% and the interest rate starts the first day of class.

I started regretting coming to pharmacy school, I should have listened to my pharmacy manager, he had warned me that there would be a surplus of pharmacists by the time I graduate...and I am originally from beautiful Sunny California...so trying to find in job in California would be impossible. There are 8 pharmacy schools in Cali now, with 3 MORE planned to open in the next two years.

GUESS WHAT I DID!! After two weeks of school....I DROPPED OUT!

I got most of my tuition back....and I think I made the right choice...because if I had stayed I would graduate with almost $130,000 in debt!

I honestly believe the future of pharmacy is bad....no other profession in history has produced so many students with hugh amounts of debt.

Yes the IT era was before us...but all these engineering students DID NOT spend almost 7-8 years in school, or have hugh debt...so when they couldnt find jobs, it was ok, but it will NOT be ok if you have over $100,000 in debt, and you cant find a decent job.

I think this entire "pharmacy shortage" was created by drug chains...to attract more people into these new pharmacy programs (which are also funded by drug chains), and once all these new graduates finish, they will accept any offer thrown at them.

So now....to all the pharmacists out there....did I make the right decision to drop out of pharmacy school?
Click to expand...
 
confettiflyer said:
did you make the right choice? well...you happy doing whatever it is you're doing now? your answer to that will answer the first question.
Click to expand...

good point. what do you (the OP) plan to do now? general practitioners of medicine seem to be holding that "shortage" crown lately
 
jachen84 said:
good point. what do you (the OP) plan to do now? general practitioners of medicine seem to be holding that "shortage" crown lately
Click to expand...

I am actually looking into Medical school now......even considering Caribbean schools....I think even those are a better investment than pharmacy school........
 
ExPharmStudent said:
I am actually looking into Medical school now......even considering Caribbean schools....I think even those are a better investment than pharmacy school........
Click to expand...


wow.....you are crazy if you think that...have fun caribMD

and by the way i did 2 years of residency, i have been at my job for 1 month and love it. One of the physicians I work with told me that he wishes who would have done something else than medicine. He said it has sucked the life out of him and I MADE A GOOD DECISION TO DO PHARMACY. (I mentioned i thought about MD school after pharm school). Once again you are dumb if you go to a carib school
 
Last edited:
ExPharmStudent said:
I am only thinking about it, I havent pursued it.......and I have four ppl in my extended family that did graduate from the Caribbean 2 years ago, and now two are doing residencies in California, and the other two in New York

ok, now you guys are confusing me....in all your earlier posts you basically dismissed the profession of pharmacy as "doom and gloom"

I am the first pharmacy student that took all this advice (not from here) but from personally speaking to other pharmacists, and I dropped out of pharmacy school (it was only my second week).

So now, I am the idiot?

What about my classmates....graduating with $130,000 debt from an unknown school, then coming back to California and competing with students from UCSF, USC, UCSD for the limited positions that will be available by the time we graduate?

What was the point of this entire thread.....pharmacy is doomed, but if you are just entering pharmacy school, shut your eyes, cover your ears, and go ahead with it without taking the future into consideration?
Click to expand...

So you might go to a carib school and grad with 300,000 dollars in debt to be an FP..sounds like a wash

And yes I agree that those students at your former pharm school are idiots as well

And I never have posted about gloom and doom, I typically post about how worthless and lazy I think people are

If you go to pharmacy school to work retail you are an idiot.

go the dentist route if you are smart.
 
bigpharmD said:
So you might go to a carib school and grad with 300,000 dollars in debt to be an FP..sounds like a wash

And yes I agree that those students at your former pharm school are idiots as well

And I never have posted about gloom and doom, I typically post about how worthless and lazy I think people are

If you go to pharmacy school to work retail you are an idiot.

go the dentist route if you are smart.
Click to expand...


.
 
Last edited:
If you have already been accepted to one pharmacy school and then dropped out after two weeks, why are you here looking for answers about applying to another school? You should be looking for answers elsewhere and from different people about what you want to do with your life than on some pharmacy forum message board.
 
ExPharmStudent said:
I am only thinking about it, I havent pursued it.......and I have four ppl in my extended family that did graduate from the Caribbean 2 years ago, and now two are doing residencies in California, and the other two in New York

ok, now you guys are confusing me....in all your earlier posts you basically dismissed the profession of pharmacy as "doom and gloom"

I am the first pharmacy student that took all this advice (not from here) but from personally speaking to other pharmacists, and I dropped out of pharmacy school (it was only my second week).

So now, I am the idiot?

What about my classmates....graduating with $130,000 debt from an unknown school, then coming back to California and competing with students from UCSF, USC, UCSD for the limited positions that will be available by the time we graduate?

What was the point of this entire thread.....pharmacy is doomed, but if you are just entering pharmacy school, shut your eyes, cover your ears, and go ahead with it without taking the future into consideration?
Click to expand...
I think the doom and gloom of the pharmacy future is way overrated, just like i've always thought the "shortage" was hyped. I think for the fact you went to Northstate means you don't have the great grades needed to get into schools like UCSF, which is also why you are considering carib schools instead of med schools here in America. Nothing wrong with that, but just saying.
 
bigpharmD said:
If you go to pharmacy school to work retail you are an idiot.
Click to expand...

You give clinical folks a bad name...

there is absolutely nothing wrong going the retail route. Retail is as much part of being a pharmacist as is a "clinical" pharmacist and your order entry hospital pharmacist. Just because one is not interested in a "clinical" position doesn't mean they are a peon.
 
Caverject said:
You give clinical folks a bad name...

there is absolutely nothing wrong going the retail route. Retail is as much part of being a pharmacist as is a "clinical" pharmacist and your order entry hospital pharmacist. Just because one is not interested in a "clinical" position doesn't mean they are a peon.
Click to expand...


NO i think the retail side of the profession has been ruined by walgreens, cvs, etc. Look at how many people go work retail then come on here and cry and complain. IF you go into pharmacy knowing you are going to work at one of those retail chains you are crazy.

i have worked as a tech in retail and hospital, and as a hospital staff pharmacist...
 
Last edited:
bigpharmD said:
NO i think the retail side of the profession has been ruined by walgreens, cvs, etc. Look at how many people go work retail then come on here and cry and complain. IF you go into pharmacy knowing you are going to work at one of those retail chains you are crazy.
Click to expand...

not everyone complains as much or hates the chains as much as people on SDN.
 
ExPharmStudent said:
It was not Northstate....I went to a school outside of California..but you are right..it was because I didnt have the grades for UCSF...but then again...these new pharmacy schools are accepting students with even lower gpa's than me....the surplus might be overrated....but these new schools still present a problem for future graduates....did I mention the top pharmacy school (UCSF, USC, UCSD) charge an average of $20,000 tuition, and all of these new schools are charging a tuition of $36,000...so wrong..
Click to expand...


just posted today:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=663924

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=663263
 
ExPharmStudent said:
It was not Northstate....I went to a school outside of California..but you are right..it was because I didnt have the grades for UCSF...but then again...these new pharmacy schools are accepting students with even lower gpa's than me....the surplus might be overrated....but these new schools still present a problem for future graduates....did I mention the top pharmacy school (UCSF, USC, UCSD) charge an average of $20,000 tuition, and all of these new schools are charging a tuition of $36,000...so wrong..
Click to expand...
Its the price to pay if your not a straight A student...it sucks! I had to pay out of the nose for my crappy gpa but the fact of the matter is, I will have a job and career for life if I am happy doing what I am doing. Will the pay go down? possibly, but I can say I love what I do and I love it so much I would be more than happy to continue to do it in the face of declining wages. Declining wages creates opportunities for people to open their own businesses or do something different they never thought about doing.

My advice would be to lighten up and just go for it. Even if it isn't the best school in the world, at the end of the day you can make a decent career.
 
Caverject said:
Its the price to pay if your not a straight A student...it sucks! I had to pay out of the nose for my crappy gpa but the fact of the matter is, I will have a job and career for life if I am happy doing what I am doing. Will the pay go down? possibly, but I can say I love what I do and I love it so much I would be more than happy to continue to do it in the face of declining wages. Declining wages creates opportunities for people to open their own businesses or do something different they never thought about doing.

My advice would be to lighten up and just go for it. Even if it isn't the best school in the world, at the end of the day you can make a decent career.
Click to expand...


If you dont mind me asking....how much debt did you graduate with?
 
bigpharmD said:
NO i think the retail side of the profession has been ruined by walgreens, cvs, etc. Look at how many people go work retail then come on here and cry and complain. IF you go into pharmacy knowing you are going to work at one of those retail chains you are crazy.

i have worked as a tech in retail and hospital, and as a hospital staff pharmacist...
Click to expand...

no, it hasn't been ruined. It is in the process of change. A lot of people don't like change and sometimes it really sucks. But you don't know it sucks until you try it. If you look at POWER, Wags suspended the roll out to many other areas due to the bugs in it. Companies like Wags and CVS are in it for the money and will do what they can to make money (as they should do quite frankly) You can site all the pharmacists that come on here and bitch about it, but they do not make up the majority of pharmacists. They are a sliver. Just look at Old Timer and MountainPharmD. One loves retail pharmacy and the other hates it. Both are entitled to their opinion but it goes to show some people really do love what they do.

Yes, I do not work retail anymore but I certainly didn't hate it and I worked for a chain drug store. My desire to do something different is what propelled to work for the military. Yes, there are days that I absolutely can't stand it and there are days that I love it and know I made a good decision. I guess my stand is if you dont like what you're doing, there will always be other jobs available but it wont be the most glamorous or high paying.
 
Caverject said:
close to 200k...Im not a great example because I had a lot of things happen in my personal life that cost me a lot of time and money.
Click to expand...


ok...one another question which will help me a lot....what are your monthly payments for your loans?

And taking out those payments, is there enough money left on your paycheck to make a decent living.
 
ExPharmStudent said:
ok...one another question which will help me a lot....what are your monthly payments for your loans?

And taking out those payments, is there enough money left on your paycheck to make a decent living.
Click to expand...

i owe 50k here (yeah i guess im one of the luckier ones), my montly loan payment is around $600 a few dollars give or take per month and im on track to pay it all off in 10 years. of course i'd prefer to be more aggressive with paying it off but with my unique situation right now i plan on sticking to that point per month while i pay off my car loan (around 15k) as well as saving up for a possible relocation (trying to get 6 months worth of salary, not living expenses saved up)
 
jachen84 said:
i owe 50k here (yeah i guess im one of the luckier ones), my montly loan payment is around $600 a few dollars give or take per month and im on track to pay it all off in 10 years. of course i'd prefer to be more aggressive with paying it off but with my unique situation right now i plan on sticking to that point per month while i pay off my car loan (around 15k) as well as saving up for a possible relocation (trying to get 6 months worth of salary, not living expenses saved up)
Click to expand...

ok..so if I had graduated with about $120,000 in debt...I am guessing my monthly payment would be around $1500....and lets say I start my salary at $80,000 (right out of school, which I doubt 4 years from now). take the tax out, it prob comes to about $68,000..then take the $1500 monthly payment....I will have an annual salary of.....$50,000 :laugh:

wow...8 years of school, just so I can graduate and make $50,000 a year...hmmm.....I know people who didnt even go to college and make that much money
 
ExPharmStudent said:
ok..so if I had graduated with about $120,000 in debt...I am guessing my monthly payment would be around $1500....and lets say I start my salary at $80,000 (right out of school, which I doubt 4 years from now). take the tax out, it prob comes to about $68,000..then take the $1500 monthly payment....I will have an annual salary of.....$50,000 :laugh:

wow...8 years of school, just so I can graduate and make $50,000 a year...hmmm.....I know people who didnt even go to college and make that much money
Click to expand...

I pay $1500 a month...heck I pay $2500 some months just to get ahead...and I barely make over $80k a year...I do fine. Hell, I'm taking a vacation, spent $3k to get WVU season tickets, and spent $8k cash on a car in the last 9 months. Plus I paid off 2 other loans totalling about $15k in value, too. Granted, I drive a Taurus and live in a trailer...but hell, I'm doing great. $50k after taxes is alright...better than most folks...and when you get that loan extinguished...it's alright...
 
I make about $95k...salaries aren't going to go down...they will stagnate. It's not like this surplus/shortage cycle hasn't happened in the profession before. Plus, if that whole healthcare reform thing goes through, we'll be just fine...
 
i make 98000, have about 90,000 in SL's and pay 500 a month. My wife makes 95,000 and has about 30,000 in loans. We both drive good cars, and have a 3000 sq ft house. We live just fine and arent on call every 3rd night and spend the night in the hospital
 
ExPharmStudent said:
It was not Northstate....I went to a school outside of California..but you are right..it was because I didnt have the grades for UCSF...but then again...these new pharmacy schools are accepting students with even lower gpa's than me....the surplus might be overrated....but these new schools still present a problem for future graduates....did I mention the top pharmacy school (UCSF, USC, UCSD) charge an average of $20,000 tuition, and all of these new schools are charging a tuition of $36,000...so wrong..
Click to expand...

Mmmm, I think you went to UACP. I've heard that they are housed in one building and are in the middle of nowhere. It also ahs a price tag of aroudn 36k I believe and do not qualify for stafford loans.
 
ExPharmStudent said:
wow....you really live in a trailer...once again...the lies they feed us in undergrad...I am not kidding, here is what I was told at two different pre-pharmacy meetings:

1) pharmacy students make $120,000 right out of school
2) You are granted job security, and can get a job anywhere because of the "shortage"
3) You make a hugh difference in the patients life (somewhat true...but not entirely)

But look, you make $80,000 right now...you are still lucky because you graduated before the surplus hits the market.....so if I was lucky enough to find a job...wouldnt I start at 60,000 four years from now...lets recalculate....that leaves me with about $40,000 annually....yikes, some pharmacy technicians make that much money.....
Click to expand...

I smell a troll

WVU knows what he's talking about.. (always).

It seems your only purpose here is to complain
 
ExPharmStudent said:
I am glad you guys are content with your job...


FYI: My staff pharmacist at Wal-Mart made $200,000 last year, he showed me his taxes, and after taxes were taken out....he was left with about $180,000

He was a floater pharmacist, so on top of getting paid $55/hr.....he got paid for all the miles he drove to the different stores, and got paid for the hours he drove.....

He is 60 years old, had absolutely no student loans when he finished Pharm School....and made $180,000 last year

See how for our generation it is getting more difficult

BTW: this year he cant float anywhere, Wal-mart is cutting all the hours for floaters and assigning them all to a permanent store....so they dont have to pay for the gas and miles...

This year, my staff pharmacist is going to make about $150,000....and he is COMPLAINING!!!

p.s. despite his age, there is no way in hell he is retiring anytime soon

that is why I know four years from now....if I went to Pharmacy school...I wont have it as good as you guys....the salaries ARE decreasing, and the student loans are but only INCREASING. Not to mention the competition when 120 pharmacy schools start graduating 100 pharmacists each year.....each year 12,000 new pharmacists....times that by 4........48,000 pharmacists
Click to expand...

What you're forgetting to take into consideration however, is that there is going to be an explosion of baby boomers that are going to greatly increase the demand for health care....in all fields. I'm thinking that the surplus of graduates you mention will be adequately staffed when they get done with school.

Just my opinion. I hope that you are satisfied with whatever career you switched to.
 
expharmstudent said:
i am glad you guys are content with your job...


Fyi: My staff pharmacist at wal-mart made $200,000 last year, he showed me his taxes, and after taxes were taken out....he was left with about $180,000

he was a floater pharmacist, so on top of getting paid $55/hr.....he got paid for all the miles he drove to the different stores, and got paid for the hours he drove.....

He is 60 years old, had absolutely no student loans when he finished pharm school....and made $180,000 last year

see how for our generation it is getting more difficult

btw: This year he cant float anywhere, wal-mart is cutting all the hours for floaters and assigning them all to a permanent store....so they dont have to pay for the gas and miles...

This year, my staff pharmacist is going to make about $150,000....and he is complaining!!!

P.s. Despite his age, there is no way in hell he is retiring anytime soon

that is why i know four years from now....if i went to pharmacy school...i wont have it as good as you guys....the salaries are decreasing, and the student loans are but only increasing. Not to mention the competition when 120 pharmacy schools start graduating 100 pharmacists each year.....each year 12,000 new pharmacists....times that by 4........48,000 pharmacists
Click to expand...

bullsh&*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

Rockinacoustic
2024 USNWR Pharmacy School Rankings
Replies
9
Views
580
RXDOC1986
R
PharmD or nursing
UC Irvine pharmacy school? another new school in CA?
Replies
3
Views
1K
steveysmith54
S
P
VA HPSP for Pharmacy 2024
Replies
5
Views
175
bacillus1
bacillus1
E
What's The Market Like For A Compounding Pharmacy?
Replies
1
Views
744
RXDOC1986
R
K
  • Locked
Best way to prepare for a future in Pharmacy
Replies
17
Views
1K
Script1992
S
Top