Your Thoughts

[FungManX]

Okay here is how a conversation went between me and my volunteering manager at shoppers drug mart (not sure if its a american shop also.. its probably the equivalent to your walgreens).. as you can imagine, I'm a pharmacy volunteer heh (currently living in vancouver BC).

SO anyway, heres the conversation
Pharm Mangr (PM) : "Hey I think you should re-consider pharmacy as an option now"
me: "why do you say that?!"
PM: " Shoppers Drug Mart overhired 7-10 pharmacists this year.. and Save-on-foods (another chain super-mart) over-hired 20-30 pharmacists!"
me: "Uh... so, are the older generations going to retire soon?"
PM: "Yeah, alot of them are going off slowly but the population of pharmacists is continually being replenished every year, the lowermainland is literally saturated with pharmacists now! (the urban part of British Columbia). The only jobs left in BC are the jobs in the Interior.."
me: "what if I transfer to the states? isn't there a huge shortage there as well?"

PM: "The Americans are having a similar situation right now.. alot of people are retiring there, its true. But at the same time Thousands of pharmacists are graduating every year to make up for this loss! Soon the average age of pharmacists there will be late 20 - early 30's. Bythe time you graduate from pharmacy (2009) There will not be many pharmacy jobs left to go around..."

Do you guys feel the same way?
Or is this just a biased opinion from a retail pharmacist that probably has no idea about the hospital/research pharmacy options?

Opinions are appreciated
Thanks!

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[baggywrinkle]

PM: There will not be many pharmacy jobs left to go around..."

The only jobs left in BC are the jobs in the Interior.."


Opinions are appreciated
Thanks!

Partner, it has always been this way.

Twenty one years ago I took the board exam in Austin Texas. While I was there I popped into a local drug chain and asked about employment.
Austin is home to the University of Texas and is a great party town, exactly where a sassy young grad wants to be. They are awash in pharmacists. Always have been, always will be. I was told I could work in Austin for them after I had served two or three years in West Texas where they really needed me. You CAN work in these desireable places. To do so you may expect lower wages, and cut throat competition.

Meanwhile they are offering twenty thousand dollar bonuses in places like El Paso Texas.

 

[ZpackSux]

PM: "The Americans are having a similar situation right now.. alot of people are retiring there, its true. But at the same time Thousands of pharmacists are graduating every year to make up for this loss! Soon the average age of pharmacists there will be late 20 - early 30's. Bythe time you graduate from pharmacy (2009) There will not be many pharmacy jobs left to go around..."

Wow.. A Canadian Pharmacy Prophet..

 

[Jeddevil]

Do we have to have these "sky is falling" posts on here everyday? If you are scared, go into something else.

 

[yatzek]

Do we have to have these "sky is falling" posts on here everyday? If you are scared, go into something else.

lol, I read these posts here everyeday... I guess everyone is looking for reassurence... how much anxiety can you have, its hard to get into pharm school, be proud of yourself instead of being worried

 

[SomeGuy]

And don't forget even here in the East (Ontario), people who've never been rant and rave about Vancouver and the rest of the BC urban seaboard. No doubt, the average pharmacist's age around there will be very low, since the older folks tend to eventually move out of the dense urban areas to raise families. Vancouver's real estate isn't exactly cheap. As well, from what I've seen, at least of hospital pharmacy job postings, BC doesn't pay nearly as well as Ontario does. BC and Ontario seem to be the only provinces really posting positions online often.

Another factor may be the ethnic makeup of many Canadian pharmacy schools. There are many southeast asians in most programs(the majority in some of the bigger programs), and urban BC seems to be the place to be for young members of these groups.

 

[julesPharmD]

lol, I read these posts here everyeday... I guess everyone is looking for reassurence... how much anxiety can you have, its hard to get into pharm school, be proud of yourself instead of being worried

This is true. As long as there are sick people, there will be a job for you. In the US, there is an unequal distribution of pharmacists. It depends on where you go. In areas where there are many schools in the state, those jobs get filled quickly. In states where there is only 1 pharm school or so, then the market is much better. I think that pay averages vary on this distribution, too. Chin up! All of your efforts will not be unrewarded.