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Think the future of Pharmacy is very dim. Incredible oversaturation and staff reduction, automation of prescription filling and the use of cheap technicians. Ask people in the field Today what they think. Make sure you speak to experienced Pharmacists. Educators in the Schools are biased and are living in an ivory tower!
it's true. one of the big things driving this is the increase in the number of pharmacy schools which significantly increased the number of grads. i believe in the last 10 years the number of colleges of pharmacy has almost doubled. the large chains had a hand in this which helps to drive down wages. some are "for profit" schools.
add to that the bare bones staffing at retail stores, automation (highly unlikely the job will be 100% automated but...), increase of use of technicians and changes in the rph/tech ratios in stores implemented by various state legislatures brought about by pressure from the large chains. also hospitals are "optimizing" staffing and using more techs and automation as well.
it's also becoming a terrible job. speak to retail staff in the large chains, it's all about metrics and very little about caring for patients. it's flu shot/shingles quotas, how few minutes to fill a prescription, how much you can up-sell non-pharmacy items, etc. i've heard CVS has key loggers but have never verified this,
hospital jobs have become the holy grail but are getting to the point where all the "good" clinical jobs require at least a PGY1 residency and some require a PGY2 residency.
i would not, at this point, recommend pharmacy for anyone. and don't forget grads will probably have close to 150K in student loans. too bad, because it was a great career for me.
there are several threads about this on the student doctor forum. In one of the threads someone mentioned that everyone in his cohort was able to find employment after school, so I wouldn't freak out too much yet
Part of the problem, at least there, is that they overbuilt vastly during the economic boom, CVS and Publix on every corner, then brought in many foreign visa pharmacists to help fill the jobs (at the time many more jobs than pharmacists). Then when the bubble inevitably burst, they started closing many of the stores they opened, putting all those people into the unemployment line.
I didn't even think of automation, but that makes sense. On the show "Nurse Jackie", the hospital replaced the pharmacist with a computer that dispensed the pills to the nurses.
It is also a stressful job, especially in retail. My friend worked 12 hour shifts with no breaks. You have to work weekends and many holidays nowadays, too as nothing retail seems to close anymore for anything.
Good post.
I agree with what you say about retail, too. I worked as a pharmacy tech while in college, and then as a pharmaceutical sales rep for a few years after I graduated. With few exceptions (I'm sure your friend is one of them ), I found that pharmacists are not the happiest bunch of people, and I'm being diplomatic when I say that. Hospital pharmacists seem a little more content, but not over-the-moon happy in their jobs, either.
Yes, OP, pharmacy IS a stressful job, particularly at the retail level. It seems to quickly burn people out.
I have a friend of a friend who recently graduated pharm school -may of 2014 to be exact. From what I have been told: finding the full time hospital pharmacy position is next to impossible because that is the position every pharm grad wants. Instead you will have to start per-diem/part time- which is also quite hard to get then apply along with all the other per-diem pharmacist for that one open full time hospital spot.
I have heard that going retail is a bit better yet that seems to be the last choice of work for many pharm grads.
I know half a dozen pharmacists who graduated in the last ten years. Every one wanted to be a hospital pharmacist. Every one is working retail. None particularly like their jobs. None are making what they thought they would.
That said, it is a decent living, they have been able to go part-time when their babies were young, none have been unable to find employment.
The days of a pharmacist owning her own pharmacy are pretty much gone. The complicated reimbursement system has driven small pharmacies out of business.
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Location: A Yankee in northeast TN
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Originally Posted by old fed
it's true. one of the big things driving this is the increase in the number of pharmacy schools which significantly increased the number of grads. i believe in the last 10 years the number of colleges of pharmacy has almost doubled. the large chains had a hand in this which helps to drive down wages. some are "for profit" schools.
add to that the bare bones staffing at retail stores, automation (highly unlikely the job will be 100% automated but...), increase of use of technicians and changes in the rph/tech ratios in stores implemented by various state legislatures brought about by pressure from the large chains. also hospitals are "optimizing" staffing and using more techs and automation as well.
it's also becoming a terrible job. speak to retail staff in the large chains, it's all about metrics and very little about caring for patients. it's flu shot/shingles quotas, how few minutes to fill a prescription, how much you can up-sell non-pharmacy items, etc. i've heard CVS has key loggers but have never verified this,
hospital jobs have become the holy grail but are getting to the point where all the "good" clinical jobs require at least a PGY1 residency and some require a PGY2 residency.
i would not, at this point, recommend pharmacy for anyone. and don't forget grads will probably have close to 150K in student loans. too bad, because it was a great career for me.
Gotten to the point that our pharmacist rarely has more than two techs, often just one and during the the slow periods or the techs lunch may be there alone, relying on mgt to help if 'necessary'. Meaning that the RPh is taking patients at both the in window and drive thru, running the register, filling, verifying, and answering the phone, alone. Huge shift from even five years ago when the RPh needed to do little other than verify whatever the techs gave him/her and dispense information to the patient.
The days of a pharmacist owning her own pharmacy are pretty much gone. The complicated reimbursement system has driven small pharmacies out of business.
Gee, I don't know if that is true in small-town America. My cousin owns her own pharmacy and her ex-husband owns the other in two small towns that are about 4 miles apart....they are both still doing business hand over fist, employing several people...they both live well...nice homes, vehicles, etc. The ex-husband actually employs another pharmacist at his place now so he doesn't have to be there all the time.
It is the same way in all the other small towns in the area.
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), I found that pharmacists are not the happiest bunch of people, and I'm being diplomatic when I say that. Hospital pharmacists seem a little more content, but not over-the-moon happy in their jobs, either. 
