If you have not yet done this...

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
megandupe said:
oh hey! look what i found


"Pharmacist ($103,839)
The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking more than 2,300 pharmacists to dispense medications for returning veterans. Pharmacists must earn a specialized Pharm.D. four-year degree from an accredited college or school of pharmacy, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports."

For the full article, look here: http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-art...jobs-1458/fpusrsrc=today?WT.mc_n=hjEOI_YToday

I guess some of you have some phone calls to start making...
Click to expand...

I sent my resume to like 6 VA offices. They each told me that it's "on file" and I', yet to hear nary a word back. Nobody to email or call to follow up with, either.

Those VA jobs are actually rather tough to get. One of those openings gets a bazillion resumes. Decent pay, GREAT benefits, the company isn't going out of business.
Members don't see this ad.
 
pharm B said:
Tungsten, are you in California? Chebs was on here complaining about the same thing not that long ago. Finding a job in a place like that seems impossible, but it's not representative of all areas.
Click to expand...

certain parts of Florida, might as well be... when I lived in certain parts the job market was disgusting... other parts not as bad.

owlegrad said:
Where in FL?! I am also in Florida. I worked two internships over the summer. Way over half my class did as well. My school does a job fair, that's where I got one. The other required more leg work on my part. Neither one was difficult, let alone very difficult.

EDIT: I meant way over half my class worked, not worked two jobs. I should have been more clear.
Click to expand...

I LOL'd when I read this... pretty sure you guys go to the same school (well I guess I should say affiliated with the same university). :)

rxlea said:
The companies that came to our school toward the beginning of the semester said they were not hiring interns, either. They asked students to fill out the interest sheets anyway in case "something opens up". Some of us drive up to our neighboring (larger) city to work on weekends. A 2 hour drive isn't great but it is worth it to have a job/internship.

I agree with previous posters- it depends on your region. It is very difficult for many students to find something right now. In the summer, there will be even more students competing for spots. I don't doubt the veracity of your claim, owlegrad, but the economy isn't exactly robust in my neck of the woods (same for many others).
Click to expand...

I might go to the Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale area for spring break because my bf wants to see his family!
 
oh yeah... and it seems like intern positions are highly dependent on where you live at because there are TONS of chains asking for help here. sure you might have to drive 20-30 min to be at the one you prefer, or you might not be able to ONLY work in the summertime, but there are lots of jobs if you want one. seems like there's no huge shortage of hospital positions either, but i don't know a lot about that except that i know several of my classmates work at one.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Tinkerbell22 said:
I LOL'd when I read this... pretty sure you guys go to the same school (well I guess I should say affiliated with the same university). :)
Click to expand...

You have a better memory than me Tink, I actually forgot that I "know" tung (from SDN) and we have corresponded in the past. lol Boy do I have egg on my face. :laugh:

tung is on the main campus though, that is the difference in job availability. UF has an excessive amount of students and this is particularly true of the main campus. There is no doubt in my mind that jobs are extraordinarily hard to come by there.
 
owlegrad said:
You have a better memory than me Tink, I actually forgot that I "know" tung (from SDN) and we have corresponded in the past. lol Boy do I have egg on my face. :laugh:

tung is on the main campus though, that is the difference in job availability. UF has an excessive amount of students and this is particularly true of the main campus. There is no doubt in my mind that jobs are extraordinarily hard to come by there.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah! I actually wasn't sure if you knew that since you are c/o 2013 right? It's more obvious where you're at since you have your location visible. :)

I can imagine that the main campus situation would be a lot different than the one in Orlando. When I was in Miami jobs were non existent because of the two schools within a 1-2 hour drive (PBA and Nova) and then all of the pre-pharm techs from Miami-Dade, FIU, Nova, Broward, PBCC, few from UM, etc...
 
Tinkerbell22 said:
Oh yeah! I actually wasn't sure if you knew that since you are c/o 2013 right? It's more obvious where you're at since you have your location visible. :)

I can imagine that the main campus situation would be a lot different than the one in Orlando. When I was in Miami jobs were non existent because of the two schools within a 1-2 hour drive (PBA and Nova) and then all of the pre-pharm techs from Miami-Dade, FIU, Nova, Broward, PBCC, few from UM, etc...
Click to expand...

So far, yes.
 
Hopefully having served in combat for our country and therefore being a "returning veteran" myself will aid in getting my resume to the top of the stack when it comes time to get a job. :D

Although I wonder if they'll look down on my "3 year" specialized Pharm.D., since they specifically say 4 year specialized Pharm.D. Oh noes. =]
 
All I can say is that the market may be saturated when looking at it from different perspectives, but I also feel that everyone will assume this differently based on the position they are in. I working at a family pharmacy have become close with the owner, and she said can't wait until I come back certified to help out there! I am not saying that there truly are less opportunities then before, but I also feel it shouldn't be necessary to post this for if we are choosing to go into the field that we assume the risks that come with such.
 
Yet, all five former pharm techs from my work place that graduated within the timeline(s) of the past three years all got a job within two-three months of passing NAPLEX....without even applying for guaranteed positions as former pharmacy employees here.


That the ground you stand on is sinking doesn't necessarily mean that every other standable grounds are sinking as well.


Using local occurrences to replace national occurrences has always been the greatest form of ignorance every time I run into topics like these.


If you really want a job as a pharmacist, you will always find one.

If you really need a job as a pharmacist, you will always get one.

If you fail or have failed to do so, then the warmth of your comfort zone is still the cause of your skin's complexion. Believe it or not, it is what it is.

You people are just wasting your time & discussion energies in threads like these. Deuces:boom:
 
Electrode said:
Yet, all five former pharm techs from my work place that graduated within the timeline(s) of the past three years all got a job within two-three months of passing NAPLEX....without even applying for guaranteed positions as former pharmacy employees here.


That the ground you stand on is sinking doesn't necessarily mean that every other standable grounds are sinking as well.


Using local occurrences to replace national occurrences has always been the greatest form of ignorance every time I run into topics like these.


If you really want a job as a pharmacist, you will always find one.

If you really need a job as a pharmacist, you will always get one.

If you fail or have failed to do so, then the warmth of your comfort zone is still the cause of your skin's complexion. Believe it or not, it is what it is.

You people are just wasting your time & discussion energies in threads like these. Deuces:boom:
Click to expand...

You just did what you called ignorant. You used your local circumstance to describe the job market. The fact of the matter is that the circumstances I described are/will be occurring at the national level. Did you not read any of the articles provided in this thread or did you just read my post and jump to the last page and post something? Do some research. http://www.ashp.org/import/news/pressreleases/pressrelease.aspx?id=614. And what logic are you going off of that just being a pharmacist and wanting a job grants you one? And how is it that because I need a job I will get one? Tell that to the class ahead of me where jobs are scarce. And you added to this thread, apparently wasting your own time and energy. You have dazzled me...

I hadn't looked at this thread in a while, but wow, with these type of posts popping up how am I supposed to resist replying?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
fauxden said:
You just did what you called ignorant. You used your local circumstance to describe the job market. The fact of the matter is that the circumstances I described are/will be occurring at the national level. Did you not read any of the articles provided in this thread or did you just read my post and jump to the last page and post something? Do some research. http://www.ashp.org/import/news/pressreleases/pressrelease.aspx?id=614. And what logic are you going off of that just being a pharmacist and wanting a job grants you one? And how is it that because I need a job I will get one? Tell that to the class ahead of me where jobs are scarce. And you added to this thread, apparently wasting your own time and energy. You have dazzled me...

I hadn't looked at this thread in a while, but wow, with these type of posts popping up how am I supposed to resist replying?
Click to expand...

How many in the class ahead of yours could not find a job? How hard did they try to look for a job? Did they refuse to relocate? Did they refuse to work in small towns?
 
fauxden said:
The fact of the matter is that the circumstances I described are/will be occurring at the national level. Did you not read any of the articles provided in this thread or did you just read my post and jump to the last page and post something? Do some research. http://www.ashp.org/import/news/pressreleases/pressrelease.aspx?id=614.
Click to expand...

What makes your original post extremely suspect is the fact that you tell others to quit while you yourself are not. If you're hoping to make people believe you, You should have at least lied and told everyone that you yourself were quitting too. Otherwise, your motives for saying what you said are obviously questionable at best.

I know a decent number of Pharmacists (including some pharm managers & some fresh out of school) around here and I can say that some things (around here) have indeed tightened up a bit (especially for tech hours I hear) but I have never heard of any Pharmacist around here not being able to work or being in danger of losing a job and that's with the absolute latest info I know from these people. Again that's around here though. So relatively speaking, I (personally based on local aspects) would say that while folks do notice some effects of the recession, the pharmacy field (compared to many other professions) still seems to be doing ok (again around here).

I'm sure the link you posted has a certain amount of truth to it but those organizations represent current Pharmacists so I think there is a certain point of view to be expected there. As we know from politics, a person's view on almost any subject can be swayed by where they stand in relation to the subject (especially monetarily). The feeling of wanting to "close the door behind me" is on the rise for a lot of these types of professions (it's rampant in Optometry as well for example). The deep recession seems to have really heightened those feelings in some of these professionals. I can't say that the warnings of over saturation are over rated though because there does seem to be rapid growth in the number of schools popping up. There probably is some truth to this at some level. Also, it's totally natural for those who have "made it" to want to guarantee that their profession remains as recession proof and secure as it can possibly be and one way to do that is to simply throttle the supply coming in behind you. It could actually be necessary to do so or it could just be reactionary fear at actually feeling a bit of the bad economy (that everyone else has long since been drowning in) trickling into their lives. I can't say for sure so I just say more power to them in their efforts. Why not try to make your profession more secure if you have the organizational means to do so? However, trying to control school expansionism and trying to simply intimidate or scare off prospective students are two different things. The latter seems a little desperate and unethical which is the sense that your original post gives.

I can say that almost everyone is feeling the effects of the recession in some way so I'm not exactly sure what you're telling these other students to do other than just imploring them to quit Pharmacy. If you truly were just trying to be helpful then perhaps you should at least give your opinion on what you think they should do as an alternative. That might at least add a bit of legitimacy to your original post. Let them know what profession you think is far better and is 100% recession proof while also having 0% chance of having any competition to worry about? Which business could they open or work for that would be completely independent of any economy anywhere or any consumers at any level? Then you would also have to explain the reason why you haven't taken that course of action yourself and why you've chosen instead to be the lone martyr and stay the course in an apparently doomed profession.

So the point is that there could indeed be an oversupply problem but you also have to show proof that the demand will not keep up and the proof has to be measurable outside of this recession to show proof of a permanent problem. So really if you believe that it's going to get worse then nobody can tell you different and that's fine if you want to feel that way because it "might" be true. However, maybe you should refrain from telling other people that they need to quit and just worry about your own decisions. I seriously can't imagine anyone smart enough to attempt to apply to these schools being silly enough to make a life long decision based off of biased internet sources anyway so really it's not worth wasting your time. Just concentrate on your own studies and try to affect the welfare of your chosen profession ethically through its official organizations.
 
netmag said:
What makes your original post extremely suspect is the fact that you tell others to quit while you yourself are not. If you're hoping to make people believe you, You should have at least lied and told everyone that you yourself were quitting too. Otherwise, your motives for saying what you said are obviously questionable at best.

I know a decent number of Pharmacists (including some pharm managers & some fresh out of school) around here and I can say that some things (around here) have indeed tightened up a bit (especially for tech hours I hear) but I have never heard of any Pharmacist around here not being able to work or being in danger of losing a job and that's with the absolute latest info I know from these people. Again that's around here though. So relatively speaking, I (personally based on local aspects) would say that while folks do notice some effects of the recession, the pharmacy field (compared to many other professions) still seems to be doing ok (again around here).

I'm sure the link you posted has a certain amount of truth to it but those organizations represent current Pharmacists so I think there is a certain point of view to be expected there. As we know from politics, a person's view on almost any subject can be swayed by where they stand in relation to the subject (especially monetarily). The feeling of wanting to "close the door behind me" is on the rise for a lot of these types of professions (it's rampant in Optometry as well for example). The deep recession seems to have really heightened those feelings in some of these professionals. I can't say that the warnings of over saturation are over rated though because there does seem to be rapid growth in the number of schools popping up. There probably is some truth to this at some level. Also, it's totally natural for those who have "made it" to want to guarantee that their profession remains as recession proof and secure as it can possibly be and one way to do that is to simply throttle the supply coming in behind you. It could actually be necessary to do so or it could just be reactionary fear at actually feeling a bit of the bad economy (that everyone else has long since been drowning in) trickling into their lives. I can't say for sure so I just say more power to them in their efforts. Why not try to make your profession more secure if you have the organizational means to do so? However, trying to control school expansionism and trying to simply intimidate or scare off prospective students are two different things. The latter seems a little desperate and unethical which is the sense that your original post gives.

I can say that almost everyone is feeling the effects of the recession in some way so I'm not exactly sure what you're telling these other students to do other than just imploring them to quit Pharmacy. If you truly were just trying to be helpful then perhaps you should at least give your opinion on what you think they should do as an alternative. That might at least add a bit of legitimacy to your original post. Let them know what profession you think is far better and is 100% recession proof while also having 0% chance of having any competition to worry about? Which business could they open or work for that would be completely independent of any economy anywhere or any consumers at any level? Then you would also have to explain the reason why you haven't taken that course of action yourself and why you've chosen instead to be the lone martyr and stay the course in an apparently doomed profession.

So the point is that there could indeed be an oversupply problem but you also have to show proof that the demand will not keep up and the proof has to be measurable outside of this recession to show proof of a permanent problem. So really if you believe that it's going to get worse then nobody can tell you different and that's fine if you want to feel that way because it "might" be true. However, maybe you should refrain from telling other people that they need to quit and just worry about your own decisions. I seriously can't imagine anyone smart enough to attempt to apply to these schools being silly enough to make a life long decision based off of biased internet sources anyway so really it's not worth wasting your time. Just concentrate on your own studies and try to affect the welfare of your chosen profession ethically through its official organizations.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
 
Saturation of pharmacist definitely a big problem that we have to face in the future, but if you look at other fields such as Lawyer, dentist and etc.. are also facing the same problem as us. If I really can't find a job in retail chain stores, I guess I will try to find one in a private pharmacy in Chinatown. If I can't find one there I guess I will open a pharmacy with my friends... This is my plan...
 
fauxden said:
You should stop pursuing a career in pharmacy. The field is completely saturated. I'm a p2 right now. My buddies ahead of me that are p3 and p4s have no job opportunities. If you don't think I'm telling the truth do your research. The old numbers of pharmacists always being in demand are no longer accurate. Pharmacy is the next physical therapy. They were making 70 out of school, they built tons of schools, flooded the market, and now they make in the 40's. Think about this and don't just think ' oh it will work out'...really consider what you are doing. I'm saying this to protect the rest of you from heading into pointless debt and a waste of education/time. We had a pharmacy job fair this year and we had students that had ALREADY graduated coming back to try and find jobs. We are screwed. Don't let the schools fill you full of BS saying that the baby boomer will all retire and this and that. The field is saturated. Get over it. The ship has sailed. We are too late. Don't let people fill your minds with gum drops and bonuses. Those days are long gone.
Click to expand...


Oh please no! I haven't even got a chance to become a Pharmacist!
 
netmag, you're officially my no.5 hero. Sorry, numbers 1 - 4 are already occupied.:laugh:

You hammered the point I was trying to make above. Good Job:thumbup:

And as for fauxden, based on your replies & lines of thought so far, the simplest form of judgment predicts a 90% probability of you ending up a miserable pharmacist. And that doesn't mean the remaining 10% have completely been allocated on the opposite side.
Of course, no absolute form of offense intended.


Then for every one aspiring to be a pharmacist, do not let the fauxden's messages discourage you from pursuing a career as a pharmacist. You'd be a very big fool to let that happen to you. If there is anything that will tell you pharmacy isn't for you, let it be something you definitely found out on your own, OFFLINE & FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE.

I rest my case.
 
I totally agree with everything Johnny Romanes is saying. I am highly motivated and an overachiever and if you stay on top of your game, you will succeed.... don't listen to these paranoid slackers... if your dream is to be a Pharmacist... then be one!
P.S. pessimistic people get on my nerves and do not belong in Pharmacy
 
I suppose I should reply to everyone here:

from crazybob:
How many in the class ahead of yours could not find a job? How hard did they try to look for a job? Did they refuse to relocate? Did they refuse to work in small towns?
Click to expand...
Well- my class does rotations at 4 different locations. One of which is where my school is located. Of the 30 or less (out of 50 or so) doing their roation here I would say less than 1/4 have any options yet. Also- we had our annual job fair in Sept. and there were GRADUATED students who came back looking for jobs. By the way, at the job fair between me and my 4 friends we talked to EVERY recruiter (kmart, shopko, bi-low, fred myer, small grocery stores, walmart, 2 hospitals, and a few other employers) and not a single one had positions open. As far as how hard did they look for a job- I have no idea. I'm not them. But as far as small towns- thats the only places around me. I live in a very rural area. There is no large towns. And I WANT to move to a small town.

To netmag:
My end game.... Im already half way through school- I'm not going to waste the money that I put into it and drop out. When I graduate I WILL locate any place to find a job. But, I basically am planning on heading over to PA school. I posted this because no one coming into school is aware of the situation and everyone is so naive. If you read through this post most of the people who agree with me are actually in pharm school. Something to think about. I agree, people should not make a life changing decision based on my ramblings, but they should do some serious research and investigate before believing everything that they have previously heard about pharmacy. As far as local circumstances- thats good if your area is not that bad. I'm talking about a national level in which pharmacy demand is diminishing. There is no way the demand can keep up. We have doubled production of pharmacists over the past 20 years, from about 7k to 14k. And this is not accounting for the increasing number of schools opening (about 21 planned right now). Make your own decisions, obviously. I am just pointing out that the road is not as golden as it once was. I could care less if anyone dropped from pharmacy because of my post. I am not naive. The number of people that would drop or whatever would be a drop in the bucket. The ripples would not hit me. I am merely pointing out that pharmacy is not what it once was.

Electrode:
ummm....Netmag did not hammer your point. You had no point. You were making illogical arguments, the very thing you were making posts against. I will be unhappy? Okay?... because I'm trying to call something that I see on the horizon of the profession? Yeah...there you go again, just making rational point after rational point.
You rest your case? What are you taking about? What case? Your posts are great :rolleyes:

futureopt31:
If I hear one more person say they are going to work hard and get a job I am going to wet my pants from laughing. YOU ARE NOT EVEN IN PHARM SCHOOL YET- you have no idea what it's even like. Its the great equalizer. Its a meat grinder. What are you going to do to set yourself apart? Be specific. Do you think just having a good GPA is going to guarantee you a spot? Please wake up from your dream. There is more to life then grades. As far as evidence of my exaggeration? I counted 40 schools opening according to my initial resource. Turns out there was 21. Read my post. I fully acknowledged that- you don't think 21 schools opening up might damage the field? Get real. I'm not pessimistic. I'm realistic. Pessimistic people don't belong in pharmacy? Please join the real world and work at a pharmacy. People of all types work there.


Well... cool. I love arguing on the internet...haha. Great use of time.:rolleyes:
Now all you pre pharms get back to reading up on what you need to do to get accepted...
 
Last edited:
Fauxden has just prescribed the correct. There are some embarrassingly naive prepharm posts in here.
 
fauxden said:
from crazybob: Well- my class does rotations at 4 different locations. One of which is where my school is located. Of the 30 or less (out of 50 or so) doing their roation here I would say less than 1/4 have any options yet. Also- we had our annual job fair in Sept. and there were GRADUATED students who came back looking for jobs. By the way, at the job fair between me and my 4 friends we talked to EVERY recruiter (kmart, shopko, bi-low, fred myer, small grocery stores, walmart, 2 hospitals, and a few other employers) and not a single one had positions open. As far as how hard did they look for a job- I have no idea. I'm not them. But as far as small towns- thats the only places around me. I live in a very rural area. There is no large towns. And I WANT to move to a small town.
Click to expand...

Did anyone at your school check with independent pharmacies? Nuclear pharmacies? Residency programs?
 
NakMuay said:
Fauxden has just prescribed the correct. There are some embarrassingly naive prepharm posts in here.
Click to expand...
Passion4Sci said:
I'm still trying to figure out if that was written by you or if you put that through some kind of online translator, since it made no sense.
Click to expand...

Even though he said it a little choppy, I believe it was a pharmy play on words. I prescribed the correct, meaning that I am right. The prepharms are naive.

crazybob said:
Did anyone at your school check with independent pharmacies? Nuclear pharmacies? Residency programs?
Click to expand...

Well I think there are about 3 ind. pharmacies where I live... the one I work as an intern at has 4 pharmacists. 2 full time (one being the owner) and two part time. They need no one. The other I'm pretty sure has no spots. A third is owned and operated by just one guy. The nuke in our area is full, as far as I know, and our school offers a few residency options. I really don't know too much about students being interested in the residencies we have to offer. And trust me- people are RUNNING to independent pharmacies for work. I think these days people will do anything to avoid working for a chain like walmart/walgreens where they work you like you are a worthless dog (which is almost true since they now realize that a surplus exists and you can easily be replaced).
 
Sorry in advance if this is an ignorant question...I am a high school senior deciding between pharmacy school and chemical&biomolecular engineering. Of course I am worried about pharmacy job prospects since if I enroll in a 0-6 program I will graduate in 2017, and many people are already struggling with finding a job in pharmacy. However, I noticed most of the concerns about job saturation are related to retail and hospital pharmacy. Are jobs in long term care, nuclear pharmacy, and pharmaceutical research also saturated?
 
fauxden said:
Electrode:
ummm....Netmag did not hammer your point. You had no point. You were making illogical arguments, the very thing you were making posts against.
Click to expand...
fauxden said:
Even though he said it a little choppy, I believe it was a pharmy play on words. I prescribed the correct, meaning that I am right. The prepharms are naive.
Click to expand...
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Passion4Sci said:
"I prescribed the correct" is a nonsensical statement.
Click to expand...
:idea:
It's high time you stopped wasting your intelligence on this thread.
 
Electrode said:
:lol: :lol: :lol:


:idea:
It's high time you stopped wasting your intelligence on this thread.
Click to expand...


Whoa... you are sooo witty. Zinging me for a comment someone else made that I was attempting to interpret. Please respond again.... it's ridiculously entertaining.
 
he said, "...prescribed the correct..."

Well let me start off by saying that I didn't write it. Not sure 100% on what he was going for. But, let me just go hog wild and try it out in a sentence... "The doctor prescribed the correct medicine"....hmmm yeah- thats pretty nonsensical.:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
fauxden said:
he said, "...prescribed the correct..."

Well let me start off by saying that I didn't write it. Not sure 100% on what he was going for. But, let me just go hog wild and try it out in a sentence... "The doctored prescribed the correct medicine"....hmmm yeah- thats pretty nonsensical.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...


And if that is what he had said there wouldn't be an issue. The way it was used was nonsensical. I mean I bet you can make almost any pharse sound reasonable if you just take three words out of it and use those three words correctly. :laugh:
 
So I just found this site and post and think I have decent insight and perspective. My brother graduated with his PharmD in 2009 and was offered 40k as a sign on (and the sign on bonus locked him in for 4 years). One year later they told everyone the contract had been fulfilled and anyone could leave as they had too many pharmacists. Until someone left everyone was cut to 32 hours. Luckily for him he found a job with some friends he knew that own an independent and he got to keep the 40k and landed a better job. He told me over Christmas break that he knows five pharmacist that could not find a job in the local area (population of the city is 150k). Two of them relocated with jobs while the other three are still looking. I think the point is that if the demand dropped from huge sign-on bonuses to few openings here-and-there in just a few (2-3) years due to increases in graduates, then that trend will continue. So if we've gone from demand>supply to demand=supply in a few short years then what is the next step. It looks like supply will go past demand, and way past it if this trend of graduates continues. I know the economy plays a very real role in the situation but if the current trend continues even a surging economy won't bring demand high enough to equal supply. This means fewer opportunities and lower pay, I think that was the purpose of the original post.
It is just like what happened in the housing market, builders built, and built a ton as it was very profitable. Now there is an over saturation of houses and therefore prices went down, way down. Now people are building these new PharmD schools because the kids will pay the tuition and they are making bank, well soon they will have their millions and all of us pharmacists will compete for the few jobs available. And when I say compete I mean we will offer our services for less and less money until we get the job. 90k, 80k, 60k a year, who knows what the number will be? By the way I am a P3, I majored in econ and got my minor in chemistry. And for those of you who think GPA justifies someones existence I got a 3.85 (3.8 in the sciences as well as the only one out of 65 students to get an A in my o-chem 1st semester) in undergrad and currently have a 3.3 in my PharmD curriculum. I think that is as good or better than most people posting.
Point is job outlook does not look good and I wish someone would have told me before I entered the field. If you want to do pharmacy then do it, but at worst you should thank Faux for posting, do your research on a national level, and make an educated decision as to whether or not you still want to enter the field.
 
To the original poster,

You are selfish and ignorant of what becoming a pharmacist is truly about. All you talk about is the "cut in pay" that pharmacists have received over the years. If you're in pharmacy for the money, or any field for that matter, you are in the WRONG field. Oversaturated? Not quite. Just like any other field, networking as you make your way through school has become just as important as Business, Education, or Engineering. Knowing people is one of the primary ways to get good jobs these days.

About the "70s to 40s pay cut". You realize everyone starts from the bottom, right? Everyone has to work up to making the amount of money that a good pharmacist makes, and that requires hard work, dedication, and a POSITIVE attitude. Not this pessimistic, "I'm p2 there's no jobs I'm not going to make enough money wah!!" attitude. Dude, you should be in this field to help people and solve complex problems. Get a better attitude, and work your way to the top. And if you can, NETWORK! I am not even in pharmacy school yet and I know a plethora of pharmacists in both retail and clinical pharmacy. I already work as a pharmacy technician and I will be able to receive a job offer right after graduation.

Lastly, if you're worried about money, don't be. Get a job where you are happy and you love what you do. Every job brings in a decent income, it's what you decide to do outside of your job where people make the most money. Invest in stocks or property and make an awesome amount of money. Set aside a certain percentage from your income and keep investing in stocks. Once you build up enough money, which you will if you keep with it, you can move up to investing in "rich people stocks" which are literally illegal for "poor people" to invest in. Then you start making hundreds of thousands of dollars EVERY YEAR and you can move on to investments such as hedge funds.

Also, I question the validity of your "70s to 40s" statement. I know pharmacists just out of pharmacy school in their residencies making more than 40. You sir, should research your facts and take some Xanax.

-Professor X
 
metrarx said:
Reading comprehension failure
Click to expand...

False. That is exactly what he said. If you really want to get that technical it's a reduced salary. Probably the least important line of what I said though.
 
I'm curious as to why TS is still(?) pursuing pharmacy when he is blatantly telling other people to get out. Sounds hypocritical to me.
 
Just for the money* my apologies. Money is a perk no denying that!
 
Money isn't EVERYTHING. But when you don't have money, you won't have ANYTHING.
 
lisinopril said:
Money isn't EVERYTHING. But when you don't have money, you won't have ANYTHING.
Click to expand...

Quoted for the truth. Some thoughts about the financial aspect of working:

I never thought the whole idea of doing what you like and/or helping people justifies a lower salary. Or the whole argument of "you make enough bank as a pharmacist so you can afford to take a 10% paycut because other people are making $40,000 a year etc."

I highly doubt people would go into medical/dental/law school if they were going to make $50,000 a year after school. You can see the theory in practice with all the people running away from law because of how poorly the field is doing lately. Let's not be facetious and go around claiming the sole motivation of choosing a career rests on benevolence and interest... it's not genuine and gives fuel to the people who want to lower our worth/salary.

We should stop paying actors and entertainers (sports etc.) millions of dollars before we start endorsing suppressing the middle class.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

Whysoez
PCAT is done for...
Replies
10
Views
4K
MatchaCookie
M
S
Doing PharmD if you have already done with Ph.D in Zoology.
Replies
7
Views
1K
zona2016
Z
Mr.Smile12
What if you got a tuition-free P1 year?
Replies
6
Views
2K
storyhill2
storyhill2
imdrowningbutcometoclass
I graduated from UHCOP last year. Avoid this school if you want to be successful in your career, and if you want to live.
Replies
14
Views
3K
APN-59 rph
A
P
Is it a bad sign if you did not receive a decision yet for your early decision interview?
Replies
11
Views
2K
lalaland33
L
Top