Pharmacy Job Market/Outlook

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Their mission statement says the same crap as every other school. And if there's so many schools in California then why do Cali students invade the east coast.
Members don't see this ad.
 
msweph said:
I started at 42 an hour in a metro area 5 years ago... With shift differential I made significantly more but that offer is nothing new.

Not sure if your area, but ours also wasn't starting new grads at 60/hr
Click to expand...


I started at around $50 at a safety net hospital in the city proper, with shift differential pushing it up. At the time I started, the system I currently work for, which is outside the city but not by much, was offering $60 an hour. There is always going to be variability in the salary offers by location, that isn't new. What I was trying to highlight is the fairly large drop in pay rate over that time period. Contracting salaries is a sign that the so far location dependent surplus is having an effect.
 
In 2009 the hospital positions I was finding for new grads were only offering $44-46/hr. I am in the Miami area and I don't feel like much has changed. I do hear my director commenting that she gets around 30 applications for each position. However, 75% of those applicants aren't qualified and are never called for an interview. the job crunch is real but i think it's creating a competitive environment that will ultimately help the profession.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
CYP3A4 said:
In 2009 the hospital positions I was finding for new grads were only offering $44-46/hr. I am in the Miami area and I don't feel like much has changed. I do hear my director commenting that she gets around 30 applications for each position. However, 75% of those applicants aren't qualified and are never called for an interview. the job crunch is real but i think it's creating a competitive environment that will ultimately help the profession.
Click to expand...

How will it help the profession exactly?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
trailerpark said:
Their mission statement says the same crap as every other school. And if there's so many schools in California then why do Cali students invade the east coast.
Click to expand...

A student from Cali who went to a school in New England told me it was because she couldn't get into a school in Cali. Mind you this was several years back. If she had the options of going to garbage Cali schools now, I'm sure she would've.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
trailerpark said:
Their mission statement says the same crap as every other school. And if there's so many schools in California then why do Cali students invade the east coast.
Click to expand...
If you've ever been to the West Coast you would know why students from California go to East Coast schools. The demographics change from east to west. The west is more populated by Asians due to its proximity to Asia. If you go even further west to Hawaii you might think you were in Asia (second language there is Japanese) Education is very important in this culture and competition is fierce. There was a Time magazine article a couple years back written about how stiff the competition is there to get into medschools.

This topic reminds me of the Power 96 morning radio show in Miami called "black, white, Hispanic or Other" in which the audience is given a crime scenario and must guess the ethnicity of the thief. In this particular feature a thief broke into a house, stole jewelry but left the books and study materials that he was using at the time of the robbery. Black, white, Hispanic or Other?

The thief was Other (Asian)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Asians study when they commit crimes!?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Hi,

I passed my Naplex.
What state currently has the most jobs? I am willing to relocate anywhere as long as its safe.

I want retail or hospital staff. >100K as I have massive loans.

Thanks
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
stoichiometrist said:
1) The denier: refuses to acknowledge the saturation of the job market even when presented with information

2) The hothead: gets angry when questioned about their decisions (i.e. for taking out too much loans, going into pharmacy for the wrong reasons, etc.) or hearing what they do not want to hear.

3) The rationalist/bargainer: acknowledges increased competition in the field but rationalizes decision to go to pharmacy school based on signs of hope (niche jobs, Obamacare, baby boomers retiring, etc.) that may be faulty

4) The attached: chooses pharmacy not because of genuine interest but out of refusal to consider other professions. Sticks to pharmacy due to fear of the unknown. May suffer from the sunk cost fallacy from completing prerequisites, taking the PCAT, obtaining letters of recommendation, etc. May be considered a form of Stockholm Syndrome.

5) The hotshot: recognizes the saturation but believes they are immune because they will beat out the competition by getting A’s, working 30+ hours a week, networking, etc.

6) The realist: one who understands the full situation of the profession but still has a genuine passion for it. Usually has at least a few years of pharmacy or similar experience. Flexible with geographical location and work environment, including in chain retail and/or in the middle of nowhere.

Anything else that I missed?
Click to expand...

Gombrich12 said:
7) The desperate: usually has a chemistry or biology degree and has been out of a school a few years working a dead end job. Realizes they aren't getting any younger and they aren't ready to give up on their dreams of an upper middle class income. Alternatively they can be a tech who has been working in pharmacy for a long time and due to easier admission standards they can now wear the white coat.
Click to expand...

PharmDCandidate2014 said:
8) The boat jumper: leapers from the Titanic hours before the inevitable crash with the iceberg. Dependent on the point of view: person may be labeled as a coward, a brave soul or a level-headed being. Come along in different forms: pre-pharm, P1/2. P3s and P4s not recommended to consider this move due to the given investment in resources and should efficiently play their given hand.
Click to expand...

BMBiology said:
9) the 2.6er: he screwed up as an undergrad. He didn't know what he is going to do with his life until he read an article on Yahoo telling him pharmacy is a good field. Suddenly he had found his passion in life and he tells people he had always wanted to become a pharmacist after watching a pharmacist shake his amoxicillin suspension as a child. With his transcript and 2.6 GPA he applied to multiple schools. The majority rejected him but a few new schools accepted him. He realized it is going to cost him 300 k but he doesn't care because he will be making "bank" as a pharmacist (per Yahoo article). He figures he just has to work hard but since he didn't have a good foundation during undergrad, he struggled and didn't have the time to work as an intern and to network. He graduated from pharmacy school and since he doesn't have much work experience, no one would hire him. He then realized he is back to where he started 4 years ago but the difference is that he has a 300 k student loan.
Click to expand...

10. The uninformed: People who do not perform research on the pharmacist job market at all even though they have access to an Internet connection.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Says who student. (sticks tongue out)

QUOTE="RxStudentatUB, post: 16991118, member: 642924"]Beggars can't be choosers![/QUOTE]
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
the profession wasnt that bad but things went down as soon as women started flooding it

coincidence? i dont think so
 
radio frequency said:
You prefer hanging out with dudes all day?
Click to expand...


No

Usually one pharmacist at a time where I'm at, and that would be me

Idc about the gender of the techs

But I sound like a republican .... Foreigners and women taking our jobs lol
 
Last edited:
nycrxdream said:
It was really hard to get a job this year. Especially when you have no offers like me, found one finally.
Click to expand...
Nice! Where did you find a job? I had no offers as well and having a very difficult time as well
 
12,000 Jobs available in the whole U.S compared to something like Computer Science 180,000 Jobs available imagine if I continued to go to pharmacy school how many jobs will be available in four years?? Also, be on the lookout for 60k pharmacist salary, huge surplus of pharmacist!!!

I have a 81 Pcat 98 chem 95 bio 92 math and 3.5 gpa and switching careers just something to think about it was never in my personal interest anyways and I doubt its any of yours!
 
ALE~X~PRESS said:
12,000 Jobs available in the whole U.S compared to something like Computer Science 180,000 Jobs available imagine if I continued to go to pharmacy school how many jobs will be available in four years?? Also, be on the lookout for 60k pharmacist salary, huge surplus of pharmacist!!!

I have a 81 Pcat 98 chem 95 bio 92 math and 3.5 gpa and switching careers just something to think about it was never in my personal interest anyways and I doubt its any of yours!
Click to expand...

also denied admission. enough trolling
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I live in a large southern city that has two pharmacy schools. I don't know of anyone that has had trouble landing a job by the time they graduated. I work in a 400 bed hospital that is expanding to 600 over the next few years and they have mostly hired former interns (no residency).
 
NickW9682 said:
I live in a large southern city that has two pharmacy schools. I don't know of anyone that has had trouble landing a job by the time they graduated. I work in a 400 bed hospital that is expanding to 600 over the next few years and they have mostly hired former interns (no residency).
Click to expand...

large southern city eh? that doesn't count
 
Digsbe said:
$42 an hour maybe as a graduate intern, but no way can that be licensed pharmacist pay. If it is, someone is stupid to accept that kind of offer.
Click to expand...
I can confirm this is possible. I made $45 an hour at my first pharmacist job. I quit after two weeks for more money.
 
I started at $44/hr, initial offer was actually $42. One of my colleagues confirmed the exact same offer, and we both started within a few months of each other. During one of my evaluations, I saw that the lowest paid "clinical pharmacist" was making $39/hr. Scary stuff.

Funny thing is I recently learned that some of our new hires are now making exactly what I am making, with me having been here since 2013. Who knows, maybe it fluctuates.
 
Everyone has their own reasons for applying to certain programs. I come from a generation of chemists, and frankly, want to do this. I'm also published in pharmaceutical research and am ready to leave.

For reasons I mentioned earlier I do believe that it's not as bad as SDN suggests, and whilst there are schools popping up, many of these are satellites of larger institutions, and perhaps numbers in certain cases can be adjusted if needed in the future. As long as these schools don't water down the prerequisites for entry, meaning, they all of a sudden dont' require physics and/or calculus-ochem, I don't think the future is as hopeless as some may suggest.

Just my recommendation after spending years in the lab: To be more efficient, I think taking 2.5-5mg anavar per day and cycling on and off this will enhance productivity and allow one to ease and "glide" through the lab with greater efficiency. Coupled with a reasonable liver detox system for males, it will make your shift go by much quicker and will allow sustainability. No estrogen blockers needed, and, if your diet is solid, then your body fat composition will be minimal, and enduring long hours on your feet will seem like a cakewalk. If you are concerned with oral steroids, you can always down the pills with peppermint oil. Don't knock it till you try it, and of course find a good physician to consult.

 
Last edited:
anavar--I had to look this one up, I had never heard of this before, or actually seen it in a pharmacy. Are you in the US?

At any rate, I think encouraging people to take a CIII drug to "enhance productivity" is probably against TOS.
 
BidingMyTime said:
anavar--I had to look this one up, I had never heard of this before, or actually seen it in a pharmacy. Are you in the US?

At any rate, I think encouraging people to take a CIII drug to "enhance productivity" is probably against TOS.
Click to expand...

The formal name is Oxandrolone. If you feel like my comments have crossed some imaginary ethical line drawn by SDN's rules and regulations, I would encourage you to examine the absolute hateful language used by previous posters in regards to the pharmacy profession, a lot of it not having solid evidence. I almost want to call it "student doctor negativity". Don't get me wrong, there are many valid claims and points. But I have seem people here on a "mission" to really bash the pharmacy profession, and at the core this really does nothing to encourage current students who have committed to the profession. A lot of them, because of this site, may get the absolute wrong mentality and impression, especially those who are experiencing a stressful time in their lives.

My advice is just based on my experience, and I did mention to consult a physician (meaning get them to write an Rx), especially if you're an older pharmacist. Linda Hamilton in Terminator II achieved her figure, probably based on this drug. Hell, there are probably many MD's, PA's or NP's in your city who would prescribe this drug to you. Just tell them honestly, look my job is a little too physically demanding for me and they are working me like a dog, and perhaps this may help during certain bouts of the year. You can purchase this legally in Mexico. I'm still optomistic about Rx. In my current state there are more med schools than Rx schools, and they are building more DO programs. On a PDF match list recently released by one of these medical schools there were 75 people matched into some primary care. Add this to the pool of nurse practitioners, PA's, and DO's, then you can see how I find it hard to support the ongoing bash of pharmacy.

I would welcome SDN to delete my profile. That would be fine by me if they feel that I've made an error in ethics. That would indicate to me, then , that this site if even more full of **** than I would have suspected. Thank you for your correspondence.
 
Last edited:
I have significant concerns about my ability to repay my pharmD debt. I will be graduating in May 2019 with a debt of $185,000 USD. Assuming I am able to find a retail pharmacy job (projected 20% pharmacist unemployment in 2020 [REF: Between 2012 and 2025:The pharmacist supply is projected to grow by 35 percent. The demand for pharmacists is projected to grow by 16 percent.]so i still think i have good odds at getting a job) in the highest paying part of NYC (probably a poverty stricken part of the Bronx that gets robbed often) at 110k a year (after taxes roughly 72k a year) after food/living expenses 35k a year towards the debt. 185k will balloon to roughly 220k in three years so
220k/35k = It should take me six years to repay the loan assuming steady work.

Are my calculations accurate and realistic?
 
Last edited:
Humble Sloth said:
I have significant concerns about my ability to repay my pharmD debt. I will be graduating in May 2019 with a debt of $185,000 USD. Assuming I am able to find a retail pharmacy job (projected 20% pharmacist unemployment in 2020 [REF: Between 2012 and 2025:The pharmacist supply is projected to grow by 35 percent. The demand for pharmacists is projected to grow by 16 percent.]so i still think i have good odds at getting a job) in the highest paying part of NYC (probably a poverty stricken part of the Bronx that gets robbed often) at 110k a year (after taxes roughly 72k a year) after food/living expenses 35k a year towards the debt. 185k will balloon to roughly 220k in three years so
220k/35k = It should take me six years to repay the loan assuming steady work.

Are my calculations accurate and realistic?
Click to expand...

You will not be able to pay off your $220k loans in 6 years. You will need to pay around $45k/year toward your loans if you want to pay them off within 6 years.
 
stoichiometrist said:
You will not be able to pay off your $220k loans in 6 years. You will need to pay around $45k/year toward your loans if you want to pay them off within 6 years.
Click to expand...

This is because of the accrued interest over those years as one is paying off the debt?
 
Compound interest is a bi*ch with 6.8% federal and 7.9% for grad plus for 100k+ loans.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
trailerpark said:
Compound interest is a bi*ch with 6.8% federal and 7.9% for grad plus for 100k+ loans.
Click to expand...
and it's going to get a lot worse because the FED just started raising interests rates? when the prime rate goes up all the other loan interest rates will rise proportionately?
 
honestly, find a healthy hobby to avoid the happy happy joy joy massage parlor. You will save immense money in this regard, and your calculations of repaying yoru debt will be more realistic. Also, you don't need car insurance. Just my 2 cents.
 
LabrattoRx said:
honestly, find a healthy hobby to avoid the happy happy joy joy massage parlor. You will save immense money in this regard, and your calculations of repaying yoru debt will be more realistic. Also, you don't need car insurance. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

I had a completely unavoidable collision with a fawn that cost slightly more than $2,000 so not having car insurance is terrible advice.
 
Humble Sloth said:
and it's going to get a lot worse because the FED just started raising interests rates? when the prime rate goes up all the other loan interest rates will rise proportionately?
Click to expand...

Those are fixed at 6.8 and I believe grad plus is fixed at 7.9.
 
Humble Sloth said:
and it's going to get a lot worse because the FED just started raising interests rates? when the prime rate goes up all the other loan interest rates will rise proportionately?
Click to expand...

I remember having 8.5% on GradPLUS loans, I paid those things off immediately.
 
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacists.htm
Did anyone pay attention to the new BLS stats? Pharmacist job outlook from 2014 - 2024 is 3%!!! around 9000 jobs
Currently we're pumping out more grads than that each YEAR
Just a couple years ago it was 16%. What happened? Did they finally catch on?
Everyone better hold on to your job tight.
 
a student said:
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacists.htm
Did anyone pay attention to the new BLS stats? Pharmacist job outlook from 2014 - 2024 is 3%!!! around 9000 jobs
Currently we're pumping out more grads than that each YEAR
Just a couple years ago it was 16%. What happened? Did they finally catch on?
Everyone better hold on to your job tight.
Click to expand...


Someone mentioned a statistic about the current unemployment (it wasn't me) which seemed to balance things out now, or at least help.

If we were to take this particular report as gospel, then yes I'd say it's doom and gloom, but the BLS publishes every 2 years, and if we were to take the average of both surveys, it would still be higher than the average, which is 7%.

The truth of the matter, is until 2016, we will not accurately know what the future will hold.
 
The same trend will be seen in other facets of health care. The pharmacists are a little more volatile...yes, but as a whole the government wants to ensure that there are plenty of "warm bodies available" to help, instead of having a bunch of sick ill people, which, is a financial burden on society. Saturation of all health professions, is a premonition affecting all facets of health care.
 
LabrattoRx said:
The same trend will be seen in other facets of health care. The pharmacists are a little more volatile...yes, but as a whole the government wants to ensure that there are plenty of "warm bodies available" to help, instead of having a bunch of sick ill people, which, is a financial burden on society. Saturation of all health professions, is a premonition affecting all facets of health care.
Click to expand...

But PAs have a 30% growth?

LabrattoRx said:
Someone mentioned a statistic about the current unemployment (it wasn't me) which seemed to balance things out now, or at least help.

If we were to take this particular report as gospel, then yes I'd say it's doom and gloom, but the BLS publishes every 2 years, and if we were to take the average of both surveys, it would still be higher than the average, which is 7%.

The truth of the matter, is until 2016, we will not accurately know what the future will hold.
Click to expand...

Why should we average new stats with old stats?
 
According to BLS, there will be a huge decrease in retail jobs by 2024 due to mail order and online pharmacies. Does anyone know if this is reasonable?
 
By your logic, why we should average new stats, why should we then ignore the 2012, 2010, and 2008 stats? They exist for a reason, were formulated by the same methodology. A newer stat is more fresh yes, but previous stats, especially when they were consistent...do exist for a reason. And like I said, a national surplus will prompt action, and larger public institutions and their satellites will reduce numbers. I have no idea about these private new schools.

I have no idea why PA's have a higher growth rate, but based on their watered down prerequisites, this will fizzle, and keep in mind they need to compete with other primary health providers for the same job. If this report is true, most likely pharmacists will vigorously fight to get into the primary health capacity as well.

I don't buy into mail order or online too much, because I pharmacist is a valuable part of the health care team. If you want to get into deeper metrics, I will say that over 65% of pharmacists are women, pregnancy may affect their abilities to recover, and resume employment. Pharmacy is a physically demanding job at times, and I do believe that sadly, women asking for maternal leave may have harder times. But, consequently the pay is high.

The BLS has a 1800 number, why don't you call them tomorrow and let us all know what you find out. It will give you something productive to do.
 
You say you are a pharmacy student, can you tell me the nature by which chemokines recruit WBC's to site of infection? This is basic.
 
ding ding ding... times up.

on another note: Happy 2016 everyone!!!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

L
Pharmacy Job Market in the Midwest
Replies
20
Views
4K
randompharm
randompharm
P
Current job market
Replies
10
Views
3K
Flavia28
F
R
Texas pharmacy job market
Replies
5
Views
3K
iamapharmacist
I
BC_89
Veterans Affairs (GS-13) Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner Job Offer - Room to Negotiate?
Replies
2
Views
344
BC_89
BC_89
T
Desaturating the Pharmacist Job Market the Very Easy Way
Replies
22
Views
6K
Dred Pirate
Dred Pirate
Top