Think very wisely before joining pharmacy school

[Hello]

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but I really think that prospective pharmacy students should be well informed of the job prospects, or rather lack of, for pharmacy graduates.

Historically, back in the 90's there were about 12 schools of pharmacy in the UK. These, I must admit, could really be regarded as genuine seats of learning and provided a quality pharmacy education. The government at the time came along and said the Universities needed to be leaner and fitter and become more like businesses rather than seats of learning. Almost overnight Polytechnics and Techical Colleges were rebranded as "Universities" and a whole gamut of wierd and wonderful courses sprung up, students could now do Bachelors degrees in Hairdressing, Flower arranging and Gardening!!!!

The deans of the new Universities that had been rebranded looked at the stats and said, scratching their heads "Hmmmm, pharmacy is oversubscribed at most Universities, Ureeka!!!! lets open a Pharmacy school at our former technical college, rebranded as a Uni, and make lots of money".

This is what happened and in the past 10-15 years about 15 new pharmacy schools have sprung up in the UK with ever increasing class sizes. As I said, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but coupled with this is the influx of foreign graduates, the increasing use of Accredited Checking Technicians (ACT's) and the severe cutting of pharmacists hours has led to a perfect storm. I tell you now the pharmacist job market is saturated, I repeat [B]THE PHARMACIST JOB MARKET IS SATURATED!!!![B]

Please, please, please think long and hard about commiting to Pharmacy school, yes the Universities are churning out glossy brochures with tales of an ageing population, requiring more and more medicines and thus more pharmacists. Don't believe them, all they are interested in is your fees and making money.

If your parents own a pharmacy or string of, yes go ahead but if you dream of joining a large multiple I really feel the worst has yet to come with reduced salaries and conditions.

Get out now while you still can, spending all that time, money and effort at pharmacy school is not going to be an investment in your future, it is going to be a hinderance, it is a race to the bottom from all concerned. You now can't say you haven't been warned, I sincerely wish all of you luck whatever avenue you choose to follow.

[johnep]

Sums it all up succinctly. Similar story in America. You now face 40 years where pharmacy is just another graduate on the dole queue. Should you meet a girl/boy whose parents own pharmacies, marry them quick. Most parents will welcome another family pharmacist. Under this criteria, princess is very eligible.
johnep

[LeftArm]

You are confusing the current changes in pharmacy with what pharmacy may look like in 4 years time.
If you are thinking of doing pharmacy so that in 4 years you can come out of college and go and count tablets behind a shop counter with payment based on the amount of scripts you can process in a month then you may be disappointed.
If you want to come out of University and use your clinical knowledge to provide a wide range of health services with payment being based on a QOF or similar scheme then pharmacy is a good way of getting into medicine and actually having a positive affect on the health of the population and the quality and length of life of individuals.

[Hello]

LeftArm

Do you really think there are going to be jobs for the thousands of MPharm grads that pop out the end of the sausage factories every year?

People keep going on about these new found roles. yada yada yada but where are they? There are certainly none round my neck of the woods. Describing myself as middle-aged-ish plus VAT (late 40's) and having an elderly, widdowed mother living locally, I can't really see myself upping sticks and moving to the other end of the country and starting a new life there. I did all that when I was in my twenties. I have accepted tha fact that I am totally screwed. At the moment I am delivering chinese meals from the local takeaway on days I don't work. Show me a medicines management job in my area NOW and I'll snap their hands off but there will also be a queue of young, fresh grads going for it too and I think they are going to have the upper hand.

I still don't see enough QOF schemes being able to support the number of suasage factory grads that are being churned out.

JohnEP

I am all too aware of the situation in the States too, I am qualified with the FPGEE and also find it impossible to find anything there. I could have seen myself upping sticks to a FL beach for a job and taking the mother with us, but alas no jobs there either.

Now, who ordrered the chicken chow mein and prawn crackers?

[LeftArm]

Thousands of graduates come out of University having done all manner of courses. None of them guarantee a job and a salary at the end. Why do you think that pharmacy should be any different?
This topic has been done to death on many recent posts.
Cap on Pharmacy Schools

[culchie82]

Salaries will drop to such mediocre levels, that no one will consider the pressure and hassle involved to warrant the measly remuneration on offer. All these new Universities opening up and flooding the Market with new graduates have turned the "Profession" into a laughing stock. Employers now have access to a cheap and plentiful workforce, it's end game as the man says!

[culchie82]

Thousands of graduates come out of University having done all manner of courses. None of them guarantee a job and a salary at the end. Why do you think that pharmacy should be any different?
This topic has been done to death on many recent posts.
Cap on Pharmacy Schools

Come on now, many of the graduates you speak of come out of University with degrees in worthless Arts subjects and never had a hope of getting a decently paid job! Pharmacy, prior to all these Mickey Mouse Schools opening up, required entrance grades similar to all the other Professional courses eg Medicine, Optometry etc and therefore it was reasonable to expect a highly paid job at the end of it. Flooding the Market with weaker candidates is not the way to increase the profile of any Profession, do you see the same situation with Medicine?

[Gordon Mackenzie]

Remember that there are not just the UK schools of pharmacy, there are around 179 schools of pharmacy in the EEA and all these graduates can work in the UK. There certainly seems to be very little work anywhere in the UK and can pharmacists really be expected to spend a large part of their lives moving to the locations where there may be a temporary requirement only to purchase a property then find that the wages in that area have dropped and then have to sell up and move on again?

[johnep]

When I started locum work in the mid 80s, I also became a supply teacher and covered teacher absence etc. I did this on days when I was not working as a locum. At the time, supply teaching pay similar to locum work. At that time few home delivery restaurants.
johnep

[Hello]

JohnEp

I can assure you delivering Chinese meals does not pay nearly as much as the rates I formerly commanded as a Locum or I expect a supply teacher so I feel your comparison is bizarre to say the least :-O