Dentistry for pharmacists

[mr shush]

I am 27 now and by the time I am a qualified pharmacist I will be 33, so do not think it is to late if you want a change of job at this age.

Can you not do some more qualifications in Pharmacy or something which will get you more money, like the prescribing course? Or do you just not like being a pharmacist anymore ?

[newby82]

Pharmacy is a good career and my girlfriend is in her final year also studying pharmacy. It is a bit pathetic but I get jealous when I hear other friends of mine are earning more than me. I would like my own pharmacy ideally, but I have read the drug tariff and I am not clear where all the profits come from. Independant pharmacists dont like people to know how well they are doing. However I have met and worked for independant pharmacists and they have all done really well. I am a bit of an indecisive bloke

[pharmer7]

Yeah, but when you compare owning your own pharmacy, its probably better than a lot of other jobs. I don't know if its true, but I hear the average pharmacy will make £100,000+ profit a year.

[johnep]

Marry your girl friend would be good investment. Better still if she is an only child and her parents have a family pharmacy. Rules laid down by Jane Austen still apply.
johnep

[Sir_Dispensalot]

Yeah, but when you compare owning your own pharmacy, its probably better than a lot of other jobs. I don't know if its true, but I hear the average pharmacy will make £100,000+ profit a year.

erm. yes it might well make £100k gross profit. Then subtract everyone's wages, all your running costs and unless you're sharp you'll struggle! And remember at the moment it's extremely difficult for even well-established independents to obtain loans for new acquisitions - and these folk have provable track records of doing well! A bank may well not be keen to help fund a startup with little or no experience.

Lets take an example. Some wholesalers and some banks used to offer a loan scheme based on 10 year's net profits. Lets say (plucking it out of the air) that the shop you want makes 20k a year net profit. That would give you a loan value of 200k. Unfortunately this sum may not even manage to buy you a struggling business in the current climate.

As for opening a new contract, on a new site - as an educated guess this could cost you upwards of 100k by the time you factor in stock, fittings, recruitment etc. You would also have to justify a year or two of rubbish trade until you became established. An even more risky prospect for a bank. That is unless you're really really lucky and your best mate is a GP trying to open a new surgery next door!

[pharmer7]

You're trying to make out that you'll lose money from running a pharmacy. A lot of pharmacists with their own pharmacy, I know for a fact, are living comfortably. And after all the wages, running costs,etc they are making at least 60 - 70k for themselves. Of course, the first year or two is hard, but a lot of businesses are like that.

[hibernia]

Some pharmacists make good money, some dentists make good money, some footballers make great money. Some don't make such good money and some manage to lose money.
If you have talent in any field and are prepared to work hard at it you can make money.
In general the more interest you have the harder you work and the greater the rewards. But looking at the potential rewards first isn't the best way to decide what field to choose.

[Nik]

If you have talent in any field and are prepared to work hard at it you can make money.

Success only comes before work in a dictionary.

[Sinister]

Or even Ophthalmics.
Please post your findings here.
I've a feeling that lots of us are looking for alternative career paths.

Spoke to my accountant recently.. Apparently opticians are struggling (from what she sees on the accounts) at the moment due to the laser surgeries getting so popular. That's in leicester anyway..
It's nice to know I'm not the only one looking for alternatives. To be quite honest I can hardly see myself in the pharmacy in 5years. It's just whether I will be able to afford to try myself somewhere else... Anyway, will get my mortgage repaid first, get some savings and then will see

[bleepholder]

its funny how we all don't see ourselves in pharmacy for long, but i can remember in interviews, and the classic question of "where do you see yourself in 5 years time" i answered with the classic.....working in hospital pahrmacy, completed a clinical diploma, and working in a speciality of interest and managing and directing people and directorates......i wonder if i would have still got the job had i said...i'd jump ship and do something other than pharmacy!!

would they still have employed me??