I'm currently finishing up my GenEds so I can transfer to UIC for pharmacy but I've talked to a few people and I've heard the market is saturated with pharmacists, but I've also heard the demand is still growing? I mean I really do love working with medicine and would like to help people but I can't do that without a job..

For those of you in pre-pharm, pharm, or have graduated can you shed some light on the situation? How does the market look? Viable alternatives?

The money isn't too big of an issue but I honestly believe if I'm going to put in 6 or so years of schooling I better be able to live comfortably.
I've also heard the waiting lists to get accepted are terribly long. I'm doing the best I can with a 3.85 gpa taking as many classes as humanly possible to get this over with ASAP. What other things do transfer schools look at? Any way to distinguish myself from the herd? Any advice would be awesome, thanks!

I know napoleon_complex is in pharmacy school right now. If he sees this thread...

As for job outlook, I can refer you to this page from the Department of Labor:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm

Employment is expected to increase much faster than the average through 2016. As a result of rapid growth and the need to replace workers who leave the occupation, job prospects should be excellent.

Employment change. Employment of pharmacists is expected to grow by 22 percent between 2006 and 2016, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. The increasing numbers of middle-aged and elderly people—who use more prescription drugs than younger people—will continue to spur demand for pharmacists throughout the projection period. Other factors likely to increase the demand for pharmacists include scientific advances that will make more drug products available and the coverage of prescription drugs by a greater number of health insurance plans and Medicare.

Personally it seems odd to me that there can be 3 drug stores on every corner in a town, with highly paid pharmacists working at all of them, but ehhh I guess the demand is there.

There is so much demand for Pharmacists right now, both retail and institutional(Hospitals, military, nursing homes, etc...).

I'm basically guaranteed my choice of location and job when I graduate. The market for Pharmacists isn't close to being saturated(this isn't computer engineering where there are a ton of schools offer the major. Only about 90 schools across the country have Pharmacy, and they're all pretty selective with small classes).

Anyone telling you the market is saturated is lying to you. Someone I know who graduated last year signed a 3 year contract with Rite Aid as a float Pharmacist(they'll go to any Rite Aid store in a certain area that needs a Pharmacist). Rite Aid gave them a 40,000 dollar signing bonus and will pay for her travel expenses.

A lot of companies are offering to pay for student's final two/four years of school if they sign a contract with them agreeing to work there after they graduate.

Pharmacy school is competitive, and there will definitely be weeding out classes(Organic Chemistry, Physics, and Anatomy and Physiology for Pharmacy majors were the ones at my school), but the pay is great when you get out(minimum 70,000 grand a year, but definitely more in this market).

I got in with a 3.87 cumulative and a 3.6 science GPA. I was in no organizations on campus and didn't volunteer. However, I nailed my interview(they were talking to me an extra twenty minutes). However, I was still waitlisted and didn't get accepted until the summer. I think if I were in a Pharmacy organization or two, that would have clinched my getting in. I'd say join one or two organizations(at least one science/pharmacy specific organization) to better your chances. Work or volunteer experience in medicine also helps. Another factor on why I think I got in was I said I wanted to focus on Hospital/Clinical Pharmacy, where as most my class wants to do retail. I had one of my interviewers tell me after I got in that I was only one of a handful of students out of 150 interviewed that didn't say they wanted to work in retail Pharmacy.

napoleon, what did you tell them in the interview to explain why you hadn't done any extracurricular activities?

I'm in PTK (Phi Theta Kappa) which shows up on my transcript but I don't really know how much that will change things. I will be getting a job in walgreens in a semester or two and work part time. I'm gonna have to give it a little time as I'm sure they drug test and I have to let the weed get out of my system :( How often do they drug test? I'm not asking to see where I can sneak in getting high, but I honestly think it's an invasion of my privacy. Are pharmacists regularly drug tested in hospitals/retail?

Honestly I don't want to work retail/hospital too long. I'm thinking pretty far ahead but I'd like to work retail until I can save up enough to buy a few hundred acres, move to some small town and be their local pharmacist and possibly teach at college/uni. Of course everything mentioned above takes a lot of work and I'm prepared for that, but is also subject to change :D

Thanks for the advice! It's nice to meet someone else in the trade on totse. How many more years do you have?

napoleon, what did you tell them in the interview to explain why you hadn't done any extracurricular activities?

I went to a few introductory meetings, but none of the groups really piqued my interest. I said I felt a lot of the campus organizations were too superficial and were more concerned with having sweatshirts and teeshirts than they were with carrying out their message or ideals.

They understood what I was talking about.

I'm in PTK (Phi Theta Kappa) which shows up on my transcript but I don't really know how much that will change things. I will be getting a job in walgreens in a semester or two and work part time. I'm gonna have to give it a little time as I'm sure they drug test and I have to let the weed get out of my system :( How often do they drug test? I'm not asking to see where I can sneak in getting high, but I honestly think it's an invasion of my privacy. Are pharmacists regularly drug tested in hospitals/retail?

Honestly I don't want to work retail/hospital too long. I'm thinking pretty far ahead but I'd like to work retail until I can save up enough to buy a few hundred acres, move to some small town and be their local pharmacist and possibly teach at college/uni. Of course everything mentioned above takes a lot of work and I'm prepared for that, but is also subject to change :D

Thanks for the advice! It's nice to meet someone else in the trade on totse. How many more years do you have?

They will drug test(and not just for pot) regularly and unannounced. You will be drug tested when you start any job or internship and periodically while you're working there.

I have four more years left counting this year(I'm only in my P1 year after finishing 2 years of "undergrad").

I'd recommend not even touching weed if you want to become a Pharmacist. If you fail a drug test, it's just a huge, HUGE hassle to deal with.

Is the regular and unnanounced drug testing mandatory by law, of by choice of retailer/hospital? I have no qualms about stopping any drug use, but I feel the whole "pee in a jar to keep your job" scenario jeopardizes trust between employee and employer and is invasive.

Of course, I'd do it because for 70k + minumum a year I'd be stupid not to, but that doesn't mean I won't put up a fuss. They act like scumbag junkies go through 6 years of intense schooling with top grades to infiltrate their precious establishment with their personal problems.

:mad:

Would you happen to know anyone that didn't work in hospital/retail and went into research pharmacology? I hear it's harder but the pay is greater. I'm still sort of undecided which exact field I'd like to go into but I'd love to work with medicine (aka not counting pills and hassling insurance companies/doctors).

Thanks!

No store or hospital wants a drug using Pharmacist. I think it might be required by law in some states, but pretty much everywhere will do it regardless.

There is a real problem with Pharmacists stealing drugs(dilaudid, morphine, and the like), so they drug test randomly to prevent that, or even if they suspect something.

If you want to do research pharmacology at the basic level, you'd be better off getting a PhD in Pharmacology or Medicinal Chemistry than a PharmD. You can do research with a PharmD for drug companies, but you'd mostly be working at the clinical trial stage, not at the drug development or design stage.

I went to a few introductory meetings, but none of the groups really piqued my interest. I said I felt a lot of the campus organizations were too superficial and were more concerned with having sweatshirts and teeshirts than they were with carrying out their message or ideals.

They understood what I was talking about.

If I was an interviewer, I would've come back with "well did you ever think about starting your own organization to carry out messages or ideals you feel strongly about? Why didn't you do that?"

I agree with you when it comes to organizations and clubs, and not having any myself, I wonder how this will affect me in the future. I know I should join some this year but at the same time it is so hard to give a shit enough to go through with it.

It's not realistic to start your own clubs really.

If they would have asked me that, I just would have said that it wasn't like I have an interest for which there is no pre-existing club or organization, it's just that the clubs and organizations which I would have been interested in seemed more focused on things such as dances, parties, and going to conferences rather than what initially drew people to that particular club or organization.

I killed my interview though. I was on a roll after my first few questions. I spent a good five minutes talking about why I want to do Hospital Pharmacy(one of my interviewers is in charge of the clinical program at the college) without rambling or repeating myself or being naive or uninformed. I think that really impressed them. After that answer, I had so much confidence that I just breezed through the rest of the interview(including joking with another interviewer about the Browns since we're both from NE Ohio).

info:

People hate the job. But the pay is good ~80,000 USD or more (in US), but they hate the job.
Basically you're a professional drug dealer.
The market isn't incredibly saturated.
Computer science major = saturated = leet haxor competitive

pharmacist = somewhat competitive, not too hard because the media brainwashes people into believe they need pills, thus stirring the economy into that direction

Basically find a place that has the need. There are places that have the need.

There's always been a need for people in medicine. More people are wanted as biomedical researches these days.

PharmD looks good, but I'd say it's only for the money.
Looks like another of waste of life if you ask me.

Go do some biomedical research and development.

napol's interview is based on his knowledge of rhetoric and the ability to manipulate another person's emotions like a sociopath. Many people research who could be the interviewer and learn to react to such a person before the interview takes place. It's like a crook talking to a cop. Once you get intelligent enough, things like that are just natural.

may i ask what makes a pharmacy job boring?

info:

People hate the job. But the pay is good ~80,000 USD or more (in US), but they hate the job.
Basically you're a professional drug dealer.
The market isn't incredibly saturated.
Computer science major = saturated = leet haxor competitive

pharmacist = somewhat competitive, not too hard because the media brainwashes people into believe they need pills, thus stirring the economy into that direction

Basically find a place that has the need. There are places that have the need.

There's always been a need for people in medicine. More people are wanted as biomedical researches these days.

PharmD looks good, but I'd say it's only for the money.
Looks like another of waste of life if you ask me.

Go do some biomedical research and development.

napol's interview is based on his knowledge of rhetoric and the ability to manipulate another person's emotions like a sociopath. Many people research who could be the interviewer and learn to react to such a person before the interview takes place. It's like a crook talking to a cop. Once you get intelligent enough, things like that are just natural.

lol at your dumbass. Aside from one employee stores in small towns, Pharmacists don't even count pills or do anything like that anymore.

You're a idiot that has no clue what you're talking about.

pill counters?

the job of a retail pharmacist is more along these lines:

-counting narcotics,
-filling/checking prescriptions (not "easy" or there wouldn't be a 6 year program.. you have to know alot about the drugs and dosages and their reaction with each other, as well as reactions with specific patient conditions.. doctors don't always catch all of it.)
-talking to patients
-talking to doctors

if remember correctly.

anyway that's what I wanna go into, either PharmD or Pharmacology.


edit: and the demand for pharmacists isn't going away.. scheduled narcotics need to be handled by a Pharmacist by law, plus everyone has prescriptions nowadays.

napoleon_complex, do you know any information about agreeing to work at a specific store (Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc) and they'll help pay for your schooling?

I've talked to pharmacists and they've recommended it, but it seems to be hard to find much info about it. I saw that Walgreens offers about $5,000 on their website, which isn't much considering you're selling your soul to them for a few years heh.

And I guess I would have to find out other information about it as well, like do you still have the option of getting sign on bonuses, etc.

I'm just a few years behind you in the educational process (getting my pre-reqs) and any info would be great.

Also, do you have any other tips for increasing your chances of being accepted into pharm school? I've looked for a job as a technician, but they're all full :/. There are several hospital-like settings that have openings, so I may go for that to get experience and show that I've always had an interest in the field (it's actually my dream to become a PharmD, I want it more than anything) and thus bettering my chances of acceptance.

Thank you a lot for any advice. Feel free to share anything, what classes were hard/easy, how pharmacy school is, what should you do if you dont' get accepted, etc. You're lucky because you must have just gotten through with the 65 credits before they increased it to 90 >< Although it's not too much of a problem since I'm going to college for my senior year and I'm taking a lot of summer classes so I should still get through quickly.