One of my fellow bloggers posted some stats on what appears to be the FUTURE OF BEING A PHARMACIST
High school guidance counselors: please take notes! Demand for pharmacists is down. The number of pharmacy graduates is up. Starting salaries are down while average student loan debt is greater than $100,000.
Demand
The number of pharmacy schools in the year 2000: 80
The number of pharmacy schools in the year 2012: 127
The number of PharmD graduates in the year 2001: 7,000
The number of PharmD graduates in the year 2011: 11,931
Projected number of graduates in the year 2016: 14,000-15,000
The percentage of graduates who are projected to be unable to find suitable employment in 2018: 20%
Salaries in some areas of the country has already dropped 40%-50%.. and graduation rates have still not peaked !
Student debt is projected to increase to a average of 150,000 while pay scale is dropping dramatically. Debt will be 2-3 times annual starting salary.
My student debt at graduation in 1970 was 500.00 and I had a starting salary of $12,200. Making mine 2-3 weeks of salary vs 2-3 yrs today… and I had a job lined up BEFORE graduation… not a 20% chance of not finding a job.
If you are thinking about going to pharmacy school… talk to a few new grads .. that are working for the major chain pharmacies.. See if their expectations mess with reality…
Filed under: General Problems
Why in the world any sane and sensible person would choose pharmacy as a “profession” in the present time is beyond me. We have 2 techs who( even after working in the retail environment for several months) are planning on going to pharmacy school.I am begging them to find another path. They seem to think they can be “clinical”. Good luck with that.