Posted on 11/09/2005 3:57:04 AM PST by kcvl
By MARGARET STAFFORD, Associated Press Writer Mon Nov 7, 3:40 AM ET
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Unlike most college students nearing graduation, Clarissa Hall isn't worried about finding a job — she's already considering several offers, including some with possible starting salaries of at least $80,000. Hall is benefiting from a nationwide shortage of pharmacists, which has prompted fierce competition between employers for new pharmacy graduates.
"Pretty much everyone in my class has people calling them left and right about jobs," said Hall, a University of Missouri-Kansas City student from Poplar Bluff. "I've had several people calling me and I don't even graduate until May."
The shortage of pharmacists, though, is not good for others in the medical field, or their patients, say those who have been watching the shortage worsen over the last decade.
It was fueled by several factors, especially changes in insurance policies and federal regulations of pharmaceuticals, which made drugs available to more people.
Add to that an aging population and more drugs being manufactured and advertised to the public, and the number of prescriptions has increased from 2 billion to 3.2 billion in the last decade. That problem is expected to worsen after the new Medicare prescription drug program begins Jan. 1, pharmacy officials said.
Independent and chain pharmacies, hospitals and nursing homes are scrambling to find people to fill orders.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores reported about 5,950 full- and part-time openings in July in its 37,000 member stores. The American Hospital Association reported a 7.4 percent vacancy rate for pharmacists as of December, 2004, with 38 percent of its members saying it was harder to recruit pharmacists last year than in 2003.
The National Community Pharmacists Association, which represents independent pharmacies, does not keep track of job openings.
A consortium of pharmacy groups called the Pharmacy Manpower Project issued a report in 2002 predicting 157,000 unfilled pharmacy openings by 2020.
The need to fill all those new prescriptions has been partially addressed by an increase in technology and the use of pharmacy technicians, said Dr. David Knapp, dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Maryland.
But that hasn't addressed increasing pressure on pharmacists to become more involved in helping patients manage their drugs, especially elderly patients who may take several medicines, said Knapp, who coordinated the conference that released the Manpower report.
"Every hour of every day, dozens if not hundreds of prescriptions are coming across the counter," he said. "They are trying to do that while at the same time counseling patients, calling physicians, helping diabetic patients manage eight or 10 medicines, teaching parents how to help their child use his new asthma inhaler. It's a real stressed out situation for pharmacists."
Around the country, universities are opening new pharmacy schools or expanding existing programs, but it likely will take years for supply to meet demand. Some schools have reported 10 applicants for every pharmacy opening, although that figure includes people applying to more than one school, Maine said.
"It is a great job market for those who get in," Maine said. "But we also have a lot of disappointed people who are being turned away."
Many universities have opened satellite programs, and about 20 new pharmacy schools have opened in the last five years, Knapp said. That should increase the number of graduating pharmacists to more than 10,000 in 2007, compared to about 8,000 graduates in 2003-04, Maine said.
"There is such an astonishing interest," said Lucinda L. Maine, executive vice president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in Alexandria, Va. "It's the highest level I've seen in my 30 years in pharmacy admissions."
But even new schools and expansions will not help in the short-term, which raises concerns about whether patients will get the information they need about their medications, said Robert Piepho, dean of the Missouri-Kansas City pharmacy school.
"If patients don't have access (to pharmacists), they run the risk of adverse effects from drug interactions."
Has your wife ever considered nuclear pharmacy? That is becoming a huge demand in our area because of patient testing (like bone scans) and chemo.
Nuclear Pharmacy - salary around $95,000 (mostly done at hospitals)
Nuclear pharmacy is a specialty area of pharmacy practice dedicated to the compounding and dispensing of radioactive materials for use in nuclear imaging and nuclear medical procedures. These procedures use small amounts of radioactive material for the safe diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of disease. Diagnostic nuclear imaging is used principally for bone, brain, kidney, liver, gall bladder, heart, lung and infection assessment.
GP's at $200k, surely you jest. I am an internist and make less than my wife, a Nurse Practitioner (and she doesn't take call, or the liability, work weekends, work late, on and on). I have often though of alternative careers, and we already run every form revenue generation in our practice. I'd be a pharmacist in a skinny minute if I could make 80-100 and work 40 hrs. Then I could volunteer my services as a physician 20 hours/wk, which would continue my true love, and would still be less total hours than I work now.
And, from what I've heard, admission to vet schools is more competitive than into med school! Whne my wife does get through pharmacy school, she'll easily make double what I made when I finished my PhD!
Once she get's into pharmacy school, I'm sure she will be exposed to that field. It all depends upon what peaks her interest. Right now, we are just concentrating on getting her accepted. I say 'we' because I help her with the chemistry portion becasue I am a research chemist. I saw the PCAT section on chemistry and it looks like they are testing general knowledge and not difficult calculations.
My wife is a pharmacist, and sees problems down the road with so many schools going to the PharmD degree that requires six years of study. Who with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree is going to want to work at the corner drugstore? She feels that schools should still offer a bachelor of Pharmacy degree as well as the PharmD. She is 48 and works part-time (due to our having young kids) as a hospital pharmacist ...and is always getting letters and phone calls from headhunters looking for pharmacists.
Can you say H-1 ?
I'd always seen numbers that suggest there are regional differences in reimbursement, and I know a couple of MD's who've left this area saying they could make more elsewhere. GUess it's true A few of those specialists will make that kind of money in this region, but most will not.
Nah - it will still matter. Robotic systems can't verify how an RX was written unless it's electronic, and even then the accuracy is questionable. We have robotic filling systems at all our facilities, and they're all backed up by teams of pharmacy techs and registered pharmacists.
Finally, as my daughter, who is a Pharm.D. (Doctor in pharmacy) has pointed out to me (a physician), that she has on numerous occasions prevented a serious problem or even potentially a fatality by recognizing an error in the prescription or order for medication by the physician. Many physicians are grateful when she calls and points this out, but many others with fragile egos wind up cursing her out for challenging their judgement.
When you have to put up with this type of BS, you can see why pharmacists deserve the salaries they get.
Yep, I suspect right now in India they are building pharmacology schools right and left.
Carolyn
I've heard that some companies are offering "signing bonuses" as high as $20,000 for a 5 year committment.
Mark
Can a Pharmacist's job be conceivably outsourced at all ?
Just learning to read doctors' scribbles probably takes a year or two of college.
cryptology 101
Bump...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.