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."
With the shortage of health care providers in the U.S., they won't need H1B visas. They will be able to get green cards on the spot! It's already happening. They don'ty go through labor certification, but they do have to pass the liscencing exams in the states where they want to practice.
My aunt is one, pay is great, and you can pretty much work wherever you want, but you aren't exactly treated well by most employers.
I thought veterinarians made more than that. I know ours does and we aren't far from you (Arkansas). He has his own business. I don't think he does large animals any longer, just small animals, which may be why he makes more since traveling to a large animal would take up time he could spend on seeing another small animal (does that make sense?). I know that he is certainly appreciated by my family. I had to call him early one morning and he met us at the office. He called back twice the next day to check on our animal also. I don't know what I would have done had I not had him to call. We also board our animals with him when we are out of town and know they will be well cared for. Peace of mind is invaluable.
We also have several friends who are vets. One lives in Hot Springs, AR and he has a fantastic business working on the animals they use in their parks.
A close friend, who was a vet, died a few years back during a vet convention (I think in Colorado) with a heart attack, while standing in front of the ski lodge. We miss him dearly. He was such a fantastic person. You may have known him. His name was Eddie Horn.
Wrong. The "robotic pharmacist" needs a real pharmacist to know what to dispense. I don't think Mr. Robotic can counsel patients yet either. People who think pharmacists don't do anything but count pills really don't know much about the pharmacy business.
I don't know about that. Pharmacy customers might not be willing to buy prescriptions from someone who can't speak English. The elderly patients are set in their ways. lol!
"If patients don't have access (to pharmacists), they run the risk of adverse effects from drug interactions."
If the pharmacist isn't there to fill the prescription, maybe the doc's will have to write less - this would certainly go a long way toward reducing adverse drug interactions.
Thank you, Hillarycare, government regulations & interference. Thank you ambulance chasing trial lawyers.
Have you ever seen a pharmacist's scribbles? I think they belong to the same cult.
My son is attending University of Houston for his Doctorate and is very much looking forward to perhaps opening his own neighborhood pharmacy one day. Unless torte reform goes by the wayside and there are no pills left to dispense. I just wonder if lawyers ever get prescriptions filled...
You obviously don't know what you are talking about. They are required by law to give "dispensing advice" to each and every customer. They need to know what to dispense and how it interacts with the other medication the patient is taking.
They need to know the patient's medical history to keep from dispensing something that will kill them whether prescribed or over the counter. Many pharmacists are also consulting pharmacists for nursing homes, special care facilities and hospices which requires more certification and written reports for each and every patient.
Unless you are seeing a quack or the patient is a hypochondriac, I doubt your doctor is writing prescriptions just for the fun of it. The patient obviously needs the medication or they wouldn't be seeing a doctor.
Is that right??? Well golleee.We at FR are so fortunate to have such learned people as yourself.
bump
I think I'd stay out of the Pharmacy business for fear of running afoul of some obscure controlled substance law. One mistake, and a federal prosecutor looking for an easy conviction can lock you away for the rest of your life.
More HB-1Visas coming more filipino and South American workers to fill a position for jobs Americans won't do.
Although there are numerous organic chemistry texts on the market few if any address the needs of the growing number of students taking chemistry-based courses such as Pharmacy and Medicinal Chemistry- these students don’t need to study this aspect of the subject in as much detail. These students currently have to use organic chemistry texts designed for chemistry courses where much of the material is irrelevant.
http://tinyurl.com/8e388
"I doubt your doctor is writing prescriptions just for the fun of it. The patient obviously needs the medication or they wouldn't be seeing a doctor."
Ok, trust your doc. Any doc. They all live by the Hypocritical Oath.
For instance...
He prescribes cholesterol lowering drugs - but cholesterol does not cause heart attacks. And cholesterol lowering drugs are dangerous.
He prescribes drugs for an irregular heart beat (Beta Blockers, as an example). Beta Blockers try to control the irregular heart beat by weaking the heart muscle.
And then we get into the deals where he prescribes one drug for one thing, then has to prescribe another drug to try and control the side effects of the first one. This goes on, and maybe you have 3 or 4 prescriptions now because he prescribed the 1st one. Now the drug companies really like him, and he gets even more perks for writing prescriptions.
And by the way, I have an irregular heart beat. I control it with a Hawthorn-Lily extract. Hawthorn berry extract strengthens the heart, reduces blood pressure, helps keep the cardiovascular system humming like it was created to do. And Lily extract controls the irregular heart beat. Of course, the doc's don't like that approach because you can 'do it yourself' and the drug companies like it less because they aren't selling prescription stuff.
I had a basal cell carcinoma on my face, just below my left eye. The doc wanted to do surgery. Instead, I chose self treatment - in six weeks the tumor was gone. Cost of treatment - approx $15 - with enough stuff left to treat a dozen or so more. And by the way, no scars. (About 15 years ago I had one on my forehead surgically removed - Moh's procedure - followed by plastic surgery to fill in the hole. It left a fine line scar.) The bill was about $700.
A friend of ours has no thyroid - her doctor decided she had thyroid cancer and removed it - oops, no cancer. Also, no thyroid. The thyroid hormone they put her on causes more problems than it helps and she has a lot of problems now. Thank you, Mr Doc.
Another friend of ours is near death in a well known Cleveland medical establishment - they have been treating a cancer in his neck with chemo and radiation. He is not near death from the cancer - it is from the treatment. Many cancer patients die - not from the cancer, but from the radiation or the chemo.
I also know that many oncologists have opted out of the 'system', refusing radiation/chemo for their own cancers, choosing alternative, natural cures instead. They have seen the deadly effects of conventional treatment. But they can't opt out for their patients or they will loose their 'hospital privileges'.
So ok, trust your doc.
Name them.
Chemo saved my life. My Oncologist is a fantastic doctor & person. So, yes I trust him. I also trust my GP who found the cancer.
If you are so good at curing yourself why do you even go to the doctor in the first place since you think they are all greedy, heartless, know nothings?
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