The Student Room Group

Students should think twice about pharmacy

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Original post by alevelzzz
Well no, its the department of health that decides to cap the numbers. Nothing to do with 'medical lobbies'. You do realise that every university in the country would want to open a medical and a dental school right? It costs 250k of taxpayer's money to train each student.

Apologies for being unclear, but my point is that medical school access is still capped in English-speaking countries where the government doesn't pay for medical tuition.

Then, after 5 years, you have maybe 50% of these students not having a job. Thats a whole load of money wasted which is far more expensive than the situation we currently have now.

That's not clear - the reason there is a fixed job market for pharmacists is that retail pharmacists are only employed for regulatory compliance reasons. A doctor, on the other hand, could always find work on the salary of a nurse or a paramedic, where there is far more demand than any likely supply of doctors.
GPhc should really think of capping numbers of pharmacy students. That is the only way salaries of pharmacists can go up in the long term. The future is bleak i must say. As the profession is dependent on NHS funding, what will happen to the 1000s of pharmacists when the NHS goes bust.
Original post by sachinisgod
GPhc should really think of capping numbers of pharmacy students. That is the only way salaries of pharmacists can go up in the long term. The future is bleak i must say. As the profession is dependent on NHS funding, what will happen to the 1000s of pharmacists when the NHS goes bust.


Re: capping student numbers - I don't think that will happen any time soon as the government wants pharmacist salaries to remain low.

If/when the NHS becomes bust, then I think everyone will essentially have private prescriptions, and thus the pharmacies will make money through that - charging patients what they can/will for the items that they require.
Original post by thegodofgod
Re: capping student numbers - I don't think that will happen any time soon as the government wants pharmacist salaries to remain low.

If/when the NHS becomes bust, then I think everyone will essentially have private prescriptions, and thus the pharmacies will make money through that - charging patients what they can/will for the items that they require.


mate its easy to say pharmacists can charge what they want privately. 80% of scripts are from exempt patients. A lot of people have problems purchasing over the counter medications and want it on minor ailments. With this mentality of getting away with paying and getting free stuff (esp in this country) it is not going to help pharmacists. Someone who is on 10-15 medications, can they afford to pay for them every month? think about it logically
Original post by sachinisgod
mate its easy to say pharmacists can charge what they want privately. 80% of scripts are from exempt patients. A lot of people have problems purchasing over the counter medications and want it on minor ailments. With this mentality of getting away with paying and getting free stuff (esp in this country) it is not going to help pharmacists. Someone who is on 10-15 medications, can they afford to pay for them every month? think about it logically


Well if the NHS goes bust, like you mentioned, they won't be able to get items free on prescriptions, will they? :tongue:

I know what it's like - I work in an independent pharmacy and out of every 100 prescriptions that we receive, a good 95 or so are from exempt patients, most of them are 60+, but quite a few are on income support / JSA / have a NHS tax exemption certificate.
I'm currently seeking a job as a newly registered pharmacist, but there are none in my area, even though apparently it has the highest shortage. I don't know what to do, as the qualification doesn't lend itself to anything else. People say things like 'work for a scientific magazine, writer' etc, but these jobs aren't around either. Pharmacy seems to be a total non-starter in 2015. Anyone having problems?
Original post by GrimBeast
I'm currently seeking a job as a newly registered pharmacist, but there are none in my area, even though apparently it has the highest shortage. I don't know what to do, as the qualification doesn't lend itself to anything else. People say things like 'work for a scientific magazine, writer' etc, but these jobs aren't around either. Pharmacy seems to be a total non-starter in 2015. Anyone having problems?


same situation here (except I have to resit pre-reg after cruelly missing out by 1 mark on calcs, despite getting an overall pass score)
Full disclosure I haven't had to apply for a permanent job for a while as I'm currently retraining (not that I didn't enjoy pharmacy!)
Are you guys looking to work in hospital or community?

If in hospital, it can be difficult to find a job in a specific location, especially in big cities, just cause there's limited job openings at any one time, and in popular cities it can get pretty competitive. If you can /are willing to move, there's usually always a job opening somewhere, and dont be afraid to apply for jobs in small towns, you're still doing the same work and can still do the diploma and stuff.
And even now when I look for summer work, I've joined some locum agencies and they keep emailing me every so often seeing if I'm free to work for them. Often it's small towns or mostly dispensary work, but a job's a job!

Can't speak for community, but have you tried locum agencies if there's no permanent jobs? Or I know some people have gone into all of their local pharmacies personally and given them their business cards and got locum posts that way.
Original post by Rx_Sarcasm
Full disclosure I haven't had to apply for a permanent job for a while as I'm currently retraining (not that I didn't enjoy pharmacy!)
Are you guys looking to work in hospital or community?

If in hospital, it can be difficult to find a job in a specific location, especially in big cities, just cause there's limited job openings at any one time, and in popular cities it can get pretty competitive. If you can /are willing to move, there's usually always a job opening somewhere, and dont be afraid to apply for jobs in small towns, you're still doing the same work and can still do the diploma and stuff.
And even now when I look for summer work, I've joined some locum agencies and they keep emailing me every so often seeing if I'm free to work for them. Often it's small towns or mostly dispensary work, but a job's a job!

Can't speak for community, but have you tried locum agencies if there's no permanent jobs? Or I know some people have gone into all of their local pharmacies personally and given them their business cards and got locum posts that way.


That's interesting, what are you retraining to ?


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Reply 389
Most intelligent person I know (academically) is doing great and they'll have an amazing career.

Maybe it's just the dumb people that will struggle.
Original post by Freiheit
That's interesting, what are you retraining to ?


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I almost hesitate to say given the stereotype, but I'm doing medicine at the moment. I worked as a hospital Pharmacist for a year or so after registration, and I enjoyed it. But after working on the wards I found that I personally wanted to be more involved in working directly with patients so decided to make the switch.

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Reply 391
Do pharmacists earn a lot? What's the starting salary for grads?
Original post by Rx_Sarcasm
I almost hesitate to say given the stereotype, but I'm doing medicine at the moment. I worked as a hospital Pharmacist for a year or so after registration, and I enjoyed it. But after working on the wards I found that I personally wanted to be more involved in working directly with patients so decided to make the switch.

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Congratulations. The knowledge gained from hospital pharmacy must be very helpful.


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Still looking. So far I've had many pharmacies tell me I have an impressive CV and excellent experience, but they have no jobs going at the moment. The market is totally saturated. With 2 schools of pharmacy in a 50 mile zone, and 6 in a 100 miles, there's nothing.

I signed up to some locum agencies, but they have nothing. Most companies have their own locum lists, and they usually go for the same old people they have for years.

If I could do it over, I would avoid pharmacy. It was a very costly mistake and complete waste of intelligence. I would advise new students to look at the market and see where the gaps are. Pharmacy is now saturated.
Totally agree with you Grim. I wish I had done medicine. Read my other posts for more info on what community pharmacy is like today. A pharmacy degree is very interesting and enjoyable, the job at the end......not so much! (in community).
Reply 395
Original post by mrlittlebigman
Totally agree with you Grim. I wish I had done medicine. Read my other posts for more info on what community pharmacy is like today. A pharmacy degree is very interesting and enjoyable, the job at the end......not so much! (in community).


I've always wanted to do pharmacy. Ngl, this thread is scaring me. So there are basically no jobs for pharmacists? What about abroad?
I'm worried now too as I'm applying for pharmacy and I can't really think of another degree that I'll enjoy doing :frown:
I hated the degree but don't mind the job. I found the degree extremely demanding and exhausting. You'll get really good at sitting exams! But I've been working in community pharmacy for 9 yrs, so I knew what the job was like. Many students haven't got a clue when they go into the degree what the job is like on the other side. It can get very dull and the average week is 42 hrs (including regular Saturday work).

Anyway, I'm still looking. I saw some hospital pharmacy work, but the pay is shockingly low!
Original post by Bubzeh
Most intelligent person I know (academically) is doing great and they'll have an amazing career.

Maybe it's just the dumb people that will struggle.


How is that helpful? There's no need to say that if you don't succeed it's because you're not intelligent. Plenty of intelligent people in all fields sometimes don't get jobs for reasons unrelated to how smart they are or how good their grades are. Sometimes clever people don't test well and their grades don't reflect their intelligence.

Original post by GrimBeast
Still looking. So far I've had many pharmacies tell me I have an impressive CV and excellent experience, but they have no jobs going at the moment. The market is totally saturated. With 2 schools of pharmacy in a 50 mile zone, and 6 in a 100 miles, there's nothing.

I signed up to some locum agencies, but they have nothing. Most companies have their own locum lists, and they usually go for the same old people they have for years.

If I could do it over, I would avoid pharmacy. It was a very costly mistake and complete waste of intelligence. I would advise new students to look at the market and see where the gaps are. Pharmacy is now saturated.


It's even more costly now the fees have been hiked up. But looking at the news and considering the new changes to junior doctors contracts, and having spoken to a couple of junior doctors, medicine isn't exactly a magical haven either. And as for GP surgeries? I used to work in one and I saw how much the doctors had to do, it's long work and it's hard work and they have to put up with a lot of rubbish. I really wouldn't suggest it as a more desirable alternative to pharmacy, you still end up with large amounts of debt, the degree is hard work, and despite the number of students being capped, the working environment at the end of it isn't all sunshine and rainbows, just like pharmacy.

Original post by kirank22
I'm worried now too as I'm applying for pharmacy and I can't really think of another degree that I'll enjoy doing :frown:


There aren't as many jobs in pharmacy as there were, this is true. It's hard to find a job in pharmacy, this is also true. However, we're in an economic situation where it is hard for pretty much everyone to get a job. I may have to worry about whether I can find a career in pharmacy after I graduate but that's no more than my friends doing humanities subjects or other sciences have to do, everyone's worried right now. If you finish the degree you're going to come out with a masters in a science, and pharmacy is at least better than a lot of other subjects in that a lot of universities (or at least mine does) will give you a lot of advice on CV writing and interviews and job application, which is admittedly pharmacy-specific at present but a coursemate of mine is working on a conference looking at alternative careers. You don't have to go into pharmacy, you can still go into other careers that don't require a specific degree, and pharmacy teaches a tonne of transferrable skills that other courses don't get so much of, particularly when it comes to communication, so it's not like everyone doing a pharmacy degree now is going to become destitute.

The problem is that pharmacy is often pitched as a 'safe' and 'stable' career in a world where there are very very few safe and stable careers to be found.One day hopefully the situation will get better but honestly you can't let it deter you if it's something you really want to do. There's a quote somewhere about how you can fail at what you love, but you can also fail at what you don't love. You can spend 3+ years studying a degree you hate that might give you stability, but it might not, because the world we live in is uncertain. Or you can spend it studying something you love and want to work for. Then at least you have that if nothing else.
Original post by Bubzeh
Most intelligent person I know (academically) is doing great and they'll have an amazing career.

Maybe it's just the dumb people that will struggle.


Think you might be the idiot for making a sweeping statement like that.

Are you involved with the profession in any sorts?

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