[aspirinpharmacist]

(Original post by Sammydemon)
Study pharmaceutical chemistry. It's like pharmacy with more science and the crap cut out.

(Original post by DrFantastic)
But you can't become a qualified pharmacist with it.

Exactly what DrFantastic says. Pharmaceutical chemistry basically restricts me to going into industry, whereas I might decide I want to go into community or hospital pharmacy, which I'd need a pharmacy degree for.

[king19]

Although is not all job sectors saturated within the UK at the moment, I mean is pharmacy so bad relative to other science sectors apart from medicine or dentistry? Am just curious to know what peoples opinions are on taking alternatives in other areas such as engineering because from what I hear across the UK its just as bleak, or maybe Ive heard wrong?

[petzneo]

(Original post by king19)
Although is not all job sectors saturated within the UK at the moment, I mean is pharmacy so bad relative to other science sectors apart from medicine or dentistry? Am just curious to know what peoples opinions are on taking alternatives in other areas such as engineering because from what I hear across the UK its just as bleak, or maybe Ive heard wrong?

biomedicine and most other science based bsc degrees are worse off than pharmacy.....honestly pharmacy is not that bad yet

[aspirinpharmacist]

I was thinking as well, surely if we were going to do pharmacy, we'd be better off going into it now, seeing as next year places like Durham are opening their courses. By starting this year we'll get a head start on them, won't we? After the three new pharmacy schools let their first graduates loose on the world, things are only going to get more crowded. Isn't it better if we start when there's slightly (emphasis on the slightly) less competition?

[clad in armour]

(Original post by aspirinpharmacist)
I was thinking as well, surely if we were going to do pharmacy, we'd be better off going into it now, seeing as next year places like Durham are opening their courses. By starting this year we'll get a head start on them, won't we? After the three new pharmacy schools let their first graduates loose on the world, things are only going to get more crowded. Isn't it better if we start when there's slightly (emphasis on the slightly) less competition?

yes but thats very much short term, there might be a few more pre reg places up for grabs but what about in the real world of work

[Sammydemon]

(Original post by Pharm Boy)
And what would you do with that degree?

Actually make the medicines. Something I would like to see a pharmacist do.

[Sammydemon]

(Original post by aspirinpharmacist)
Exactly what DrFantastic says. Pharmaceutical chemistry basically restricts me to going into industry, whereas I might decide I want to go into community or hospital pharmacy, which I'd need a pharmacy degree for.

You say this as though it's a bad thing.

[ak137]

(Original post by shuaib786)
Yeah it interests me as well. Also its tax free lol.

Language barrier...? Do people speak english there?

[shuaib786]

(Original post by ak137)
Language barrier...? Do people speak english there?

Im sure they do. I have friends who have relatives there, they seem like they are coping fine. English is an international language, so im sure they will speak it. Personally i wouldn't mind learning Arabic.

[craig12]

Through reading the thread about declining Pharmacy prospects, it has scared me quite a bit. Like the op, I myself have wanted to do Pharmacy for a while now. However with declining job opportunities, decreased pay and apparently, a lack of altruism within Pharmacy, is there any point giving up 5 years of my life and a shed loads of money for something you may or may not be able to do?

I do however have an alternative. It is an apprenticeship with unilever. You get paid £14000 a year which increases to £25000 in the fourth year of training. Also you still get a degree in chemistry and get to go to university for free. Unilever pay all of the fees and you gain £14000-£25000 each year. Also you are pretty much guaranteed a job at unilever, because why would they waste all that money on you and not employ you?
But now I am stuck. Obviously for my future in terms of money and job prospects Unilever is safe, but I've applied for Pharmacy because that's what I wanted to do.

Any advice on which one to go for?

[ScoobyB4]

(Original post by shuaib786)
Well you could work hard and try and do summer placements. Like try to build more contacts. Or you could try Post Grad Medicine or Dentistry, but its up to you if you want to go for them, but its another option though. You could do a Phd, and go for research or industrial. Do a clinical diploma.

You could move abroad, i heard theres a demand in Australia. I heard Australia, USA, Canada, Abu Dhabi the pharmacists are getting paid in the 6 figures.

There is no demand for foreign pharmacists in Australia. Pharmacists were removed from that list they had for occupations they would consider for fast tracking a work visa etc. They have a similar problem with saturation as we have here. Unless you enjoy outback pharmacy, as my tutor told me when I entertained the idea "allow it..."

[king19]

Apart from doctors,dentists and nurses ive come to the conclusion the world is saturated with nearly everything aha!

[aspirinpharmacist]

(Original post by Sammydemon)
You say this as though it's a bad thing.

I don't want to tie myself down too much. I'd rather keep my options open. Don't get me wrong, I think I'd love a career in industry, but I don't want to rule out community or hospital pharmacy just yet.

[pharmasaurus]

(Original post by king19)
Apart from doctors,dentists and nurses ive come to the conclusion the world is saturated with nearly everything aha!

I think you'll find that those fields are also saturated.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Wild Horses]

(Original post by aspirinpharmacist)
So, lately TSR has exploded with people warning future pharmacy students/future pharmacy applicants to jump off a sinking ship and find a lifeboat, and basically look for an alternative. Which is lovely, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the heads up and I'm grateful that you're trying to get us to go into this with our eyes open. However, not a single person has given a reasonable alternative to pharmacy. Someone suggested optometry, but it seems that optometry is suffering similar problems. Every other subject that's even remotely similar is going through the same issues as pharmacy, so what would you suggest the pharmacy entrants of 2012 and beyond do with our futures? It's all very well telling us to do something else, but what exactly is there?

really nice thread..would be interesting to see the answers...hmmm, people just need to calm down really.

[smithsmith]

I would say stick with pharmacy , the majority of the scare mongers are those who want to dissuade more people away from pharmacy so there is less competition for them and better prospects for themselves. It may seem crazy but it happens in quite a few careers there are people who will try to dissuade you in order to better their position.
These people are mostly students or graduates who are trying to get rid of competition, this is rife in the commercial pilot industry.

[Wild Horses]

(Original post by smithsmith)
I would say stick with pharmacy , the majority of the scare mongers are those who want to dissuade more people away from pharmacy so there is less competition for them and better prospects for themselves. It may seem crazy but it happens in quite a few careers there are people who will try to dissuade you in order to better their position.
These people are mostly students or graduates who are trying to get rid of competition, this is rife in the commercial pilot industry.

Exactly what i thought because i came across a thread on the pharmacy forum on some site, with people moaning about the same thing back in 2005, so yeah..interesting. At the end of the day, the world economy is fragile at the moment, businesses are trying to cut people down to survive financially but this can only happen for so long. The world will pick up again, things will gain pace. So stop panicking cause wil that really solve the problem? If you really want to study pharmacy and it's your passion, why should you bow to discouragement? Honestly, i think you need to look beyond the discouragement and go for it, if it's what you really want to do. The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places and there comes a time when one must risk everything or sit forever with ones dreams.

[Wild Horses]

(Original post by DrFantastic)
Very good point and I want to apply for Pharmacy in 2013 but just so scared about job prospects. It's the one and only thing which puts me off. I worked in two pharmacies for work experience and loved it but the pharmacists themselves told me it's not worth doing. These are fully qualified pharmacists telling me not to do it. I know it's hard to get a job, the pharmacies I worked had too much staff if anything. It's putting me off and theres no point going 36K in debt when chances of a job are low. Granted it's in nearly every graduate subject but I think Pharmacy is worse than most sciences in terms of job prospects. My careers advisor has also advised against it so I pretty much will not apply for Pharmacy. It's a shame really, the Pharmacy board should have somehow capped the number of graduates.

funny how they are telling you not to do it, but tell them what should you do? and also, tell them if it's that bad, why don't they go do something else instead of sticking with it? Interesting how they're sticking with it but discouraging you from sticking with it...hmmm

[college80]

(Original post by DrFantastic)
They were qualified pharmacists, pre-reg'ed and they had a secure job. Maybe that's why they knew they were in a good position but probably know how hard it is to get a job in Pharmacy.

Ill say it again there are jobs in pharmacy. Those pharmacists telling you that are exagerating in my opinion. Pharmacists are a notoriously negative and pessimistic bunch, not all but quite a few are and they have been for years. Scare mongering is common in pharmacy so dont be put off. However,yes, there are more pharmacists now due to more schools so the workforce will have to be controlled somehow. But it is nowhere near what you have been told as there are jobs and the job prospects are still good. Saying it is hard to get a pharmacy job is simply untrue.

[Vox0]

OP have you thought about/heard of Pharmacology. It involves very similar subject matter with the end result being a degree with which you can progress to a job in drug research/manufacture or academia. I can't say that the job prospects are any better than Pharmacy mind you... and you will always find people within a job that say not to do that job. Not many people will say that their job is perfect.