Poor Pharmacist Career Prospects? What do Universities tell you?

Will add +1 to the chain of people strongly emphasizing that, if you can, you should try and leave the profession. I did and it was honestly the best choice I've ever made in my life.

Working in Pharmacy, I knew I was around 6 months away from having some kind of mental breakdown. I take a huge deal of personal pride in the standard of my work, yet I realized the middle management cabal which rules community pharmacy would make me work with my hands tied behind my back; not enough supporting staff, working unpaid overtime, and huge pressure to perform completely spurious MURs. Honestly, I am disgusted that the Pharmacy pay rates have fallen to the £11 - 13 mark - seriously, at that rate, you may as well just skip Uni and work as a shop assistant, eventually getting yourself promoted to manager (where, incidentally, you'll be paid around that rate and not have to deal with anywhere near the same level of horse **** or debt). Unless you really, truly and honestly have your heart set on Pharmacy as a career, it really isn't worth it IMHO.

Still, not going to lie, it's been a metric ton of hard work and stress to get out. Incidentally, I think that's the problem - I've met many Pharmacists who dislike the job, yet don't want to leave their cushy £30 - 40K a year job and take on the risk of retraining as something new. Instead, their approach is to turn up, not care, then go home, which is how we wind up in the situations described above where the law is being flagrantly broken out of nothing but pure laziness.

I mean, it's almost as if there is a massive incentive for maintaining job satisfaction in healthcare professionals, one might even say it means you attract the best candidates who deliver the highest standard of patient care. With the state of Pharmacy now, if I look at someone who is intelligent, ambitious and hardworking, I honestly wouldn't blame them if they skip out on it as a career. They deserve better.

Will add +1 to the chain of people strongly emphasizing that, if you can, you should try and leave the profession. I did and it was honestly the best choice I've ever made in my life.

Working in Pharmacy, I knew I was around 6 months away from having some kind of mental breakdown. I take a huge deal of personal pride in the standard of my work, yet I realized the middle management cabal which rules community pharmacy would make me work with my hands tied behind my back; not enough supporting staff, working unpaid overtime, and huge pressure to perform completely spurious MURs. Honestly, I am disgusted that the Pharmacy pay rates have fallen to the £11 - 13 mark - seriously, at that rate, you may as well just skip Uni and work as a shop assistant, eventually getting yourself promoted to manager (where, incidentally, you'll be paid around that rate and not have to deal with anywhere near the same level of horse **** or debt). Unless you really, truly and honestly have your heart set on Pharmacy as a career, it really isn't worth it IMHO.

Still, not going to lie, it's been a metric ton of hard work and stress to get out. Incidentally, I think that's the problem - I've met many Pharmacists who dislike the job, yet don't want to leave their cushy £30 - 40K a year job and take on the risk of retraining as something new. Instead, their approach is to turn up, not care, then go home, which is how we wind up in the situations described above where the law is being flagrantly broken out of nothing but pure laziness.

I mean, it's almost as if there is a massive incentive for maintaining job satisfaction in healthcare professionals, one might even say it means you attract the best candidates who deliver the highest standard of patient care. With the state of Pharmacy now, if I look at someone who is intelligent, ambitious and hardworking, I honestly wouldn't blame them if they skip out on it as a career. They deserve better.

out of curiosity, what are you doing now?

without revealing too much about myself, I am literally in the process of jumping ship from pharmacy (well community). the major stumbling blocks for me are a perceived lack of experience (be it how long Ive been qualified or lack of knowledge regarding different fields). I know what I want to do and have a bunch of contingencies (no comment on them) but I do not know if I am ready to proceed due to my lack of experience (and shite A level grades). at the same time however I feel like I am procrastinating (in fairness, I am living at home and both parents are constantly on my case to do their effing errands constantly- price to pay for not paying rent and bailing them out of their mortgage/overdrafts I guess).

So at the moment are there lots of newly qualifieds leaving the profession left right and centre?

I myself have left Pharmacy. Did my pre reg in hospital and let's not kid ourselves that hospital pharmacy is any better than community. Doctors don't care about the prescribing advice and ignore your recommendations because the consultant does whatever the hell they want. Nurses matrons and discharge coordinators hound you to get patients out of hospital by signing the ttos as fast as you can. It is all a box ticking exercise and no clinical input as clinical decisions are made by the medics. It is the most demoralising kick in the stomach after training so hard for so long.

Despite the poor working conditions it wasn't actually an easy decision to leave the profession entirely. It took a lot of guts and courage to break away but I hope the decision to leave was the right one!

So at the moment are there lots of newly qualifieds leaving the profession left right and centre?

I myself have left Pharmacy. Did my pre reg in hospital and let's not kid ourselves that hospital pharmacy is any better than community. Doctors don't care about the prescribing advice and ignore your recommendations because the consultant does whatever the hell they want. Nurses matrons and discharge coordinators hound you to get patients out of hospital by signing the ttos as fast as you can. It is all a box ticking exercise and no clinical input as clinical decisions are made by the medics. It is the most demoralising kick in the stomach after training so hard for so long.

Despite the poor working conditions it wasn't actually an easy decision to leave the profession entirely. It took a lot of guts and courage to break away but I hope the decision to leave was the right one!

So at the moment are there lots of newly qualifieds leaving the profession left right and centre?

I myself have left Pharmacy. Did my pre reg in hospital and let's not kid ourselves that hospital pharmacy is any better than community. Doctors don't care about the prescribing advice and ignore your recommendations because the consultant does whatever the hell they want. Nurses matrons and discharge coordinators hound you to get patients out of hospital by signing the ttos as fast as you can. It is all a box ticking exercise and no clinical input as clinical decisions are made by the medics. It is the most demoralising kick in the stomach after training so hard for so long.

Despite the poor working conditions it wasn't actually an easy decision to leave the profession entirely. It took a lot of guts and courage to break away but I hope the decision to leave was the right one!

Sorry to pry but, if you dont mind me asking, what have you fine into. I myself am not in any regular work (adhoc locumming) and personally want to get out of most forms of pharmacy.

I too, am plotting my escape !
How long did you work as a pharmacist post pre-reg?
Just been informed by letter to all locums from a chain, that if I fail to do 2 MURs a day, then £1 will be deducted from my hourly rate !!
Is this even legal ????? !

Talking to an older pharmacist from the same chain, he says that brings my hourly rate down to what he was earning in 2004 !!!!
Why would anyone want to put themselves through a quite hard 5 yrs of work for this madness?
And the only reason they can get away from it is because there are 3000 new lambs to slaughter every July now! They must be laughing in all the chain chemist board rooms across the country !!! especially the Shoe shop and the Bank and the unwellness chains, not forgetting the horse meat sellers !!


YOUNG 6th FORMERS, ARE YOU READING AND RESEARCHING ALL THIS ?? PLEASE TELL US YOUR VIEWS, ARE YOU GOING OUT ONTO THE HIGH STREET AND TALKING TO GUYS IN YOUR LOCAL BOOTS AND LLOYDS? BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE TWO THIRDS OF YOU WILL END UP.

ASK US ANYTHING! WE WILL BE TOTALLY HONEST WITH YOU. IGNORE THE UNIS, THEY ONLY WANT YOUR 9K A YR, AND WILL FILL YOUR HEAD WITH CANDY FLOSS ABOUT HOW YOU CAN ALL WORK IN GP SURGERIES, ETC.
ONE OLDER GUY I HAVE WORKED WITH , SAID THIS IS THE WORST HE HAS KNOWN COMMUNITY PHARMACY IN HIS 25 YRS IN THE BUSINESS AND BY 2020 HE WILL BE GONE!

No response!!! zombies walking towards career and financial ruin !! Led by out of date teachers and money-mad Unis!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!
No good crying in 5 yrs when you're unemployed !

Help! My son is trying to decide between Biochemistry and Pharmacy.


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I would like to rep that but it isnt something you should be laughing at as thousands of lives can potentially be screwed by it.

Please note - he does not want to work in a chemists!


Posted from TSR Mobile

crap degree, should of picked a better degree

Should have*

aight no one cares

well just giving you a helpful tip. Jheez the written language skills of this country's population is diabolical. In addition they dont want to admit a mistake and rectify it. Figures..