Conflicting views on Pharmacy. Help!

view on pharmacy and if it's well paid.

There is no solid, 100% true for absolutely everybody answer to the question "is Pharmacy a solid career choice for me?"

Note the bolded and underlined. I know Pharmacists who love their jobs and are absolutely suited to the role... just as I also know Pharmacists who see the job as a means to and end and/or are planning their escape *coughs* because, underneath that friendly, professional demeanor, they are working a job which is slowly sucking the life out of them because it's a career path they aren't suited to. Believe me, if you don't gel with the nature of the profession, it can be very soul sucking indeed.

That said, when people are negative about Pharmacy here, it doesn't mean "you absolutely shouldn't do it", rather, what it means is "you absolutely should take these points into consideration before doing it". I know that's not always clear in the tone of posts. Firstly...



If you want a well-paying job, Pharmacy isn't the way to go. While it is still a decent, secure wage, there is a glass ceiling on how much most people in the profession earn. In community, you can expect a starting salary of 30-35K, rising up to around 40K, give or take. Hospital rates are similar, with maybe a little better earning prospects if you can snag a senior role. Again, not an awful salary on paper, but people often forget to consider what the job entails. In community at least, you are often expected to be a healthcare professional and store manager, perform a wide array of services, make sure all the paperwork is done, skip your lunchbreaks, stay behind after closing to make sure everything is finished (because you, and you alone, will be held responsible for the safe, effective and lawful running of the Pharmacy), deal with the general public - and not to mention Pharmacists can still technically be criminally prosecuted for mistakes (albeit this is rare). Even so, you have to be prepared that an error in your judgement could lead to serious harm or death. If you consider the responsibility of other jobs with similar pay, Pharmacy isn't exactly what I would call a cushy deal.

I'm aware this is anecdotal, but it bears saying: From what I've noticed when I look at people who have left the profession, they tend to be on the more intelligent, driven and/or capable end of the scale. To me at least, this indicates that Pharmacy simply isn't a competitive enough profession to keep those with high potential. If someone is smart enough to get into Pharmacy, there is a good chance they are smart enough to do a range of other things; if you don't like your job, don't feel it pays enough, but have the option of doing something better paying, more intellectually rewarding, and/or less demanding, wouldn't you? (Mind, this is true of a lot of careers).

Of course, that isn't to say that every intelligent, driven, and/or capable Pharmacist leaves - I actually think a lot of people in this category stay. I think there is one distinguishing factor at play: Sincere enjoyment of the job. In truth, I know Pharmacists who love the role and wouldn't change it for the world. Despite all the gripes you might read about on this forum.

One thing to think about - when people advocate the profession with things like "it's a solid career choice" and "it's a really rewarding job", do they actually qualify as to why those statements are true? This isn't me trying to imply these are empty statements - I do believe there are a whole array of answers to these statements - but I would be very skeptical of advice from people who can state that Pharmacy is a great career choice, but can't state why that is. Again, I will emphasize it can be a rewarding career in many respects, but there are a lot of people out there who will wax lyrical about the many wonders of Pharmacy without really hitting a single solid point. You need to be wary of these people.

Ultimately, I think you need to figure out the various postives and negatives of the role and how they stack up against your own wants and ambitions in life. Some people just want a solid job with stable pay. Some people want the flexibility of locuming. Some people want a job which allows them to interact with people in a meaningful way. Some people find the subject of how diseases are medicated genuinely fascinating. Some people want to work in a hands-on clinical setting, specializing in a particular area of medicine. For many, these factors outweigh many of the negatives you have read about.

(Another thing to bear in mind this there is a lot of concern about job prospects in the profession. In short, schools have opened very rapidly in the past 10 years and funding to Pharmacy has just been slashed. As such, there is real concern about there being enough jobs to go around as graduates start to outweigh available positions - I don't know the future, so I could be remiss in pointing this out, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility. Of course, if you have your heart set on Pharmac, you should still do it - because chances are you will work hard and be perfectly fine - but it's something all prospective students should definitely consider).

There is no solid, 100% true for absolutely everybody answer to the question "is Pharmacy a solid career choice for me?"

Note the bolded and underlined. I know Pharmacists who love their jobs and are absolutely suited to the role... just as I also know Pharmacists who see the job as a means to and end and/or are planning their escape *coughs* because, underneath that friendly, professional demeanor, they are working a job which is slowly sucking the life out of them because it's a career path they aren't suited to. Believe me, if you don't gel with the nature of the profession, it can be very soul sucking indeed.

That said, when people are negative about Pharmacy here, it doesn't mean "you absolutely shouldn't do it", rather, what it means is "you absolutely should take these points into consideration before doing it". I know that's not always clear in the tone of posts. Firstly...



If you want a well-paying job, Pharmacy isn't the way to go. While it is still a decent, secure wage, there is a glass ceiling on how much most people in the profession earn. In community, you can expect a starting salary of 30-35K, rising up to around 40K, give or take. Hospital rates are similar, with maybe a little better earning prospects if you can snag a senior role. Again, not an awful salary on paper, but people often forget to consider what the job entails. In community at least, you are often expected to be a healthcare professional and store manager, perform a wide array of services, make sure all the paperwork is done, skip your lunchbreaks, stay behind after closing to make sure everything is finished (because you, and you alone, will be held responsible for the safe, effective and lawful running of the Pharmacy), deal with the general public - and not to mention Pharmacists can still technically be criminally prosecuted for mistakes (albeit this is rare). Even so, you have to be prepared that an error in your judgement could lead to serious harm or death. If you consider the responsibility of other jobs with similar pay, Pharmacy isn't exactly what I would call a cushy deal.

I'm aware this is anecdotal, but it bears saying: From what I've noticed when I look at people who have left the profession, they tend to be on the more intelligent, driven and/or capable end of the scale. To me at least, this indicates that Pharmacy simply isn't a competitive enough profession to keep those with high potential. If someone is smart enough to get into Pharmacy, there is a good chance they are smart enough to do a range of other things; if you don't like your job, don't feel it pays enough, but have the option of doing something better paying, more intellectually rewarding, and/or less demanding, wouldn't you? (Mind, this is true of a lot of careers).

Of course, that isn't to say that every intelligent, driven, and/or capable Pharmacist leaves - I actually think a lot of people in this category stay. I think there is one distinguishing factor at play: Sincere enjoyment of the job. In truth, I know Pharmacists who love the role and wouldn't change it for the world. Despite all the gripes you might read about on this forum.

One thing to think about - when people advocate the profession with things like "it's a solid career choice" and "it's a really rewarding job", do they actually qualify as to why those statements are true? This isn't me trying to imply these are empty statements - I do believe there are a whole array of answers to these statements - but I would be very skeptical of advice from people who can state that Pharmacy is a great career choice, but can't state why that is. Again, I will emphasize it can be a rewarding career in many respects, but there are a lot of people out there who will wax lyrical about the many wonders of Pharmacy without really hitting a single solid point. You need to be wary of these people.

Ultimately, I think you need to figure out the various postives and negatives of the role and how they stack up against your own wants and ambitions in life. Some people just want a solid job with stable pay. Some people want the flexibility of locuming. Some people want a job which allows them to interact with people in a meaningful way. Some people find the subject of how diseases are medicated genuinely fascinating. Some people want to work in a hands-on clinical setting, specializing in a particular area of medicine. For many, these factors outweigh many of the negatives you have read about.

(Another thing to bear in mind this there is a lot of concern about job prospects in the profession. In short, schools have opened very rapidly in the past 10 years and funding to Pharmacy has just been slashed. As such, there is real concern about there being enough jobs to go around as graduates start to outweigh available positions - I don't know the future, so I could be remiss in pointing this out, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility. Of course, if you have your heart set on Pharmac, you should still do it - because chances are you will work hard and be perfectly fine - but it's something all prospective students should definitely consider).

I've been very confused about which course I could take (even after results day!). Initially I wanted to do pharmacy but recently my mind began switching to engineering. My parents say pharmacy is a solid career choice. Not to mention i've asked quite a few people (nurses, pharmacists, head of A&E ) if it's a good profession and pretty much they have said good things about it.

The opposite views are found online though. For the most part it's negative and people keep saying how it's not worth it (despite people in real life saying the complete opposite). Can someone who's actually done pharmacy give a true, unbiased (may not be possible lol) view on pharmacy and if it's well paid.

The degree is interesting but at the end of the day I do want a job with decent pay. I achieved AAA in my A-levels if that's any help.

Studying Pharmacy creates different options you can choose to work in the industry and you may choose to be self dependent and open your own pharmacy. Don't let the pay discourage you, If you truly like the course go for it.