Why people talk sh** about pharmacy?

I have noticed some people saying:
-Pharmacy is a dying career
- there are no jobs for pharmacists
-pre reg jobs are getting competitive

I really don’t get this because back in my country PharmD ( Mpharm in the UK) is super competitive to get into and the grades that u need is sometimes higher than what u need for medicine or dentistry. It’s seems so wired to me when they say it’s gonna be hard to get a job with Mpharm. I mean seriously? Do u think it’s easier to get a job with biomed or a psychology degree? It’s a science master degree after all.
Weirdos !!!

I have noticed some people saying:
-Pharmacy is a dying career
- there are no jobs for pharmacists
-pre reg jobs are getting competitive

I really don’t get this because back in my country PharmD ( Mpharm in the UK) is super competitive to get into and the grades that u need is sometimes higher than what u need for medicine or dentistry. It’s seems so wired to me when they say it’s gonna be hard to get a job with Mpharm. I mean seriously? Do u think it’s easier to get a job with biomed or a psychology degree? It’s a science master degree after all.
Weirdos !!!

Pharm D is offered in US and Canada... students there have to pass a graduation degree and then complete a PharmD as a postgraduate course so to speak ( essentially a Doctor of Pharmacy( The degree content is much harder as compared to the UK so entry requirements are high. Pharmacists in these countries are well respected and earn well above $100K which means they are well remunerated for their knowledge and qualifications

Compared that to the UK where vast amounts of under qualified students get on the pharmacy course offered via clearing who's numbers are unregulated by Law. Pharmacists are seen as glorified retail staff and not respected one bit. Large chains have monopoly and use the high pharmacists number due to high supply to reduce locum rates and salaries + crap working conditions and targets which reduce morale. ALSO with any future NHS cuts target Pharmacy funding first so pharmacists are the first to take the hit. No one is saying there aren't jobs.. but the salaries and locum rates offered in cities are not that great.

Doesn’t sound rational. Mpharm is equivalent to pharmD regardless of the years it is achieved( trust me on this, many Canadian students come over here to study pharmacy, go back and practice as a pharmacist. The content of pharmD is not much different from Mpharm as it enables you to register as a pharmacist in the countries where pharmD is studied.
What u said about the respect and the salary doesn’t make any sense either because a considerable proportion of pharmacists earn above £50k (which is in most cases higher than what junior doctors and dentists earn (£48k) and this is only when they are not a prescribing pharmacist or a don’t own a pharmacy( that leaves at least a £200k profit).
Also unlike what you said NHS crisis will increase the pharmacist salary as they will have more responsibility( as we have seen an increasing number of pharmacists working in GP)
After all an Mpharm is a million time more valuable than a BSc.

1. My Aunty and cousin are pharmacists in the US so my source is reliable. If it was equivalent why do UK pharmacists need to write exams in pharmacy theory and law? Why do they need to have shadow experience as well before they are finally allowed to practice in the states? Have you studied the Pharm D as well? If the entry requirements and course content is the same then why did you come to the UK to do this degree?

2. What is considerably? If you want to include store managers who work like dogs 50-60 hours a week to manage the store then they might be on that salary. But then what? It will never increase to 60/70k even if you work locums for a 45 hour week full time on the current rates. Do you know how many independent pharmacies are shutting down purely because it’s unviable with funding cuts to own them as a business?
3. How do you know the salary will increase? The trend in the last 15 years is that funding is coming down year on year. All pharmacists cannot work in GP surgeries or hospitals.

Clearly you have no clue what you’re on about.. don’t worry once you start working as a big chain retail slave pharmacist then you’ll know what I and many other posters on here meant.

1- just because they have to do a test there doesn’t mean the degrees are not equivalent. U have to do exams (USMLE) even if you are a medical doctor so it doesn’t mean MBBS is not equivalent to MD.
I study in the UK because the cost is much lower and it takes fewer years.

2- you said that the salary does never go up to 70/80k so you clearly have no idea what senior lead pharmacist is or how much they get.
What is the proof of what u say about independent pharmacies shutting down due to lack of funding. It’s just what some guy says on student room so doesn’t mean it’s true.

Dude, just because you could never make the most out of your pharmacy degree doesn’t mean no one could. Just because you couldn’t become a clinical one doesn’t mean no one could.
Could you just answer one thing? Are you saying that a BSc in basic sciences (biochemistry, pharmacology)or some nursing or psychology are more useful to do? Because in that case I really have noting to say but to wish you luck.

1. Thats exactly what it means, equivalent means a degree is recognised like for like in two different areas which means the person can practice without restrictions.. same way EU med/dentistry degrees are accepted in the UK without need for conversion exams. And also you cant compare medicine and pharmacy atleast in the UK.. theres a huge difference in the calibre of students entering both courses. Why do you think it costs less and takes less years here..? because it is not as demanding or hard to get into compared to North America. You just answered your own questions.

2. Senior Lead pharmacist? Where? Hospital? if so maybe if they were a band 8/9 in the Trust but very very few people do hospital pharmacy anyway and out of that a small percentage of people make it those bands. Community pharmacists even on a full time contract does NOT make anywhere close to that @marinade could you please confirm.

Also how i know about independent pharmacies shutting down is by working in one for a few years and speaking to the owner who had it for 40 years.. example 25 years ago in my city there were 15/20 independent pharmacies.. now there are only 3.. Unlike you I have reliable sources and experience here for me to back up my statements. If you dont believe me find an independent pharmacy and ask them what they see the future as.

Anyway what makes you think I have made no use my degree..? because of this i managed to get into a competitive grad schemes in consulting and i work for a lot of healthcare clients BECAUSE of my background. we have a few ex pharmacists working in our firm who have left pharmacy. Every so often my course mates message me to say they are fed up of pharmacy and they want do something else.

What is 'useful' to you? True just going into lab work after doing pure science degrees which you mentioned may not be fulfilling or high paid but pharmacy isnt either. It depends what someone wants to do in life.. if someone WANTS to be a pharmacist then obv the degree will be useful but at the end of the day its just a degree which can be used to do ANY kind of generic graduate roles.

You can keep coming up with excuses to justify your investment to come study in the UK but you cannot change the ground reality which is a bad future for pharmacists.

1- if that’s your definition of equivalent so MBBS is not equivalent to an MD in the US and also a BDS is not equivalent to DDS in US too because they all have to do exams again.
U said that Mpharm is not comparable with pharmD because of the way that students get in that doesn’t make sense again because they do the SAME job after graduation although, UK pharmacist at least get a Chance to become a prescriber but pharmD graduates would never do. It’s not about how you get into the course. It’s about the fact that it’s not possible to get registered if you are not competent.
It takes less years to do ANY other kind of degree in England than North America. Bachelors take four years to complete there unlike here but it does not mean that it’s less demanding to study here.

2-you are right, there are fewer pharmacists who get to that level than retail pharmacists but that’s just due to statistics. Think about it, there are far more pharmacies than the hospitals (almost 12 times more)so obviously there are more retail pharmacists than clinical pharmacists but it doesn’t mean those who are interested can’t make it. BTW about the pay for retail, search retail pharmacist salary in Ireland( where you could use British Mpharm) €80-100k.

3-your reliable sources? Which one?
Competitive grad scheme?!! Sounds like an important job that allows you enough time to be on The student room 24/7 and say stuffs to make yourself believe that you are happy about not doing the pre-reg or actually failing the pre-reg in my opinion.

I didn’t make any investment for studying here. I’m a home student. I use student finance. Not paying a penny.

I have noticed some people saying:
-Pharmacy is a dying career
- there are no jobs for pharmacists
-pre reg jobs are getting competitive

I really don’t get this because back in my country PharmD ( Mpharm in the UK) is super competitive to get into and the grades that u need is sometimes higher than what u need for medicine or dentistry. It’s seems so wired to me when they say it’s gonna be hard to get a job with Mpharm. I mean seriously? Do u think it’s easier to get a job with biomed or a psychology degree? It’s a science master degree after all.
Weirdos !!!

1- if that’s your definition of equivalent so MBBS is not equivalent to an MD in the US and also a BDS is not equivalent to DDS in US too because they all have to do exams again.
U said that Mpharm is not comparable with pharmD because of the way that students get in that doesn’t make sense again because they do the SAME job after graduation although, UK pharmacist at least get a Chance to become a prescriber but pharmD graduates would never do. It’s not about how you get into the course. It’s about the fact that it’s not possible to get registered if you are not competent.
It takes less years to do ANY other kind of degree in England than North America. Bachelors take four years to complete there unlike here but it does not mean that it’s less demanding to study here.

2-you are right, there are fewer pharmacists who get to that level than retail pharmacists but that’s just due to statistics. Think about it, there are far more pharmacies than the hospitals (almost 12 times more)so obviously there are more retail pharmacists than clinical pharmacists but it doesn’t mean those who are interested can’t make it. BTW about the pay for retail, search retail pharmacist salary in Ireland( where you could use British Mpharm) €80-100k.

3-your reliable sources? Which one?
Competitive grad scheme?!! Sounds like an important job that allows you enough time to be on The student room 24/7 and say stuffs to make yourself believe that you are happy about not doing the pre-reg or actually failing the pre-reg in my opinion.

I didn’t make any investment for studying here. I’m a home student. I use student finance. Not paying a penny.

I have noticed some people saying:
-Pharmacy is a dying career
- there are no jobs for pharmacists
-pre reg jobs are getting competitive

I really don’t get this because back in my country PharmD ( Mpharm in the UK) is super competitive to get into and the grades that u need is sometimes higher than what u need for medicine or dentistry. It’s seems so wired to me when they say it’s gonna be hard to get a job with Mpharm. I mean seriously? Do u think it’s easier to get a job with biomed or a psychology degree? It’s a science master degree after all.
Weirdos !!!

No offence but who do you think people will believe more? A student who is currently training to be a pharmacist or an experienced graduate who also have family members with experience such as @sachinisgod

Maybe its the successive posts by pharmacists and pharmacy students about the saturation in the market, low / stagnant salaries and detailed accounts of their experience in the UK?

What is your country where pharmacy is more competitive than medicine?
Maybe its different in your country than the UK? Would that be possible that two different countries are in fact different?

do you think i'm stupid?

Oh come on! Don’t be the typical argument kiss as* 🤢🤮