How is pay in pharmacy?

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half the posts on this topic are about how medicine and dentistry is "better" that pharmacy (or more competitive)

as far as im concerned if you dont like pharmacy DONT DO IT dont keep blaggin on about its crap pay and stuff !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! people think about making hundred thousand pounds are year ,,,if they dont they wont be happy!!!

FFS you no what modern day pharmacy is like and what it can offer in terms of career path and pay .... so stop asking if you will be a millionaire and get on with it!!!!!!!!

Reply 61

fblade

I work in a chemist and I see how much LOCUMs, they get roughly for a days work around £160-£190. My manager gets roughly £3600/month, I saw his payslip once. He always goes on about his kids going to private school, if his kids are being put through school privately I think pharmacy is quite a good career money-wise.

Plus your work during not as stressful as A-levels, I worked 2 full weeks, full days and everything, the hard part of the day is being able to stand up for like 9hours!

Reply 62

pharmgirl

Ok can I offer my two cents worth as someone that has been a quaklified pharmacist for 7 years. Emmz and BB you are both right, as most pharmacists did originally apply for pharmacy and there are some schools that now offer places to people that have failed to get into medical and dental school. How can you both be right? Well here's the explanation. When I applied to do pharmacy 11 years ago there where only 10 schools of pharmacy in the UK. Therefore pharmacy was highly competative. The "A levels werent modular then so the grades were different, but the offers then were typically BBB for medicine, BBC for pharmacy and BCC for dentistry. Because of this, there was quite often occasions where peole used to miss the grades for Phammacy and get into dentistry on clearing. Back then it was very differnt, and to even get an offer for Pharmacy you had to express total commitment, and even an inkling of wanting to do medicine would provoke an instant "next!" from the admissions tutor. Why the change? Well it all comes down to the flood of new Pharmacy schools that have come into existance ion the past 5 years. there are now close to 30 Pharmacy schools and the number is rising, and every new pharmacy school has to compete to get the students. For example, Manchester used to compete with Liverpool and Bradford for the Northern students and that was it. Bradford wasnt even an issue for the other two as at the time it was a 4-year sandwhich course and Pharmacy was a three year BSc so people just naturalyl wanted to do three years and make the dosh. Now Keele, Wolverhampton and soon Leeds have come into the equation but there are still only the same number of A level students. Consequently, the offers have become lower and now the order of gradesm instead of being medicine, pharmacy and the n dentistry, are medicine and dentistry the same, then pharmacy. Plus, because all the schools are falling over themselves to get the students they are less sensitive to the medicine reject issue so will make offers to prospective medics. Another point is that in my day people could apply to 6 medical schools not 4, but n ow they are expected to have a backup plan so nobody will penalise a student for putting pharmacy as second. Therefore we are now in a situation where theoretically at least someone can use pharmacy as a course to do if they fail to get into medicine or dentistry. So the point I'm making is that the competativeness is to do with (a) the massive increase in the number of spharmacy schools; and (b) the relative lowering of the pharmacy offers, where (b) has directly come about because of (a), and I think it has little to do with any change in people's desire to do one course over the other or the worth of the career. One final point I will make though, is that the comopetativeness between Pharmacists and Medics never goes away. Whilst there are now lots of opportunities for pharms and docs to work together, I think that in too many cases, the only contact a pharmacist has with a doctor is when the pharmacist rings up hte doctor to tell them that they've prescribed something wroing. Not comducive to a good working relationship. Hope that schanges soon wehen you youn 'uns qualify.

Reply 63

pharmgirl

So sorry about the typos. I'm not illiterate, just spilt coffee over my keyboard and the keys are stuicky!

Reply 64

Riim

I thort u guys wer meant 2 discuss abt pay in pharm!?!

Reply 65

Mubsy

Hey Pharmgirl, some good stuff said there.

One point I was trying to make earlier was that if one has the intention of going into Graduate Medicine, then studying Pharmacy is not really a good idea because of the length of this degree course and the vocational/professional nature of the career. It's a tough degree requiring the same level of motivation and dedication as Medicine and Dentistry and hence I think it is unlikely someone would get a 2:1 on this course if their intention was solely to follow a graduate route into the two previously mentioned degrees.

If your mind is still focussed on Medicine/Dentistry, this will surely get in the way of your studies on the Pharmacy course and from what I have seen, it's no easy degree.

I feel that Pharmacy is given an undeserving negative reputation as an "alternative" to Medicine/Dentistry when in reality it is an excellent career in itself. There are some similarities between the degrees but overall they could not be any more different to each other.

I knew that if I had taken up my place on the Pharmacy course, I would not have been able to give 100% commitment as my mind would have still been on Medicine.

My advice: if you are considering studying Pharmacy as a route to graduate medicine, don't study Pharmacy.

I know that there are people out there who want to study Pharmacy as a first choice and for whatever reason will not get that opportunity whether it's because they got rejected or didn't get the grades etc. It would be wrong of someone who in reality has no passion for a career in Pharmacy to deny such candidates a place on the course.

Reply 66

pharmgirl

Riim

I thort u guys wer meant 2 discuss abt pay in pharm!?!

LOL you are right! OK, so I earn a nice bit of dosh (damn these keys I have to write so slow). Maybe I can afford a new computer! But seriously, they are now offering £40,000 to new graduates for a community pharmacy post but locuming is where the real money is (unless you want to do a PhD or rise through the ranks as a hospital pharmacist, which nowadays requires a clinical diploma/MSc . It takes about 6 months to get on the locum scene and then the work flies in. I have a mate who locums full time and pulls in about £60,000 a year but never works Saturday, goes on holiday three times a year and doesnt work school holidays.
Hope this helps,
Nikkix

Reply 67

pharmgirl

British Bulldog

If your mind is still focussed on Medicine/Dentistry, this will surely get in the way of your studies on the Pharmacy course and from what I have seen, it's no easy degree.

Absolutely. There was this girl on my course who I went to school with who originally applied for medicine and didnt make the grades. So she got into clearing for dentistry (bearing in mind that's how it was in my day) because her mum worked there so that helped. Anyway half way through she decides she hates dentistry and with the excuse that she cant make fillings(!) she started again doing pharmacy (no idea how they let her in at that point but again her mum was an academic so it must have helped). So she qualifies as a pharmacist, works for a year in a hospital and then goes back to uni AGAIN to do medicine. No idea what she's going to try next. Astronaut maybe? Working for Gordon Ramsey? Masseuse? Only goes to prove the point you ar emaking about not dpoing a course you are not committed to.

Reply 68

Riim

yea but i mean uv got experience init? if i remember wel u grad sum yrs ago rite?? lyk i woz readin dis articl d other day n der woz dis pharmacist, newly grad who woz only on 16k!!

Reply 69

pharmgirl

Riim

yea but i mean uv got experience init? if i remember wel u grad sum yrs ago rite?? lyk i woz readin dis articl d other day n der woz dis pharmacist, newly grad who woz only on 16k!!

No no this is for first year graduate not qualified. The 16 grand you've seen is the average pay in hospital for a pre-reg, who is a Pharmacy graduate but not actually on the register. Its still a student post so the boss or pre-reg tutor gets a subsidy from the government to take on a pre-reg, which is why the pay is low. Once on the register, a locum can charge a fixed rate whatever their level of experience. And hey, if I graduated some years ago, the pay has risen not gone down (inflation!). So if you are thinking of doing pharmacy, the dosh is still on!

Reply 70

Random.Girl

Hospital pre-reg is closer to 20k now :smile:

Argh such a dilemma what to do once I'm qualified though ... stay in hospital and spend years working up or move to community and start cashing in straight away. Hmmmmm

Reply 71

Riim

dats great! coz im an international n my uni fees wil b aprox 13-14k a yr!! :frown:

Reply 72

Random.Girl

Hmmm I think as long as I can get a hospital job after qualifying I'm just gonna try and do my diploma ASAP. Hospital pharmacy interests me so much more. Could always do a few weekend community locums if I'm saving up for something flash.

Reply 73

pharmgirl

-Emmz-

To right! When I was doing my PhD I was the only one who was a pharmacist and everyone was as sick as a pig cos I doubled my stipend by working as a locum on Saturday mornings!

Reply 74

pharmgirl

Riim

dats great! coz im an international n my uni fees wil b aprox 13-14k a yr!! :frown:

emmz u voiced out my wories.... i gues pharmgirl cud provide sum help 4 us der...

Ha ha ha start a home for starving pharmacy students. Drugs, drugs, drugs LOL.

Reply 75

Riim

neway thx guys... specially nikki... it sure got me 2 make up my mind... wish me luck... gawd its 3 am over here...

Good luck!

nw dat uv sed dis pharmgirl i wud rely lyk 2 kno dis... considerin hw much my course fees r... is it worth it???

ps: il b livin in uk itself!! i met a hunky british on d sandy beaches of mtus n wer nw engaged!!

Reply 78

Random.Girl

pharmgirl

To right! When I was doing my PhD I was the only one who was a pharmacist and everyone was as sick as a pig cos I doubled my stipend by working as a locum on Saturday mornings!

Hehe.

What did you do your PhD in? I never thought I'd ever want to do one but after being in the labfor 8 weeks doing my final year project and being around the PhD students it's definitely something I'd consider now ... although 3 years is such a long time!!

Reply 79

pharmgirl

Riim

Congrats! Has he got a brother? Well if you are paying 14K a year that's 56K. Dont count the pre-reg year as relatively speaking you dont earn as much, but say you qualify and locum for a few years to save up, you could easily live on 15K a year even without the BF so that potentially leaves you with 30-40K a year to recoup your fees. It will cost you a lot, but I would say that out of any degree pharmacy gives you the most financial security to be able to justify paying full fees. Compare to medicine say, its potentially better paid but you dont get the freedom in the first few years because of the long hours as a house officer, and then even if you want to be a GP its still 3-4 years training. Is that right Bulldog? And if you do a pure science degree, you could end up getting into even more debt as realistically you have to get a PhD to go far in science.