I’m a band 6 rotational pharmacist in a hospital and I absolutely love my job!

My work shift currently is 4.5 days working in a GP surgery as a practise based pharmacist and 1.5 days working as a locum pharmacist (in community).
Within next 1-2 years I will be aiming to open a few businesses so my schedule will most definitely change.

woahh thats amazing !! How did you get a pre reg in a GP surgery ?

I fully intend to gross circa £65,000 this year by working overtime on my day job and locumming on the side. The key to happiness is to make others happy. No time for negativity and negative people. Happy pharmacist selling happiness to happy patients.

#Pharmacypositivity

I have been following this thread for a while and i am a bit conflicted. I have received an offer to begin my OSPAP in Sunderland in September this year as i would love to practice as a pharmacist in the UK. My main reason for choosing the UK despite already having about 5 years of experience in my home country is that i would like to experience the practice in a developed country so to speak even if its for a few years. On the one hand, i can see that the practice is fulfilling and pays well while on the other hand i am concerned about the recent closures of pharmacies in the UK among other troubles befalling the pharmacy sector. But even at this, would it be difficult to get jobs as a pharmacist in say Wales or Ireland as opposed to England where a lot of pharmacists seem to be concentrated? Also once im registered by the GPHC i can work anywhere in the UK right?

UK is frankly one of the last developed nation you should want to come to if you're looking for a job as a pharmacist. Do yourself a favour and go to somewhere like Canada, US etc. The pay for community pharmacists has come down due to the large number of pharmacists currently avaliable. This is due to the increasing number of pharmacy schools. Add this to the closure of pharmacies and then you will have a situation where you can potentially find it hard/impossible to find jobs in certain parts of the UK. If you want my advise, don't take the risk, especially when there nations that offer much better pharmacy jobs.

Thanks for the response. I have considered the US but the process is extremely difficult bordering on impossible as i do not have a Pharm D degree and my B.Pharm was 4 years so i am not considered eligible. I also considered Canada and i went as far as writing the first exam which unfortunately i failed. I have family in the UK which is another reason i considered it. There must be some parts of the UK that would still have reasonable job opportunities no?

In all good conscious I simply cannot encourage you in any way to go work in the UK. Can you find jobs in certain parts of the UK? yes, but why take the risk? You may get lucky and land yourself a job or you may spend most of your times waiting to get a locum shift. It's up to you, if you want to give it a try, then go for it. But ideally, you'd try harder to get into places like Canada.

Thanks for the response. I have considered the US but the process is extremely difficult bordering on impossible as i do not have a Pharm D degree and my B.Pharm was 4 years so i am not considered eligible. I also considered Canada and i went as far as writing the first exam which unfortunately i failed. I have family in the UK which is another reason i considered it. There must be some parts of the UK that would still have reasonable job opportunities no? Also i dont necessarily have to work in community pharmacy, there's also the GP surgeries and hospitals as well right?

If you listen to all the negativity plaguing this forum, you will never choose to undergo your course. I chose not to listen to the negativity prior to starting my course, and I have since qualified and earn far more than my peers currently. I love the challenges of pharmacy in all its spheres of practice, and I think the best decision I ever made was to ignore the naysayers years ago.

Do your course and qualify. You will definitely get a good job afterwards, You can then make a decision on whether to continue in pharmacy or not.

I'll keep it in mind, thank you so much.

I have been following this thread for a while and i am a bit conflicted. I have received an offer to begin my OSPAP in Sunderland in September this year as i would love to practice as a pharmacist in the UK. My main reason for choosing the UK despite already having about 5 years of experience in my home country is that i would like to experience the practice in a developed country so to speak even if its for a few years. On the one hand, i can see that the practice is fulfilling and pays well while on the other hand i am concerned about the recent closures of pharmacies in the UK among other troubles befalling the pharmacy sector. But even at this, would it be difficult to get jobs as a pharmacist in say Wales or Ireland as opposed to England where a lot of pharmacists seem to be concentrated? Also once im registered by the GPHC i can work anywhere in the UK right?

If you listen to all the negativity plaguing this forum, you will never choose to undergo your course. I chose not to listen to the negativity prior to starting my course, and I have since qualified and earn far more than my peers currently. I love the challenges of pharmacy in all its spheres of practice, and I think the best decision I ever made was to ignore the naysayers years ago.

Do your course and qualify. You will definitely get a good job afterwards, You can then make a decision on whether to continue in pharmacy or not.

Job situation in wales and ireland tbh depends on where in those respective countries (likewise scotland for that matter). Cities tend to have high competition for pharmacists (particulalrly the likes of Cardiff, Belfast and Swansea in those areas) which means you have to look for work in a village. I also know from personal experience that villages can be quite racist near wales and had a wierd scenario once where a catholic and a CofE (church of England) priest tried to convert me to their repective branches of christianity in the pharmacy.

Scotland generally tends to be the best from what I heard but again, expect a lot of competition in places like Edinburgh, Glasgow & Aberdeen. Also Once you do register with the GPhC as a pharmacist, you can practice anywhere in the UK, but just be aware that there are differences in legislation from country to country regarding prescriptions, costs and other stuff

Hey,Student entering final year now. Lovely post - just wanted to ask how quickly yu can become a band 7 from band 6. Can you do it in under 1 year if you work hard ?Thanks,Ola