Future of Pharmacy

[Tacrolimus]

I honestly don't understand why the schools keep increasing seats. UBC and U of T need to trim it down to 170 or so.

 

I'm a little worried about this as well...as I'm applying for Pharm this year, but all jobs are going through this period right now....even doctors are having trouble securing a job!

[nakiokevo]

Here's my two cent. I was chatting with a good friend of mine a couple of months ago, and he graduated from UBC Pharmacy way back in 2006. He told me not to go into Pharmacy. Pharmacy is not as hot as it was years before. Like many have said... The golden years of pharmacy are over. Unless you relocate to a more rural area, it's going to be difficult to secure a job. If job security is your main priority, you might want to reconsider.

[bcpharmacist]

This might be an old thread but I thought its worth mentioning that as of April there has been a significant pharmacy funding cut, not only in BC but technically in all provinces as generic prices set to as low as 18% of brand (from 35% in BC), some generics even less, in AB there was also an unexpected cut, this is translated to up to 15% of loss in revenues which is significant.

The impact of such cuts is still to be seen, as a pharmacy owner I can see pharmacies close downs in the near future, esp independents with low rx count, this means more job seekers and more pressure on the already saturated market.

As for the future outlook (5-10 years from now), it is expected to see a big hike in rx numbers which logically means an increase in the number of new openings for pharmacists, however; my opinion is that this will easily be filled up by the increased numbers of new grads and the increase of pharmacist's workload (forced by funding cuts), the current published market outlook estimates that by 2020 the number of new openings will roughly be equal to the number of available pharmacists, suggesting no big change in unemployment rates or wages, but this analysis does not take into account the impact of funding cuts which by far exceeds the claimed expansion of pharmacists' role and the introduction of the clinical services.

In my opinion by 2020 there will be more pharmacists looking for jobs than jobs available, unfortunately the increased in supply will force wages to decrease.

[medicalhopeful]

How will the PharmD program that U of T implemented affect new grads?

 

I understand there is change in the curriculum but will this help fresh grads coming out looking for jobs? (I believe 2015 is the first graduating class from U of T with PharmD's- not sure about Waterloo).

[william28]

I am a pharmacist - completely agree with the identity crisis analogy.

 

I feel that this profession has almost NO representation by our association. Have you heard of the Blueprint for Pharmacy? Chances are I will ride a unicorn before practice change happens. Meanwhile, wages fall, pharmacies struggle to make money and nobody is standing up for our profession.

 

It's also frustrating that every province has different legislation and scope of practice. Pharmacy needs to get its **** together.

 

Personally, I am applying to medicine.

[Stethescope]

I am a pharmacist - completely agree with the identity crisis analogy.

 

I feel that this profession has almost NO representation by our association. Have you heard of the Blueprint for Pharmacy? Chances are I will ride a unicorn before practice change happens. Meanwhile, wages fall, pharmacies struggle to make money and nobody is standing up for our profession.

 

It's also frustrating that every province has different legislation and scope of practice. Pharmacy needs to get its **** together.

 

Amen bratha