Is pharmacy worth it or change paths?

[Futbol99]

I wanted to be a pharmacist or a family doctor equally till I got into university. I told my self that I will do my best in school in terms of marks, and do the things required by both until I start getting volunteering experience to start seeing my interests, and also where my marks place me.

 

After 2 years of undergrad (Im in ontario), I gave myself a reality check: I found that I have a great potential at pharmacy in ontario, and because Ive been volunteering there for a year now, I have enjoyed this path. There are many things that contribute in my dilemma btwn them both and thats why Family medicine was my other decision. Looking at my marks for medicine, they seem on the lower side (low GPA, High average) and Id have to maybe spend another 1 or 2 extra years to improve grades, buff up my research/volunteering.

 

After lots of research, after figuring out I have a high chance at pharmacy which made me happy. Ive realized lots of ppl saying its "saturated" and I wont find a job. I feel sad because I found myself fitting in perfectly in this career, but what good do I have if I cant find a job afterwards?

 

Basically, what im asking is : Is it worth striving towards pharmacy, apply, and get things rolling with the fact that I probably wont find a job, or begin to turn back to medicine and spend those extra years trying to fix marks, and get held behind a year or two to buff up my experiences to get into med school (and that may not even be good enough to get me in) ?

 

This is the negatives of having 2 favorable careers. Which is more of a "safe" route to take in terms of job security? I dont want to be disappointed 5-6 years down the road. So really, please dont mention in your answer "pick what ur interested in" because thats the dilemma!

 

Opinions and any advice is much much much appreciated! )

[FuturePT216]

I have a family member who's a pharmacist and has been working in ONtario for over 10 years now. Yes, there's more competition now with more immigrant pharmacists arriving as well as more graduates. However, there are still jobs. You may have to go onto the outskirts of the GTA maybe, like orillia, peterborough, etc. for a year or 2 until you have the experience to get a job where you want. There's also tons of positions in other provinces, especially alberta and BC. You could also work part-time at 2 places until you secure a full-time position. THat all, however depends on where you want to work. Do you want to do industry? government? hospital? community pharmacy? consulting? etc.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/qc/job_futures/statistics/3131.shtml

 

Hope that helps! And let me know if you have any questions and I'll try my best to find your answer

[Lonney]

If pharm doesn't work out, it is still a ****ing nice part time job if you want to study something else

 

15h/week @ 50$/h, wut wut

[Tacrolimus]

If job security is your main concern, go with Medicine. I don't think Family Doctors will have to worry about getting a job anytime soon.

 

With Pharmacy, you're going to have to slowly come up the ranks...perhaps start in a rural place, or work in two/three locations in the city.

 

Unfortunately, U of T and UBC enroll way too many students for some odd reason, and that has saturated the market.

[nem90]

If job security is your main concern, go with Medicine. I don't think Family Doctors will have to worry about getting a job anytime soon.

 

With Pharmacy, you're going to have to slowly come up the ranks...perhaps start in a rural place, or work in two/three locations in the city.

 

Unfortunately, U of T and UBC enroll way too many students for some odd reason, and that has saturated the market.

 

I agree with the sentiment of family doctors always having jobs. Not just them, all MDs in general. Human health knowledge and care keeps getting more thorough and demanding, so even if there is a surplus of doctors, the field equilibrates with better and more focused care.

 

Also OP, be glad you're not Muse. The guy has written MCAT, PCAT, GMAT, LSAT, whatever you can name, he's written it and still doesn't know what to do.

[zizo5]

In my opinion, given the current situation of pharmacists, I would definitely choose a career in FM over pharmacy if those are your two options.

 

However, from my experience, you can never be sure if you will get into medical school in canada when you want. I consider getting into medicine kind of like winning the lottery (there's an aspect of luck). But, persistance does pay off. What i'm trying to say is that you should always have a strong back up plan in case you don't get in when you want to or things don't go the way you want them to (low MCAT score, GPA etc.)

 

The one thing I regret is taking the whole medical school application process for granted. You can never be sure when you get in.

 

So my advice is, if you're considering both pharmacy and FM, then why don't go into pharmacy and still attempt for medicine from there? After all, pharmacy is an undergrad and you will have a GPA to show for it (though it may be harder to maintain a high GPA in pharmacy). And, at the same time, you have a great back up plan to FM...

 

Just my two cents.

[FitnessFreak]

Hi Futbol99!

 

Job security is not a guarantee in life, unfortunately. There are plenty of careers that were secure at one point and then completely destabilized afterwards. Even medical doctors were in over-supply at one point and some physician specialists are having difficulty finding work today. The only thing you can do is pursue the career you are most passionate about and if you truly love it, you will find a way to make it work.

 

If you truly love both professions equally, then it sounds like your real decision maker is in any or all of the following:

 

1. How fast you want to finish school (quicker with pharmacy)

2. Money invested (I assume pharmacy would be cheaper)

3. Earning potential (probably higher with medicine, but if you want to run your own business, the sky is the limit for either profession)

 

Some will argue job security as a 4th, citing medicine as the better option, but that is only the case RIGHT NOW. Things could change significantly once you are done school.

 

Hope that helps.

[costar]

Does anyone know what the average income for a pharmacist vs a family doctor in Canada is?

 

2nd question, are there pharmacists who start their own retail businesses anymore?

[Tacrolimus]

Does anyone know what the average income for a pharmacist vs a family doctor in Canada is?

 

2nd question, are there pharmacists who start their own retail businesses anymore?

 

2010 in Alberta:

 

Family Medicine: ~$150K (this is likely on the low side as well established family doctors make $300K)

Pharmacy: $85,000-90,000

 

Assuming both working full-time.

 

Yes, Pharmacists can start their own business, or a franchise with a known company. I know someone who graduated in 2010, and now owns a Shoppers Drug Mart.

[freewheeler]

I'm also questioning what it is exactly that I want to do in the future, whether it be Family Physician, Pharmacist, Occupational or Physical Therapist, etc. One concern is being able to get a job at all with the saturation (I assume this is less of a concern for Physicians, however I do not mind relocating) as well as the lifestyle and nature of the work (being on call, high stress, sleep deprived, difficult to take vacations, etc.) as well as the earnings (I'd like to be fairly compensated, and be able to pay off any debt incurred during school). I suppose the best thing to do is to go out and talk to people in these professions, recent grads and to volunteer/gain some experience in these fields myself. Regardless, I'd appreciate any insights anyone on this forum has.

[keinjuan]

I completely agree with Epona. I am a pharmacist who graduated last year, and I had no problem finding a full time job within 10 min drive with the wage I expected. Most of my classmates also did not have much problem. Of course, there's always a huge shortage of pharmacists in rural area... so job security-wise, I don't think pharmacists have anything to worry about. It is worth noting that, there has been wage cuts. That is largely due to generic price reform, not due to oversaturation. The reason behind why people think there's an oversaturation... if you ask me, I'd say people are comparing things with when pharmacy was at its prime (last couple years) as opposed to how things actually have been for the profession in the last decades.

 

In regards to the original discussion, I got into medicine this year. I can't exactly articulate why I made this decision. However, I'd strongly suggest trying for medical school if possible. Whether you get into med or compromise for pharmacy, it would still be beneficial to have tried.

[Tacrolimus]

I was told by my Pharmacy manager that the pay is around $40 now for new grads. I was a little surprised especially when you compare how much NAIT grads are making in Health Sciences, but that is not bad either for a start, I suppose. In terms of getting a job, I agree with keinjuan. It's not as bad as people are making it out to be.

 

As for Medicine, think of what you want to do, or what interests you. I think Pharmacy has a lot more clinical potential, and if the evolution continues, I'll personally be satisfied. Let's see what happens. Haha.

 

EDIT: When I said a lot more clinical potential, I was comparing that with the current model of Pharmacy.

[CharmingHedgehog]

You won't make more just because you have experience. My brother is a new grad pharmacist, and he also knows a lot of working pharmacists. Community pharmacist only receives minimal boost in their pay as they get more experience.

 

$40/hr is reasonable but good luck finding a FULL-TIME work in any of the big cities.

 

I think it depends on what you count as big cities. If you are only referring to Toronto, then I think the market is very saturated in the community pharmacy area. However, I know that hospitals in London currently are looking for temporary with the big possibility of converting to full time positions, and multiple part-time convertible to full-time community pharmacist openings as well. If you only look at the job postings that come through our class mailing list, you'll see that there are many positions open currently.

I think the big benefit of being a pharmacist is that you will not be at loss for a job, and you will be paid very well. I'm not sure if $40 is a Toronto specific rate, because in London, it's higher. If you have other interests (e.g. travel) that you would like to pursue, it is better being a pharmacist since it is very possible to work for a portion of the year, take off to travel, then come back to a job still.

 

Family medicine will always have job openings as well, + higher pay. It is a longer period of time in school, and the schedule may be less flexible depending on the practice set up you choose to go with.

 

Either way, in my experience, go into pharmacy only if you are sure you will be happy being a pharmacist for the foreseeable future even if you don't get into medical school. There are too many disgruntled pharmacists who are in the profession because they tried to "back-up" with pharmacy and ended up not making it to med school since pharmacy has a way of trying to deflate the marks as much as possible.

[Tacrolimus]

You won't make more just because you have experience. My brother is a new grad pharmacist, and he also knows a lot of working pharmacists. Community pharmacist only receives minimal boost in their pay as they get more experience.

 

$40/hr is reasonable but good luck finding a FULL-TIME work in any of the big cities.

 

This seems to indicate otherwise:

http://alis.alberta.ca/wageinfo/Content/RequestAction.asp?aspAction=GetWageDetail&format=html&RegionID=20&NOC=3131

 

It is, however, 2 years old. Best thing I'd recommend (for OP) is talk to people who have done it, work in a pharmacy and see the curriculum/course content. If you think you will enjoy it, go for it...don't worry about the money right now because these things fluctuate all the time.

[keinjuan]

Epona//

 

Even if I did not get in... I would have been happy being a pharmacist. Actually, it has been my childhood dream to become a pharmacist. Even when I look at it now, it's a very flexible job that yields relatively high, secure income. It is also a lot of fun to interact and problem-solve with patients (I work in a community setting.) Of course, there are a couple of aspects that I do not like, but nothing deal breaking (I'm sure medicine has a few as well.)

 

As a matter of fact, I wasn't even trying to get into medicine ASAP. It was more like, get in whenever. Hence, I've been applying soley to one school and would have continued to do so even if I did not get in. Luckily, I got in after two tries. That being said... I pretty much went into med because I could and I knew I was gonna enjoy the new challenges.

 

There are not many of our breeds but I do know two others. One of them is of same opinion as me. The other one told me she could not picture herself doing it for the rest of her life and that was why she switched.

 

Basically, if you think you will be happy with both profession, try to get into medicine. Even if you don't get in, you will learn a lot from the process. For instance, practicing for medical school interview made me a better communicator, and by extension, a better pharmacist. Yes, you may waste a couple years in doing so, but in the long run, I don't think it is a big loss. In fact, I think that's why there are so many people with degrees (even masters or PhD's) in pharmacy. Last but not least, if you are confident, go into pharmacy and apply to medicine from there. It's like playing hardcore mode in diablo if you know what I mean XD.

[Gretzky]

Hey Alfredsson, so you said that the starting salary is $40 an hour in edmonton. Do you know what the salary would be for a pharmacist working outside of Edmonton, like up north in Fort Mac or something?

[hexonu]

I have a few friends who just graduated that are making 50$/hr with Alberta Health Services. I don't know what the rate is for community, but this is hospital setting.

[Tacrolimus]

Hey Alfredsson, so you said that the starting salary is $40 an hour in edmonton. Do you know what the salary would be for a pharmacist working outside of Edmonton, like up north in Fort Mac or something?

 

Actually, some are offering $45/hr, but if you want a full time job right away, yeah, that seems to happen... at least to the IPGs.

 

Perhaps keinjuan can comment more on that, but I think he mentioned that some people are getting like ~25-50% of every CACP they do. That is a pretty good deal, IMO.

 

I have a few friends who just graduated that are making 50$/hr with Alberta Health Services. I don't know what the rate is for community, but this is hospital setting.

 

That's the minimum wage for a pharmacist at AHS, so I can see that.

[pharmaa]

Hello everybody,

I'm a pharmacist and I wanna try immigrating to Canada through express entry. Due to the high money I should pay for getting ECA and then passing the exams of PEBC, I wanted to know if there is a good market in Canada for foreign pharmacists ? 

I mean would there be job security for me as a FOREIGN pharmacist? (cause its one of my reasons for immigration)

I can also apply for a Phd degree in pharmacology or toxicology or related majors (I have a pharmD degree), but I'm not sure about their future. I would appreciate it if you could give me some advice or introduce me somewhere I can get more information about this 2 ways which I'm gonna choose the best one. 

Thank you in advance 

[la marzocco]

8 hours ago, pharmaa said:

Hello everybody,

I'm a pharmacist and I wanna try immigrating to Canada through express entry. Due to the high money I should pay for getting ECA and then passing the exams of PEBC, I wanted to know if there is a good market in Canada for foreign pharmacists ? 

I mean would there be job security for me as a FOREIGN pharmacist? (cause its one of my reasons for immigration)

I can also apply for a Phd degree in pharmacology or toxicology or related majors (I have a pharmD degree), but I'm not sure about their future. I would appreciate it if you could give me some advice or introduce me somewhere I can get more information about this 2 ways which I'm gonna choose the best one. 

Thank you in advance 

https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketreport/outlook-occupation/18196/ca <-- some objective data for you. 

From my pharm friends, they noted that hospital pharmacist positions are very competitive - local Canadian experience (not necessarily Canadian education) is normally required for hospital pharmacist positions. If you are ok with community pharmacy, I believe demand > supply in non-metropolitan regions and provinces noted in the link above (like MB, NB, etc.).