Pharmacy Job Landscape In Québec

[MichealScott]

Hello,

 

First of all, sorry for not posting in French. Please feel free to answer in whatever language you'd like. 

 

I'm thinking of studying Pharmacy at Université Laval in the Fall and the job landscape of pharmacists in Québec is very murky to me, even after loads of research. 

 

From what I've understood, being a pharmacist in Québec is very different from the rest of Canada. My main concerns are what follows:

 

(1) Does anyone know how hard it is to own/start up a pharmacy in Québec?

 

(2) Is it true that there is a great deal of job shortage in the field, leading to basically everyone getting a job?

 

(3) In pharmacy school, do grades matter or is more of a pass/fail type of situation?

 

Thanks in advance! Merci!

[DK1]

Hey MichaelScott,

 

Pharmacy is an amazing medical field. Pharmacists have an important impact on patient care (far more than most people realize, your interventions will optimize treatment (efficacy and tolerability), save hospitalisation and other healthcare-related costs and save lives - literally). I congratulate you on choosing pharmacy. However, with current legislative changes, dark times await the world of pharmacy in Québec.

 

(1) I'm not quite familiar with starting-up a pharmacy. However, consider that if the Health Minister's actual plans go through "as is" without any collaboration with the AQPP (Association québécoise des pharmaciens propriétaires), there will likely be pharmacies closing because of the impossibility to be financially sustainable with the proposed model. It is difficult to talk about pharmacy start-ups in that context. Nonetheless, you won't likely be opening a pharmacy before at least 4 to 6 years, so the context has time to evolve (and hopefully for the better).

 

(2) The job shortage is being resorbed rather quickly. Big cities (at least Montréal) are already saturated. Newly graduated pharmacists are turning towards suburban and rural areas for practice. By the time you graduate, the shortage will surely be completely resorbed. It must also be taken in account that job cuts (and reduced population services in community pharmacies) are imminent if current legislatives changes are maintained. The best advice I can give to any pharmacy student: start working in a community pharmacy during your studies.

 

A. It has many benefits for your studies:

• hands on experience
• better preparation for 4th year stages
• mastering pharmacy software
• and many more

B. Working in a pharmacy will also help you find a job later

• pharmacy owners love to keep students that worked for them because
  • they already know the pharmacy's patients
  • they are already used to the pharmacy's working environment
  • they are familiar with the staff
  • etc.
• pharmacy owners favour pharmacists with working experience as a student
  • ​they have experience with working in a pharmacy team
  • they have experience with more technical aspects of running a pharmacy (which aren't covered at all in school)
  • etc.

C. A pharmacy student's pay is also pretty decent (especially when you are a 3rd and 4th year student).

 

(3) I'm not quite sure for ULaval, but at U of M, all classes are graded. However, you really just need to pass (no boards exam or anything of that sort in Quebec so grades don't really matter as long as maintain a minimal passing GPA). ULaval has this special evaluation at the end of each year, the DAN - dossier d'apprentissage numérique, which is basically a pass/fail evaluation that determines if you can continue to the following year.

 

I hope that answers your questions! Don't hesitate to PM me if you have more questions!

 

DK

[MichealScott]

Hey MichaelScott,

 

Pharmacy is an amazing medical field. Pharmacists have an important impact on patient care (far more than most people realize, your interventions will optimize treatment (efficacy and tolerability), save hospitalisation and other healthcare-related costs and save lives - literally). I congratulate you on choosing pharmacy. However, with current legislative changes, dark times await the world of pharmacy in Québec.

 

(1) I'm not quite familiar with starting-up a pharmacy. However, consider that if the Health Minister's actual plans go through "as is" without any collaboration with the AQPP (Association québécoise des pharmaciens propriétaires), there will likely be pharmacies closing because of the impossibility to be financially sustainable with the proposed model. It is difficult to talk about pharmacy start-ups in that context. Nonetheless, you won't likely be opening a pharmacy before at least 4 to 6 years, so the context has time to evolve (and hopefully for the better).

 

(2) The job shortage is being resorbed rather quickly. Big cities (at least Montréal) are already saturated. Newly graduated pharmacists are turning towards suburban and rural areas for practice. By the time you graduate, the shortage will surely be completely resorbed. It must also be taken in account that job cuts (and reduced population services in community pharmacies) are imminent if current legislatives changes are maintained. The best advice I can give to any pharmacy student: start working in a community pharmacy during your studies.

 

A. It has many benefits for your studies:

• hands on experience
• better preparation for 4th year stages
• mastering pharmacy software
• and many more

B. Working in a pharmacy will also help you find a job later

• pharmacy owners love to keep students that worked for them because
  • they already know the pharmacy's patients
  • they are already used to the pharmacy's working environment
  • they are familiar with the staff
  • etc.
• pharmacy owners favour pharmacists with working experience as a student
  • ​they have experience with working in a pharmacy team
  • they have experience with more technical aspects of running a pharmacy (which aren't covered at all in school)
  • etc.

C. A pharmacy student's pay is also pretty decent (especially when you are a 3rd and 4th year student).

 

(3) I'm not quite sure for ULaval, but at U of M, all classes are graded. However, you really just need to pass (no boards exam or anything of that sort in Quebec so grades don't really matter as long as maintain a minimal passing GPA). ULaval has this special evaluation at the end of each year, the DAN - dossier d'apprentissage numérique, which is basically a pass/fail evaluation that determines if you can continue to the following year.

 

I hope that answers your questions! Don't hesitate to PM me if you have more questions!

 

DK

 

Wow, thorough, thanks! I really would love to be a pharmacist but I get scared from the things I read online. I had the chance to chat with a pharmacy owner today. He told me that bilingual individuals had a better chance of getting a job at graduation. He also told me that the market for pharmacists in Montreal is getting saturated, as you had said. He says the average salary for a pharmacist is roughly 55/hour, which comes out to something like 120 000/year. I didn't know if that was really true based on what I had read online. Anyways, thanks again for the response!