<p>Is pharmacy a field getting saturated or already saturated?
What is the job prospect for pharmacist in the next 5-10 years?
A PharmD will take 6-8 years of hard study and lots of money.</p>
<p>If too many pharmacy schools are producing a lot of PharmD's, perhaps this is not a good field to get into?</p>
<p>As someone who has a lot of family members and friends who are pharmacists, I can comment a bit on this.</p>
<p>In California, it’s a bit saturated, yes. But just because it’s saturated doesn’t mean you won’t get a job. 10 years ago, it seemed like anyone who graduated with a pharmD just got any job they wanted, especially if it was at a retail location. Just apply, and you’ll likely get it, and along with it a nice contract and signing bonus. Nowadays, that isn’t as common. Pharmacists have to join the rest of us regular workers and actually apply to multiple positions, network, and work harder to find employment. I think as long as you’re proactive and don’t have this dreadful sense of entitlement, you’ll be just fine. I have relatives who recently (i.e. this year) graduated from out of state pharmacy schools and landed retail pharmacy positions in major cities like SF and LA.</p>
<p>If you go to less populated states, like Arizona, employment will be significantly easier to find.</p>
<p>In short, although pharmacy is a bit saturated and you’ll have to work a bit harder to find a job, and it might not necessarily be your first choice in terms of location, you’ll be fine. If you really want to know what saturation looks like, look at law school graduates.</p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence, so I have no idea if this is true, but, from a friend that recently finished pharmacy school … </p>
<p>In a state like Illinois, it’s pretty saturated in the city of Chicago as well as in the nicer Chicago suburbs. If you go to less ‘glamorous’ destinations (like Peoria, Springfield, Carbondale), it’s pretty easy to get a pharmacist job, and it will probably pay more (given the shortage of workers in those city), and you’ll be living somewhere that has lower cost of living.</p>
<p>‘If you want to know what saturation looks like, look at law school graduates.’</p>
<p>BINGO! nailed it on the head … sadly lots of law school grads with $100k+ in student loans, making only $50k a year (if they’re able to land a job). Remember, the average lawyer only makes about $75k a year. </p>
<p>Be VERY careful before going to law school.</p>
<p>The concern is that Pharmacy is starting to look like law. There are a lot of new pharmacy schools opening up and churning out a surplus of PharmD’s. For a college student getting into school now, who knows what the job prospect 6-8 years and lots of loans later?
It seems the only good job prospect is in computer science and petroleum engineering right now. Perhaps Physician Assistant will be in demand in the next 10 years. It is hard for college kids to know what to study. Not everyone want to or can study engineering. And it has become a luxury for them to just “follow their passion”.</p>
<p>Isn’t pharmacy, especially retail, a really boring job? It seems all they do is count pills, slap labels on bottles and file insurance claims. Am I missing something?</p>