Why Do Pharmacists Earn So Much $$?

Career Opportunities & Internships
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One of the few?</p>

<p>How about almost every field? Every professional field is purposely set up to create a shortage to an extent. You think it's a mistake that medical schools admit so few students and there have been so few new medical schools in recent years?

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<p>Yeah, they should be enrolling more. What's the point of creating a shortage? Give me some fields that have a shortage of people. Don't give me teachers because they just say there's a shortage so they can get higher pay. </p>

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Engineering undergrad degrees do not take 5 years in CA. They take 4.

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<p>They only take 4 if you rush through it. They take five because they're about 180-194 units long. Other bachelor degrees are around 120-128.</p>

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Discounting your nasty attitude, I just have some advice:
1. Pharmacy school takes 6 years, not 8.
2. Don't blame a year of preschool for problems 15 years later.
3. Most pharmacy students I know have big loans and work part time as well, so you would have lots of company there. In fact, I know kids who borrowed every dollar beyond their paychecks.
4. I can't really comment on you grades, but I agree with you that it might be tough to get admitted with those stats, at least where I live.

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<li><p>In California it takes 8+ years and is extremely hard to get in. It's only 6 when someone applies in their 2/4 program. </p></li>
<li><p>I'm not going to waste my time waiting until 30 to get a real job. I got out of high school when I was 19 1/2. I was dumb and should have just got a GED when I was 16. Seriously, I don't know why everyone doesn't do this. High school is a big waste of time. I didn't have a car and still don't so I had to go on the bus. That took a big chunk of the day away. I also might not be able to complete my transfer requirements 1 year early because I have to pay off my out of state tuition. I'll lose 2 quarters if I can't pay it off before next semester.</p></li>
<li><p>I'm not eligible for loans right now so I can't go to a university, and it would have cost 15000+ if I stayed in New York or 25000+ in California. I went with the cc at 5500 in California since I'll be able to get aid (after a year).</p></li>
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You missed the point. Pharmacists aren't making, on average, the figures you quoted before. Plus, factoring in the sunk and opportunity costs, they make arguably make less in NPV terms than engineers.

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<p>Yes they are. I just showed you facts. You can call them up if you want or give them your resume. Hell, they probably have a 30000 bonus for taking the job. Look up other jobs like engineering on there. Most don't make that much. Only senior engineers do. Those are just salary positions too (40 hours a week). </p>

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Source?

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<p>C = Pharm.D Any store will hire you.</p>

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<p>The pharmacists I work with are bright, professional and an integral part of the health care team. Working in pediatrics with children with complex life-threatening diseases, the pharmacist helps us figure out how to use many drugs "off label"---often this helps improve a child's health/quality of life and even cure a dread disease. They know how to compound "adult" drugs into tiny concentrations so neonates can take them. They help sort out adverse reactions and drug interactions and offer alternatives when a traditional approach is not working</p>

<p>They are worth every penny they make and should proabably make more.</p>

<p>It is distressing to me to hear so many demeaning comments about pharmacists---someday one of them may help save your life or that of someone you love</p>

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<p>Program1,</p>

<p>First off, you are still wrong on the income. This comes directly from the Bureau of Labor: [url=<a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm%5DPharmacists%5B/url"&gt;http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm]Pharmacists[/url&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p>

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Median annual wage and salary earnings of pharmacists in May 2004 were $84,900. The middle 50 percent earned between $75,720 and $94,850 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $61,200, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $109,850 a year. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of pharmacists in May 2004 were:</p>

<p>Department stores $86,720
Grocery stores 85,680
Health and personal care stores 85,380
General medical and surgical hospitals 84,560
Other general merchandise stores 84,170

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<p>That is not consummate with years of education.</p>

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C = Pharm.D Any store will hire you.

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<p>"C" does not mean anything. A C in med school is not a C in law school is not a C in undergrad is not a C in vet school is not a C in pharmacy school. You cannot compare them and make any reasonable conclusions. Saying that they can get C's doesn't tell us anything about the rigor of the coursework itself. </p>

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Yeah, they should be enrolling more. What's the point of creating a shortage? Give me some fields that have a shortage of people. Don't give me teachers because they just say there's a shortage so they can get higher pay.

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<p>Truck drivers, nurses, and mostly jobs people don't necessarily "want to do." That's how it works.</p>

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<p>SIL got her pharmacy degree when it was still a five-year program. Attended her state school -- which these days costs under $5200 in tuition for in-state. In the 1980s it was on the order of $400/trimester.</p>

<p>SIL gets cost-of-living raises, but otherwise her income has remained fairly constant. It's a nice living, and she has a flexible schedule for her kids, but nobody's getting stinkin' rich. She works darned hard for the $$.</p>

<p>And the reason I know so much about my SIL's experience...we were roommates for two years in college and best friends before she married my brother. I got to live through Pharmacology!</p>

<p>OP, I just don't get your bitterness.</p>

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First off, you are still wrong on the income. This comes directly from the Bureau of Labor: Pharmacists

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<p>Why are you giving me salaries from 2004? Those postings from careerbuilder are actual companies that want to hire pharmacists. I don't see how you can argue with it.</p>

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"C" does not mean anything. A C in med school is not a C in law school is not a C in undergrad is not a C in vet school is not a C in pharmacy school. You cannot compare them and make any reasonable conclusions. Saying that they can get C's doesn't tell us anything about the rigor of the coursework itself.

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<p>I can easily argue that computer science classes are even harder. What's so hard about pharmacy subjects? They only need to take Calc 1 in undergrad. The math that they do is simple compared to someone majoring in computer science, and pharmacists don't have to come up with algorithms. A C is very easy to get.</p>

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Truck drivers, nurses, and mostly jobs people don't necessarily "want to do." That's how it works.

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<p>Does a college prevent them from pursuing it though? NOPE. Most truckers don't make a lot anyways. There's also over 3 million of them so of course no one is preventing anybody from getting the job. I would like to see the salary of a pharmacist go down to its equilibrium value</p>

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OP, I just don't get your bitterness.

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<p>Well, when you have idiotic education requirements of course I'm going to be bitter. Some how a pharmacist gets more than a R&D scientist with Ph.D. Makes no sense at all.</p>

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Why are you giving me salaries from 2004? Those postings from careerbuilder are actual companies that want to hire pharmacists. I don't see how you can argue with it.

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<p>Well, considering that real wages are likely to have remained fairly stagnant (controlling for inflation), I'll take the United States Bureau of Labor statistics over a VERY unrepresentative sample. </p>

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I can easily argue that computer science classes are even harder. What's so hard about pharmacy subjects? They only need to take Calc 1 in undergrad. The math that they do is simple compared to someone majoring in computer science, and pharmacists don't have to come up with algorithms. A C is very easy to get.

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<p>You only need calc 1 for most med schools. It doesn't mean that I'd call med school "easy." It sounds to me like your discounting pharmacy without actually knowing what's involved. </p>

<p>Plus, income is not always commensurate with education. An MBA can make far far more than anyone with "just" an engineering degree, despite the fact that the MBA is almost always less rigorous.</p>

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Does a college prevent them from pursuing it though? NOPE. Most truckers don't make a lot anyways. There's also over 3 million of them so of course no one is preventing anybody from getting the job. I would like to see the salary of a pharmacist go down to its equilibrium value

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<p>Truck drivers, on average, make above the national median, on average. Not bad for a career that doesn't require a college degree.</p>

<p>Define "equilibrium." It seems to me that pharmacists don't really make as much as you're saying. Furthermore, the market has already decided on an equilibrium, so you're just saying you want them to make less for no good reason.</p>

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<p>A C in law school WON'T get you a job unless, of course, you're at HarvardYaleStanfordNYUColumbiaChicagoPennMichUVaDuke. In which case you get dibs on any job you want.</p>

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<p>Depends on the kind of "job" you want, but yeah.</p>

<p>For one, that comes down to a much higher supply of attorneys.</p>

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<p>I don't understand why you're so hyped up over the fact that pharmacists make more than engineers! What about professional sports where even some average athletes get paid millions? What about celebrities? How much schooling and intellect does it take to be a model?!
My mother is a pharmacist and she has to work insane hours (she's not in retail). Her job doesn't consist of counting pills.</p>

<p>And when did math become the only standard to measure the difficulty of a degree?</p>

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<p>I'm more than willing to bet that an MD, which is not nearly as math intensive as, say, accounting, is probably a pretty hard degree relative to most other degrees.</p>

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<p>It amuses me how people get so worked up and angry on online forums.</p>

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<p>Polo
"I plan to finish my PharmD while double majoring in Econ and minoring in Economics. I want to work for the pharmaceutical industry after graduation and go to school part-time for a Master's in ChemE for two years. With a PharmD and MS ChemE, you will not be limited to only the pharmaceutical industry. At this point, I would want to work abroad for two years and apply for an MBA program at a top 5 business school." </p>

<p>Why would you want to work abroad? I think you have a great idea about getting a MS ChemE and a MBA, because it would indeed give you much more options, but which one would be more benifical to prosue? Im thinking an MBA, but.......</p>

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<p>Umm... this thread hasn't been posted in in 5+ months. Why are you bumping it, exactly?</p>

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<p>Since it's been "bumped" already, I might as well comment. My cousin right after graduation (like, 2 weeks after) was offered a job at CVS and she made close to 160k in her first year with LOTS of overtime. She didn't like retail but stuck with it in order to pay off her student loans.</p>

<p>She now works at a Hospital and although earns lower (I think somewhere around the 110K range), she's much MUCH happier.</p>

<p>Pharmacists earn so much because it's a doctorate degree (plus the amount of schooling and residency done).</p>

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<p>also its hard to move up to over say 175k</p>

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<p>Most people will never make even close to $175K, btw. </p>

<p>I don't really know why people are interested in others' salaries in a jealous/hostile way. It's not like salaries are related events. It's not like money is coming out of one pocket into another. If your CVS pharmacist makes $160K and gets a raise, it doesn't mean you will make any less in your chosen field. If people want to make a high salary, select an in-demand career with a high earning potential. I'm pretty sure people majoring in art history or archeology are not planning to make big bucks with a BA (not to slam those fields). To each his own. Sheesh.</p>

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<p>Pharmacists make 100-120k starting for 08 graduates for a 40 hour work week. Sign on bonus ranges from 8k to 15k plus extras. Even though pharmacists are considered salaried, they are really paid hourly. The more hours you work, the more you get paid. You work 60 hours, you get paid 180k. You work holidays, you work night, etc, you get paid 200k+. For a 60 hour work week with benefits (paid vacations, paid sick days, etc) without working holidays, nights, etc, that salary can easily top 200k. It also depends on where you work as you get paid 10-20k extra for working in unpopular areas. </p>

<p>For example, I recently got a job offer near NYC in westchester for 150k for 40 hours work week. This does not include performance bonus, me working off the books, etc. </p>

<p>BLS is not accurate because of how they get that statistics from. For example, how do they keep track of part time workers? How does it apply to different regions of US. A better site to find median wage is Salary.com. </p>

<p>Although it is true that pharmacists peak out sooner than later, most people forget that a pharmacist is a recognized profession by all states. This means like doctors, dentists, etc, they can only make what they produce. However advancement is easy as pharmacy supervisors, regional/district managers/director of pharmacy are more in demand than staff pharmacists. </p>

<p>P.S I dont know why so many uninformed people are commenting on pharmacy.</p>

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Pharmacists make 100-120k starting for 08 graduates for a 40 hour work week. Sign on bonus ranges from 8k to 15k plus extras. Even though pharmacists are considered salaried, they are really paid hourly. The more hours you work, the more you get paid. You work 60 hours, you get paid 180k. You work holidays, you work night, etc, you get paid 200k+. For a 60 hour work week with benefits (paid vacations, paid sick days, etc) without working holidays, nights, etc, that salary can easily top 200k. It also depends on where you work as you get paid 10-20k extra for working in unpopular areas. </p>

<p>For example, I recently got a job offer near NYC in westchester for 150k for 40 hours work week. This does not include performance bonus, me working off the books, etc. </p>

<p>BLS is not accurate because of how they get that statistics from. For example, how do they keep track of part time workers? How does it apply to different regions of US. A better site to find median wage is Salary.com. </p>

<p>Although it is true that pharmacists peak out sooner than later, most people forget that a pharmacist is a recognized profession by all states. This means like doctors, dentists, etc, they can only make what they produce. However advancement is easy as pharmacy supervisors, regional/district managers/director of pharmacy are more in demand than staff pharmacists.

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As a pharmacy major at Rutgers, I can attest that what you have said is definitely true from those who have graduated already. If you work in retail pharmacy, it's more of an "hourly-rate" even though you are salaried.
What many of my friends do is they get an industry job with BigPharma, and when they are not working their full-time job, they work part time at a retail pharmacy for an extra boost in cash. That way they are getting the best of both worlds: promotion in industry and the superb hourly rate as a retail pharmacist.
One perspective that I have that they do not is the government side of work. I'm currently in the Army National Guard and I'm thinking about switching to the Army Reserves and branching Medical Services Corps after my commitment with the NG. The word on the street is tha the Medical field in the Reserves is severely depleted and that healthcare professionals tend to get promoted very very quickly. It's a part-time commitment and it does involve deployments, but if you're making rank really quickly (Lt. Col or Col by retirement) then it's definitely worth it. After you retire, you'll get a pension and a health care plan for the rest of your life on top of many other benefits.
Another thing that really helps in my case is the NJ State Tuition Waiver. As long as I am in the NJ National Guard, I can attend public university for free for any number of credits, any semester, and any degree. Basically, Pharmacy is free for me. So I figure that if (and when) I graduate, if I'm up to it, I may try to get a Master's in an "easier" engineering just to diversify. If it's free, why not?</p>

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<p>I'm certainly no expert but from my experience with pharmacists, they're usually sent to rural and small communities cause that's where the demand is. but that might not be the case, just my experience</p>

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<p>In reference to the OP...Thank goodness they DO make so much money. My father put three kids through college and is now (or will be soon) paying for four grandchildren. At 75 years old, he's still working 50 hours /week in retail pharmacy and still loves it. And from all the stories over the years, I'd say that there's a little more to the career than counting pills and putting them into bottles.</p>