Anonymous wrote:I know a young couple both hospital pharmacists. They make 350K between them. Very smart and passionate about their profession. The key is securing residencies and specializing beyond the PharmD.

The hospital jobs are hard to get and my guess is they did very well in school if they both got hospital jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like the best route is to work in Pharma with a PharmD degree. Good money and not a lot of work. Why would anyone choose retail-sounds horrible.

I've never met a PharmD working in pharma.

Pharma companies don’t really need PharmDs… pharmacists aren’t qualified or trained to do the scientific work needed in the lab , so they’d have to hire actual scientists for those roles. And they don’t usually have the business skills for jobs on the business side.

Anonymous wrote:Is job security still good though ? Easy to get hired?

No. Not secure at all, are you unaware of retail mergers? Many pharmacist jobs have been made part time so need 2 retail jobs. It’s awful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can’t pharmacists work at hospitals or for pharma companies? Why would they have to be stuck with a CVS job?

PP here with the sister pharm and it's much harder to get those hospital jobs which makes sense because there are way more cvs places than hospitals.

Yep, it’s generally understood that hospital work is better working conditions than retail, but also much harder to get those jobs. Even large hospitals don’t need *that* many pharmacists.

Also, pharma companies don’t really hire or need many pharmacists.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like the best route is to work in Pharma with a PharmD degree. Good money and not a lot of work. Why would anyone choose retail-sounds horrible.

I've never met a PharmD working in pharma.

Absolutely not. Worse than doctor hours, lower pay.

Sounds like the best route is to work in Pharma with a PharmD degree. Good money and not a lot of work. Why would anyone choose retail-sounds horrible.

Anonymous wrote:It is a ton of education needed to then have to essentially work retail.

It's not that much education depending on the state. It is a 6 year degree program in NY to get a job that basically pays you mid-six figures straight out of grad school. There used to be a pharmacist shortage, not so much anymore, but still it's a fairly lucrative job particularly in states with aging populations.

Anonymous wrote:Used to be great. Now glut and underpaid.

+1. And mail-order pharmacies are putting a lot of downward pressure on salaries, benefits. Many national pharmacy chains are having financial problems. Go read the 8K SEC filings for several of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it considered prestigious and stable? Does it pay well? I don’t know much about it but my DD is interested.

With all the medications people are taking? Yes. Very good job security.

Dumb rational. Insurance dictates the prices so it’s now very low margin

I know a young couple both hospital pharmacists. They make 350K between them. Very smart and passionate about their profession. The key is securing residencies and specializing beyond the PharmD.

Most of you know little about pharmacy beyond going to your local CVS. That's your only experience.

OP, read the student doctor forum. Don't come here.

Anonymous wrote:Aren’t they being replaced by vending machines?

It does seem like a very clear use case for AI

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been a pharmacist for over 18 years but have never worked at a pharmacy. I went straight into pharma and love my career path. It has allowed me to have an interesting career path, make more money than I would have at CVS and have job flexibility while raising kids. Pharma\biotech is high risk high reward career path. I would not recommend working at CVS, or a hospital.

The helpful context here is what percentage of pharm jobs are similar to yours vs hospital or retail.

OP here, if you are willing to use pharmacy education as a foundation and pivot your career as needed, you can create your own options because a doctorate degree in pharmacy allows you to have those options. However, it’s not easy. Hospital pharmacist are really bright and professional but also overworked. They are not paid enough for their expertise. You can get a residency or fellowship and then work for a hospital but those jobs are limited and not paid well for the years of education and training. It’s easier to be a nurse practitioner or physicians assistant.

Pharmacists start with a high salary, but there is little movement over time. You’re essentially capped the moment you start.

Also, retail work is the worst. As others have said, you are overworked, you’re working with high school graduates for assistants who are oftentimes not committed at a professional standard, you’re on your feet all day, and your boss is the store manager, who is typically a non-college educated person who resents that you think you’re better than them.