Future Pharmacy Career?

Question

I know working as a pharmacist is in many ways great. However, I've heard from several reasonable sources that online phamacies are increasing and thus there will be less place for pharmacists. What do you guys think? (Obviously noone will know until the time comes) I'm just beginning to fill the pre-req for pharm d program, so I have to see the future as well.

Answer 1

the online pharmacies promising cheap viagra arent the problem, its the legit mail order pharmacies owned and run by PBMs (insurance companies) like medco and caremark which rely mostly on technicians and robots (they dispense their own drugs and mail them to you because they get big price discounts from drug companies so its cheaper than paying walgreens etc. to do it for them). the insurance companies are paying pharmacies less and less to fill prescriptions so yeah some pharmacies are starting to struggle. not everyone fills mail order though and acute prescriptions like antibiotics generally need to be filled immediately, so they wont completley wipe out pharmacies, but yeah it could put a crunch on the job market. however, there is a nursing and doctor shortage which will become worse since the baby boomers are aging so pharmacists are starting to take on more clinical roles and gaining more duties which will create new jobs. and since the population is getting older prescription volume is rising very rapidly. the other thing going for pharmacy jobs is that there is a current shortage and the pharmacist population is older and approaching retirement, while i think nationwide phamacy school enrollment is 60-70% women (a decent size percentage of women only work part time or leave the workforce to raise children) will all that offset losses in retail pharmacies to mail order/automation? like you said, its hard to say nobody will know till it happens and opinions vary widely on what will happen. some people think the job market will completely crash, others think it will be even better than it is today. itll probably be somewhere in between

i think Camirra had a pretty accurate post, i agree

Answer 2

From what I've heard, there is a demand for pharmacists, even with the increasing online pharmacies. I've heard that there is even the possibility of a shortage of pharmacists.
However, there is some merit to your doubts. Some health plans are moving to online/faxed prescriptions. I'm on BCBS and my maintenance meds are now being filled online and mailed to my house. It's a total mess, but that's another story...
For short term prescriptions though, I can still go to my local pharmacy.

I really doubt that a traditional pharmacist will ever be replaced by online services.

Good luck

Answer 3

Well yes that's true, look at Walgreens and CVS pharmacy, they're practically on every corner. And each have a pharmacy available.

But don't worry, whether it's only the US, other countries are always in need of medical prescriptions. Seriously, the medical field will always have the most open job field.

Trust me, there's worse out there. Like my future career, i want to be a pilot, and to get a airline job is EXTREMLEY competitive. Imagine, a airline co. has 50 job openings, they recieve 7,000 applications, now that means ya gotta be the best of the best to get the job! And full of experience!

What I'm trying to say is the pharmacy field will never get as extreme as the hope of my future career.

Answer 4

From what I understand, Pharmacy programs take a long time to complete (6 years?) but pay very well. I say that if you are confident in your intelligence and abilities, just do the pharmacy tech program. If you are a competent, bright student, and make the most out of your education, there will certainly be a place for you in the work force of pharmacists.

Answer 5

I work for a software company that caters strickly to pharmacies. Currently most of our customers are pharmacies that are privately owned retail stores. But I can tell you from talking to the pharmacists and from working in the field that the days of the "mom and pop" pharmacies are going by the wayside. Almost every week a pharmacy calls up to say that they are selling out to one of the chain pharmacies like CVS.

With all the regulations and the third parties (insurance companies) cutting what they are willing to remit for insurance claims, most pharmacies operate on a razor edge profit margin. And many of them simply can't compete with the larger chains.

The future of pharmacy is going to be dominated by mega chain stores, and online or mail-only pharmacies. Another growing area are closed-shop pharmacies that contract to nursing homes and other like facilities.

Pharmacists themselves will always be needed (although with the prices of technology such as dispensing machines falling rapidly now one pharmacist can do what used to take two), but the days of the privatly owned pharmacies are coming to an end. My advice would be to work for one of the chains or instill yourself in one of the other areas I mentioned.

Answer 6

There Will always be a need to fill the prescriptions. You can order online, but some certified has to put the meds in the bottles. Go for it! I think that Pharmacists are smarter than doctors.

Answer 7

actually the fda (food and drug adminstration) are attacking and trying to do away with online pharmacy especially after those people ordered a perscription(illegaly) then though the punishment didnt really fit the crime they died from taking outsourced medication seeing as how the fda has no control over these online pharmacies patients could be getting anything i wouldnt trust it and an intelligent human bieng wouldnt either

also the outlook is pretty good for pharmasicts salary and job oppurtunitys are likely to increase according to the OOC(occupational outlook handbook) due to these baby boomers getting old and needing medication if you dont think its worth it drop by a cvs and ask the pharmiscist what hes banking youll be surprised

Answer 8

In Alberta, Canada, they just started letting pharmacists write simple prescriptions for people AND filling them because of the shortage of doctors. I think you will see pharmacists taking a greater role in health care in the future.

Answer 9

There's too much for doctors to remember now. Many are idiots. Met a real moron of a doc at UCSF, one of the best med schools in the world. So, when they prescribe drugs, you still need pharmacists to double check and make sure the drugs are appropriate, won't kill the patient, and explain to the patient how to properly take the medication. Machine can't do that like a human.

Answer 10

well the world still needs pharmacists. a computer cannot fill prescriptions and consult concerned patients. even if they never build another brick and mortar pharmacy, the skills will still be needed to fill the prescription and provide consultation whether or not it all happens via the internet.