Great topic to discuss Sierra! I advocate for pharmacists to move away from dispensing roles (and anything that could be easily automated). I also think that ambulatory care is an area for big expansion in the coming years - imagine if all PCP visits included seeing a pharmacist. I advocate for practicing at the top of our profession and license to advance the pharmacist profession, bill for our services, & turn our consumeristic philosophy into a medical practice (why do we schedule appointments for our MD, PA, NP, PT, dentist & NOT our pharmacist in the majority of settings???)
This is definitely an important topic to discuss nowadays, especially with all the changes we're having in the job market. Something I didn't realize while in pharmacy school was how reimbursement rates affect the pharmacy and healthcare professions. Thanks so much for bringing up that point! If you plan on making more videos about that, I would look forward to them. We need to raise awareness!
Thanks Betty! Many healthcare professionals outside of pharmacy don't even know about the challenges of reimbursement. There is some new legislation surrounding PBMs that is in its infant stages. If it starts to get some traction, I will be sure to do a video on it!
@@HappyPharmLife the title should be this IS PHARMACY WORTH IT, if you don't care about people at all and only care about $$$ in 2022? | Pharmacy School Interview Vlog i fixed it for you.
@anamegoeshere Merry Christmas. 🎄 I've spent many holidays taking care of people's families and away from my own. Pharmacists care about their patients 😊
@@HappyPharmLife no no no i don't mean like that. i mean like so person X has pills they need or they DIE, and they cost $500 for 30 pills. NOW are you going to lower that price because u "care" about patients or make them pay that FULL PRICE. that is what i MEAN, not you going to families and helping them OUT SIDE of the pharmacy and not have to worry about getting fired.... SO no pharmacy don't care about patients, when it comes to risking loosing "the job" the work sooo hard to get. sorry i don't wish "Merry Christmas" to scum like you that DON'T CARE about the patients wallet and wanna help PRO FARMA make bank money every YEAR. now respond again with another "pitty statement" again.
I’m a community pharmacist in Ontario Canada and my younger brother is a community pharmacist in Michigan and even though the reimbursement models are a bit different the same issues are found in both countries. The biggest one is safe staffing especially during this pandemic. I’m nearing the end of my working career….hopefully only 5 more years until retirement. For the newer grads, I worry for their mental well being as a community pharmacist. Clinical pharmacy is the route to take in my humble opinion. Kudos to all pharmacists working during these trying times. We’ve definitely been mostly invisible in the media when it comes to talking about our healthcare heroes during Covid. Thank you for your content and fresh take on Pharmacy. Really enjoy your videos😀
Ehhh clinical pharmacy is okay but I think industry pharmacy is better - pharmaceutical companies pay soooo much more & they give amazing bonuses. And it’s a desk job too 🤩
Glad you enjoyed the video! While clinical pharmacy has its own set of challenges, I have definitely continued to enjoy my job during the pandemic! I love the patient care aspect of it.
Industry is another great option but a desk job would be a slow painful dealth for me 😅 I like to get up and be a part of bedside care but for those who like that type of work it is a great route for pharmacists!
Coming back to this video to leave some hope and input for those who want to do pharmacy. Looking at the BLS for pharmacists, it was -3% last year now it is to -2%. It also says, "Despite declining employment, about 11,300 openings for pharmacists are projected each year, on average, over the decade." There are 14,000 grads every year so that difference is large but not that large. I am not sure if the loss of 7,000 jobs is calculated for the entire decade of 2020-30 or yearly. I think that if you are interested in pharmacy you will be fine as long as you do things like: 1) know that you truly want to do pharmacy for pharmacy, not because you are trying to replace it with becoming an MD or whatever 2) do things like work during school (intern) especially in the areas of pharmacy that you are interested in if you can, 3) be willing to move after school 4) try to go to a school that isn't in the middle of nowhere. UofA in AZ is a good middle ground because the tution (in-state) is decent compared to other schools, and you can either go to school in Tuscon or Phoenix. Phoenix is covered in cvs, walgreens, walmarts, targets, safeway, there are a few sterile compounding pharmacies, and can get a job at banner healths here too. There's a few independent chains here too. For me I know pharmacy would be good for me because even if I don't get residency I know I would still be happy with retail or maybe LTC. I've heard good things about LTC too or sterile compounding pharmacies. I don't think someone should go into pharmacy if they don't want to do retail or hospital which employ pharmacists the most. If you want to be closer to a physician role do PA or dentistry. Personally, I have never wanted to be a physician that burden is too much. I love the thought of becoming a pharmacist I think it's a great role if you can make it work.
I've been considering pharmacy but the problem is retail/dispensing will likely get replaced with bots in the not so distant future and since retail is the largest job provider... it begs the question if it is still worth it.
Thank you, Sierra, for this video. You touched on All of the important topics that prospective pharmacists should be aware of. I am a 4th year student graduating in April, and I really appreciate you taking the time out to provide important information we should all be aware of. Please continue to provide more videos on the pharmacy market, day in life, and Mark Cuban online pharmacy. ❤
Glad you enjoyed the video! I do think it is important for those considering a pharmacist career to understand the challenges in the profession! I have already started gathering ideas for the Mark Cuban online pharmacy video. 😊
I have worked mail order as a tech and do not like it. If you are someone who gets bored easily DO NOT do it, I can't do desk jobs. It is mind numbing. I don't think we should worry about mail order just yet, it has been around for a long time but it has its cons mostly with accuracy. Yes there are standards to keep up with accuracy/efficiency rates but even with that, techs and pharmacists are still human and slip up and unfortunately make internal errors (before it goes out to patient) and external (reaches that patient...) I feel it will take a long time for people to fully trust mail order. I hope they don't get rid of too many retail pharmacies for mail order. They definitely aren't perfect. Even techs who have been doing it for awhile say they still get their meds in person.
I think Pharmacy is important , because if medication is it matters . I am doing a Top 200 Drug List for my PT class and doing Generic List , Drug class , and DEA !! I list the keywords and dea # each 4 columns directed .There is so much such as retail stores like Walgreens, CVS , or Walmart , to deal with presribing medication. I would like to look for any retail stores..
Lawrd have mercy. As tech who works within a retail/community pharmacy setting planning on going to pharmacy school. I honestly think that retail is really the most UNDER PAID AND STAFFED it is ridiculous. I do have a Can you make a video of how you can use your PharmD outside of the pharmacy world? Seeing as how things are changing rapidly.
If you haven't started pharmacy school, why are you choosing to pursue a PharnD if you don't want to work within the pharmacy world? There are many non-traditional areas of pharmacy which I talk about on this channel, but if you aren't interested in working within pharmacy, a different degree is likely a better option for you.
@@HappyPharmLife Working retail, no. the only reason I am there is because I am in school, and it is very flexible with me in terms of hours and working around my school schedule and whatnot. But for as working retail as a pharmacist, no. After realizing and seeing why most floaters don’t take stores and why some PICs quit. I see it’s not something for me. I plan on being a psych pharmacist because psychology has ALWAYS been my field of interest, and it wasn’t until a couple of months ago that there was a field that as a pharmacist. And being that I am a minority, it’s even more interesting to me seeing how we are non-adherent to medication. We push mental health off. Though sad, it is true that we even push people off who are going through episodes because we don’t want to deal with them or know how to at least. So those are my reason.
I’m about to finish my chemistry degree then I’m going into pharmacy and hopefully join the Canadian military at the same time so they’ll pay for me and give me a salary during school. Particularly nervous about hospital residency as I was only ever interested in clinical/retail but hoping the army will give a well rounded experience
I appreciate the video but it seems like a lot of potential changes. I am considering pharmacy school but it is extremely discouraging to see a 2% growth rate for the next 9 years and it seems although jobs are opening up in other areas outside of retail, it seems to be a VERY small percentage of jobs becoming available compared to the number of current pharmacists and 10k/year future pharmacy graduates. I looked at the employment rate of a few pharmacy schools I've prospected and the employment rate upon graduation was around 30% in pharmaceuticals. That's INSANE. I'm not trying to be a debbie downer, TRUST ME, I am trying to find every excuse I can to make the numbers work because I WANT to go to pharmacy school but I also dont want to be well over 6 figures in debt, 5-6 years of schooling and stuck with either the option of retail pharmacy or nothing at all.
I'm not sure where you are getting your information from or what schools you're looking at, but I am going to do an update for this soon as the market has changed drastically since I did this video. There has been a dip in pharmacy school enrollment that is not meeting the demand of pharmacists leaving/new roles coming in. It's expected that there will be a shortage of pharmacists in the near future. I also don't know what schools have that low of an employment rate because that is not the case in the midwest. There are hiring bonuses to get more pharmacists in both community and hospital pharmacies in the city where I work.
Do you have any advice for someone who’s looking for experience working at a pharmacy? I’m currently undergrad and I’ve been told that I need experience working at a pharmacy to get into the local pharmacy program
I recommend trying to become a pharmacy technician if you can. That is what I did and it was so helpful. If you can't, then check with local pharmacies, especially those that are privately owned to see if you could get shadowing opportunities. You may also check with your advisor at your college to see if they have any contacts they could connect you with!
i am a pre-pharm student looking forward to going pharmacy school in the fall but i don’t know if i should stay in state at UNM or move to U of A which is my dream school. any idea what i should do?? is that extra $80,000 to go to my dream school worth it? how fast does it take to pay off your loan? please help!!
I can't help much here as this is a very personal decision. I think you should evaluate why you want to go to U of A and determine if it is worth $80K to you. How fast someone pays off their student loans depends on how they manage their money, other people who contribute to the household (i.e spouce), and any dependents they may be responsible for. Remember, the cost of the loan itself isn't what you pay in the end. You will also have the interest rates which are often >6% for the life of the loan. Loans are also different for undergrad vs. grad school so you should reach out to U of A financial aid office to learn more.
UofA is in my state. If you are an instate resident it's worth it because it is cheaper than most schools and you can either to the phoenix campus or tuscon's and phoenix has a lot of pharmacy opportunities, can't say much for tucson since it's smaller. You could move to phoenix or tuscon and become a tech first while you become an instate resident so you can see if you want this. There is writing on the wall and pharmacy world is not as bright as it used to be. You have got to make sure if this what you want.
Great topic to discuss Sierra! I advocate for pharmacists to move away from dispensing roles (and anything that could be easily automated). I also think that ambulatory care is an area for big expansion in the coming years - imagine if all PCP visits included seeing a pharmacist. I advocate for practicing at the top of our profession and license to advance the pharmacist profession, bill for our services, & turn our consumeristic philosophy into a medical practice (why do we schedule appointments for our MD, PA, NP, PT, dentist & NOT our pharmacist in the majority of settings???)
Totally agree! I believe dispensing will become less and less of the job as time goes on.
This is definitely an important topic to discuss nowadays, especially with all the changes we're having in the job market. Something I didn't realize while in pharmacy school was how reimbursement rates affect the pharmacy and healthcare professions. Thanks so much for bringing up that point! If you plan on making more videos about that, I would look forward to them. We need to raise awareness!
Thanks Betty! Many healthcare professionals outside of pharmacy don't even know about the challenges of reimbursement. There is some new legislation surrounding PBMs that is in its infant stages. If it starts to get some traction, I will be sure to do a video on it!
@@HappyPharmLife the title should be this IS PHARMACY WORTH IT, if you don't care about people at all and only care about $$$ in 2022? | Pharmacy School Interview Vlog
i fixed it for you.
@anamegoeshere Merry Christmas. 🎄 I've spent many holidays taking care of people's families and away from my own. Pharmacists care about their patients 😊
@@HappyPharmLife no no no i don't mean like that. i mean like so person X has pills they need or they DIE, and they cost $500 for 30 pills. NOW are you going to lower that price because u "care" about patients or make them pay that FULL PRICE.
that is what i MEAN, not you going to families and helping them OUT SIDE of the pharmacy and not have to worry about getting fired.... SO no pharmacy don't care about patients, when it comes to risking loosing "the job" the work sooo hard to get.
sorry i don't wish "Merry Christmas" to scum like you that DON'T CARE about the patients wallet and wanna help PRO FARMA make bank money every YEAR.
now respond again with another "pitty statement" again.
I’m a community pharmacist in Ontario Canada and my younger brother is a community pharmacist in Michigan and even though the reimbursement models are a bit different the same issues are found in both countries. The biggest one is safe staffing especially during this pandemic. I’m nearing the end of my working career….hopefully only 5 more years until retirement. For the newer grads, I worry for their mental well being as a community pharmacist. Clinical pharmacy is the route to take in my humble opinion. Kudos to all pharmacists working during these trying times. We’ve definitely been mostly invisible in the media when it comes to talking about our healthcare heroes during Covid.
Thank you for your content and fresh take on Pharmacy. Really enjoy your videos😀
Ehhh clinical pharmacy is okay but I think industry pharmacy is better - pharmaceutical companies pay soooo much more & they give amazing bonuses. And it’s a desk job too 🤩
Glad you enjoyed the video! While clinical pharmacy has its own set of challenges, I have definitely continued to enjoy my job during the pandemic! I love the patient care aspect of it.
Industry is another great option but a desk job would be a slow painful dealth for me 😅 I like to get up and be a part of bedside care but for those who like that type of work it is a great route for pharmacists!
@@HappyPharmLife Can you mention your instagram i'm studying pharmacy and want some information.
It is linked in the about me section of my channel page!
Coming back to this video to leave some hope and input for those who want to do pharmacy. Looking at the BLS for pharmacists, it was -3% last year now it is to -2%. It also says, "Despite declining employment, about 11,300 openings for pharmacists are projected each year, on average, over the decade." There are 14,000 grads every year so that difference is large but not that large. I am not sure if the loss of 7,000 jobs is calculated for the entire decade of 2020-30 or yearly. I think that if you are interested in pharmacy you will be fine as long as you do things like: 1) know that you truly want to do pharmacy for pharmacy, not because you are trying to replace it with becoming an MD or whatever 2) do things like work during school (intern) especially in the areas of pharmacy that you are interested in if you can, 3) be willing to move after school 4) try to go to a school that isn't in the middle of nowhere. UofA in AZ is a good middle ground because the tution (in-state) is decent compared to other schools, and you can either go to school in Tuscon or Phoenix. Phoenix is covered in cvs, walgreens, walmarts, targets, safeway, there are a few sterile compounding pharmacies, and can get a job at banner healths here too. There's a few independent chains here too. For me I know pharmacy would be good for me because even if I don't get residency I know I would still be happy with retail or maybe LTC. I've heard good things about LTC too or sterile compounding pharmacies.
I don't think someone should go into pharmacy if they don't want to do retail or hospital which employ pharmacists the most. If you want to be closer to a physician role do PA or dentistry. Personally, I have never wanted to be a physician that burden is too much. I love the thought of becoming a pharmacist I think it's a great role if you can make it work.
I've been considering pharmacy but the problem is retail/dispensing will likely get replaced with bots in the not so distant future and since retail is the largest job provider... it begs the question if it is still worth it.
This is by far the best job advice video i've seen on TH-cam!
Glad you found it helpful!
so is pharmacist job worth it?
Check out the video! I go through many of the pros and cons.
Yessss thank you for speaking up for technicians and addressing very important topics!!!!! 🤞🏾🙏🏾🙌🏾
Technicians are amazing! Pharmacies wouldn't survive without them!
Thank you, Sierra, for this video. You touched on All of the important topics that prospective pharmacists should be aware of. I am a 4th year student graduating in April, and I really appreciate you taking the time out to provide important information we should all be aware of. Please continue to provide more videos on the pharmacy market, day in life, and Mark Cuban online pharmacy. ❤
Glad you enjoyed the video! I do think it is important for those considering a pharmacist career to understand the challenges in the profession! I have already started gathering ideas for the Mark Cuban online pharmacy video. 😊
YES to the Mark Cuban video!
I have worked mail order as a tech and do not like it. If you are someone who gets bored easily DO NOT do it, I can't do desk jobs. It is mind numbing. I don't think we should worry about mail order just yet, it has been around for a long time but it has its cons mostly with accuracy. Yes there are standards to keep up with accuracy/efficiency rates but even with that, techs and pharmacists are still human and slip up and unfortunately make internal errors (before it goes out to patient) and external (reaches that patient...) I feel it will take a long time for people to fully trust mail order. I hope they don't get rid of too many retail pharmacies for mail order. They definitely aren't perfect. Even techs who have been doing it for awhile say they still get their meds in person.
I think Pharmacy is important , because if medication is it matters . I am doing a Top 200 Drug List for my PT class and doing Generic List , Drug class , and DEA !! I list the keywords and dea # each 4 columns directed .There is so much such as retail stores like Walgreens, CVS , or Walmart , to deal with presribing medication. I would like to look for any retail stores..
Lawrd have mercy. As tech who works within a retail/community pharmacy setting planning on going to pharmacy school. I honestly think that retail is really the most UNDER PAID AND STAFFED it is ridiculous.
I do have a Can you make a video of how you can use your PharmD outside of the pharmacy world? Seeing as how things are changing rapidly.
If you haven't started pharmacy school, why are you choosing to pursue a PharnD if you don't want to work within the pharmacy world? There are many non-traditional areas of pharmacy which I talk about on this channel, but if you aren't interested in working within pharmacy, a different degree is likely a better option for you.
@@HappyPharmLife Working retail, no. the only reason I am there is because I am in school, and it is very flexible with me in terms of hours and working around my school schedule and whatnot. But for as working retail as a pharmacist, no. After realizing and seeing why most floaters don’t take stores and why some PICs quit. I see it’s not something for me.
I plan on being a psych pharmacist because psychology has ALWAYS been my field of interest, and it wasn’t until a couple of months ago that there was a field that as a pharmacist. And being that I am a minority, it’s even more interesting to me seeing how we are non-adherent to medication. We push mental health off. Though sad, it is true that we even push people off who are going through episodes because we don’t want to deal with them or know how to at least. So those are my reason.
Thanks Dr Sierra! and please make that video about Mack Cuban pharmacy.
It's already up! Check it out on my channel
Hey I would like to see the video about Mark Cubans pharmacy I think that would be a cool video!
It may be a couple weeks due to my work schedule but it is a work in progress 😊
Please talk about the mark cuban thing! i want to know more!
I have some ideas for this video. It is in the works!
Definitely recommend this video. 👌
I'm a hospital pharmacist. I remember having a professor who did a three year residency. Thats insane....she could have been a MD
Another great video!! I love your channel so much. I learn a lot!
Thank you! 😊 So happy you enjoy the videos!
Pharmacists don't get appreciated, acknowledged or paid for having better clinical skills , When does this change?
I'm not sure. There has been potential legislation for years but it never makes it to a final vote
I’m about to finish my chemistry degree then I’m going into pharmacy and hopefully join the Canadian military at the same time so they’ll pay for me and give me a salary during school. Particularly nervous about hospital residency as I was only ever interested in clinical/retail but hoping the army will give a well rounded experience
I wish you the best of luck with your career!
Great and helpful video.
Thank you! 😊
The profession in my opinion has been taken over by big bussines, commoditized and there is no way back.
I appreciate the video but it seems like a lot of potential changes. I am considering pharmacy school but it is extremely discouraging to see a 2% growth rate for the next 9 years and it seems although jobs are opening up in other areas outside of retail, it seems to be a VERY small percentage of jobs becoming available compared to the number of current pharmacists and 10k/year future pharmacy graduates. I looked at the employment rate of a few pharmacy schools I've prospected and the employment rate upon graduation was around 30% in pharmaceuticals. That's INSANE. I'm not trying to be a debbie downer, TRUST ME, I am trying to find every excuse I can to make the numbers work because I WANT to go to pharmacy school but I also dont want to be well over 6 figures in debt, 5-6 years of schooling and stuck with either the option of retail pharmacy or nothing at all.
I'm not sure where you are getting your information from or what schools you're looking at, but I am going to do an update for this soon as the market has changed drastically since I did this video. There has been a dip in pharmacy school enrollment that is not meeting the demand of pharmacists leaving/new roles coming in. It's expected that there will be a shortage of pharmacists in the near future. I also don't know what schools have that low of an employment rate because that is not the case in the midwest. There are hiring bonuses to get more pharmacists in both community and hospital pharmacies in the city where I work.
2 questions:D
How long were you in school?
What was your GPA and was it easy to get accepted?
I was in school for 6 years. I don't remember my GPA but I was on the dean's list every semester.
Do you have any advice for someone who’s looking for experience working at a pharmacy? I’m currently undergrad and I’ve been told that I need experience working at a pharmacy to get into the local pharmacy program
I recommend trying to become a pharmacy technician if you can. That is what I did and it was so helpful. If you can't, then check with local pharmacies, especially those that are privately owned to see if you could get shadowing opportunities. You may also check with your advisor at your college to see if they have any contacts they could connect you with!
Hi, did i understand you correctly when you said you made over six figures (salary) out of pharmacy school?
After completing residency, my salary was over 6 figures. During residency, I made ~$48K/year and worked 60-80+ hours a week
i am a pre-pharm student looking forward to going pharmacy school in the fall but i don’t know if i should stay in state at UNM or move to U of A which is my dream school. any idea what i should do?? is that extra $80,000 to go to my dream school worth it? how fast does it take to pay off your loan? please help!!
I can't help much here as this is a very personal decision. I think you should evaluate why you want to go to U of A and determine if it is worth $80K to you. How fast someone pays off their student loans depends on how they manage their money, other people who contribute to the household (i.e spouce), and any dependents they may be responsible for. Remember, the cost of the loan itself isn't what you pay in the end. You will also have the interest rates which are often >6% for the life of the loan. Loans are also different for undergrad vs. grad school so you should reach out to U of A financial aid office to learn more.
UofA is in my state. If you are an instate resident it's worth it because it is cheaper than most schools and you can either to the phoenix campus or tuscon's and phoenix has a lot of pharmacy opportunities, can't say much for tucson since it's smaller. You could move to phoenix or tuscon and become a tech first while you become an instate resident so you can see if you want this. There is writing on the wall and pharmacy world is not as bright as it used to be. You have got to make sure if this what you want.