itwillendsoon

Hmm... Let's see. I am a firm believer than anyone who's job can easily be replaced by machinery will eventually be cut out one way or another. and honestly, most of the retail pharmacist's jobs sound like they could, quite easily...

When we are paying so much for medical services, its ridiculous to be paying such high salaries to pharmacists. Eventually, one greedy pharmacist and a techie from silicon valley are going to team up to sell drugs online effectively with just one pharmacist to a very broad audience. I'm betting they will be able to undercut the current industry by half or something - resulting in a collapse of the industry. Its not the only industry this will happen to - I think it will happen to many eventually. Especially those that are overpaid for silly work.

sciencenerd

Um do you even know what the responsibilities of a pharmacist are?

Pharmacists do manage dispensing drugs to people. But they are also there to answer questions that people have about their medications and to make sure that they are getting the correct dosage. They also have to verify things with the insurance company. I'd love to see a machine do that!

LakeClouds

Claims processing is mostly automated and handled by the large PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Management) networks in many cases. I have never talk with a pharmacist about a prescription - how would you do that? Discuss it over the counter while the other customers overhear your medical problems? Plus it's the doc that writes the script and the pharmacist fills it.

When pharmacist were independent, that was different. Now they've mostly all sold-out to big chains which has destroyed the profession - great for those who cashed out - not so great for new people coming into the field.

I actually had a chat with a pharmacist this summer about a sleep remedy - but it was in Switzerland where they still have real pharmacist.

farmacist

1. Why do they make so much? And will it continue through year 2012 when I graduate college?
~ 200K of student loans with a ten year payment plan equating to a little over 400K. My friends who graduated with the same BS chose to pursue a masters earns just as much minus the student loans. It's a tough market saturated right now, so do it for the passion & the differences you can make.

2. People say that pharmacists' role will evolve. What do they mean by this as in will their routine change or what?

There's so many subspecialties just like for MDs, and it's constantly being pushed. The role as a dispenser will likely be less with improvements in technology, perhaps for the better. Doing ~200 scripts a day/pharmacist, I'm not sure what time is there left to do what we went into the profession for.

3. How long does it take after high school to become one?
Some take 6 with really perfect GPAs (y not just go for MD as it's the same prereqs?), but as the profession changes demanding a more clinical role, it seems that 8 years is the average then some more for residency.

My experience, went into pharmacy not understanding what it was really about, graduated still unsure after all those years of schooling and interning, and found myself in a completely different situation than I had ever imagined. I worked in retail as an intern and tried retail out for a month after graduation (wasn't bad or good, just really drained by the end of the day but loved the people interaction) and luckily landed a clinical position that still had the patient interaction plus other healthcare professionals that I learn as I go from. Love my job because it's challenging, constantly makes me look up things and learning as I teach others, and being the drug expert keeping patients safe and advocating for them makes me glad I went into this profession. Income wise, sounds like a lot of money but factor in loans and years of schooling (when you could be working), it all comes out to be the same. Passing on my dads advice " chose the profession you are passionate about because spending 8-9 hours a day can seem like an eternity if you don't enjoy it". And my own experience, don't be afraid to challenge yourself and more doors will open up.