Dranakin

That's odd. I remember asking a pharmacist a simple question (like your "weird mark on the neck" one) and I was told very quickly before I could even finish the question: "I'm not allowed to give diagnosis's. NEXT!"

mo24

Just curious, where did you find that figure at?

I recently stumbled upon the Bureau of Labor statistics for different occupations - huge, interesting resource for different occupation salaries. However, I don't think it deals with starting salaries, which i'd love to find information about if there is anything out there like that.

Here are the annual wage estimates by percentile for Pharmacists:
Percentile: 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
Annual Wage: $64,350 $78,620 $89,820 $103,300 $113,310

Not a great indicator for 'growth potential' no doubt, but it seems to have about the same disparity between 10% and 90% percentile salaries as most engineering jobs have: around $50,000.

Polo08816

That is about right. However, I would like to point out exactly what these statistics mean. It states that the 50th percentile of pharmacists make about $89,000. However, it is important to note that the statistic itself does not state the median income of those with PharmD degrees, which could be different and would probably have a greater spread upwards.

Personally, I enrolled in the Pharmacy program at my school because it offers the highest starting salary of any discipline at my school. However, I also plan to obtain a MS ChemE and MBA in the future. I have no doubt that if I only had a PharmD I would not break $120,000/year. Thus, the additional graduate degrees expands my opportunities to fields that do compensate higher than being a pharmacist.

La269tina

According to Wikipedia the definition of Pharmacy:

Pharmacy (from the Greek φάρμακον = drug) is a chemical science and profession charged with ensuring the safe use of medication. Traditionally, pharmacists have compounded and dispensed medications on the orders of physicians. More recently, pharmacy has come to include other services related to patient care including clinical practice, medication review, and drug information. Some of these new pharmaceutical roles are now mandated by law in various legislatures. Pharmacists, therefore, are drug therapy experts, and the primary health professionals who optimise medication management to produce positive health-outcomes.

Pharmacist do not just dispense a pill bottle. New legislation is making it harder for Pharmacist to pass the buck when it comes to responsibilities. Pharmacist are DRUG EXPERTS. They know what can mix with what, what not to eat with which drug, what are your levels supposed to look like with these drugs etc. Medical Doctors need the assistance of pharmacist when making treatment decisions, especially when a patient is in need of a new drug!!!

Most US Pharmacy schools (if not all at the moment) are only offering the Pharm.D. program. You can no longer attend and receive a Bachelor's and be a pharmacist. The reason is because of the pharmacy profession and it current evolving state.

As for the need; that is because not everyone can be a Pharmacist. School is tedious and if everyone could do it then we would not have a shortage.

Pharmacist more than deserve the money they make. They a lot of responsibility and they have to be on top of their game. YOUR LIFE is in their hand!!! Your doctor can slip up with your medications but it is the pharmacist that cannot let it pass them by!!! Consider chemotherapy agents and mixes are prepared by pharmacist according to individual patient needs.

Consider what their true job is.

i3asketballboy

excellent post La269tina

jadex

"Why are so many pharmacists earning 6 figs directly out of college, which is more than a ****ing engineer?! All they do is hand over a dang bottle of pills and, if I'm not mistaken, mix chemicals to make them?"

I was about to become a pharmacist (both of my parents were pharmacists, so you can see where the influence came from), and I've spent a lot of time volunteering in the pharmacy, so I can tell you firsthand that pharmacy is probably one of the more complicated fields. Personally, I've never understood the hype about engineering. It seems to me that they get to do a job where everything is of their own design, a freedom that most people don't get to have.

"1. Why do they make so much? And will it continue through year 2012 when I graduate college?"

The short answers are because they do a whole lot, and yes, it will continue. Pharmacists, especially in the hospital setting, become much more than pill-pushers. They become mini-doctors and nurses, monitoring patient's vital signs, designing drug regimens, evaluating patient's conditions, etc. Of course they're not allowed to diagnose conditions, but rather treat the ailment(s). Pharmacy requires one to have an EXTENSIVE background in chemistry, phyisiology, and biochemistry. The pharmacist must know how a drug will interact with a patient (based on existing conditions and ailments), how much to give, and how long it should be recieved. If it is a very specific ailment, the pharmacist and pharm techs must know how to create the drug needed, or dilute/concentrate another drug to a desired strength. It's not just randomly mixing chemicals in a lab, but rather a painstakingly calculated process.

Pharmacists hold the lives of the people they treat in their hands - a drug they give may have an interaction with another a patient is already taking, they may have a reaction, they may have a wrong dosage. They have control over all sort of harmless and also very harmful drugs (morphine, xanax, etc.) that they must monitor the intake and release of. That responsibility falls on the head of the pharmacist. Give them credit, it takes a lot.

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

As I said before, they don't just stay behind a counter, they're at patient's bedsides - just like the nurses and doctors. They're an integral part of the healthcare team. They also have more expansive administrative duties, moving into the business sector. The pharmacist is more intergral and expanded - evolving in that sense.

"3. How long does it take after high school to become one?"

Typically, if you go directly out of high school, 6 years. 2 in undergrad (completing prereqs), 4 in pharmacy school. You recieve a Pharm.D. Many people go for other degrees as well - MBAs are common, Ph.Ds are becoming more popular. There are some dual pharmacy programs in which you can recieve a Pharm.D/Ph.D. Most of the people that I know who are in pharmacy school right say it isn't worth the stress, and that they'd rather take the extra 5-6 years.

allie725

PharmD's make a higher salary than engineers because they are much more valuable. Engineers are a dime a dozen and all it takes is a BS. There are very few pharmD programs in the country. Try to get in and see what happens.

lkf725

This is just wrong. The degree to be a dispensing pharmacist used to be a five-year bachelors degree. Now the entry level degree is a PharmD. There was never a masters level degree for clinical practice. In fact, if memory serves me, Florida was one of the first states to switch over to the PharmD from the BSPharm.

The other route a person can take to work in R&D for a pharmaceutical company is to get the PharmD or the BS in chemistry, and then pursue a doctoral degree (PhD) in some aspect of pharmacy, such as pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, etc.

Why do they get paid so well? Salary takes into account:
1. Years of education (6>4)
2. Hours worked (which can be substantially over 40 in retail, as well as evenings, weekends, nights and holidays)
3. Precident (the salaries are never going to go down)
4. Geographic location (salaries are higher in places with high cost of living and in rural areas with a lack of pharmacy services)
5. Expanding professional duties (increased responsibilities and wider areas of practice specialties)
6. Supply and demand (at the current rate of licensure, there will be a shortage of 157,000 pharmacists in the US by 2020.)

At this time, pharmacist salaries are increasing 22.3% faster than the average for other professions. Like it or not, that's the fact.

(FWIW, I think engineers should be paid more than they are. They are also highly educated and carry a lot of liability).

nyumom

Well, I hate to admit it, but sometimes they make errors - either by forgetting to fill a refilled prescription or by giving out the incorrect drug to the patient - and both of these incidents have happened to me personally, but I was able to call them on it right away, so there definitely needs to be more quality control - especially at the big drug store chains. There are pharmaceutical students working/interning at these chain stores, and if they make an error, the pharmacist on duty is still responsible for making the correction, but I found from my own personal experience that the students that I was dealing with were not detail oriented enough and should be more on the ball.

nyumom

As a result of these experiences, I don't have anything to do with the large drug store chains.

lkf725

It is true, nyumom, that the pharmacist on duty is responsible for the student interns and technicians, errors and all. Both the employer and the pharmacist carry malpractice insurance because frankly people make mistakes and pharmaceutical mistakes can be catastrophic. Maybe this is one more reason their salaries are as high as they are...liability.

dzinger02

Well you want to know why pharmacists make so much money? Im a second year pharmacy student at ferris state univeristy. I did 4 years undergrad and got my chemistry and biology degree. Now i have 2 more years (out of 4) of pharmacy school. I will have a title of Dr., what will you have? Im going to be in school for a total of 8 years, you did 4. I have to know everything about pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. If your in the hospital one day, guess who makes sure you get the best medicinal care possible...yes..me, because its me that makes your IV's, IM's and dispenses your drugs while checking for adverse drug reactions, and allergy reactions. So before you blow your top, get your facts straight.

PharmD. Canidate

ns347

take an econ course: supply, demand, human capital, signaling

look up these 4 and they should give u a little idea...

Program1

A LOT of people can be pharmacists. Universities just artificially create a shortage of them. Duh. There's tons of people applying with degrees that have 4.0s and they don't get in. Not to mention, that is insane and retarded. Why do we want the smartest people to be pharmacists when they could be engineers or scientists? That degree that they get isn't really a doctorates degree and most people would agree to that. One year out of three or 4 is devoted to experience at different pharmacy jobs. You can get a PharmD in 5 years or even 4 1/2 if you rush the first 2 undergraduate years.

Remember C = PharmD

Are you kidding me? They already make as much as a senior engineer or senior software engineer out of college. With over time they make 150000-200000. There's like absolutely no more compounding pharmacists because all the drugs are already made. Of course a pharmacist also doesn't need to know all of the drugs because it would be impossible, and they just look at the drug info on their computer or bottle anyways. Do you have to keep up with the times as much as an engineer or software engineer? Not even close.

UCLAri

That's assuming, of course, that the people with the highest GPAs necessarily are flocking to pharmacy and are in fact the "smartest" people.

This is unlikely and unusual at best. Most pharmacists make six-figures, but never that sort of money.

This statement is inherently meaningless, because it assumes that any particular profession has more to "keep up with" than another. Pharmacists are probably keeping up with just as much new information as anyone else.