Rx still in demand, pharmacists serve important roles in hospitals, retail stores and other areas
Rx still in demand, pharmacists serve important roles in hospitals, retail stores and other areas
Headlines in recent years have repeatedly proclaimed a shortage of pharmacists, a shortage that continues despite the recession. Which makes it an ideal time to pursue a pharmacy career — if you have the grades and test scores to beat out other applicants.
“It’s so competitive now — everybody wants to get into pharmacy school,” said Edna Zamparelli, 31, of Burlington, a second-year student in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at UNC-Chapel Hill.
While the shortage has eased, it continues to be an issue for community pharmacies and hospitals.
“A few years ago North Carolina was one of the hardest-hit states,” said Brian Roming, executive director of pharmacy services for Moses Cone Health System. “There’s clearly an ongoing need for pharmacists.”
UNC-CH’s pharmacy school is the only public option in North Carolina, and one of only three pharmacy schools in the state. The other two are at Wingate and Campbell universities. UNC-CH also has a small satellite program at Elizabeth City State University, enrolling 10 to 15 students per year in its program.
Pushing for a local program
Shortly after she became UNCG chancellor at the beginning of this academic year, Linda Brady began a push to create a pharmacy school, an idea she inherited from retired UNCG chancellor Pat Sullivan. To illustrate the need for another pharmacy school, a recent UNCG memo indicated that Wingate University had received 1,112 applications for 70 spots.
During its most recent application period for the current academic year, UNC-CH received 771 applications for 155 spots, according to David Etchison, director of communications for the UNC-CH pharmacy school. The application period begins Aug. 1, so he said he couldn’t tell yet whether the recession had affected the volume of applications.
State budget cuts have raised questions about UNCG’s ability to open a new pharmacy school, but Brady continues to push the idea. There have been discussions about bringing in outside funding to help start the school as a public-private partnership.
“I know students are beginning to ask about it, because they see stories in the newspaper and on TV,” said Bruce Banks, an associate professor in the department of chemistry and biology at UNCG who also serves as academic adviser for students following the school’s pre-pharmacy track.
Education requirements
While pharmacy schools have rigorous academic standards, they are “one of the last of the professional schools that still don’t require a degree,” Banks said. Many students at UNCG complete a bachelor’s degree in biology or chemistry before applying to pharmacy school, he said, but they have the option of transferring to pharmacy school once they have completed prerequisites in math and science.
Etchison said that having a bachelor’s degree offers no advantage in terms of the odds of being accepted to pharmacy school or getting a higher salary after graduation, but that a degree gives applicants a chance to become more well-rounded and experienced.
It takes four years to earn a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, also known as a Pharm.D. degree. Students typically spend the summers after their second and third years of school doing internships, as well as most of their fourth year. It’s also common to take part in a one-year fellowship after graduation, but it’s not required. In North Carolina, students must pass two multiple-choice tests to become pharmacists: the North American Pharmacy Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE).
Zamparelli, who is doing an internship at a CVS Pharmacy in Burlington, earned a bachelor’s degree at UNC-Charlotte before beginning pharmacy school in Chapel Hill, and she’s leaning toward pursuing a job in a hospital pharmacy.
“I think it’s more interesting for me, because (hospital pharmacists) apply more knowledge,” she said. “But I’m not saying retail is not, because every day someone calls the pharmacy about some kind of medicine or some kind of reaction to a prescription.”
The work of pharmacists in a retail store and of those in a hospital differ in several respects, Etchison and Roming said. Retail pharmacists tend to serve patients who aren’t critically ill, and handle more maintenance drugs for conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Hospital pharmacists tend to deal with more complex medications such as those administered in IV drips and drugs used during surgery. Many drugs are needed urgently. In a hospital, pharmacists often are part of a treatment team, serving as experts on drug information in ways that doctors may not keep pace with because they have so many other tasks.
Other career possibilities
The profession offers a number of options beyond retail and hospital pharmacies. The majority of students in UNCG’s program go on to work at retail pharmacies, Banks said, but they also may find jobs doing research for a pharmaceutical company or working at a medical clinic as a resident expert on medicine and drug interactions.
Roming mentioned several additional areas where pharmacists might find work, including high-volume mail-order pharmacies and insurance companies, which he said sometimes hire pharmacists to help assess claims and suggest more affordable health care alternatives for patients.
Contact Eddie Huffman at 373-7335 or eddie.huffman@news-record.com.
A pharmacist fills prescriptions at a drug store.
A pharmacist fills prescriptions at a drug store.
Nancy Sidelinger Special Sections PhotographerMore about pharmacists
• Their link in the health care chain
Pharmacists are responsible for dispensing prescription medications to patients and advising them, as well as doctors and other health practitioners, on the dosages, interactions and side effects of those medications.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Education required
Pharmacists must earn a Pharm.D. degree, which takes four years to complete. To qualify for pharmacy school, a student must have two years of postsecondary study, passing prerequisite math and science courses like chemistry, biology and anatomy. However, a bachelor’s degree is not required. A license to practice pharmacy is required in all states.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Pay range
The general salary range for an entry-level pharmacist is $90,000 to $120,000, according to David Etchison, director of communications for the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Brian Roming, executive director of pharmacy services for Moses Cone Health System, said Cone starts new hospital pharmacists around $85,000 to $90,000 a year. Retail drug store chains typically pay starting salaries of $100,000 or more, he said.
Etchison added that was especially true when chain stores were trying to lure pharmacists to rural areas where they might not otherwise choose to live. He said he has anecdotal evidence of pharmacists signing contracts with drug-store chains for salaries of $1 million for seven years of service, for example.
