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I’m currently a 4th year dual-degree student at a top 10 pharmacy school. I have worked as an pharmacy intern at 4 different sites over my first 3 years (and turned down offers from others). These internships include a large biotech company in a commercial function, P&T committee (managed care), managed care consulting company, and inpatient hospital pharmacy. I was on the winning team of the annual P&T competition which is run by AMCP (Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy). I’ve explored many possible pharmacy careers and networked with all kinds of pharmacists. I am happy to offer you my services and help you along the pharmacy journey.
Template creation means that you provide me with your rough draft of your CV/resume, and I will “beautify” it into a presentable format and also proofread it (suggestions with the track changes tool). CV/resume review refers to proofreading only.
accepting paypal payments. email inquiries at info@pharmapplicants.com
2012 PharmD Program Rankings USNews
US News finally made the update to their pharmacy school rankings. There has definitely been some movement and shuffling, but UCSF remains #1. Please read their methodology for more information (a direct quote is below). Note that this is a subjective and quantitative research analysis.
All the health rankings are based solely on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators, and/or faculty at accredited degree programs or schools in each discipline. All schools surveyed in a discipline were sent the same number of surveys. Respondents rated the academic quality of programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). They were instructed to select “don’t know” if they did not have enough knowledge to rate a program. Only fully accredited programs in good standing during the survey period are ranked. Those schools with the highest average scores appear in the rankings.
Posted in Pharmacy Industry News
2012 Career and Salary Outlook for Pharmacists
Careers in health care continue to be in demand, creating opportunities for many new graduates. In particular, demand for trained pharmacists is projected to grow and salary outlook remains high. For those who are interested in starting a pharmacy or pre-pharmacy training program, or for those who are about to graduate from such a program, here is some more detailed information about projected growth to understand career and salary outlook for the field in 2012:
Reason for Demand
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that demand for trained pharmacists is expected to rise 17 percent between 2008 and 2018, creating approximately 45,900 new jobs. The projected growth is faster than average for other careers. Many factors contribute to the increasing demand for pharmacists:
A shortage of trained pharmacists is also projected, contributing to greater demand. A conference sponsored by the Pharmacy Manpower Project predicted that there will be a shortfall of as many as 157,000 pharmacists by 2020 because the number of graduates is not keeping pace with the demand. Another report conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Depart of Health and Human Services reached similar conclusions about a projected shortage of pharmacists.
Because of the ongoing demand, 2012 pharmacy graduates should have no trouble finding immediate employment. (This is assuming that graduates are willing to relocate if their geographic areas are saturated such as in large metropolitan areas, e.g.: Los Angeles).
Salary Projections
Pharmacists have traditionally enjoyed an above average salary. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that median annual wages were $106,410 in May 2008, and that the middle 50 percent of pharmacists earned between $92,670 and $121,310 a year. The highest 10 percent earned more than $131,440 a year.
The good news is that salaries are expected to remain high. The bad news is that salaries for pharmacists have traditionally remained stagnant over the course of a career, with small adjustments for inflation or experience earned. Some experience little to no salary growth over the course of their careers, limiting the potential for upward mobility.
However, many pharmacists can find advancement through research or managerial positions, which offer potential for salary increases. Because of the projected expansion of pharmaceutical services, many pharmacists are likely to find greater opportunities for mobility within the profession in the coming years.
Becoming a pharmacist takes many years of training – as much as six to eight years, depending on your program and your background – but there are many opportunities for those wishing to begin their careers in the field, either in hospitals, clinics, community centers, or retail pharmacists. Demand will continue to grow, expanding opportunities across sectors, and salaries will continue to remain high.
Bio:
Erinn Stam is the Managing Editor for nursing student scholarships. She attends Wake Technical Community College and is learning about nursing scholarships for single moms. She lives in Durham, NC with her lovely 4-year-old daughter and exuberant husband.
Posted in Pharmacy Industry News
Applicants for the 2012 cycle can now post their profiles on PharmApplicants.com! Good luck to all the pharmacy school applicants!
As a pre-pharmacy student, it would behoove you to become familiar with the professional pharmacy organizations that represent different aspects of pharmacy practice. Even as a pharmacy school student, getting involved in organizations will allow you to meet working pharmacists, hold leadership positions, and network with students (your future colleagues) at local/national conferences. In pharmacy school, it is usually who you know NOT what you know that will open doors to internships and jobs. Recently, a fellow classmate told me he joined a national organization PRIOR to applying to pharmacy school to demonstrate his interest in pharmacy to the admissions committee. He went to local association meetings to meet pharmacists and learn about the key issues in pharmacy. If I were to apply to pharmacy school again, I would have done the same, and I recommend that you do the same (joining not just to join but really to see what a pharmacy career is all about). Don’t forget to join your undergraduate university’s pre-pharmacy club!
Here are some organizations that you should research. Please note that the pharmacy school that you attend may or may not have a student chapter. This is not an all-inclusive list.
PharmCAS has opened up their applications for the new application cycle!
http://www.pharmcas.org/applicants/start.htm
Don’t forget to check whether or not the pharmacy schools that you are applying for require a supplemental application in addition to your PharmCAS!
PharmApplicants will open up the new application cycle in a few days. Stay tuned.
Medco teams up with FDU to start a new pharmacy school. Will start admitting 85 students in 2012. The Pharm.D. will be a 4 year program and offer various dual degree tracks.
As many of you may already know, October is national pharmacist month! Many pharmacy school students spend the month promoting the profession. You can join in by ‘liking’ the APhA facebook group to promote American Pharmacist Month. Also, you can change your profile photo to this:
Lastly, you can do a daily status update to promote our profession (provided byAPhA Academy of Student Pharmacists).
DAILY APhM FACTS
Below, you will find a list of 31 facts pertaining to pharmacy. For each day of American Pharmacists Month, we encourage you to copy and paste the fact onto your Facebook status or include in your Twitter updates. This will allow your family and friends to learn more about pharmacy as a profession and what you especially, can contribute.
1. Did you know that October is American Pharmacists Month? Know your MEDICINE. Know your PHARMACIST.
2. Did you know that pharmacists can be board-certified in nutritional support, nuclear pharmacy, oncology, psychiatry, pharmacotherapy, and ambulatory care (2011)?
3. Did you know that nuclear pharmacists work with radioactive medications that allow physicians to image various organ systems?
4. Did you know that Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is a service provided by pharmacists to ensure you get the best possible medication for your health needs?
5. Did you know that pharmacists can become Certified Diabetes Educators? These educators teach patients how to self-manage their disease through lifestyle modifications and appropriate medication use.
6. Did you know that pharmacists can administer vaccines (immunize) in all 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico?
7. Did you know, after receiving their Doctor of Pharmacy degree, that pharmacists can complete 1-2 year residencies for additional training in a variety of settings from community to heath-systems?
8. Did you know that pharmacists provide anticoagulation services by monitoring lab levels and adjusting medications to reduce the risks of bleeding and clot formation?
9. Did you know that in 2009 student pharmacists participated in patient care projects which educated more than 16.3 million people in communities across the nation?
10. Did you know that poly-pharmacy means getting prescriptions filled at multiple pharmacies? Avoiding poly-pharmacy helps to avoid drug interactions.
11. Did you know that pharmacists and student pharmacists communicate with legislators and regulatory agencies, like the FDA, to provide them with the most recent information concerning the profession of pharmacy?
12. Did you know that side effects of medications can sometimes be lessened or avoided if you ask pharmacist how to manage them?
13. Did you know that when Benjamin Franklin founded the Pennsylvania Hospital, he appointed an apothecary and this underlined the separate ‘entities’ of physician and pharmacist?
(Halioua, Bruno. Ziskind, Bernard. Translated by M. B. DeBevoise. Medicine in the Days of the Pharaohs. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 2005.)
14. Did you know that the earliest known records for the practice of the art of the apothecary originate from Ancient Babylonia (c. 2600 BC)? Inscriptions containing entire treatment plans have been discovered.
(Bender G, Parke, Davis & Company, Thom R. Parke-Davis’s Pictorial Annals of Medicine and Pharmacy. New York: Warner-Lambert, Co; 1999.)
15. Did you know that in 1931 National Pharmacy Week was promoted through a national window display competition? Currently, the entire month of October (American Pharmacists Month) is dedicated to promoting the role of the pharmacist in improving medication use and advancing patient care.
(the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy Website) (www.pharmacy.wisc.edu/aihp/)
16. Did you know that Pharmacist Eugene V. White of Berryville, VA pioneered pharmacy consultation by creating a patient care area in his store in 1960? The patient care based model was inspired by White’s design and is currently used in today’s American pharmacies.
(American Pharmacy, A Collection of Historical Essays. Edited by Gregory Higby and Elaine Stroud, 2005.)
17. Did you know that since 1997, student pharmacists have helped vaccinate 720,600 patients?
(pharmacist.com)
18. Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1927. After the first use of antibiotics in the 1940s, the medicine transformed health care and dramatically reduced illness and death from infectious diseases.
(www.cdc.gov)
19. Since 2001, student pharmacists have screened 77,633 patients, and have referred 7,247 patients to their physician for follow up care. (pharmacist.com)
20. Did you know that the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) was the first established national professional society of pharmacists? Founded in 1852 as the American Pharmaceutical Association, it remains the largest association of pharmacists in the United States, boasting more than 60,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and others interested in advancing the profession.
(www.pharmacist.com)
21. Did you know aspirin was originally discovered in 1853 by Charles Frederic Gerhardt? Gerhardt abandoned his discovery and in 1899, a German chemist named Felix Hoffmann, who worked for a German company called Bayer, rediscovered Gerhardt’s formula and gave it to his father who was suffering from the pain of arthritis. (www.inventors.about.com)
22. Did you know that you should give your pharmacist a specific description of the type of reaction you’ve had to a medication (rash, difficulty breathing, etc..)? Sometimes it is not a true allergy, and you may be able to continue taking the medication.
23. Did you know a law enacted by the city council of Bruges, Belgium in 1683 forbade physicians to prepare medications for their patients? This was now stipulated to be the prerogative of the pharmacist only.
(Timetables of Medicine. Introduction by Roy Porter. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. 2000.)
24. Did you know that Bartholowmew Browne of Salem, Massachusetts is considered the earliest practicing pharmacist? It is significant that in 1698, he described himself as a “pharmaceutical chemist” rather than an apothecary, the first evidence that a new profession was emerging.
(Images of Healing: A Portfolio of American Medical & Pharmaceutical Practice in the 18th, 19th, & early 20th Centuries. Edited by Ann Novotny & Carter Smith with an introduction by William Sharpe, M.D. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1980)
25. Did you know that health care teams that include pharmacists can help to reduce health care cost and improve outcomes through better medication management?
26. Did you know that medications bought without a prescription may interfere with prescription medications you are already taking? Ask your pharmacist for a medication check-up.
27. Did you know that pharmacists in many states may practice “collaborative care”? This term defines a partnership where health care professionals contribute to the decisions concerning patient care and selection of medications.
28. Did you know that only 65% of pharmacists work in a traditional community setting? Other settings include hospital, mail-order, long-term care facilities, federal government positions, managed care organizations, and physician offices.
(www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm)
29. Did you know that pharmacists are part of the Indian Health Service (IHS) healthcare team? The IHS provides services to approximately 1.5 million American Indians who belong to 557 federally recognized tribes.
(www.pharmacy.ihs.gov)
30. Did you know that the presence of a pharmacist on rounds as a full member of the patient care team in a medical Intensive Care Unit was associated with a substantially lower rate of Adverse Drug Events?
(Lucian L. Leape, MD, et al. Pharmacist Participation on Physician Rounds and Adverse Drug Events in the Intensive Care Unit. JAMA. 1999;282:267-270.)
31. Developing good communication between the Pharmacist and the Patient can lead to better health outcomes. Know your MEDICINE. Know your PHARMACIST.
Read more about the month on pharmacist.com
Posted in Pharmacy School Life
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