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Is the outlook for pharmacy bad in the future?

I am a senior in high school. I have been looking into becoming a pharmacist, but not retail. My dad keeps telling me that I should not go into pharmacy because there isn't a high demand for it. Is this true?
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Corynne’s Answer

If you are truly interested in pharmacy, you should definitely consider it as a career choice as it is a great one. The job market for pharmacists isn't what it used to be - there used to be more jobs than pharmacists and now it appears that there are more pharmacists than jobs. However, there are so many different career paths for pharmacists. You don't just have to work retail (like in CVS) where the market is relatively saturated right now. A lot of people do a residency or fellowship after pharmacy school to gain additional experience and have their resume stand out more when applying for jobs. Best of luck!
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Ken’s Answer

There are many opportunities for pharmacists to practice their trade, but the exact application really depends on how your personality traits match up with those who are successful in that area. Congratulations on being interested in finding the right career to follow.. It takes a special person to enter into a specific career field and meet the demands which that career area presents. The first step is to get to know yourself to see if you share the personality traits which make that make one successful in that area. The next step is doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow people doing what you might think that you want to do to see if this is something that you really want to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside.  When I was doing college recruiting, I encountered too many students, who skipped these important steps, and ended up in a career/job for which they were ill suited.

Ken recommends the following next steps:

• The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
• Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
• Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
• It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
Here is a site that will help you to learn more about being a pharmacist: ## https://explorehealthcareers.org/career/pharmacy/pharmacist/ ## Here is the site of the professional association to which pharmacists belong: which would be helpful for you to visit ## https://www.pharmacist.com/ ##
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Dinah’s Answer

I am currently a second year pharmacy student and now with COVID, pharmacy is not as saturated, but before COVID retail was saturated. Pharmacy is expanding and it's not just retail, clinical, or hospital anymore. There are so many new avenues you can take and still work with your PharmD. You will take pharmacy courses on many diseases states and other parts of pharmacy that nobody really talks about like transplant, veterinary, or even oncology. You will learn what part of pharmacy you like and it doesn't have to be the general path of pharmacy that many students take. Volunteering or shadowing is a really good way to get a better feel on what you enjoy and what you see yourself working as after graduation and hopefully the rest of your career.
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Dan’s Answer

I agree with Corynne. Pharmacists are starting to enter different fields and positions that were once only held by physicians of PhD’s. The job market is starting to realize that pharmacists have a unique education that can be universally applied to many different positions in the medical and biotech industry. Good luck with your future!
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