Grads on rise, but pharmacies see shortage in future

By RON BARTIZEK

More people taking more drugs means more need for pharmacists. But despite increases in the number of pharmacy schools and graduates, projections show there will not be enough in coming years.

“Nationally and regionally there is a big shortage of pharmacists,” said Dr. Edward Foote, associate professor and chair of Pharmacy Practice at Wilkes University. “We’re just not making enough.”

The nation’s 37,000 chain pharmacies reported about 4,000 job openings recently. That was down from a peak of 7,700 in 2001, but the improving trend could turn around as the baby boom generation ages and more seniors sign up for the Medicare prescription drug program.

Wilkes has stepped in with its Doctor of Pharmacy program, which graduated its first class in 2000. Now averaging 65-70 graduates yearly, Foote says there’s more interest in the program than Wilkes can accommodate.

“If we wanted we could have a class of 300,” he said. And the quality of applicants is rising along with applications. He says the reasons are easy to understand.

“It’s because it’s a solid job market with good pay that can start easily in six figures.” Many employers also are paying sign-on bonuses, and the profession looks to be secure, with a consortium of pharmacy groups projecting a shortage of 157,000 pharmacists nationwide by 2020.

Nationally, the number of pharmacy schools has grown in the past two decades by 20 to 92, producing about 8,200 graduates in 2005.

One way chain pharmacies find qualified help is by enticing owners of local stores to come to work for them. “We do approach the local pharmacies,” said Walgreens spokesperson Carol Hively, to see if they might be interested in trading their independence for job security.

Some individual store owners may be ready to slow down or may not have family members who want to take over, she said. Chains then pay for customer lists and the pharmacist comes to work for them.

That continuity can help the new store get off to a good start, said Mitchell Corwin, an equity analyst for Morningstar.com, because people in small communities know and trust the pharmacist. “That’s an important relationship.”

Foote does not see competition here driving established pharmacists to the chains. “They all have thriving businesses to my knowledge,” he said. “There is a lot of loyalty to these small businesses.”

At the moment, Foote says there is no shortage of pharmacists in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but his brother, a pharmacist in Delaware, has told him about stores that have cut back hours because staff was lacking.

In addition to the job security provided by the growing demand for prescription drugs, Foote looks forward to passage of legislation that will expand pharmacists’ responsibilities.

“Hopefully they’ll expand the area where pharmacists can do more advanced practice stuff,” he said, such as immunizations, counseling and simple clinical operations such as taking and analyzing blood samples.

“It’s really a tenuous but exciting time for pharmacy.”
Ron Bartizek, Times Leader business editor, may be reached at 970-7157.


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