Who's minding the drugstore?
Big dose of openings:
Pharmacists wanted
By Larry Keller
CNN.com/career Senior Writer
(CNN) -- "There's a need and demand for pharmacists that will only continue to grow for the next 10 to 20 years."
Dr. Sam S. Shekar, with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is talking about a career that pays well and has plenty of openings. Just say yes to drugs -- become a pharmacist.
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HRSA figures show that between February 1998 and February of this year, the number of unfilled full- and part-time drugstore pharmacist positions more than doubled, from 2,700 to 7,000.
Officials of the agency, which is an arm of the United States' Department of Health and Human Services, say the need for pharmacists is likely to keep growing.
It's not as if being a druggist is minimum-wage drudgery. Starting pay for a pharmacist fresh out of school averages $65,747, according to the Summer 2000 Salary Survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
HRSA figures show that the average pay in 1998 for a pharmacist working for an HMO -- regardless of experience -- was $69,870. At a chain drugstore it was $68,648; at a supermarket, $67,177; a hospital, $62,510; and at a small, independent drugstore, $59,657, according to HRSA.
So why is such a prescription for good employment going unfilled? There are several factors.
 Tough pills to swallow
• More people are getting more prescriptions than ever. HRSA figures indicate that there were 1.9 million retail prescriptions dispensed in the United States in 1992. By 1998, that figure had risen 44 percent to 2.8 billion.
• While demand is increasing, the number of new pharmacists is diminishing. Their ranks are expected to grow by 28,500 this decade, compared to 29,300 in the 1990s.
• Fewer students are enrolling in the nation's 81 pharmacy schools. The number of applicants dropped by one-third in the five-year period from 1994 to 1999, the health agency reports. One possible reason: Lengthier and more expensive educational requirements are being phased in at the colleges of pharmacy.
It used to be that a five-year program consisting of a bachelor's degree, a year of in-the-field experience and passage of a state exam would get you a pharmacist's license. Now the profession is requiring a doctorate in pharmacy, which takes six years. Accredited pharmacy schools are expected to graduate their last bachelor's degree class by 2005.
"There's a recognition that the world of pharmacy has become more complex and pharmacists are more responsible for patients' overall health than ever before," Shekar says.
• Expanded health insurance coverage has resulted not only in more prescriptions but also in more time-consuming paperwork, swallowing an estimated 10 to 20 percent of a pharmacist's time.
 'A lot of stress'
A year ago, Congress ordered an HRSA study, just released under the title "The Pharmacist Workforce: A Study of the Supply and Demand for Pharmacists." In that study, a conclusion is drawn that the challenges facing pharmacists have resulted in less time for druggists to counsel patients while working longer hours -- with less scheduling flexibility and greater potential for fatigue-related errors.
Lucinda Maine, senior vice president for professional and public affairs at the American Pharmaceutical Association in Washington, says "We hear from our members: 'It's not a lot of fun out here every day. The pressure is such (that) I'm worried I'm not able to keep up and do a good job all the time. There's a lot of stress."
It appears that women pharmacists are the ones feeling that stress, for the simple reason that their numbers are growing rapidly in the profession.
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"It's enviable. Today's pharmacy students have virtually unlimited opportunities."
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— Lucinda Maine,
American Pharmaceutical Association
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There are an estimated 196,000 pharmacists in the United States. Women comprised 18 percent of practicing pharmacists in 1980, but today they're estimated to make up 46 percent of the profession. By 2010 it's expected they'll account for more than 57 percent of druggists, Shekar says.
"In general ," he says, "we're seeing that across the board in a number of health professions."
Similarly, in 1980, 41 percent of pharmacy school graduates were women. By 1996 they accounted for 64 percent of graduates, according to the government.
"We're actively recruiting women," says Maine of the pharmacists' association. "If you're good in math and science and you're interested in a health career, this is a great one.
"In contrast to nursing, you're not being asked to handle the bedpans or the blood, in most cases. So it's -- quote -- cleaner. Yet you do have opportunities for direct patient care."
 'Unlimited opportunities'
The dearth of pharmacists may not be easily overcome. Life spans are lengthening, new medicines are being invented and the enormous baby boom population is aging. "Certainly we know that as people age the number of chronic diseases increases and the severity of those diseases and the need for prescription medicines also increases," Shekar says.
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Dr. Sam S. Shekar
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He and Maine agree that the pharmacy profession needs to search for ways to automate some tasks, lessening the time crunch on pharmacists in the process. With the status quo, "The recipe results in the greatest potential for fatigue-related errors," Shekar says. But no one is sure, he says, whether pharmacists are making more mistakes as their workload grows.
Many students may think six years of college is too much for a profession fraught with these problems, Maine suggests.
"We need as a profession to let those young people know that we recognize there are problems," she says, "but that there also are some fantastic, exciting opportunities. We need to make those more visible.
"It's enviable. Today's pharmacy students have virtually unlimited opportunities."
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As the industry struggles to find enough new pharmacists, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration is tracking a gradual shift in gender among pharmacists.