I have a family member that will soon become a pharmacist. From what she tells me, she'll be making close to $100,000 coming out of school. IMO, that is absolutely ridiculous. What do pharmacists do to merit that kind of money? The only other profession I can think of that makes that much or more are physicians. I know most law school don't make $100,000 straight of law school. What's so complex and specialized about pharmacy that merits this kind of money? You read prescriptions and dispense pills. You do have to know drug interactions, but I think the onus of doing that is on the physician moreso than the pharmacist. Moreover, since the pay is so great, why don't more people do it? Maybe I'm totally out of my element thinking this. Just my $0.02
the people working at walgreens make that much? or is it the people who actually make and research drugs for pfizer and other pharmaceuticals?
oh, you gotta love sheer ignorance. "read prescriptions and dispense pills". yeah, that's all they do.
Well, I mentioned that they read prescriptions, dispense pills, and know drug interactions. Why do you tell me what else it is that the people at Walgreens do.
Not sure it really deserved a smartass remark. Here's a good site explaining the nature of a pharmacist's work. I can see where they'd get paid that kind of money.
The people at Walgreens make that much. I would have no complaints with drug researchers making that kind of money. Ironically, they often make less than the Walgreens folks.
Yea, the people at Walgreens make somewhere between 90-100000, somewhere in there. And insurance is pretty high I would believe. There's also a minimum number of prescriptions your'e supposed to be fulfilling per hour, and if you don't reach that number pay gets deducted. So your'e constantly filling orders to meet the quota. I like pharmacists though, I've met 5 or so personally in my lifetime, and they were all "good" people. I could never be a pharmacist however, too many little pills and too many numbers. -------------------------------------------------------------- On a side note, everytime I think of Walgreens, I think of the movie Wag the Dog. Since, their ticker symbols is WAG. - very important
I don't know all of the ins and outs of what pharmacists do on a daily basis, but much like anything else, I'm sure a lot of the reason they are payed so well is because of the level of education required. People ain't gonna go through all of those years of school and take out massive loans without side perks/increased pay...
My wife is studying pharmacy right now. And trust me jackfruit, there is more to it than you could ever imagine. just looking at her textbooks - Biology, chemistry (organic, physical etc) pharmaceutical science (and so forth) I've got a headache just typing the names of the subjects. I dont know how she does it. Right now she's studying for end of year exams... oh did I mention this is only her FIRST year! 4 more to go. on top of the education level , pharmacists deal with people not only refered by physicians - but also direct off the street who dont have the money/time/brains to see a Doctor first (and there's lots of these people) they deal as first point of contact for a great number of ill and injured people straight off the street. additionally, pharmacy is an ongoing educational process. In few fields, does the level of change come anywhere close to pharmacy. Its not something where you can learn your job, and then leave it at that...your always learning. My wife is upset by your ignorance, and wonders why you even care anyway
They don't start out making that much, maybe in california or New York, but not here. They make about 60k starting out, if that.
maybe instead of whining about it u should be happy someone in your family is fortunate enough to have a chance to make such a great living.
From what I heard, pharmacy schools are really hard to get in. I think you have to be top 2% in your college to be able to get in. So ya, you definitely have to put in a lot of efforts to earn that money.
I am not sure I get the point of this thread. Just for your information, Jackfruit, the education pharmacists have to go through is no less challenging or demanding than physicians. They get that PharmD next to their names just like physicians get an MD next to theirs. They're full-fledged scientists, not mere "prescription label readers"; I don't know where you're getting your info from... No actually, you're wrong. I have two individuals in my family alone who're going through pharmacy school right now. One of them is third year student and already got offered a job -- which she didn't accept, btw -- that would pay her more than $100k fresh out of college right here in Houston. In fact, the lowest offer she got was to work for the government and make a little over $70k to begin with, along with tons of benefits.
I don't doubt for a second that it is a difficult field in terms of its study. I too have seen that with my family member. My question was in regards to what differentiates it from other fields. It is the only field to my knowledge where you earn that kind of money without having "Doctor" in front of your name. I'm sorry that my "ignorance" upsets your wife. It's not a question of "caring," but rather one of inquiry and curiousity. I don't care one way or the other. As long as Pharmacists aren't taking money out of my pocket, more power to them for earning the money they do. Plus, I think my lack of knowledge in this is fueled by the fact that like it or not, pharmacy is not as "conventional" as other disciplines. You don't see pharmacists in action like you do doctors, lawyers, and engineers. To the average Joe, the pharmacist is the guy who gives you the medicine that doctors prescribe. That's all you see with a pharmacist. I know that I am oblivious to many things that they do, and that is why I asked the questions that I did. I consider myself a fairly intelligent guy, yet I had no idea how long pharmacists went to school. Outside Texas, I could not confidently name 5 other pharmacy schools. I could tell you that Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and Penn have law schools. I can't do the same with Pharmacy. I have no idea as to which pharmacy schools are the best in the country. My questions aren't intended to demean or offend. They are genuine questions. I know why truck drivers earn more money than Pharmacists. Like it or not, with Pharmacy, it's not as obvious.
Tiger..the point of the thread is just to learn more about something I don't know much about. Nothing more and nothing less.
My dad is a pharmacist and he has never made 100K. Now you can earn six digits if you want to be a pharmacist in a small town in South Dakota. Walgreens pays big time to get pharmacist to live in certan locations. When growing up when I was asked what my dad did for a living, I used to say he was a pill pusher. The best though is my birth certificate, under occupation for my father it simply says "drugs".
Do you know what kind of education your dad got? Back in the day, colleges offered bachelor's degrees in pharmacy, and that was differentiated from the 'professional' degree in pharmacy (i.e. the PharmD); of course, U.S. schools since have done away with the undergraduate degree in pharmacy. Moreover, there are pharmacy assistants/technicians, which are merely 'certificate' programs and these are the people you most likely deal with at your local pharmacy, not the pharmacist him/herself.
That does seem relatively crazy. Physicians don't make that kind of money straight out of medical school. I know it's a field that requires a lot of study and knowledge, but so does being a doctor and they're very lucky to get $50K right out of medical school. I don't know why a lot of people have a dim view of pharmacists, though, as if it was an east job... I guess because it does look like something that's relatively easy from the outside (the pouring pills into a bottle is all a lot of us see of the profession, and considering how long it takes to get a prescription filled, it doesn't seem that hard from the outsider perspective). Even my grandmother used to say that my uncle only became a pharmacist because he couldn't make it through medical school like my Dad did. It's kind of surprising how few pharmacy schools there seem to be. For example, there aren't any in the Dallas area. And Texas Tech's is based in Amarillo instead of Lubbock (and Texas Tech's has only been around since about 1993 or so).
