Why do pharmacists get paid so much?

Teachers have an important job, but they don't make a crap for money.

Whether what they do or not is kind of important, but the more direct reason for their high pay is simply the amount of money involved in that business. Rx goods are a gigantic industry. They bring in large revenue for companies. They can afford to distribute the money within the profession.

Teachers bring in no revenue. Taxes go to pay them. And so they continue to get paid crap.

I don't mean for this to be a rant about teachers any more than the other guy meant for it to be a rant about pilots, but the point is that the medical industry enables those high salaries for pharmacists.

In the US at least, a director of pharmacy at a hospital can go to jail if they don't manage their inventory of narcotics properly (i.e. being able to account for every mg or Morphine dispensed to the 1000s of patients that go through a hospital in the course of a month).

So I would say that heavy regulation drives up the demand for their services and hence pushes up their salaries.

UK Pharmacist job description and qualifications.

Of course, UK pharmacists pay a pittance for their education compared to the US.

Retail pharmacist job description: Typical employers | Qualifications and training | Key skills | Useful links | Find jobs and courses

Employment as a retail pharmacist involves:

dispensing prescription medicines to the public;

ensuring that different treatments are compatible;

checking dosage and ensuring that medicines are correctly and safely supplied and labelled (pharmacists are legally responsible for any dispensing errors);

supervising the preparation of any medicines (not all are supplied ready made-up by the manufacturer);

keeping a register of controlled drugs for legal and stock control purposes;

liaising with doctors about prescriptions;

selling over-the-counter medicines;

counselling and advising the public on the treatment of minor ailments;

advising patients of any adverse side-effects of medicines or potential interactions with other medicines/treatments;

preparing dosette and cassette boxes, usually for the elderly but also for those with memory/learning difficulties, where tablets are placed in compartments for specified days of the week;

undertaking Medicine Use Reviews (MUR), an advanced service to help patients understand how their medicines work and why they have to take them;

providing a prescription intervention service;

managing a needle and syringe exchange;

measuring and fitting compression hosiery;

monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol levels;

offering a diabetes screening service;

arranging the delivery of prescription medicines to patients;

managing, supervising and training pharmacy support staff;

budgeting and financial management;

keeping up to date with current pharmacy practice, new drugs and their uses.

Some evening and weekend work may be required. Salaries and prospects for promotion are excellent, with chains offering the best opportunities and the highest incomes, although job relocation is often necessary.

Qualifications and training required

To qualify you'll need to complete a four-year pharmacy degree and an examined pre-registration year of supervised vocational experience and then become a registered member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.

Many pharmacists also take further training at postgraduate level once qualified. Relevant experience gained in any retail area involving contact with customers or the general public can be beneficial.

Of course, a degree in the UK costs a pittance compared to the US.

Generally, salaries in the UK are between 1/2 and 2/3 of those in the US.

Pharmacists make a pretty decent living if they work hard enough, and most do because they really love their jobs. Sure, they have to deal with the occasional drug addict, but that's pretty much it. Check out my website for more information about how much you could earn as a pharmacy technician. There is also a link to a very useful site about teen drug addiction.

http://pharmacytechnicianonlineschools.org/what-can-you-earn-as-a-pharmacy-technician/

http://teens.drugabuse.gov/

Muebele wrote:

My wife is a retail pharm, she spends her day identifying fake scripts, catching doctor mistakes and then trying to track the doctor down, making compound drugs and giving vaccinations. All while asking crazy, impatient customer questions and trying to work with insurance companies. I thought she made a lot of money until I learned what she did. Now I know that pharmacists are worth every penny

I agree with this. Between dealing with doctors, insurance companies, tweekers, addicts, crazy dirty sick people, etc, retail pharmacists deserve whatever they get.

I hate just going to the pharmacy. I can't imagine dealing with that stuff all day.

Da_Runner wrote:

The whole system is a scam. I got tired of paying for old men to get viagra and people who visit the doctor when they get the sniffles, the fatties on diabetes meds, or the lifers addicted to lifetime medications. I cancelled my health insurance and I only pay out of pocket now. I don't get regular checkups or flu shots or any vaccines, etc. If something is bothering me, I'll do my own research online and handle it myself. If I can't figure it out then I would consider visiting a doctor at that point. I'm not one of those idiots that goes to the ER because of a cold or stomach bug. I put the savings into the bank to use in the event of a rainy day. I am a capitalist not a socialist.

Had I dismissed my swollen lymph node as an infection I'd probably be dead now. And the $2 million+ I've paid over the past two years wouldn't have happened. The problem with disease and accidents is that no one can predict them. My advice have health and life insurance. And, have enough life insurance that if you do die your wife/children are taken care of. This goes for 20 somethings on up.

The only people who do 4 years undergrad and then 4 years of pharm school are people who either 1. don't know they want to be pharmacists, or 2. don't qualify for pharmacy programs until after undergrad. Most are the former.

Shoebacca wrote:

Teachers have an important job, but they don't make a crap for money.

I have a friend that makes $45,000 per year as a teacher. That's not poverty level but I couldn't live on it.

the used to be cancer guy wrote:

Had I dismissed my swollen lymph node as an infection I'd probably be dead now. And the $2 million+ I've paid over the past two years wouldn't have happened. The problem with disease and accidents is that no one can predict them. My advice have health and life insurance. And, have enough life insurance that if you do die your wife/children are taken care of. This goes for 20 somethings on up.

Good solid advice but to pay $2 million to keep someone alive when there are billions of people on the planet, many of them without basic necessities is really unfair. No offense to you personally.

I am guessing there is some type of pharmacist's association that has convinced law makers to force practicing pharmacists to have some type of license-creating a shortage of pharmacists. The license would include the need for a degree from an accredited pharmacy school (and the accreditation would be given by the same pharmacist's association)-i.e. I can't study on my own and become a pharmacist if I pass the exam. Since the association of pharmacists would limit the number of accredited schools, they could drive a shortage of their own profession and raise their own pay.

I just wanted to say that if I had that option to like your comment, I would. Too funny. I'm a recently hired pharmacy assistant (to help pay for my college tuition) and I became increasingly curious as to how much it cost to go through a pharmacy program, the responsibilities of a pharmacist, etc. because the people I work with seem to do quite well for themselves and seem genuinely happy with their jobs. Plus, compared to my previous career as a hair stylist, I'm encountering a lot less gossip and stupid behaviour. I'd say this is a profession well worth the effort and time.

dontflushwhileyousit wrote:

The only people who do 4 years undergrad and then 4 years of pharm school are people who either 1. don't know they want to be pharmacists, or 2. don't qualify for pharmacy programs until after undergrad. Most are the former.

Everybody I knew in Pharmacy school except for ONE person did 4 years of undergrad and then 4 years of pharmacy school.

Unless you are in Dental school, a top 25 law school, or a medical school, there isn't any tougher post-college program to get accepted into than Pharmacy school.

bridgeguy wrote:

Shoebacca wrote:

Teachers have an important job, but they don't make a crap for money.

I have a friend that makes $45,000 per year as a teacher. That's not poverty level but I couldn't live on it.

Teachers get paid crap because it is easy to become one and it isn't hard to do.

In general, more difficult or less desirable jobs get paid more.

I agree. My husband is a pharmacist and I can not tell you how many sleepless nights he has had because he was worried about how a dr prescribed something. In his profession there is NO room for error. Our family and livelihood depend on it. Not to mention his mental status. He also has to make moral decisions daily when he believes someone to be a drug-seeker. He has technicians who make $10 an hour pulling and counting out meds that he has to make sure are correct. And it's harder To catch a mistake that someone else makes when you're filling 200 prescriptions per day. But it's his license on the line if something goes out incorrectly. Btw, some technicians may be cute but they don't care about what drugs they pull. They can go home and sleep through the night. And drs do make mistakes...ALOT. and even if a dr does make a mistake- if the pharmacist fills it, it is he who is liable.

Lol. Do you know how much computer system costs? Also..if you know how many overrides I do a day on these costly computer system in order to get my patient's med....imagine who will do these overrides in the little redbox pill dispensing machine...and who can your family held responsible if anything happens to you after taking the wrong thing...

RX Rex wrote:

I believe this is not far from the truth. We have kids coming out of school at $110K starting salary in Central Pa. That salary might be deserving in the clinical pharmacy field, but as a dispensor of the medications, the bubble is about to burst. Within 4 years, we will have reduced the shortage of dispensing pharmacist and these big chains like CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens etc, will slash salaries. It is big business and the corner pharmacy no longer exists.

Yep.

guessing game wrote:

I am guessing there is some type of pharmacist's association that has convinced law makers to force practicing pharmacists to have some type of license-creating a shortage of pharmacists. The license would include the need for a degree from an accredited pharmacy school (and the accreditation would be given by the same pharmacist's association)-i.e. I can't study on my own and become a pharmacist if I pass the exam. Since the association of pharmacists would limit the number of accredited schools, they could drive a shortage of their own profession and raise their own pay.

This. Seems like there is at least some level of rent seeking going on here, although not as bad as the dentists.

What's a good prescription for necrophilia?

Why do you think it's so hard for us to believe that physicians make mistakes?