Pharmacy Schools See Emerging Opportunities in Field

While demand for pharmacy school graduates has waned slightly, new opportunities beyond the traditional community pharmacy continue to grow.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), as of July 2016, there are 136 U.S.-based colleges and schools of pharmacy with accredited professional degree programs. Some of these are relatively new, having responded to a shortage of pharmacists that began about a decade ago.

A recent article in Drug Topics, a publication of the Modern Medicine Network, explored whether too many new pharmacy schools have been established, leading to an overabundance of new holders of Doctor of Pharmacy degrees. ¬The article noted that the larger number of graduates, along with increased use of technicians, is leading to more people seeking positions than the market can bear.

Dr. Jennifer L. Adams, senior advisor of student affairs at the AACP, says she does not perceive that to be the case. While it is true that there isn’t a job for every single graduate, it means that pharmacies can be more selective in hiring the best candidates for the jobs rather than acting out of desperate need to stay open.

“¬The majority of states are either at equilibrium or actually still in a shortage situation,” says Adams. “People need to pay attention to the actual data.”

Enrollment numbers

Enrollment at the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (COPPS) at Florida A&M University, the top-ranked HBCU pharmacy school by HBCU-Colleges.com, currently stands at 1,100 students, 60 percent of them female. Dr. Michael D. Thompson, dean of COPPS, says the college holds a career fair every October. To prepare, students take part in seminars where they are taught how to write résumés and practice interview skills. Within one month of graduation, 90 percent of the graduates have job offers.