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The demand for pharmacists is rising
The demand for pharmacists is risingDate published: 6/3/2004 By CATHY JETT Steve May knows firsthand just how difficult it can be to fill a pharmacist position. He's been looking for part-time help behind the prescription counter at Goolrick's Modern Pharmacy in downtown Fredericksburg since last September. "I've gotten a couple inquiries, but that's it," said May, who's been putting in 70-hour weeks as the store's pharmacist and owner. His experience is not unique. The demand for pharmacists is rising as baby boomers enter their 60s, researchers come up with additional drugs to treat diseases, and the range of careers available to pharmacists increases, experts say. The Pharmacy Manpower Project Inc., which is sponsored by a consortium of 14 pharmacy organizations, currently rates Virginia's need for pharmacists as slightly higher than the national average. That's an improvement from three years ago, when drug stores were going up on every corner and employers were screaming for pharmacists, said Rebecca Snead, executive director of the Virginia Pharmacists Association in Richmond. It's helped significantly that there are now three universities across the state with schools of pharmacy, compared to just one a decade ago, she said. The oldest, Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, plans to boost enrollment from 110 students to 130 next year. The other two are Shenandoah University in Winchester, which accepts about 100 students, and Hampton University, which takes about 40, Snead said. But the increase in graduates with pharmacist degrees doesn't mean that Fredericksburg-area businesses aren't having a difficult time filling pharmacist positions--and that demand won't spike again. Ukrop's, for example, recently went a month before getting one response to its ad for a pharmacist at its Spotsylvania County store, and the The Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic in Fredericksburg can't find a pharmacist who will volunteer in the evenings. "I think they're so overworked at their regular job that volunteering is not an option," said Donna Jadot, the clinic's pharmacy-access coordinator. CVS and Giant say they do not have vacancies at their Fredericksburg-area pharmacies, but acknowledge that the market for pharmacists is hot. "We do, from an incentive standpoint, make sure we're competitive," said Jamie Miller, a Giant spokesman.
Date published: 6/3/2004
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