Pharmacist shortage continues, though trend may be leveling off

Drug Store News,  August 18, 2003  by Michael Johnsen

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For the past two years, the pharmacist shortage in the United States has leveled off at about 5,500 vacancies according to National Association of Chain Drug Stores figures, down from an estimated 7,000 vacancies in 2001. In addition, there currently are some 2,800 unfilled hospital pharmacist positions according to a May 2003 survey of pharmacy directors by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

"In certain regions of the country, the demand is moderating a little bit," observed Holly Mason, associate dean for professional programs for Purdue University's School of Pharmacy.

"In some of the less-desirable urban areas, there continues to be a very strong shortage," suggested Mason, where pharmacy practice conditions are not as favorable as they are in the suburbs or rural areas.

Although the shortage has become a little less prominent of late, there is still concern over the pharmacist shortage across the industry. That concern is at least partly driven by a burgeoning consumer demand. Retail pharmacy chains are expected to fill some 4 billion prescriptions by 2006, compared with 3 billion prescriptions filled in 2001.

And part of that demand stems from pharmaceutical innovation, Mason suggested. "There are a number of newer drug products on the market that are used to treat conditions that we weren't able to treat previously. That adds to the prescription volume," he said.

This suggests more an expansion of the need for pharmacists, not necessarily a shortage, suggested Rosalie Sagraves, pharmacy dean and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy. "If you look at the shortage in nursing, it's because people aren't going into nursing. In pharmacy, there's been a broadening of where pharmacists are being hired."

For instance, in addition to filling positions in traditional pharmacy settings like retail or hospital, recent pharmacy school graduates are filling positions in the pharmaceutical industry and in government. Many of the pharmacogenomic products and biotechnology products that are hitting the market require a specialized administration technique or preparation technique, Mason suggested, and recent pharmacy graduates are increasingly becoming attracted to this research arm.

"We did a survey of [Purdue] graduates about five years ago and found that only about 50 percent of [all Purdue] graduates are in the traditional hospital and retail environments," Mason said.

Unfortunately, many of the pharmacy schools across the country are unable to grow their respective graduating classes to meet demand because of tightening budget constraints. The applicant pool for pharmacy schools is growing, Sagraves said, "but that doesn't necessarily mean that we can increase our class size."

To help facilitate interest in pharmacy as a career, NACDS is working with Congress to enact legislation that will help pharmacy students repay their education loans. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed the Pharmacy Education Aid Act of 2003 (S.648) earlier this year to authorize funding for a program of educational loan repayments for pharmacy students and prospective pharmacy school faculty. The bill provides for repayment of student loans of up to $35,000 for each year a pharmacist serves at a facility facing a critical shortage. The bill is currently under Senate review.

In addition, late last month the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, NACDS and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., held a press conference to announce a campaign to attract more pharmacists to the field of pharmacist education. Called "Investing in the Future of Pharmacy Education," the campaign will be financed by a wide variety of corporations and is expected to raise as much as $12 million to fund fellowships for pharmacy faculty positions.

Another option for pharmacy operators that has garnered more interest of late is the recruitment of foreign-born pharmacists initially trained as pharmacists outside the United States.

To qualify as a practicing U.S. pharmacist, foreign-born professionals must have a bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical science from an accredited college or university; pass the Foreign Pharmacist Graduate Equivalency Exam; and obtain an H-1B visa, a temporary work visa that allows aliens to come into the United States to fill "specialty occupations" that are in demand. The foreign-born pharmacist must be sponsored by a U.S. company for that visa.

After securing an H-1B visa, the foreign-born pharmacist must serve a period as a pharmacist intern, typically one year, after which they must pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination.

For fiscal year 2002, which ended Sept. 30, the Immigration and Naturalization Service approved 197,537 H-1B petitions. Only 6.5 percent of those applications were for occupations in medicine and health fields, including doctors and nurses.