Editorial: Thinking About Tomorrow!

Over the past few months, a number of practitioners and academicians have been discussing their concerns about future pharmacy manpower topics. Over the past 10 to 20 years, we have seen a large increase in the number of chain stores, especially in the larger cities and towns, resulting in the need for additional pharmacist staffing. We have also seen an increase in mail order pharmacies, etc.

Along with this increase in manpower needs, there has been an increase in the number of colleges of pharmacies, numbering in the 80s to well over 100, throughout the U.S. to meet those needs. It would be wise if pharmacy leadership would now look at the pharmacy manpower needs in light of current practice trends and see if we really need this many pharmacy schools and branches of long-standing schools. It seems that some are having difficulties hiring qualified faculty and obtaining appropriate training sites.

It is apparent that pharmacy graduates are not getting jobs as easily as they did a few years ago; this editorial addresses the discussions on this subject. The recruiters are not "lining up at the door" the way they once did, and many graduates are having to leave the cities to find employment elsewhere.

Factors such as automation may result in a decrease in the number of pharmacists and technicians required in the future. High-tech pharmacy (including compounding, central fill, biotechnology, pharmacogenomics, etc.) may increase some needs in the future, but the curriculum will need to be changed somewhat to address these future opportunities. We will see changes in the practice of pharmacy�but it is hard to tell exactly what these changes may be. We have not really controlled the changes over the past 10 to 20 years; we've just reacted to them. It is the marketplace that will have the biggest role in the future of the practice of pharmacy and, therefore, must be considered as we think about tomorrow. As has been mentioned several times in this column, "pharmacy practice will be what pharmacists get paid to do."

Just some thoughts and observations...


Loyd V. Allen, Jr., PhD, RPh
Editor-in-Chief

Due to adverse weather and travel, the Newsletter this week is shorter than normal.

�anything you post on your website, distribute at exhibits, or hand out to patients, etc. will be around for years to come and may come back in the future to adversely affect you.

What you Say, Stays!

Be very, very careful in what is placed on your website, distributed as promotional materials, etc. If you second-guess advertising something, it may be best not to. A pharmacist should approve or disapprove all advertising and promotional materials coming out of the pharmacy.