Dean's Column: Opportunities in a Challenging Marketplace
Pharmacy education has long enjoyed a warm spot under the sun. In the past 30 years, community pharmacies expanded, supermarkets and big box retailers were built with pharmacy space, and they all clamored for pharmacists to hire. Higher education responded by expanding class sizes, opening branch campuses, and many new schools. There are now 142 U.S.-based pharmacy schools, almost double the number from my student years. With the financial crisis of 2008, the hiring boom slowed sharply, but by then academic pharmacy’s expansion had momentum. The number of graduates peaked at 14,900 in 2018, though the applicant pool was getting smaller. Expanding pharmacist roles is certainly welcome, but it has not occurred fast enough to absorb the academic capacity expansion.Hiring is up now across all sectors of pharmacy, especially in rural and underserved areas, but that doesn’t mean there is a pharmacist shortage. At least one of the large corporate pharmacy companies is offering hiring bonuses. Some of this movement is due to the creation of new positions and some is due to replacement. The current ratio of applicants to available first-year seats is about 0.74:1. The graduating class of 2026 is projected at 8,500, the lowest number since 2005. Clearly, a market correction is occurring.
Most Americans only encounter the pharmacy profession where they get their prescriptions; honestly, that’s not always a pretty picture from the outside. Recent media coverage has focused on reducing operating hours and working conditions in some settings. Patients don’t always see the education and clinical judgment that is required. Many community pharmacies provide expanded services such as compounding, point-of-care testing, immunizations, and disease state management, but we as a profession have not done a great job making the public aware. They also don’t see the other half of the profession which is more behind the scenes but includes great opportunities. We need to do a much better job promoting diverse pharmacy roles, especially in contrast to other health professions. I say this with all due respect to frontline community pharmacists who form the backbone of public access to pharmacy care and who are the reason why pharmacists are rated year-in and year-out as one of the top five most ethical and trusted occupations.
At the College, we’ve started a “Pharmacy Pathways” program in which we invite alumni from diverse backgrounds, personally and professionally, to meet with our students to talk about various career pathways, including the challenges they face. The programs have been well received but don’t target prospective high school or college applicants. We’ve also increased our outreach to feeder schools, including formal articulation agreements with Georgia College and Georgia Gwinnett College, with more on the way. Mercer and every pharmacy school and the profession, in general, must do much more to attract a great pool of the best and brightest to our profession.
I think we are on the precipice of a reduction in the number of schools and candidly, that’s not a bad thing in order to maintain the quality of programs and the quality of graduates. I know of two schools that are in the process of closing. I expect more to follow. It is worth mentioning that neither the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) nor the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) have the authority to regulate the number of pharmacy schools. ACPE exists to certify that pharmacy schools meet accreditation standards. AACP exists to serve all pharmacy schools and their faculty, students, and staff. The marketplace regulates the number of schools.
Our best efforts will not result in a quick turnaround of the applicant pool and accelerated role expansion. I’ve heard it said that the best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago. The second-best time is today, so let’s plant a tree. Let’s plant lots of trees. As I said in my previous posts, the College of Pharmacy has educated role models for 120 years. We don’t fear the future because our job is to shape it. The opportunity is ours; it is now, and it is here.
As always, I am honored and grateful to serve as your Dean. Come see us. You’re always welcome on campus.
Yours very sincerely,
Brian L. Crabtree
Professor and Dean
Professor and Dean
