Do Pharmacists Really Hold the Best Health Care Jobs?

Tell me it isn’t so, but according to Forbes' “The Best Healthcare Jobs In 2015” list, it is.

With an average annual salary of $116,670 and a projected growth rate of 14% by 2022, pharmacists top the list of best health care jobs. In the short run, I guess we will continue to see the applicant pool for pharmacy schools hold steady. Salaries should also remain respectable, as well.

But those of us who feel we are producing too many pharmacists either have our facts wrong or see this listing as an inaccurate representation of the current situation. I am willing to be proven wrong, but I can’t get over that nagging feeling that there really is a problem in the marketplace.

My daughter, who is a part-time hospital pharmacist, had her hours cut for next year as her hospital goes through a personnel retrenchment. I hear these stories regularly.

Although I am really glad I chose pharmacy for my career and I would continue to highly recommend it, I think you need to go into it with your eyes open, knowing that you will have to work hard to make it a great career. That great job is not going to be waiting for you when you graduate, but it is still out there if you are willing to seek it out, start at the bottom, and work extra hard to distinguish yourself.

What do you think? Do I have this wrong?