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Gary Jones, section manager of the outpatient pharmacy at UMC, measures a prescription. Ample opportunity exists for recently graduated students to work in areas they want and to pick and choose where they would like to work.

Tuesday August 28, 2001 |

With nearly 20,000 pharmacist jobs unfilled across the nation, the UA's College of Pharmacy tries to graduate quality students to help improve the situation.

"Basically, it is bad that there is a shortage because pharmacists are important in the medical field," said Jolene Garrett, a third-year pharmacy student.

According to a June survey conducted by the American Hospital Association, 21 percent of pharmacist jobs at hospitals and 6 percent of these positions at chain pharmacies are currently unfilled.

At the same time, the number of prescriptions filled nationwide has increased by more than 50 percent in the last decade, Phillip L. Schneider, a vice president at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, told the New York Times.

Ted Tong, associate dean of the College of Pharmacy, said there are 80 pharmacy schools across the country. The University of Arizona currently enrolls about 240 students in its Doctor of Pharmacy and master's/doctorate programs, and maintains a 98 percent graduation rate, he said.

"We're trying to meet the shortage too· with the shortage and demand, we want to graduate all our students," he said.

Tong said the 59 graduates of the May 2001 class of pharmacy students have not had problems finding employment.

Garrett said there is a lot of opportunity for recently graduated students to work in areas they want and pick and choose where they would like to work.

Tong said the demand for prescriptions has increased and the high demand for trained professionals puts a strain on the system. He said that with a shortage of pharmacists, public health issues arise because of prescription medication-related errors.

Tong said some employers have their pharmacists do a lot of paperwork rather than educate patients on how to use their medication.

"Get the pharmacists out there and have them tell people how to properly use their medications and avoid medical problems," he said.

Tong added that many pharmacists have been drawn away from the typical drugstore pharmacy by other pharmacy practices such as institutions, hospitals, HMOs and other career areas.

Garrett said UA students receive a lot of clinical training, which may be why they tend not to work in retail pharmacies.

He said the problem requires multiple solutions and pharmacists should be used for their professional knowledge of the field.

"What really needs to be done is to better use pharmacists' skills and times," Tong said.

Garrett said some schools need to graduate more students in order to solve the problem. She added that the UA has increased the enrollment of the college to help alleviate the shortage.

Tong said acceptance to the college is highly competitive and the students admitted excel in both academics and extracurricular activities.

He said that 68 out of 170 applicants to this year's class of pharmacy students were accepted.

He also said students must maintain a high grade point average, submit letters of recommendation, go through an interview process and score well on the Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT). He added that the college can currently only accept 68 to 70 students and makes all attempts to maximize its resources.

"You can see it is pretty competitive, and the students have to be outstanding on every aspect," he said. "If we could admit more students, we would, because there is clearly a demand for more graduates."