The following op-ed appeared in the Jan. 25 edition of the Charleston Gazette-Mail. It was written by Dr. Matthew Rafa, president of the West Virginia Pharmacists Association, Dr. Todd Karpinski chief pharmacy officer and system vice president of West Virginia University Health System, Dr. Brian Sayre, vice president of pharmacy services, Vandalia Health and Dr. William Petros, dean of the WVU School of Pharmacy. The original article can be found on the Charleston Gazette's Website.
The University of Charleston has recently discontinued enrollment in its pharmacy (PharmD) degree program. While this decision may be understandable, given private institutions often choose to offer a select number of degree programs, it should not diminish pharmacists’ crucial role in safeguarding our health and the overall demand for pharmacists in the job market.
Today’s pharmacy graduates can earn their professional doctorate-level degree in just six years of college. This education equips them with deep clinical skills and knowledge related to pharmaceuticals and healthcare, emphasizing their ability to collaborate within multidisciplinary medical teams. However, total enrollment in pharmacy schools has significantly declined following the COVID-19 pandemic for various reasons, impacting rural states more severely and affecting newer or smaller private institutions.
As the demand for prescriptions increases with the aging U.S. population, so does the need for pharmacists. The 2024 National Center for Healthcare Workforce Analysis indicates a shortage of 5,500 pharmacists, projected to widen to over 15,000 in the next 10 years. This is evidenced by the fact that 81% to 92% of WVU pharmacy students had already accepted employment offers before graduation for the past two years. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for pharmacists is currently $136,030 per year. The increasing demand for and reduced supply of new pharmacists have led some employers to offer sign-on bonuses and tuition assistance programs for pharmacy students.
Pharmacists are an indispensable link in our health care system. They frequently collaborate with other healthcare practitioners to customize patient care, optimize drug safety, and provide various services. Their roles vary widely, from being the most accessible healthcare providers in rural communities, to serving as vital clinical members in the intensive care units of tertiary care hospitals. Pharmacists work in expanding settings that may not be commonly known to the public, such as information technology, ambulatory clinics, poison centers, biomedical education, remote patient monitoring, the pharmaceutical industry, managed care, and clinical research. Hospital-based pharmacists often specialize in direct patient care in areas such as cancer, infectious diseases, and pediatrics.
The practice of pharmacy and the roles of pharmacists in the community are rapidly evolving, partly due to changes in state laws that allow for greater utilization of pharmacy technicians and advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing and virtual/digital health. These legislative changes and technologies are expected to make pharmacies more efficient and enable them to focus on patient-centric functions, particularly in response to an aging population. Furthermore, recent legislation has empowered pharmacists to enhance public health by providing immunizations; prescribing tobacco cessation products; conducting point-of-care testing and health screenings; treating minor ailments; prescribing oral contraceptives and managing overall medication. It is hoped that some of these expanded functions may help alleviate the current and projected shortage of primary care physicians.
Despite the availability of mail-order prescription services, most patients still prefer coordinated, high-touch pharmaceutical care delivered locally, especially in rural areas. We recognize the fiscal pressures on community pharmacies, mainly due to practices employed by middlemen, such as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Legislation to alleviate these pressures is being advanced at national and state levels. These efforts are crucial, especially for smaller, independent pharmacies, which constitute approximately 50% of community pharmacies in West Virginia.
Pharmacists are essential components of our healthcare system, with current and future projections indicating that job demand will exceed supply.