Pharmacy is Right for Me

“Pharmacy is right for me.” That is a statement every individual connected to academic pharmacy should be prepared to explain 24/7/365. It is also a phrase that frames the AACP’s national efforts in recruiting the next generation of student pharmacists. As we watch with some disbelief the dropping numbers of applicants to colleges and schools of pharmacy, the work we do nationally and in support of local and regional recruitment has never been more important.

Why did pharmacy’s application dynamics change so significantly? It is a complicated calculus too frequently met with a “too many schools, too many graduates” retort. The reality is that we anticipated a plateauing of applicants as a result of a confluence of factors. The slow but progressive recovery from the deep recession means that those who might have applied to a professional school while unemployed have largely returned to gainful employment. First-year undergraduate college enrollments in both 2-year and 4-year programs were down nationally as of fall 2015.¹ This reflects the fact that the high school graduation cohort is as small at this point as it has been in decades.² The demographic characteristics of those leaving secondary education have also changed, with higher percentages of students coming from groups who historically have lower rates of college participation.³

The AACP Board of Directors devoted a significant portion of their November 2015 meeting to a discussion of strategies that would address this issue, which is affecting many, if not most, member institutions. During that discussion, some interesting—and disturbing—issues were introduced. Most are not aware that pharmacy, along with the other healing professions, is not listed as a STEM career. Given the scientific underpinnings of all health professions, this seems incongruous, but at this moment it remains true. This is important to parents who believe the future will be brightest for those individuals prepared to assume roles in fields involving science, technology, engineering and math. Along with nursing and other colleague organizations, AACP has begun to assess why certain health professions are excluded from STEM careers and what can be done to rectify this situation.

So how do we address the slump in applicants to our programs? The AACP Board and staff agree that a dual-track approach will be needed to address the urgent and longer term issues and reverse this trend. Most short-term recruitment for qualified applicants depends on local and regional activities executed by schools, typically alone but increasingly in consortia. Some schools decreased and may even have stopped recruitment efforts after enjoying 10 or more applications for every available seat in the programs. We no longer have this luxury.

We will work with our admissions personnel to identify recruitment practices that bear good fruit and can be replicated by other programs. Implementation of recommendations from the 2013-2015 AACP Special Committee on Admissions is also a priority. The fall 2016 AACP Institute will be devoted to admissions and will have a strong focus on teaching programs how to perform holistic reviews of applicants. Moreover, AACP is working to develop a strategy for collecting pharmacy school recruitment activities—the first step in building a recruitment network across schools. We will also make efforts to provide admissions tools and a messaging platform so the field can provide a consistent message for those considering a health care career: that pharmacists help people live healthier, better lives.

Other health professions have experienced modest increases in their applicant pool, notably allopathic and osteopathic medicine, as well as physician assistant programs.^4-6 One must ask if some of our candidates for pharmacy admissions are being lured into other disciplines that may seem more prestigious. These disciplines are still expressing the concern that a shortage of physicians and other primary care professionals is looming. Certainly when “pharmacist shortage” was in the news and on the profession’s lips, we experienced the strongest demand for pharmacy admissions. The recession and our growth in graduates have largely muted the shortage scenario in pharmacy, though unemployment in the profession remains lower than the national average.^7,8

The AACP Board of Directors believes that the long-term application dynamics can only be righted by a profession-wide effort to rebrand and promote the roles pharmacists play in today’s and tomorrow’s health care systems. This echoes the sentiments of those organizational representatives around the Pharmacy Career Information Council, which AACP coordinates on behalf of the profession. The chief executive officers of the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners also agree that the public needs an expanded understanding of the exciting career opportunities awaiting graduates of our programs. Pharmacy is Right for Me, an existing program coordinated by AACP that targets promising high school students, will be expanded to serve as the platform for our activities.

The AACP Board requested a detailed plan of action be prepared for their consideration in February and time will be set aside at the Interim Meeting in Tampa, FL to outline the shape of a national campaign to update the impression of what pharmacists do among young people in grades 4 through 12, their parents, K-12 teachers and guidance counselors, and community college attendees, among others. We eagerly seek input and participation from all members of the academy in the development and execution of this campaign.

There is one other imperative that must be embraced by the academy and by the broader profession if we are to stem the application downturn. Too frequently when a potential candidate for pharmacy school asks “Is pharmacy right for me?” our colleagues, including current students, respond with discouraging answers. In some cases, the respondent receives misinformation and in other cases, they are discouraged by current students who are hearing from faculty members that there will not be positions available when they graduate. There are certainly workforce issues that the profession must commit to addressing. But we must not let them interfere with efforts to attract the best and brightest people into the profession.

Today more than ever, society needs health care professionals who are experts in medication management and have the ability to solve medication-related problems. The reformation of health care into a value-driven enterprise will open an increasing number of opportunities across all practice settings to assist patients and their providers with services our graduates are uniquely prepared to provide. “Pharmacy is right for me” because pharmacists truly do help people live healthier, better lives. That is a message that resonates with every audience.