Today I printed a whole load of letters and sent them to most of the secondary schools in my locality. This covers most of the west of Scotland, home to 1.2 million people and 50 or so secondary schools.
My aim is to give pupils in 5th and 6th form an informative look at the student cap and the reality of the Pharmacy job market. It's a great place to inform prospective students who may want to study Pharmacy. As the universities continue their decades old and outdated line of "unlimited jobs", I think it's up to grassroots Pharmacists to tell it as it is.
Others are already doing something similar. If enough in the profession make the effort (do it under a pseudnoym if you must) and make enough noise, the policy makers will catch wind of it eventually. Pharmacists self regulating their own numbers? Something for them to think about.
Is it the right thing to do, providing material that might dash the hopes of bright eyed people who could be Pharmacist material? Maybe not, but sometimes the truth hurts. If the future is 19,000 extra Pharmacists and no jobs then it's certainly the kind thing to do.
You can see the letter I drafted here.
Comments