Inaugural grads of two pharmacy schools find jobs

Back in 2010, D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY, opened its pharmacy school and welcomed students into a new, $23 million building. The next year, Roosevelt University near Chicago joined the pharmacy school bandwagon and welcomed its first pharmacy students.

With this month’s inaugural graduates from both programs, the real test of finding jobs began. And early results point to an employment market eager for new grads.

“No one is going to hand you the keys to a new car and a ridiculous bonus, but there’s work out there for new pharmacists, especially if you’re willing to travel,” said Gary Stoehr, PharmD, founding dean of the D’Youville School of Pharmacy.

According to Stoehr, 48 of the 54 pharmacy school graduates have found work, with the majority being recruited by retail chain pharmacies. Twenty-five of the graduates found work outside of New York State, in states such as Texas, Nevada, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The remaining six may have also found work, but the school has yet to document their next steps, Stoehr said.

At Roosevelt University’s College of Pharmacy, nearly 70% of the 61 inaugural graduating class members already have accepted pharmacy positions, with the majority going on to jobs at retail community pharmacies across the nation, according to a posting on the school’s website.

The school held its first graduation ceremony on May 22, 2014. Philip Burgess, chair of the Illinois State Board of Pharmacy and a member of the Drug Topics’ editorial advisory board, was the commencement speaker.

“This [is] a momentous day for the University, our College of Pharmacy, and its very first class of graduates,” said George E. MacKinnon III, PhD, RPh, founding dean of Roosevelt’s pharmacy college. “This is a new program, and to have more than two-thirds of the class already placed in pharmacy positions speaks volumes for the quality of our students and our unique program.”

Roosevelt said about 20% of the first graduating class applied for residencies at hospitals across the country. Seven students in Roosevelt’s inaugural pharmacy class were selected for residencies, including at Rush Medical Center in Chicago, Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago and medical centers in Milwaukee, West Allis, Wis., Harvey, Ill., and Peoria, Ill.

“I’m particularly proud of our students who choose to pursue residencies,” MacKinnon said. “They had to compete against graduates from pharmacy programs from all over the country and I expect them to be successful, not only as trailblazers for Roosevelt’s new pharmacy program, but also as professionals who will be quite capable of adapting and excelling in a healthcare environment that is rapidly changing. ”

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