Is Pharmacy a dying profession?

Is Pharmacy a dying profession?

                I’m inmy second year of university, studying pharmacy and have recently been doing alot of research into the field, unsure of what route I wanted to take infuture. From my research, which consisted of talking to practicing pharmacistsand looking online, I’ve been constantly bombarded with the phrase ‘pharmacy isa dying profession’, even by a practicing family member who discouraged me fromtaking a degree in pharmacy in the first place. I am now questioning whetherthis is actually the case, or just the opinion of a few dissatisfiedindividuals. Once upon a time, well a decade ago or so, there was a high demandfor Pharmacists, however this demand has severely depleted due to the increasein number of pharmacy schools, and the number of people undertaking pharmacy asa degree. The profession has ‘weakened’ in essence and lost its identity.Whenever I say I’m currently studying pharmacy, people usually ask me, ‘what’sthat?’ or ‘what do you want to do afterwards?’ insinuating the title in itselfheld little significance. Prior to my A-levels and applying to university, Itoo was unaware what the role of a pharmacist was, unlike in the past where thepharmacist was an integral part in the community. It has also been argues thatpharmacy is no longer a lucrative profession, with locum pay cuts, and NorthernIreland seeing budget cuts of 38 million pounds in April last year, leavingmany community pharmacists to resort to loans to stay afloat. So is Pharmacy adying profession? I would argue no as we do still play an integral role inprimary care, yes there is some confusion within the general public as to whatwe actually do, however I think this is irrelevant as the service we provide isindispensible.