Results recently released from the Pharmacy Manpower Project’s 2009 National Pharmacist Workforce Survey indicate shifts in the pharmacy profession toward more patient care. This report also provides insight into how the nation’s current economic situation has influenced the dynamics of the U.S. pharmacy workforce, as almost one-fourth of pharmacists are practicing part-time, and more are working past retirement age. This study is the third in a series of surveys commissioned by the Pharmacy Manpower Project, Inc., since 2000.

Findings reported in the study also suggest that women, pharmacists working in other fields, or those new to the profession may have decided to enter the workforce or continue working past retirement age to lessen the impact of the bad economy on themselves or their families.

“While effects of the 2008/2009 economic recession were detected in this study for some work settings, the results showed that pharmacists continued to be in high demand overall,” said Dr. Jon C. Schommer, the study’s principal investigator, as well as professor and associate department head at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Dr. Schommer continues:

We propose that the pharmacy profession currently has, and will continue to build, capacity for contributing to the reforming healthcare system to meet patient care needs that are rooted in improving the effectiveness, safety and value of medication therapy.

Female practicing pharmacists have increased substantially, comprising 46% of the workforce in 2009, up from 31% in 1990. Study results also reveal an aging population of pharmacists, with 37% older than 55 in 2009, compared with 30% in 2004 and only 21% in 2000.

From 2000 to 2004 to 2009, the proportion of pharmacists working full-time decreased from 73% to 68% to 67%, respectively, while those working part-time increased from 14% to 17% to 20%. Among respondents who were actively practicing as pharmacists, the proportion of both male and female pharmacists working part-time increased between 2000 and 2009. Twenty-three percent of the workforce reported working part-time in 2009, up from 20% in 2004 and 16% in 2000.

The decrease in full-time hours suggests that employers had to reduce staffing levels because of the recession. Supporting this, 68% of pharmacists rated their workload level at their place of practice as high or excessively high, which is an increase of 14 percentage points compared with 2004.

The age distribution of actively practicing pharmacists varies tremendously between men and women. While 48% of practicing male pharmacists are older than 46 years, 30% are older than 60 years. By contrast, almost 50% of active female pharmacists are between the ages of 31 and 45, while 40% are between 46 and 60, and only 4% are older than 60.

The trend of part-time work is increasing for both male and female pharmacists. In 2009, 29% of women worked part-time, up from 26% in 2004 and 23% in 2000. More men are also working part-time, as the proportion increased from 11% to 15% to 18% in the years 2000, 2004, and 2009, respectively.

Trends revealed in the 2009 survey include shifts in the pharmacy profession toward more patient care and illustrate the novel roles pharmacists are playing in various capacities. Definitions for work activities became broader in scope and more explicitly included patient care, research, and education activities. Pharmacists practicing in community pharmacy settings (independent, chain, mass merchandiser, or supermarket pharmacies) devoted at least 70% of their time to medication dispensing. Hospital and other patient care pharmacists devoted less than half their time to medication dispensing, and each of these pharmacist categories devoted an average of 27% of their time to patient care. Pharmacists in every practice setting, however, indicated they would like to spend less time in medication dispensing and business/organization management and more time in patient care services, education, and research activities.

“Legislation for health reform has recognized that without an adequate health workforce, both in number and skills, there can be no meaningful reform,” said Dr. Lucinda L. Maine, AACP executive vice president and CEO. “The 2009 National Pharmacist Workforce Survey provides very valuable data with which pharmacy can engage policymakers and others in discussions regarding pharmacists’ many potential contributions to patient-centered care.”

The survey provides a snapshot of work contributions as well as the demographic and work characteristics of the pharmacist workforce in the United States during 2009. Data were collected from a random sample of 3000 individuals selected from a list of 249,381 licensed pharmacists in the United States. The response rate to the survey was 52%.

To view the complete survey results, executive summary, and Pharmacy Manpower Project fact sheet, visit the Pharmacy Manpower Web site.