BACKGROUNDER:
FACULTY SHORTAGE AT PHARMACY SCHOOLS

While the acute shortage of licensed pharmacists is a well-documented problem attracting the attention of both government and industry, what is not well understood is that there is also a serious shortage of professors at U.S. pharmacy schools.

This problem affects virtually every pharmacy school in the country, seriously compromising efforts to increase class size and open new schools to meet the increasing demand for new pharmacists. The ultimate impact will be a continuing shortfall of pharmacists at a time when changes in Medicare coverage and the graying of Americans will require more pharmacists than ever before to distribute and monitor the use of the expanding volume of prescription medicines.

How extensive is the pharmacy faculty shortage in this country? To answer this question, in December 2002, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) surveyed the 84 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S., and reported these alarming statistics:

• The 67 schools that responded to the survey reported 417 vacant teaching posts - an average of more than six at each school.

• The majority of the 417 vacancies were in the areas of pharmacy practice (223 vacancies) and the pharmaceutical sciences (190 vacancies).

• Moreover, most of these vacancies were for full-time teaching positions (94.3 percent); only 5 percent of the vacancies were for part-time teaching slots.

• At the same time, AACP reported that the vast majority of faculty vacancies (92 percent) involved teaching positions that directly affect the number of classes a school can offer, and the number of students a school can enroll. Of key concern are vacancy rates for the following:
  • Full professors (14.4 percent),
  • Associate professors (21.4 percent), and
  • Assistant professors (64.2 percent).

• Compounding the problem, AACP’s survey shows how hard it is for schools to find and hire qualified pharmacy faculty in today’s marketplace. According to the schools surveyed, more than 40 percent of the vacancies have gone unfilled for periods of six months to more than two years. This breaks down as follows: 7-12 months (10.5 percent), 13-18 months (16.5 percent), 19-24 months (5.7 percent), and more than 25 months (8.6 percent).

• The AACP survey also sought data on the reasons for the shortfall in pharmacy faculty. The schools reported that qualified professors are leaving for the following reasons, indicating a brain drain at the nation’s pharmacy schools:
  • Pharmaceutical industry and hospital hiring (32 percent)
  • Pharmacy schools hiring faculty away from other pharmacy schools (29 percent)
  • Retirement (20 percent)
  • Government hiring (5 percent)
  • Other (14 percent)

• At least one element of the faculty shortage - retirement - isn’t likely to improve any time soon. According to AACP, 37 percent of pharmacy faculty members are aged 50 and older, and 24 percent of the deans of pharmacy colleges and universities are aged 60 and above.1

BARRIERS TO SOLVING THE FACULTY SHORTAGE

Along with charting the extent of the pharmacy faculty shortage, experts have been examining what is behind this looming crisis, and have agreed on a number of factors.

First, the school time needed to become a professor of pharmacy rivals that required to become a physician. Today, it takes six years to graduate from college with a Pharm.D., the new standard degree for all pharmacists. Another two to five years of advanced study is then required to qualify to teach pharmacy. The fastest track to becoming a professor of pharmacy involves eight years of higher education and training.

Second, there is now intense competition for graduating pharmacists. Immediately after getting a Pharm.D., today’s pharmacists can opt for jobs in a wide variety of health care settings. Beyond retail pharmacies, hospitals and clinics, Pharm.D.s are in high demand from managed care companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and research institutions. This fact was reinforced by the AACP study, which found that professors at schools of pharmacy are being recruited away by hospitals, government and private industry.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM

Recognizing that the nation’s shortage of pharmacists cannot be solved unless pharmacy schools have enough faculty, both the federal government and the pharmacy education community are taking action. At the federal level, the departments of Education, and Health and Human Services continue to subsidize a number of student loans, work-study programs, and grants. In addition, Congress has drafted new legislation - The Pharmacy Education Aid Act of 2003 (S. 648) - which would allow for education loan repayment assistance for pharmacy students who pursue careers in teaching at pharmacy schools.

While government action is necessary to address the pharmacy faculty shortage, the pharmacy community is mobilizing to attract more qualified students to pharmacy teaching careers. Of major significance, the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE) has just launched “Investing in the Future of Pharmacy Education,” an ambitious privately-financed scholarship campaign for students interested in teaching pharmacy at U.S. colleges and universities.

“Investing in the Future of Pharmacy Education” is expected to raise $12 million to fund up to 155 annual scholarships, fellowships and grants awarded to students pursuing pharmacy faculty careers, and to newly hired pharmacy college faculty. To date, AFPE has secured $3.5 million in contributions and is now reaching out to major corporations, foundations and individual donors to raise the additional capital.

Resolving the nation’s pharmacy faculty shortage is not an issue requiring extensive research or study. Already, there is widespread consensus that providing financial incentives for more qualified pharmacy students to pursue the advanced education needed for pharmacy faculty careers is an immediate and effective way to add more faculty to the nation’s schools of pharmacy. AFPE’s campaign represents the first major private sector effort to address the acute shortage of pharmacy college faculty. Now is the time to invest in the future of pharmacy education.

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1 Unpublished survey conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) in December 2002 and presented at the July 2003 AACP Annual Meeting and Seminars.