Pharmacist Jobs Over $200K Per Year
FULL DISCLOSURE: I offer books and products below!
A few items triggered this post:
- This article I wrote recently on back to basics around different pharmacy career paths — which seemed to be pretty popular, and
- The note by several people that pharmacist salaries are all over the board right now, and in many markets, plummeting. A few argue that it’s because there are probably too many pharmacy schools pumping out too many pharmacists. Fair point.
- Women in pharmacy still aren’t making what men make — at least that was true at the BLS survey numbers I looked at pre-pandemic. In fact, the pay gap between genders was actually widening. The closest we ever got to pay pariety was $0.92 for every $1.00 a man made, but that’s lowering again. By sharing some of the higher-paying roles here, I’m in hopes to start closing that gap.
And, everything — including pharmacist salaries changing — requires a matter of perspective. Despite gender pay gap disparities, many (too many?) pharmacy schools, and lower salaries, I think there are now more than at any point in time in history, great opportunities for pharmacists — along with great pay. So, I thought I’d challenge myself to write a story really quickly on different areas of pharmacy or healthcare practice where pharmacists are getting paid $200K+ per year in salary. This is a pretty big challenge because the average pharmacist’s salary in a midmarket area right now is somewhere between $110K — $140K per year.
That and, what I’m about to throw down as options generally require even more than a pharmacy education, and/or years (decades?) of experience. It would be very, very rare for a graduate rolling out of pharmacy school to land any of these roles fresh out of school — so be warned it takes some time and skills to get into these roles.
Ready?
Pharmacist Gigs That Pay $200K+ in Salary Per Year
- Senior Medical Science Liaison — Senior level pharmacists in the MSL world make great money — but it’s after they’ve been around the field for a while. According to Indeed, the average salary of a MSL right now is around $169K per year — but what it fails to mention is that most pharma companies also pay big bonuses on top of base salary — so even if the base salary for a MSL doesn’t reach $200K out of the gate, a good year with a rich bonus could easily push them over the $200K top. There are literally tons of sources where you can learn more about the MSL these days — GTS.
- The remainder of these suggestions is over at the new eSubscription/Book Series, Punk Rock Pharmacy as of July 2021.
(BTW — a list of several certificates, certifications and advanced learning opportunities for pharmacists is available at the link image below or here.)
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Erin L. Albert is an author, podcaster, and Pharmacy Benefit Practice Leader at Kinetiq Health/Apex Benefits. Her opinions above, however, are her own. Her latest book is Punk Rock Pharmacy: How to DIY Your Healthcare Career.
