Pharmacy Graduates from Foreign Countries Flooding US Job Market

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 2003 by Rajayya, Mahesh

Mahesh Rajayya, PharmD

Wisconsin

Dear Editor:

I am an Asian-born US citizen. I am a pharmacist employed at a retail drug store in Wisconsin. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin (UW)Madison and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from UW-Milwaukee. In essence, I spent close to 8 ½ years in school and accumulated $85,000 in student loans before becoming a pharmacist.

It is really nice to know the demand for pharmacists is on the rise; however, I am very frustrated and disturbed to observe recent trends developing in the pharmacy market relating to foreign graduated pharmacists flooding the US job market. Even though I share the same cultural background as some of them, what bothers me the most is the system, not the people. I have seen and heard of numerous Indian Pharmacists migrating to the United States to fill the shortage of pharmacists all over the country.

Please note that there are several ways for them to come here and pass the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination (FPGE) and get the license and practice. Most of them have spent only 5 years in college after graduating from high school. The standards of Indian colleges are not up to the par of US institutions. The NAPLEX exams are almost a breeze for US graduates to pass. However, foreign graduates struggle and pass it with average scores. Eventually, most of the foreign graduates pass NAPLEX and MPJE. The students attending US institutions have to spend 2 to 4 years taking pre-pharmacy courses (including some unwanted electives, etc) and then spend another 4 years in pharmacy school (taking all the toughest courses, etc), and end up buried in so much debt ($50,000-$ 100,000) only to find out that we are in par with the Indian graduates who spend a lot less time in school studying and have no debt ($0) whatsoever. This is utter nonsense.

What is so ironic here is even the medical profession is facing the same situation of letting some foreign medical doctors come to the US under the false pretense of pursuing a PhD and other researchoriented opportunities. This is where I credit the Dental Board's policy (all US states except for 2) for making all the foreign graduates go to school for almost 2 to 3 years and then pass the board exam before they are licensed. That is the reason I see less and less dentists from foreign countries crowding the US dentist job market. They require the foreign dentists to attend college in the United States and then take the board exams. This has several benefits, one to require the foreign educated professional attend a US school and expose them to our atmosphere and become better trained. In addition, this will also reduce the flux of people who want to migrate to the United States. Please look at the IT gold rush of 1999-2000. Now, the entire US job market is flooded with a lot of IT professionals from India. This will increase the job competition and lead to increased layoffs and unemployment, etc. At the present time, with a good starting salary, the $85,000 loan seems reasonable. After 5 or 10 years, the supply and demand may change and the salaries may come down and the loan amount may seem like a major hill to climb. We need to make sure that the supply and demand situation is not altered by foreign graduates.

As an individual I can not do a whole lot, but as an organization you have more power in lobbying to change the current regulations, etc. So let's see how we amend the system. What I propose is a system similar to the Dental Board's system. A foreign pharmacy graduate should attend 2 to 3 years of college in the United States before they are allowed to take the board exams. They should also be part of the American economy, in terms of spending and earning. It is so unfair to see that they did not even spend more than $2000 for their entire education in India (with that too, none of the US educational system received any benefit) and then come here and start earning money right away. In addition, they do not go through the same level of educational refinement process as US pharmacy students go through. All they know is how to pass the exam, then look for H-1 sponsorship with an employer as an intern, then become a licensed pharmacist, etc. This does not bode well for a lot of American graduates and without similar education as American students receive, shouldn't we be concerned for the safety and well being of the citizens of the United States. I may be surprised to see whether we can change the entire system in the nation, but you have the ability to lobby and change the regulation for the entire United States. Hopefully, this will set a tone for the rest of the nation. I appreciate your time reading my concern and let me know what you think. Thank you.

Mahesh Rajayya, PharmD

Wisconsin