With more than 200,000 pharmacists in the United States, it’s hard to believe that there’s a shortage of them. But it’s true. Those in the field, however, prefer to say that there’s “hyper demand” for these specialists, whose job description has changed radically in the past two decades.

“With pharmacies staying open 24 hours a day, pharmacists providing more patient education and the services expanding to include health screenings, pharmacists do much more today than just fill prescriptions,” said Richard Jackson, Ph.D., director of Mercer University’s Center for Community Pharmacy Practice and Research.

Today’s pharmacists spend more time interacting with patients, providing information about how to take medications, conducting cholesterol and blood-pressure screenings, educating patients about health issues and giving inoculations.

“Part of a pharmacist’s job is to help people take their medications the way they’re supposed to,” Jackson said. “Additionally, it’s now mandated by law that pharmacists offer counseling to all patients. This is time-consuming, but it also makes the job more satisfying.”

As health insurance benefits have changed, the duties of pharmacists have changed as well, putting a strain on independent pharmacies. Jackson said that nearly 80 percent of all prescriptions involve some sort of co-pay program. About 25 percent involve Medicaid and 55 percent include a third-party payer.

“From a financial standpoint, this results in a lower profit for pharmacies, so many of them are supplementing their bottom line with other programs, such as disease management for diabetics, those with hypertension or other needs,” Jackson said.

Jackson attributes the higher demand for pharmacists to several factors: an aging population, the growth of chain stores with 24-hour service and the many types of jobs available to workers with a pharmacy degree, including positions in hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and insurance firms.

Additionally, the educational requirements for pharmacists have become more stringent. In 2000, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy mandated that all pharmacy graduates earn a doctor of pharmacy degree rather than a bachelor of science degree.

“This change to doctor of pharmacy adds another year of study and clinical rotations,” Jackson said. “Some programs had to cut back because of the shortage of clinical sites, putting a cap on the number of students that schools can accept.”

Mercer University was among the first pharmacy schools in the nation and the first in the Southeast to convert to the doctor of pharmacy program in the early 1980s. A typical pharmacy student takes two years of prepharmacy, then four years of pharmacy-specific study.

“Many students come to pharmacy school from other degree programs, so their programs may be as long as eight years by the time they’ve graduated,” Jackson said. “This is a big commitment at a time when the demand is high.”

Mercer offers 130 places annually for new students. Last year, the school had more than 1,800 applicants.

The good news for pharmacists is that there’s plenty of job security. The educational system is working to catch up with the demand, but it won’t happen overnight. Georgia has three schools of pharmacy — Mercer University, the University of Georgia and South University, a private school in Savannah.

“Simply adding more openings in schools will not solve the problem,” Jackson said. “We need to develop more sites for clinical rotations and provide opportunities for these students to help meet this increased demand.”