Only 15 of 57 Pharmacy faculties have academic staff in line with the standards… Universities opened all over Turkey continue to give tens of thousands of graduates in a year with their faculties. Tens of thousands of graduates continue to grow the army of the young unemployed. The situation is not different in the faculties of pharmacy in almost every university. Pointing out that there will be an additional 9,000 pharmacists in the sector in 2023 with the graduates of pharmacy faculties, Chairwoman of the All Pharmacist Employers Union Pharmacist Nurten Saydan called for a regulation regarding this situation. Emphasizing that pharmacy education cannot be given in apartment-style pharmacy faculties without sufficient teaching staff and laboratories, Saydan underlined that these academic staff of some faculties are not sufficient and said, “While there are more than 100 academic staff in a fully equipped pharmacy faculty, this number is 10 in non-accredited pharmacy faculties. These all staff members are not from the faculty of pharmacy. In fact, the pharmacy faculty of a state university was established by 6 academicians, and none of them had a bachelor's degree in pharmacy. Only 29 deans of 57 pharmacy faculties are graduates of pharmacy faculties.”
“BY THE END OF 2023 THERE WILL BE A OVERSUPPLY OF 9,000 PHARMACISTS”
Saydan stated that the oversupply of pharmacists to be formed according to the data of the Ministry of Health will continue to increase if there is no regulation, and that even when today's conditions remain constant, there will be approximately 9,000 excess supply at the end of 2023, “According to the calculations, If no regulation is made for faculties, that is, new faculties will not be opened, quotas is not reduced in existing ones and manpower planning is not taken into account, there will be an oversupply of graduates and unemployed pharmacists in the near future. Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (TITCK) announces the districts where a pharmacist can open a pharmacy in certain periods every year, and the pharmacist is placed in this district depending on his service score and preferences. Such a situation is also reality, what is the reason for opening a pharmacy faculty one after the other? To create an army of unemployed pharmacists? Who will benefit from this? Both the state, students and parents will suffer from this,” she added.
“FACULTIES WITHOUT ACADEMIC STAFF SHOULD BE CLOSED”
Pointing out that a regulation is necessary against the oversupply that will occur, Saydan stated that action should be taken to prevent unemployment in the future of pharmacy, “According to the data of the Ministry of Health, with the prediction that there will be 9,000 more pharmacists in 2023; In order to prevent the future of our profession and the formation of an unemployed pharmacist army, the primary target should be not to open more pharmacy faculties, to reduce the number of quotas, and to close the faculties that lack academic staff,” Saydan said.