September 25th is World Pharmacist Day. Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy have 154 pharmacies. But the profession has struggled to attract younger generations of workers. There are too few candidates for recruitment to meet the needs of the profession. There are different positions within these companies, including incumbents, assistants, and even preparers.
On the occasion of World Pharmacist Day, this Monday, September 25th, professionals in this sector are launching a major communication campaign around pharmacy professions.
The fact is that they are facing a labor shortage.
Despite the need, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find candidates to hire, particularly in the 154 pharmacies on the islands of Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy. In particular, the profiles of pharmacist assistants and pharmacist assistants are rare. The situation is such that during the last major school holidays, some brands in Basse-Terre even had to close their doors for several weeks because they could not find staff for the holiday service.
This situation is cause for concern.
Many pharmacies are operating on a tight schedule, as has been the case in other areas since Covid, and that is not necessarily easy. There are permanent pharmacists who do not have pharmacist assistants who cannot find a replacement pharmacist to be furloughed.
Rémy Vila, community pharmacist in Les Abymes
The global health crisis due to Covid-19 seems to have something to do with it.
In fact, after this difficult period, some students changed their direction; The employees also wanted to change careers.
To address this staff shortage, the regional union of health professionals (URPS) set up the recruitment platform macasaa.fr (My Health Professions in the Antilles) last year.
The mission of this website is to facilitate the recruitment and employment of healthcare professionals throughout the Antilles, whether on a fixed-term contract (CDD) or on a permanent contract (CDI).
A handful of Guadeloupeans nevertheless chose the profession of pharmacist and returned to the country. This is the case of Lore Barbin, 31, who returned to the archipelago in 2021.
She explains to us why and how she decided to serve the local population.
At the Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris, a hospital specializing in the treatment of cancer and blood diseases, I saw many West Indians. It’s something that really impressed me. It is true that we have few figures on cancer in the West Indian population, but that motivated me to return to the country.
Lore Barbin, pharmacist at a healthcare facility.
When we talk about pharmacy, we usually only think of the pharmacy, the municipal facility.
However, there are also industrial pharmacists, those who work for wholesalers, or even professionals who do research. They are present in all phases of manufacturing, distribution and marketing of medicines.
Hospital pharmacists, for example, have a lesser-known specialty that suffers from a lack of image. They are the little hands behind the medications given to hospital patients. They are also responsible for sterilization.
There are hospital pharmacists who specialize in drug supply, others in the production of chemotherapy bags, in the production of parenteral nutritional mixtures, in galenic pharmacy (i.e. the production of so-called mixed preparations and hospital preparations) especially for the pediatric and geriatric populations.
Lore Barbin, pharmacist at a healthcare facility.
Again, the shortage of skilled workers to recruit is real, partly due to the difficulty of university courses to obtain.
You should know that there is a shortage of students in the pharmacy industry, especially in healthcare institutions, because there is a double selection: after the first year competition, you will have to take part in a second national competition, namely the pharmacy internship. This competition has a numerus clausus that varies between 10 and 30%; That’s quite a funnel.
Lore Barbin, pharmacist at a healthcare facility.
The shortage of hospital pharmacists requires the teams on duty to have multiple qualifications. In the current context, these connections, essential for the proper functioning of healthcare institutions, must be in control of everything and be prepared for any challenge in the event of a colleague’s absence.