Female Saudi pharmacists face many obstacles in finding a job in the Kingdom. Many Saudi women, recently graduated in pharmacy from King Abdulaziz University, have presented their CVs to both government and private hospitals only to be told that they do not have enough experience. “I tried my best after I graduated with a high GPA as one of the top ten students in my class. I took part in various medical courses, and completed a one-year training course at King Faisal Specialist Hospital for Research and Studies. But all of these efforts were not enough as I was told that I did not have experience working as a pharmacist,” said Maha Mohammed, a recently graduated Saudi pharmacist. “In the beginning I wanted to work as a pharmacist in a government hospital where the salary is higher, but most government hospitals said that they are looking for a minimum of three years experience,” she added. Hala Al-Youssef, who studied clinical pharmacy at King Abdulaziz University, feels that she has lost the opportunity to work in both the private and government sectors because some hospitals hire pharmacists who only have a diploma. “We have just graduated, so how can we acquire experience without working at hospitals. In our last year at the university, we had a training course in local hospitals which qualified us for employment after graduation. However, the same hospitals which gave us the training course refuse to accept us as part of their staff, even though they gave us high evaluation scores. Furthermore, some private hospitals hire pharmacists who only have diplomas, while ignoring us although we have bachelors degrees,” Al-Youssef said. Dr. Sami Badawood, Director of Health Affairs Management, stressed the importance of hiring Saudi pharmacists with a suitable salary. “In the government sector, the Saudization percentage is 100 percent,” he said, adding, “We cannot, however, control hospitals in the private sector which are free to hire the staff that they need at whatever salary they wish to offer,” he said. Badawood confirmed that female pharmacists have the complete freedom to cover their face. “The female pharmacist is allowed to cover her face, and asking the pharmacist not to cover her face is an illegal request,” he explained. Large numbers of expatriate pharmacists come to the Kingdom yearly to work for low salaries, which reduces Saudi pharmacists' opportunities to find work. “Pharmacists in most Arab countries get a good salary, but here in the Kingdom, especially in Jeddah, the pharmacist's salary is not more than SR3,000,” said Rania Al-Harbi, a Saudi pharmacist who graduated from King Abdulaziz University. She said, “I presented my CV everywhere, including private hospitals, and I was accepted to work in an inpatient pharmacy with a salary of SR2,850 for which I was expected to work eight hours daily, including a night shift.” Al-Harbi pointed out that all the female Saudi graduates from King Abdulaziz University's College of Pharmacy have clinical pharmacy certificates that make them highly qualified. “Working in outpatient or inpatient pharmacies is not our main job, as our qualification is higher, but most government and private hospitals are ignoring our rights,” she said. Statistics indicate that less than 250 male and female pharmacists graduate from the Kingdom's universities each year, and that there is a need for a large number of pharmacists in the Saudi market. However, most Saudis, especially female Saudi pharmacists, prefer to work in hospitals.
