Demise of our profession

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pharmacy_sucks said:
what a pk scientist do? based on the description, i would need to liaise with CROs with raw plasma or urine data and maybe some prelim pk analyses done by them, and i would either re-rerun pkpd modelling by myself to confirm what they have found to figure out noncompartmental pk parameters with the almight winnonlin lol and interpret the data & give recommendations regarding dosing choices before heading into phase 2 clinical trials. this position reports to the director of clinical pharmacology. also i would be responsible for investigator brochure sections, study reports, manuscripts and summaries for regulatory purposes. i will see what happens.
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Sounds like an interesting job. Do you know if basically any pharmacy school graduate with some coding experience would qualify for such a position? Or do you need to demonstrate a high-level math background?
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Hedgehog32 said:
Sounds like an interesting job. Do you know if basically any pharmacy school graduate with some coding experience would qualify for such a position? Or do you need to demonstrate a high-level math background?
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The recruiter sounded like I am a rarity. For her, as an HR person, my qualifications and skillset probably made her job easy enough. She couldn't even pronounce the word, "cholangiocarcinoma" right lol, and she asked me to correct if she said it wrong. HRs love check lists. education, check mark, experience, check mark, keywords like pkpd, check mark, clinical trials, check mark, so on and so forth. Yes, I did a whole bunch of data science courses that involved linear algebra and a bit multivariable calculus and maybe just a slight bit of differential equation for the conceptual proof maybe, but tbh, if you ask me to do integration by parts right now, I simply can't do it without having to go back to review the basics, but if i was given sufficient time, i can do it for sure.

the key i think is if someone can learn it fast enough. like i haven't been coding in c++ for quite a while, but if i was given a week or just a few days to review and refresh, that won't be an issue.

a bit sidetrack, i used to think this type of jobs won't come to me cuz there are masters and PhD programs in pharmacometrics, and I am especially talking about SUNY Buffalo. their grads are absolute hot commodities on the job market. But as you probably know, STEM grad programs are heavily populated by international students, from china, india or iran. this whole covid-19 makes a lot of companies hesitant to sponsor h1b visas, so i guess it takes a huge chunk of my real competitors out of the consideration, even though they are likely much more qualified than i am.
 
One thing is for sure, we are all jealous of these work from home people. They are loving this pandemic while most pharmacists are afraid to go to work.
 
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mentos said:
One thing is for sure, we are all jealous of these work from home people. They are loving this pandemic while most pharmacists are afraid to go to work.
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everybody can work from home lol. just trade stocks. today is easy money. sold some puts last friday and today it went up so much, so that's some nice 2k in the checkbook today.
 
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pharmacy_sucks said:
everybody can work from home lol. just trade stocks. today is easy money. sold some puts last friday and today it went up so much, so that's some nice 2k in the checkbook today.
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Stocks have been volatile lately. Youll lose what you made in a couple of days. You cant make a living on stocks unless you trade in the million dollar range.
 
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VictorOfHungerGames said:
Stocks have been volatile lately. Youll lose what you made in a couple of days. You cant make a living on stocks unless you trade in the million dollar range.
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it is not hard to consistently make money from stock market, bull or bear market, it doesn't matter that much. yes, you will have profiting trades and losing trades. but the key is not to risk it all at once. you place small but consistent trades with discipline (close all losing trades if loss exceeds 25% and close all winning trades if gain exceeds 75%) day after day, i made some very good money overall. you just got to play with statistics to make sure the rule of large numbers favor you in the long run.

in a bear market, a lot of stocks got beaten down so much that it is actually safer to place large bets on it, like boeing, i sold three 120 strike puts worth 2.3k total expiring this friday, cuz i saw there was a triple bottom the day before. guess what, it went up big today and i made over 2k within a day, so i closed it to secure profits.
 
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pharmacy_sucks said:
The recruiter sounded like I am a rarity. For her, as an HR person, my qualifications and skillset probably made her job easy enough. She couldn't even pronounce the word, "cholangiocarcinoma" right lol, and she asked me to correct if she said it wrong. HRs love check lists. education, check mark, experience, check mark, keywords like pkpd, check mark, clinical trials, check mark, so on and so forth. Yes, I did a whole bunch of data science courses that involved linear algebra and a bit multivariable calculus and maybe just a slight bit of differential equation for the conceptual proof maybe, but tbh, if you ask me to do integration by parts right now, I simply can't do it without having to go back to review the basics, but if i was given sufficient time, i can do it for sure.

the key i think is if someone can learn it fast enough. like i haven't been coding in c++ for quite a while, but if i was given a week or just a few days to review and refresh, that won't be an issue.

a bit sidetrack, i used to think this type of jobs won't come to me cuz there are masters and PhD programs in pharmacometrics, and I am especially talking about SUNY Buffalo. their grads are absolute hot commodities on the job market. But as you probably know, STEM grad programs are heavily populated by international students, from china, india or iran. this whole covid-19 makes a lot of companies hesitant to sponsor h1b visas, so i guess it takes a huge chunk of my real competitors out of the consideration, even though they are likely much more qualified than i am.
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The only aspect of pursuing a career in CS/SWE/DS that makes me apprehensive is the intensive math theory. To be honest, I was always one of those kids back in grade school who struggled in math and had to attend regular tutoring sessions, and when I was in college, I never took any math classes that were more advanced Applied Calculus (basically watered-down calculus for non-math majors), which I actually found to be pretty easy. So I just hope that I actually possess the baseline intelligence necessary to actually pass the coursework in a CS/SWE/DS program or bootcamp.
 
pharmacy_sucks said:
everybody can work from home lol. just trade stocks. today is easy money. sold some puts last friday and today it went up so much, so that's some nice 2k in the checkbook today.
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Oh that's all? Can you tell me what to buy for Tuesday? Thanks.
 
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mentos said:
That's great if you already bought. What should we buy today?
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I only play with stocks I track on a daily basis. for now, it's only Boeing cuz l love its extreme juicy IV and low price.
it has risen too much too fast. I might consider doing some bearish trades on it soon.
 
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Random thought, there are surely going to be many people who spent $200,000 and 4 years in pharmacy school who won't even get a graduation ceremony this year and may never work as a pharmacist. Will they look back and wonder if those years in pharmacy school ever happened? Will they be angry and start a movement? Will they become the next stoichoimetristsdn? What will they do?
 
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Gombrich12 said:
Random thought, there are surely going to be many people who spent $200,000 and 4 years in pharmacy school who won't even get a graduation ceremony this year and may never work as a pharmacist. Will they look back and wonder if those years in pharmacy school ever happened? Will they be angry and start a movement? Will they become the next stoichoimetristsdn? What will they do?
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i will tell everybody i know to never go to pharmacy schools. so if i am the patient zero of avoid-pharmacy-at-all-cost virus, let it spread and cause a global pandemic LOL
 
Gombrich12 said:
Random thought, there are surely going to be many people who spent $200,000 and 4 years in pharmacy school who won't even get a graduation ceremony this year and may never work as a pharmacist. Will they look back and wonder if those years in pharmacy school ever happened? Will they be angry and start a movement? Will they become the next stoichoimetristsdn? What will they do?
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Prolly just go into lab research or work at a pharma company.
 
pharmacy_sucks said:
when will be PGY-4? i know some smart dudes graduated from phd in 4 years lol.
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All in due time. The way things are going, I can see pharmacy mirroring medicine where you need 3-4 years of residency after professional school to qualify for baseline positions (in medicine, it would be family med, IM or peds; in pharmacy it would be retail, MTM or staffing jobs). If you want to specialize then you'd need to do another 2-6 years of training after that (in medicine, it would be your fellowship in surgery, anesthesiology, ophthalmology etc.; in pharmacy it would be going into "clinical pharmacy" or becoming a "nontraditional" pharmacist).

As the number of diploma mills expands and the quality of pharmacy students keep dropping, organizations that traditionally provide residency training will realize that the baseline knowledge (and ability) of students coming in today is far less than students 3 years ago. So how will they respond if residents of today are only "APPE caliber" and APPE students are only "P3-caliber?" They will likely put together a more advanced training program on top of that to try and develop professionals who are "competent."
 
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Pharmacy is a Scam said:
All in due time. The way things are going, I can see pharmacy mirroring medicine where you need 3-4 years of residency after professional school to qualify for baseline positions (in medicine, it would be family med, IM or peds; in pharmacy it would be retail, MTM or staffing jobs). If you want to specialize then you'd need to do another 2-6 years of training after that (in medicine, it would be your fellowship in surgery, anesthesiology, ophthalmology etc.; in pharmacy it would be going into "clinical pharmacy" or becoming a "nontraditional" pharmacist).

As the number of diploma mills expands and the quality of pharmacy students keep dropping, organizations that traditionally provide residency training will realize that the baseline knowledge (and ability) of students coming in today is far less than students 3 years ago. So how will they respond if residents of today are only "APPE caliber" and APPE students are only "P3-caliber?" They will likely put together a more advanced training program on top of that to try and develop professionals who are "competent."
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And unlike medicine, doing a PGY1/2/3/4 in pharmacy will not translate to better pay nor a skill set that will provide revenue for a hospital and will have nothing to do with patient safety.
 
Rx1992 said:
And unlike medicine, doing a PGY1/2/3/4 in pharmacy will not translate to better pay nor a skill set that will provide revenue for a hospital and will have nothing to do with patient safety.
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glorified slavery and excuse to low-ball. enough said.
 
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Hedgehog32 said:
The only aspect of pursuing a career in CS/SWE/DS that makes me apprehensive is the intensive math theory. To be honest, I was always one of those kids back in grade school who struggled in math and had to attend regular tutoring sessions, and when I was in college, I never took any math classes that were more advanced Applied Calculus (basically watered-down calculus for non-math majors), which I actually found to be pretty easy. So I just hope that I actually possess the baseline intelligence necessary to actually pass the coursework in a CS/SWE/DS program or bootcamp.
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tmr morning i will have a 45 min zoom interview with the director of clinical pharmacology, and she is one of the pupils of leslie benet at ucsf according to her linkedin profile and worked for names like actelion, novartis and gilead as clinical pharmacologists.

believe it or not, it is a bit nerve wrecking. but if i do get the offer, it will be helluva exciting.
 
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pharmacy_sucks said:
tmr morning i will have a 45 min zoom interview with the director of clinical pharmacology, and she is one of the pupils of leslie benet at ucsf according to her linkedin profile and worked for names like actelion, novartis and gilead as clinical pharmacologists.

believe it or not, it is a bit nerve wrecking. but if i do get the offer, it will be helluva exciting.
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Good luck! Hope it goes well for you.
 
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Hedgehog32 said:
Good luck! Hope it goes well for you.
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thx. whether i get the offer, finger crossed tho, it is a clear sign of validation regardless. one leetcode a day keeps unemployment away lol.

if now is not the perfect time to code, i don't know when will be. hard to imagine what's wrong with those PGY-3 folks. i seriously wanna knock some common sense into them :dead:
 
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But at what point will the naive snowflake students realize they'll never possibly break even on pharmacy? Will they eventually have to take out a million dollars in loans (that they'll never ever get to pay back) for a job that pays them $30 an hour? You would think somewhere common sense would kick in and no one could justify pharmacy as a career. It has no prestige. The work generally sucks IF you can even find a job. But sign me up for a PGY10 cuz I want to be the most credentialed idiot in my extinct profession. There truly is a sucker born every minute.
 
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pharmacy_sucks said:
thx. whether i get the offer, finger crossed tho, it is a clear sign of validation regardless. one leetcode a day keeps unemployment away lol.

if now is not the perfect time to code, i don't know when will be. hard to imagine what's wrong with those PGY-3 folks. i seriously wanna knock some common sense into them :dead:
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It's the sunk cost fallacy.

P4 year: "I just spent 4 years and $200k getting this degree, what's an year of residency if it can help me have a better chance at finding a job and it at least pays me enough to 'get by'."

PGY-1 year: "Well if I really wanted job security I need to set myself apart from the 4000+ other residency grads. So what's another year of residency if I can get 'specialized training' that will set me apart? Plus it means I don't need to stress about looking for an actual job during residency."

PGY-2 year: "Hmm there are no jobs and it seems the jobs that are available in my specialty area will require me to move to BFE. I've still got my now $300k worth of pharmacy school debt but if I switch out of pharmacy altogether and go study CS like @pharmacy_sucks then I'd need to spend another 2-3 years before looking for my first job, AND give up on pharmacy altogether. Maybe I can salvage my career and try to pivot by doing a PGY-3! Then I can fast track to hospital management or something. After all, it's just another year."
 
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Pharmacy is a Scam said:
It's the sunk cost fallacy.

P4 year: "I just spent 4 years and $200k getting this degree, what's an year of residency if it can help me have a better chance at finding a job and it at least pays me enough to 'get by'."

PGY-1 year: "Well if I really wanted job security I need to set myself apart from the 4000+ other residency grads. So what's another year of residency if I can get 'specialized training' that will set me apart? Plus it means I don't need to stress about looking for an actual job during residency."

PGY-2 year: "Hmm there are no jobs and it seems the jobs that are available in my specialty area will require me to move to BFE. I've still got my now $300k worth of pharmacy school debt but if I switch out of pharmacy altogether and go study CS like @pharmacy_sucks then I'd need to spend another 2-3 years before looking for my first job, AND give up on pharmacy altogether. Maybe I can salvage my career and try to pivot by doing a PGY-3! Then I can fast track to hospital management or something. After all, it's just another year."
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LOL, i would still consider clinical pharmacology & PKPD modelling work to be "tangentially" related to pharmacy, albeit not much really. The day of me giving it up altogether is maybe the day when i switch out of pharma industry into Apple healthcare.

most cs masters programs are 1-2 years at most if doing accelerated course load. most part-time students take 2 courses a semester to graduate in 2 years. just take 3 instead, and get it done in a year. after 5-6 courses, internships are paying pharmacist salary lol. i just don't see any financial incentive to do even PGY-1 :rolleyes:
 
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Pharmacy is a Scam said:
It's the sunk cost fallacy.

P4 year: "I just spent 4 years and $200k getting this degree, what's an year of residency if it can help me have a better chance at finding a job and it at least pays me enough to 'get by'."

PGY-1 year: "Well if I really wanted job security I need to set myself apart from the 4000+ other residency grads. So what's another year of residency if I can get 'specialized training' that will set me apart? Plus it means I don't need to stress about looking for an actual job during residency."

PGY-2 year: "Hmm there are no jobs and it seems the jobs that are available in my specialty area will require me to move to BFE. I've still got my now $300k worth of pharmacy school debt but if I switch out of pharmacy altogether and go study CS like @pharmacy_sucks then I'd need to spend another 2-3 years before looking for my first job, AND give up on pharmacy altogether. Maybe I can salvage my career and try to pivot by doing a PGY-3! Then I can fast track to hospital management or something. After all, it's just another year."
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pharmacy_sucks said:
LOL, i would still consider clinical pharmacology & PKPD modelling work to be "tangentially" related to pharmacy, albeit not much really. The day of me giving it up altogether is maybe the day when i switch out of pharma industry into Apple healthcare.

most cs masters programs are 1-2 years at most if doing accelerated course load. most part-time students take 2 courses a semester to graduate in 2 years. just take 3 instead, and get it done in a year. after 5-6 courses, internships are paying pharmacist salary lol. i just don't see any financial incentive to do even PGY-1 :rolleyes:
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Don't forget about bootcamps either, which only take 3-4 months to complete (although it's prudent to research them and only attend a well-reputed one - e.g., Hack Reactor). That's going to be my plan if I don't get accepted to UPenn's MCIT program and if I also can't find a pharmacist job.
 
If I had kids (thankfully I don't) I'd steer them in the direction of a bootcamp. Low time and financial investment (compared to pharmacy school) and decent job prospects. Probably an intense few months, but then pharmacy school wasn't really a joyride either.
 
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Xenophylia said:
If I had kids (thankfully I don't) I'd steer them in the direction of a bootcamp. Low time and financial investment (compared to pharmacy school) and decent job prospects. Probably an intense few months, but then pharmacy school wasn't really a joyride either.
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Even if the bootcamp somehow doesn't work out, at least they've only wasted a few months of their life and a relatively paltry sum of money as compared to pharmacy school tuition.
 
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There would have been a time when I would have recommended college for my kids without question. But now? With as predatory as higher education has become and with the devaluation of a degree, I'd be just as happy they become an electrician or a plumber as long as they could make a living.... True "smarts" is knowing when to cut your losses....
 
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Xenophylia said:
If I had kids (thankfully I don't) I'd steer them in the direction of a bootcamp. Low time and financial investment (compared to pharmacy school) and decent job prospects. Probably an intense few months, but then pharmacy school wasn't really a joyride either.
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My cousin did this and got a job in the Bay area. His life is pretty chill now. I wish I had the skills to code.
 
mentos said:
My cousin did this and got a job in the Bay area. His life is pretty chill now. I wish I had the skills to code.
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To respond to your last point, I do wonder how much of someone's likelihood of success as a coder/engineer is attributable to innate intelligence as opposed to having the will to be persistent and put in effort. Either way, it looks like I'll probably find out soon enough.
 
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Hedgehog32 said:
To respond to your last point, I do wonder how much of someone's likelihood of success as a coder/engineer is attributable to innate intelligence as opposed to having the will to be persistent and put in effort. Either way, it looks like I'll probably find out soon enough.
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I wouldn't trust too many things this guy says about computer science. I caught him saying some really ridiculous claims like a certificate somehow being just as good if not better than a degree and then proceeding to call me a troll for disagreeing with him. And also another time about how he knew a pharmacy student that studied coding while in pharmacy school and got a job as an software engineer right after dropping out or something ridiculous. He really has no idea what he is talking about in terms of CS.
I would say his advice can be almost as bad as going to pharmacy school right now. Except you will have a better shot than pharmacy students at landing a low pay job with a certificate.
Also I would like to add that you can't just apply and get accepted into a bootcamp. Most bootcamps require you to have gone through the fundamental basics of computer science.

Here is my advice to anyone that is deciding to go into CS. Get a degree. Most uni's now offer a 2 or 3 year programs for people that already have degrees. And with a degree you will be able to do way more and have way more opportunities. Only do a bootcamp if you ALREADY have a job in mind that specifically uses a certain protocol.
 
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DagS132 said:
I wouldn't trust too many things this guy says about computer science. I caught him saying some really ridiculous claims like a certificate somehow being just as good if not better than a degree and then proceeding to call me a troll for disagreeing with him. And also another time about how he knew a pharmacy student that studied coding while in pharmacy school and got a job as an software engineer right after dropping out or something ridiculous. He really has no idea what he is talking about in terms of CS.
I would say his advice can be almost as bad as going to pharmacy school right now. Except you will have a better shot than pharmacy students at landing a low pay job with a certificate.
Also I would like to add that you can't just apply and get accepted into a bootcamp. Most bootcamps require you to have gone through the fundamental basics of computer science.

Here is my advice to anyone that is deciding to go into CS. Get a degree. Most uni's now offer a 2 or 3 year programs for people that already have degrees. And with a degree you will be able to do way more and have way more opportunities. Only do a bootcamp if you ALREADY have a job in mind that specifically uses a certain protocol.
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Hi, you must have me confused with someone else. I don't know anyone who studied coding and dropped out of pharmacy school and became a software engineer or "something like that". Can you please show me where I said this? Thanks! You must be thinking of another poster.

I agree with you that pharmacy school is a terrible choice right now.

FWIW, my cousin had a degree in bio before he did boot camp. But I completely agree, not everyone can code. You have to know what you're doing. It's not like pharmacy school where anyone can get a PharmD.

Cheers bro.
 
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Xenophylia said:
(post with reference to suicide; edited/removed)
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I had a classmate die by suicide. It was tragic, and certainly painful for all the people he left behind. If you ever feel like suicide is your only option, please reach out to someone, go to the nearest emergency department, or call a hotline.
 
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giga said:
I had a classmate die by suicide. It was tragic, and certainly painful for all the people he left behind. If you ever feel like suicide is your only option, please reach out to someone, go to the nearest emergency department, or call a hotline.
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Same. It happened during his P4 year. With the job market the way it is, I am not surprised that there are many students who feel trapped because they're extremely overworked in pharmacy school (the pursuit of residency and not matching) with no light at the end of the tunnel (jobs).
 
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Hedgehog32 said:
Don't forget about bootcamps either, which only take 3-4 months to complete (although it's prudent to research them and only attend a well-reputed one - e.g., Hack Reactor). That's going to be my plan if I don't get accepted to UPenn's MCIT program and if I also can't find a pharmacist job.
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You can try for GA tech programs. GA tech would be close to where you live. Even if you had to take pre-reqs I still think it will be less than any health care profession.
 
Xenophylia said:
There would have been a time when I would have recommended college for my kids without question. But now? With as predatory as higher education has become and with the devaluation of a degree, I'd be just as happy they become an electrician or a plumber as long as they could make a living.... True "smarts" is knowing when to cut your losses....
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Becoming a realtor right out of high school and investing in real estate in early 20's could get you into making so much more money. Possibly retire in your 30's or 40's.
 
DagS132 said:
I wouldn't trust too many things this guy says about computer science. I caught him saying some really ridiculous claims like a certificate somehow being just as good if not better than a degree and then proceeding to call me a troll for disagreeing with him. And also another time about how he knew a pharmacy student that studied coding while in pharmacy school and got a job as an software engineer right after dropping out or something ridiculous. He really has no idea what he is talking about in terms of CS.
I would say his advice can be almost as bad as going to pharmacy school right now. Except you will have a better shot than pharmacy students at landing a low pay job with a certificate.
Also I would like to add that you can't just apply and get accepted into a bootcamp. Most bootcamps require you to have gone through the fundamental basics of computer science.

Here is my advice to anyone that is deciding to go into CS. Get a degree. Most uni's now offer a 2 or 3 year programs for people that already have degrees. And with a degree you will be able to do way more and have way more opportunities. Only do a bootcamp if you ALREADY have a job in mind that specifically uses a certain protocol.
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, there are a few bootcamps out there that actually do accept applicants who don't have any sort of background in CS, although I believe those students have to undergo a slightly longer version of the bootcamp. One of the most well-reputed bootcamps (Hack Reactor) wants applicants to possess an "advanced beginner" level of expertise, which they say can be gained by completing their free 5-week prep program. I agree that for someone who hasn't already earned an undergrad degree and a pharmacy degree, it probably makes the most sense to just get a degree, but for someone in my situation (and who is of my age), I'm at the point where I just want to take the path of least resistance. I'm not disagreeing with you that there aren't disadvantages to doing bootcamps; I'm just saying that for me and in light of my circumstances, the benefits outweigh the downsides.
 
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Pharmacy is a Scam said:
Same. It happened during his P4 year. With the job market the way it is, I am not surprised that there are many students who feel trapped because they're extremely overworked in pharmacy school (the pursuit of residency and not matching) with no light at the end of the tunnel (jobs).
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Yeah- school wasn't a picnic. But at least at the end of the tunnel we had jobs waiting and there was some sense pharmacists were "needed" and sought after. Now....you endure school. Even if you're lucky enough to find a job, most of the jobs suck beyond belief and you will be considered a highly expendable commodity. There is literally nothing to look forward to anymore in this profession. And of course the alternative is long term unemployment which is equally soul crushing. And yet people are still signing up for this sh*tshow. The logic escapes me.
 
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Hedgehog32 said:
Believe it or not, there are a few bootcamps out there that actually do accept applicants who don't have any sort of background in CS, although I believe those students have to undergo a slightly longer version of the bootcamp. One of the most well-reputed bootcamps (Hack Reactor) wants applicants to possess an "advanced beginner" level of expertise, which they say can be gained by completing their free 5-week prep program. I agree that for someone who hasn't already earned an undergrad degree and a pharmacy degree, it probably makes the most sense to just get a degree, but for someone in my situation (and who is of my age), I'm at the point where I just want to take the path of least resistance. I'm not disagreeing with you that there aren't disadvantages to doing bootcamps; I'm just saying that for me and in light of my circumstances, the benefits outweigh the downsides.
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Think about it this way if you can. If you were planning on spending the next 4-5 years in pharmacy school, what is another 3-4 years in undergrad paying less money(compared to pharm school) to get a degree in CS. You are shooting yourself in the foot if you decide you want to get a certificate over a degree if you are in this exact situation. If you are pressed for time, bootcamp is the way to go as that will at least you get you a chance at a decent paying job. But at some point you will have to learn what undergrads learned
 
DagS132 said:
Think about it this way if you can. If you were planning on spending the next 4-5 years in pharmacy school, what is another 3-4 years in undergrad paying less money(compared to pharm school) to get a degree in CS. You are shooting yourself in the foot if you decide you want to get a certificate over a degree if you are in this exact situation. If you are pressed for time, bootcamp is the way to go as that will at least you get you a chance at a decent paying job. But at some point you will have to learn what undergrads learned
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I actually am a P4 student now who will be graduating next month, so the main reason I'm looking at the options for pursuing a CS career in the shortest amount of time is because I have ironically *already* spent 4 years in pharmacy school. Of course, there's still a chance that I will find a hospital/LTC pharmacist job, but even if I do, I still think that it will be a good idea to develop coding skills. I'm not sure if you've seen my other posts where I've mentioned it, but I actually applied to a 2-year part-time online masters degree in software engineering that I'll receive an admissions decision on sometime next week. The ideal outcome would be for me to both find a pharmacist job AND get accepted to the software engineering program.
 
Hedgehog32 said:
I actually am a P4 student now who will be graduating next month, so the main reason I'm looking at the options for pursuing a CS career in the shortest amount of time is because I have ironically *already* spent 4 years in pharmacy school. Of course, there's still a chance that I will find a hospital/LTC pharmacist job, but even if I do, I still think that it will be a good idea to develop coding skills. I'm not sure if you've seen my other posts where I've mentioned it, but I actually applied to a 2-year part-time online masters degree in software engineering that I'll receive an admissions decision on sometime next week. The ideal outcome would be for me to both find a pharmacist job AND get accepted to the software engineering program.
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Interesting. Keep me updated on your progress with that degree if you get accepted. Im a little suspicious about the words "part time."
 
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DagS132 said:
Interesting. Keep me updated on your progress with that degree if you get accepted. Im a little suspicious about the words "part time."
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Even though most students complete the degree within 2 years, the school (UPenn) will actually permit students to take up to 7 years to finish all the courses. So I guess that's where the "part time" designation comes from.
 
I don't see pharmacy dying but rather evolving. All this tech talk makes me think that those skills should be added to the pharmacy school curriculum or be an elective. Biostatistics is already part of most schools' curriculum so perhaps even a basic understanding of coding should be implemented as a P1 course. If the glut of school is the problem, they must provide some useful skills for graduates to distinguish themselves.
 
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Most HCPs don't even understand frequentist statistics so it's a bridge too far to add more to bloated curriculua
 
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