I have no idea what I should do

[mitchjp1997]

Hey guys,
I'm currently a rising sophomore and I've already taken the PCAT, have pharmacy experience, and a GPA all of which would likely get me admitted to a decent pharmacy school. However, I've read so many negative posts on here about the job market, getting treated like crap, etc which has prompted me to think about other careers. I've already gotten 3 rec letters from professors and I have ECs of which almost all pertain to pharmacy. With all being said, do you guys think that switching to dentistry would be the right decision, even though it will likely cost me 2+ more years? I'm so stressed about this situation, please someone offer your insight. Thanks guys

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[Carol is Alpha]

Google "dentist saturation" and bow ye head in despair.

There is no escape from Kralizec, the Typhoon Struggle at the end of the Zombie Central Banker Bubble. Counterfeit credit has nuked nearly every field and those not touched will eventually.

 

[mentos]

Sorry but there is no such thing as a decent pharmacy school, it doesn't matter which school you go to. Everyone ends up in the same retail job. Work experience, PCAT, extracurricular, recommendation letters don't really matter. These schools take anybody these days, kids in the pre-pharmacy forums with Cs and Ds in undergrad courses get into pharmacy school and become pharmacists. Then they become co-workers with people who went to the "top" pharmacy schools.

Yes, dentistry is a better choice. At least you can open your own practice without competition from CVS/Wags.

 

[beautifulrobot]

A few things to consider:

1) the people posting at SDN are not representative of the entire profession. Yes, take into consideration all the information you can gather, but there are many pharmacists working in many different settings and most of them are not represented in this forum.

2) Yes, the pharmacist job market is much more competitive now, but if you are a high quality worker, have initiative and ambition, are good at networking and developing connections, and have good reasons to go into pharmacy (not just wanting an easy time finding a job that pays really well), you can still have a fulfilling career. It just depends on what exactly you want, and then figuring out if pharmacy is the best/most reasonable path to get there. What are your reasons for going to pharmacy school? Why are you considering dentistry as an alternative? Why not nursing or medicine?

3) the advice I wish was given to me before I decided on pharmacy school was to get more experience shadowing other healthcare professions. I only focused on getting pharmacy experience, but if I would have tried to get more medical experience, I am almost certain I would have made a very different choice in professions. It's not so much that I don't enjoy my work as a pharmacist, but I realized late in the game that I actually would probably enjoy being a physician more. Although, who knows, sometimes the grass is always greener.

4) pharmacy school rank doesn't matter, but where you go to school does. If it wasn't for the APPE opportunities I had, as well as for the faculty I had access to, it's hard to say how successful I would've been applying to PGY1 residencies. I know for sure that I wouldn't have done a pgy2 if it wasn't for the relationship I developed with the pgy2 residency director when I was a student. So again, depending on your goals, the school you go to and the network of pharmacists you develop connections with can determine the rest of your career.

 

[Wickett]

Hey guys,
I'm currently a rising sophomore and I've already taken the PCAT, have pharmacy experience, and a GPA all of which would likely get me admitted to a decent pharmacy school. However, I've read so many negative posts on here about the job market, getting treated like crap, etc which has prompted me to think about other careers. I've already gotten 3 rec letters from professors and I have ECs of which almost all pertain to pharmacy. With all being said, do you guys think that switching to dentistry would be the right decision, even though it will likely cost me 2+ more years? I'm so stressed about this situation, please someone offer your insight. Thanks guys

You're like 19-20....take your time. Get a job as a tech in retail at least for a bit, and see if you can stand the work (everyone should get some retail exp regardless of clinical ambitions...that's where most will end up). Shadow other fields. Don't feel like you have to jump into pharmacy just because you finished your pre reqs. Any professional school is $$$$ and will chart your next 35 years of working.

Don't rush....most kids I know that quit/didn't finish were the 20 year olds that jumped into professional school without having any clue what they're getting into. There will still be jobs....you can't just coast through school and get multiple offers anymore.

 

[rph3664]

Have you ever worked in a pharmacy? If you haven't, do it before you dive into pharmacy school head-first. You need to know what you're getting into before you make a commitment like that.