Medicine or Pharmacy?

[pink10]

I'm a sophomore and would like to know which of the careers suits me better. Many people in my family are Pharmacist and from what they've told me about the career it's seems to suit me quite well since i'm really into chemistry and excel in it. I don't know of any doctors (and i can't shadow pharmacists where a live because it's a really conservative country, literally all the retail pharmacist where i live are males). Medicine appeals to me quite a lot too because i've always been really interested in learning about the human body, i've always loved the human biology aspect of my classes but i HATE ecology and plant science. However, i'm weaker at biology than I am at chemistry, nevertheless sciences/maths are my strengths. I've read a lot about medicine on this forum and well the cons to the career are very off putting for me because i'm a very family oriented person and would like to have more time for myself. But i really don't mind going through the arduously long training of becoming a doctor

Based on what i've written what do you think would be better suited for my likes and strengths? My pharmacist relatives said it's better i go into medicine but i'm not sure. Before anyone attacks me and says i'm to young to think about this and blah blah. Let me say i've been going to a British school my entire life and well it's the norm for students who study the curriculum to know what careers they'd like to pursue at this age. My teachers are encouraging all the students in my year group to think about this sort of thing now, plus since i won't only be applying to American universities (also applying to British unis) i need to have a rough idea of what i'd like to study in the future now so i can get the relevant work experiences done and all.

P.S No one suggest Dentistry, i've done my research and well it doesn't appeal to me because i don't want to be looking at people's teeth my entire career!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Fatalis]

shadow one of each, that will get you exposed to the lifestyle and what a doctor and pharmacist actually does. You can't read if you like burgers more than hotdogs...you gotta go out and taste em yourself!

 

[deleted564496]

^^^

You're young OP. You have plenty of time to decide. It sounds like you're interested in a career in health science regardless, which is great. The other great thing is that in college you will take very, if not exactly, the same classes for both pharmacy and medicine. Go shadow a doctor, a pharmacist, a physical therapist.. see what you think. I always thought shadowing was boring in HS, but then I'd start to envision myself as the pharmacist, doctor, etc. As a student, it's not that exciting, but obviously once you are a doctor, pharmacist, etc. it will be quite different. You have a lot of time left. Enjoy high school and start to explore some of the different options. Like I said, the classes you take in college are extremely similar for both paths, you don't need to worry about committing to one right now.

 

[studentp0x]

Pharmacy = crappy job market and getting much worse every year.

I'm a sophomore and would like to know which of the careers suits me better. Many people in my family are Pharmacist and from what they've told me about the career it's seems to suit me quite well since i'm really into chemistry and excel in it. I don't know of any doctors (and i can't shadow pharmacists where a live because it's a really conservative country, literally all the retail pharmacist where i live are males). Medicine appeals to me quite a lot too because i've always been really interested in learning about the human body, i've always loved the human biology aspect of my classes but i HATE ecology and plant science. However, i'm weaker at biology than I am at chemistry, nevertheless sciences/maths are my strengths. I've read a lot about medicine on this forum and well the cons to the career are very off putting for me because i'm a very family oriented person and would like to have more time for myself. But i really don't mind going through the arduously long training of becoming a doctor

Based on what i've written what do you think would be better suited for my likes and strengths? My pharmacist relatives said it's better i go into medicine but i'm not sure. Before anyone attacks me and says i'm to young to think about this and blah blah. Let me say i've been going to a British school my entire life and well it's the norm for students who study the curriculum to know what careers they'd like to pursue at this age. My teachers are encouraging all the students in my year group to think about this sort of thing now, plus since i won't only be applying to American universities (also applying to British unis) i need to have a rough idea of what i'd like to study in the future now so i can get the relevant work experiences done and all.

P.S No one suggest Dentistry, i've done my research and well it doesn't appeal to me because i don't want to be looking at people's teeth my entire career!

 

[bluevirgo]

In regards to what all of you are saying, did you not fully read her question? She says that she feels like she should know by now, and that she can't shadow any pharmacists, due to the fact that she lives in a different country (with different.. I don't want to say customs/beliefs.. but it's pretty much that.. very conservative), and from working in a pharmacy and being on the premed track, I can give you a little insight although I am in America. I think that if you want to help people and be a bit less hands off, but deal with knowing the interactions between drugs their taking, and if you're well versed, and able to converse with people such as drug reps, and doctors regarding a patients treatment plan (say if a certain medication is out of the price range for the patient to buy every month, is there another solution?), or if you enjoy chemistry more than bio, I'd say go for pharmacist. However, if you want to be more directly involved with patients and more hands on in the diagnostic realm.. then I'd say go for medicine. I had the same dilemma about a year ago, applying to college, I had a 6 year pharmacy program I was really interested in, but I eventually decided to go into medicine to become a physician because I wanted to be more involved with diagnosing and coming up with the course of treatment for the patient, instead of being as hands off as a pharmacist. I wanted more say. Hope this helps

 

[studentp0x]

In regards to what all of you are saying, did you not fully read her question? She says that she feels like she should know by now, and that she can't shadow any pharmacists, due to the fact that she lives in a different country (with different.. I don't want to say customs/beliefs.. but it's pretty much that.. very conservative), and from working in a pharmacy and being on the premed track, I can give you a little insight although I am in America. I think that if you want to help people and be a bit less hands off, but deal with knowing the interactions between drugs their taking, and if you're well versed, and able to converse with people such as drug reps, and doctors regarding a patients treatment plan (say if a certain medication is out of the price range for the patient to buy every month, is there another solution?), or if you enjoy chemistry more than bio, I'd say go for pharmacist. However, if you want to be more directly involved with patients and more hands on in the diagnostic realm.. then I'd say go for medicine. I had the same dilemma about a year ago, applying to college, I had a 6 year pharmacy program I was really interested in, but I eventually decided to go into medicine to become a physician because I wanted to be more involved with diagnosing and coming up with the course of treatment for the patient, instead of being as hands off as a pharmacist. I wanted more say. Hope this helps

The job market for pharmacists is horrendous and gets much worse every year. New graduating pharmacists are having trouble even getting a part time floating job. Full time jobs are hard to come across even if you're applying to the boonies. Even places like Alaska and many other places which are extremely undesirable won't have any positions at all in a couple of years.
More pharmacy schools opening + existing pharmacy schools increasing their numbers of seats + many of the newer schools are just about to graduate their new pharmacists. It would kind of suck to do undergrad + 4 years of pharmacy (a challenging curriculum) only to be unemployed with 0 job prospects basically barring any luck. Also, getting a job =/= keeping that job forever... many new grads get tossed out after a year or two.

Thing is, none of what I'm saying is even slightly exaggerated. Head on over to the pharmacy forum to see people suggesting to each other to head onto a different path (fully licensed pharmacists).

 

[bluevirgo]

The job market for pharmacists is horrendous and gets much worse every year. New graduating pharmacists are having trouble even getting a part time floating job. Full time jobs are hard to come across even if you're applying to the boonies. Even places like Alaska and many other places which are extremely undesirable won't have any positions at all in a couple of years.
More pharmacy schools opening + existing pharmacy schools increasing their numbers of seats + many of the newer schools are just about to graduate their new pharmacists. It would kind of suck to do undergrad + 4 years of pharmacy (a challenging curriculum) only to be unemployed with 0 job prospects basically barring any luck. Also, getting a job =/= keeping that job forever... many new grads get tossed out after a year or two.

Thing is, none of what I'm saying is even slightly exaggerated. Head on over to the pharmacy forum to see people suggesting to each other to head onto a different path (fully licensed pharmacists).

That's all you seem to focus on is the job market, having worked in a pharmacy for a few years, the head of the department says that although the job market isn't doing well now, that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be doing well in the future. I feel that if you love something enough and have enough passion and drive for doing something, you should go for it. I was hesitant between pharmacy and medicine, however, after knowing that my true passion lies in medicine, I'm going at it with all that I've got. If the job market (something that has the ability to change), is all you're looking at, then I would say that I do not agree on putting pharmacy on the backburner because of that one reason.

Also, if she has family that are pharmacists, then she already has connections, which would make the transition of schooling to the workplace not as difficult as some random Joe who decided they wanted to be a pharmacist.

 

[pink10]

Thanks for all the replies! I'll take everything you've said into consideration.

 

[pink10]

That's all you seem to focus on is the job market, having worked in a pharmacy for a few years, the head of the department says that although the job market isn't doing well now, that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be doing well in the future. I feel that if you love something enough and have enough passion and drive for doing something, you should go for it. I was hesitant between pharmacy and medicine, however, after knowing that my true passion lies in medicine, I'm going at it with all that I've got. If the job market (something that has the ability to change), is all you're looking at, then I would say that I do not agree on putting pharmacy on the backburner because of that one reason.

Also, if she has family that are pharmacists, then she already has connections, which would make the transition of schooling to the workplace not as difficult as some random Joe who decided they wanted to be a pharmacist.

Well i wouldn't say having pharmacist relatives would help me much considering they live in Europe and i intend on moving/staying in the US. I do actually have a doctor in my family, but he has his own practice in East Africa, wish i could go there to get experience but it's quite unlikely considering it's in a war stricken country.

 

[studentp0x]

That's all you seem to focus on is the job market, having worked in a pharmacy for a few years, the head of the department says that although the job market isn't doing well now, that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be doing well in the future. I feel that if you love something enough and have enough passion and drive for doing something, you should go for it. I was hesitant between pharmacy and medicine, however, after knowing that my true passion lies in medicine, I'm going at it with all that I've got. If the job market (something that has the ability to change), is all you're looking at, then I would say that I do not agree on putting pharmacy on the backburner because of that one reason.

Also, if she has family that are pharmacists, then she already has connections, which would make the transition of schooling to the workplace not as difficult as some random Joe who decided they wanted to be a pharmacist.

Uh no, the market only gets worse and worse because:

1) More pharmacy schools opening still

2) Easy school increases their seats every year

3) Many of the new schools haven't even graduated their first class yet into the already bad market

If you have 10 job openings and have 200 people for those 10 jobs, things don't look good for 190 of them. Next year it'll be 240 people then 270, etc etc. It's all supply and demand. When the supply is >>>>>> demand and continues to grow while the demand shrinks, you're on a path of no return. Hence why it's relatively easy to get into a pharm school nowadays, and continues to get much easier.

The whole "follow your passions" thing is only for an immature mindset. Your passions may have put the bread on the table and paid the bills back in the day when a high school diploma got you a solid job and a degree made you 6 figures. But there's a reason we have PhDs applying to medical schools. They realize their passion for whatever field it was isn't going to pay the bills consistently let alone give them financial stability and freedom.

Regardless, the core of pharmacy is dispensing. It's easy to pull the market down with technology + pharmacy technicians.

 

[Apollo1]

That's all you seem to focus on is the job market, having worked in a pharmacy for a few years, the head of the department says that although the job market isn't doing well now, that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be doing well in the future. I feel that if you love something enough and have enough passion and drive for doing something, you should go for it.

One of the main tenets of going to professional school is to get a job in that specified profession. Med school/law school/pharmacy school etc. is not some exercise in esoteric conversation, but a vehicle for gaining technical knowledge about the practice area one would be entering (now that I've said that, I take back the inclusion of law school in this description). Being rational about future prospects can save a person time & capital that would otherwise be lost if they didn't have an anchor tied to their dream(s).

OP, you still have a ways to go before needing to be concerned about what job you'll possibly have the rest of your life. Enjoy your time without many responsibilities.

 

[studentp0x]

One of the main tenets of going to professional school is to get a job in that specified profession. Med school/law school/pharmacy school etc. is not some exercise in esoteric conversation, but a vehicle for gaining technical knowledge about the practice area one would be entering (now that I've said that, I take back the inclusion of law school in this description). Being rational about future prospects can save a person time & capital that would otherwise be lost if they didn't have an anchor tied to their dream(s).

OP, you still have a ways to go before needing to be concerned about what job you'll possibly have the rest of your life. Enjoy your time without many responsibilities.

Honestly it looks like we're heading into an era of unemployed and underpaid professionals. Here in Canada, primary care is doing great (for now) but specialist jobs are hard to come by and surgery jobs much worse (OR time costs $$). Law is heading into a downward direction. Pharmacy is saturated in cities and continues to get more saturated every year.

There's a variety of reasons for this but certainly the number of seats in many professional schools is wayyy too high (ex. pharmacy). Medicine isn't bad right now but with midlevels and technology... along with a fair bit of saturation, who knows how it'll be in the future. Certainly, future reimbursements don't reflect the level of competition (which is largely fueled by immigrants who are pursuing the "american dream").

 

[SweetBurger]

Chemistry FTW!! Anyways besides that i'm going to throw you a curve ball OP. How about looking at feet for the rest of your life and become a podiatrist?

 

[bluevirgo]

It seems like many of you are looking at the monetary aspect of this. If you are doing something that you love, then it shouldn't matter, given that physicians and pharmacists make a median amount of 100k. Any less than that, and food will still be on the table. Maybe coming from a different walk of life than it seems most of you are from, I have a different perspective than most of you that are telling me otherwise. I'm optimistic while you all think that you're realistic, when its really pessimistic. If you're doing what you love, it may not result in bucket loads of money, but it will be enough.

 

[Doctor Dream]

It seems like many of you are looking at the monetary aspect of this. If you are doing something that you love, then it shouldn't matter, given that physicians and pharmacists make a median amount of 100k. Any less than that, and food will still be on the table. Maybe coming from a different walk of life than it seems most of you are from, I have a different perspective than most of you that are telling me otherwise. I'm optimistic while you all think that you're realistic, when its really pessimistic. If you're doing what you love, it may not result in bucket loads of money, but it will be enough.

I wouldn't argue against that point, but I think it's important for OP to take in to consideration that pharmacy jobs are getting harder and harder to come by. I made a switch from pharmacy to medicine this year, and one of the factors that caused the switch was that very fact.

OP, the only way you're going to know which profession suits you better is exposure. I understand that it may be difficult to shadow retail pharmacists in your area, but what about hospital pharmacists?

Also, if that's not possible, then consider working as a pharmacy tech. I'm a hospital pharmacy tech right now, and I've learned TONS about pharmacists, what they do, and how a pharmacy works. I see what a pharmacist does first-hand, talk to them and can ask questions about their job on a daily basis. I might as well be shadowing, except I'm getting paid for it

 

[pink10]

I wouldn't argue against that point, but I think it's important for OP to take in to consideration that pharmacy jobs are getting harder and harder to come by. I made a switch from pharmacy to medicine this year, and one of the factors that caused the switch was that very fact.

OP, the only way you're going to know which profession suits you better is exposure. I understand that it may be difficult to shadow retail pharmacists in your area, but what about hospital pharmacists?

Also, if that's not possible, then consider working as a pharmacy tech. I'm a hospital pharmacy tech right now, and I've learned TONS about pharmacists, what they do, and how a pharmacy works. I see what a pharmacist does first-hand, talk to them and can ask questions about their job on a daily basis. I might as well be shadowing, except I'm getting paid for it

I talked to a relative pharmacist who briefly worked in a hospital where I live and he informed me that it'd would be pretty much impossible to become a pharmacist tech (as a female that is). He said they might be lenient about shadowing but it depends on the hospital, it wouldn't be allowed at the one he worked at but if he still worked there i could have shadowed (he moved away only 3 months ago, gah if only I was thinking about shadowing back then). Do you think just talking with my relatives about what they do on a day to day basis would be enough for me to know whether i'd like it or not? I'll definitely shadow doctors though!

Hopefully the school i'm switching to next year will offer shadowing opportunities to students as mine doesn't. There aren't any programs implemented for students it all here so the only to come about shadowing opportunities etc is through the connections parents have.

 

[pink10]

Chemistry FTW!! Anyways besides that i'm going to throw you a curve ball OP. How about looking at feet for the rest of your life and become a podiatrist?

Ehh, i think i'm good

 

[Doctor Dream]

I talked to a relative pharmacist who briefly worked in a hospital where I live and he informed me that it'd would be pretty much impossible to become a pharmacist tech (as a female that is). He said they might be lenient about shadowing but it depends on the hospital, it wouldn't be allowed at the one he worked at but if he still worked there i could have shadowed (he moved away only 3 months ago, gah if only I was thinking about shadowing back then). Do you think just talking with my relatives about what they do on a day to day basis would be enough for me to know whether i'd like it or not? I'll definitely shadow doctors though!

Hopefully the school i'm switching to next year will offer shadowing opportunities to students as mine doesn't. There aren't any programs implemented for students it all here so the only to come about shadowing opportunities etc is through the connections parents have.

Ehhh I'm not sure your relatives just telling you about their day is going to be enough for you to tell with conviction that pharmacy is or isn't your thing...that sounds like all you really can do though haha

 

[Apollo1]

It seems like many of you are looking at the monetary aspect of this.

I fail to see where I specifically mentioned money. Going into a field that encompasses what you love (and we don't even know if this area is what the OP truly "loves," based upon the the uttering of "career" multiple times) does not guarantee that a position of fulfillment will be available/earned when said person comes to the threshold. You have to, at times, be "realistic" about your chances rather than potentially suffer a greater setback if all your chips are thrown in and you still lose.

OP, just continue to work hard & make smart choices.

 

[pink10]

I fail to see where I specifically mentioned money. Going into a field that encompasses what you love (and we don't even know if this area is what the OP truly "loves," based upon the the uttering of "career" multiple times) does not guarantee that a position of fulfillment will be available/earned when said person comes to the threshold. You have to, at times, be "realistic" about your chances rather than potentially suffer a greater setback if all your chips are thrown in and you still lose.

OP, just continue to work hard & make smart choices.

Will Do

 

[studentp0x]

It seems like many of you are looking at the monetary aspect of this. If you are doing something that you love, then it shouldn't matter, given that physicians and pharmacists make a median amount of 100k. Any less than that, and food will still be on the table. Maybe coming from a different walk of life than it seems most of you are from, I have a different perspective than most of you that are telling me otherwise. I'm optimistic while you all think that you're realistic, when its really pessimistic. If you're doing what you love, it may not result in bucket loads of money, but it will be enough.

Physicians make more like 200k at minimum if they work full time hours with moderate efficiency. Most specialists hit 300+ and if you're driven for money in medicine... you can reach definitely reach the 400-600 area.

Also, many people have interests/hobbies that they want to pursue which needs quite a bit more than 100k/year. In many cases, even 400k/year barely cuts it.
At the end it's just a job that provides a means to an end, and that end is being able to do what you enjoy outside of your job.

Having food on the table and getting onto the next day doesn't mean you're making the most of your limited life span.

 

[BarryZuckerkorn]

$400k/year barely cuts it? On what planet? You may be disappointed if your ultimate goal is to throw parties on your yacht or fly around in your Learjet. But a low six figure income can actually be pretty nice, depending on money management.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2012/07/27/how-much-money-do-you-need-to-be-happy-2/

 

[studentp0x]

$400k/year barely cuts it? On what planet? You may be disappointed if your ultimate goal is to throw parties on your yacht or fly around in your Learjet. But a low six figure income can actually be pretty nice, depending on money management.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2012/07/27/how-much-money-do-you-need-to-be-happy-2/

It depends on a person's tastes once they reach a certain level of income. If you want to own a Ferrari you'll need more than100/yr. And my point is that there isn't anything wrong with that.

 

[pink10]

I fail to see where I specifically mentioned money. Going into a field that encompasses what you love (and we don't even know if this area is what the OP truly "loves," based upon the the uttering of "career" multiple times) does not guarantee that a position of fulfillment will be available/earned when said person comes to the threshold. You have to, at times, be "realistic" about your chances rather than potentially suffer a greater setback if all your chips are thrown in and you still lose.

OP, just continue to work hard & make smart choices.

I'd like to ask you something. I'm choosing my IB diploma courses and can't decide between economics and psychology. Whichever i choose will allow me to credit out the equivalent college course, on that basis is it better to credit out of psychology or economics?

 

[AdamAustin]

Well my dear, i believe it is our liking for any subject, which helps us to take a correct path lead. In your case you already mentioned that you have disliking for biology& likes more chemistry. Under that circumstance it is better for you to chose a career path for yourself, in which you are comfortable with, instead of taking opinion.