PharmD student Interested in DO medicine

[Digsbe]

I am currently a P1 pharmacy student. I do have a passion for pharmacology and my initial goal was to earn my Pharm.D. and to a 2 year residency to specialize as a clinical pharmacist. I am finding more so that I really want more patient interaction. In pharmacy school we learn about various diseases and mainly focus on the medications that treat them and how they work/how they can be safely administered. I am finding that I would rather diagnose those diseases and provide the treatment for them. Cancer is a disease that I am passionate about and I have debated in pharmacy school if I want to do a PGY-2 in oncology or in internal medicine after graduation. I am looking into medical schools and osteopathic schools and plan to shadow both physician types as well as an oncologist. My question is this, if I chose to apply to DO school, get accepted and then graduate what are the prospects for a DO graduate being able to get a residency in oncology and work as an oncologist? Right now I am exploring my options and I'm hoping to gain some feedback. There are certain aspects of the DO training that I really like such as a more holistic approach to medicine. I genuinely did begin pharmacy school with the full intent of becoming a clinical pharmacist, but as I get into more patient care roles and learn more about diseases and pathophysiology I am really wanting to become a physician. I've also become more aware of the fact that a clinical pharmacists scope of practice and patient care duties very by hospital. Some only have you do dosing and chart review while others have you actively rounding and sitting on treatment meetings providing valued incite. I would hate to only review charts or be stuck working in retail for the rest of my life and I feel that medicine would be a better fit for me given my goals and changes in what I really want to do (of course I am going to shadow before making any major decisions and try to get as much info as possible, which is why I'm posting here). As far as applying goes, do you think having a year of pharmacy school under my belt with a (hopefully) 3.5+ GPA would help me get into a DO school or do you think it will hinder me due to adcoms thinking that I am not genuine in my decision making? Any advice would be much appreciated.

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[DrBowtie]

I'd think very hard if the increase in patient contact is worth the 10 years of school/training to become an oncologist.

Edit: Saw you're a P1, so it would be 4 years difference.

 

[Digsbe]

I'd think very hard if the increase in patient contact is worth the 10 years of school/training to become an oncologist.

Edit: Saw you're a P1, so it would be 4 years difference.

I'm not to worried about the time involved since I've only been in school for a year. I would continue on with the PharmD program if I did not get accepted for the 2014 entering cycle (meaning I am 2 years of pharmacy school in) so only 2 years would be added to the traditional oncologist route. Would going to a DO school allow me to have residency opportunities in oncology and do you think being in a PharmD program would hurt my acceptance chances even if I shadow and list a clear motive to be a DO in my personal statement?