PharmD-to-MD

[kendrick lamar]

thank you everybody for starting and contributing to this thread gives me a lot, LOT of hope.
I am a PharmD (straight out of high school, 0-6 program) strongly considering medicine in the future. However, the top thing pulling me away is a my cumulative PharmD GPA of a 3.25. Prior to pharmacy school (2 years undergrad), my cGPA was a 3.5, my science GPA is probably ~3.3-3.4. I started considering medical school during my last year of pharmacy school as I had experience rounding with medical doctors and had really, really enjoyed my experience "shadowing" them (although I was on rotation supposed to do work). I have constantly doubted myself and my ability to go to medical school and am still not sure if I can do it, but after reading some of the success stories here, I realize it is doable if it is ultimately my passion. I am 23 right now and don't think I can actually do it until I'm 26 or 27, but I hope to get a job right now and sustain financially prior to considering medical school.

I believe the key reason for my low GPA was uncertainty in pharmacy school (didn't know if I wanted to do it but got into a good program, unhappy in school with horrible friends, lack of maturity, family illness issues, unable to get a job in a pharmacy during school which has ultimately made it hard to find a job as a graduate now, unsupportive faculty, etc.)

I have always been wanting to do an MPH program (out of my own career interests, not just to get into med school) and would be keen on doing that instead of trying out an SMP. I have been wondering if the MPH, + some undergrad classes (since I never took physics) and a (hopefully) good MCAT score would make my application reasonable (feel free to DM me with advice, if any).

I have lost a lot of hope over the years over many rejections during the course of my undergrad/pharmacy career, but thank you all for giving me some hope and faith

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[Mars41]

Work for a couple or years in pharmacy and see if you enjoy it. If you like it, stick with it. If not, take the MCAT and switch over. You're only 23 and way ahead of the game in my opinion.

After a few years of working in pharmacy, you will be more mature and in a lot better financial situation. You will be 100 % sure you want to be a physician and could even graduate med school with 0 debt if you play your cards right.

My best friend graduated from pharmacy school and is now in med school. The transition was smooth as could be for him.

I'm sure you'll do fine. Pharmd, MD, and debt free by 30. You're gonna go far kid.

 

[metformin3]

Oh man... I'm in exactly the same situation as you, except that my undergrad cGPA (2 years) is 3.55, and my pharmacy cGPA is 2.86... I am now a 4th year pharmacy student doing clinical rotations for the year.

I, too, realized that being a medical doctor is something that I ultimately want to do in the future.

I know i have the intelligence and skills to do it, it's just that I did not have the real motivation to achieve high marks in pharmacy (as my main goal then was to enjoy life and pass school)

Now I'm in a dilemma, where I could work as a pharmacist for a year, get into a MBA school to boost up my marks and apply to a med school.

But I had a question in regards to what marks schools look at in terms of GPA. Would be literally every single course taken at university level? (i.e. 2 undergrad + 4 pharmacy + 1 or 2 MBA)

Thanks.

 

[IL Pre Med]

I went to pharmacy school and am now applying to med school. My pharmacy GPA was 3.9 though. That may hurt you in the long run as people on here have stated doing poorly in a graduate program kills your chance at medical school. Hopefully you can take upper level science classes to raise the undergrad a bit higher.

 

[deleted346323]

Oh man... I'm in exactly the same situation as you, except that my undergrad cGPA (2 years) is 3.55, and my pharmacy cGPA is 2.86... I am now a 4th year pharmacy student doing clinical rotations for the year.

I, too, realized that being a medical doctor is something that I ultimately want to do in the future.

I know i have the intelligence and skills to do it, it's just that I did not have the real motivation to achieve high marks in pharmacy (as my main goal then was to enjoy life and pass school)

Now I'm in a dilemma, where I could work as a pharmacist for a year, get into a MBA school to boost up my marks and apply to a med school.

But I had a question in regards to what marks schools look at in terms of GPA. Would be literally every single course taken at university level? (i.e. 2 undergrad + 4 pharmacy + 1 or 2 MBA)

Thanks.

Yes, every grade is taken into consideration. Undergrad GPA is most important though.

 

[Morsetlis]

...I had experience rounding with medical doctors and had really, really enjoyed my experience "shadowing" them (although I was on rotation supposed to do work).

This is why I try to show Pharm students how to do physical exams and take a history as well as talk about drugs when they shadow me. Of course, they always don't want to (or can't for legal reasons) learn how to start an IV

 

[kendrick lamar]

This is why I try to show Pharm students how to do physical exams and take a history as well as talk about drugs when they shadow me. Of course, they always don't want to (or can't for legal reasons) learn how to start an IV

That's actually really awesome . The attending at my rotation let me listen in with a stethascope for a patient since they had an unusual rhythm.. They're starting to teach the pharmacy students physical exams in the curriculum, though these things are hardly our responsibility in the real world, so it's great that you included that in the learning process .

In any case, I'm starting to reconsider my plans for medical school. I'm not sure if the stress plus cost will be ultimately worth it at the end for me, especially since medical school is becoming highly competitive and I have anxiety that probably may burn me out more easily than I'd like to admit, even though I absolutely loved what I did on my clinical rotation and *thought* I could see myself learning what I did for the rest of my life. In retrospect, I only saw a snapshot of what medical students, interns, and residents do in a full day. I still think I *possibly* may have a chance if I do a SMP later in my life and explain my growth and maturity since graduating from pharmacy school, if I ultimately decide I can't see myself doing anything other than medicine. But for now, I'm looking into working in a government or data analyst/health informatics capacity. Unfortunately, pharmacy is becoming saturated and I've applied to so many jobs without hearing back from any of them.

Any PharmD people have any questions or insight, please feel free to PM me. IL Pre-med, good luck, I have no doubt you will get in with a 3.9 .

 

[kendrick lamar]

Oh man... I'm in exactly the same situation as you, except that my undergrad cGPA (2 years) is 3.55, and my pharmacy cGPA is 2.86... I am now a 4th year pharmacy student doing clinical rotations for the year.

I, too, realized that being a medical doctor is something that I ultimately want to do in the future.

I know i have the intelligence and skills to do it, it's just that I did not have the real motivation to achieve high marks in pharmacy (as my main goal then was to enjoy life and pass school)

Now I'm in a dilemma, where I could work as a pharmacist for a year, get into a MBA school to boost up my marks and apply to a med school.

But I had a question in regards to what marks schools look at in terms of GPA. Would be literally every single course taken at university level? (i.e. 2 undergrad + 4 pharmacy + 1 or 2 MBA)

Thanks.

Your undergrad GPA would be considered over pharmacy school, but your pharmD GPA still counts. You would have to take more classes to prove that you are capable.
Are you doing a PharmD/MBA combined? Why are you considering MBA? Just curious, bc that won't boost your marks for med school. MBA are all non-science, business related classes. I think your best bet if you really want to do medical is do a special masters program, get good grades and explain your low pharmD GPA. SMP schools are also good because some of the professors there can be an excellent resource to write you LOR.
In any case, an MBA degree these days is not rly helpful without relevant experience. If you want to do an MBA as a backup, you could consider doing it after working a few years in pharmacy (if you decide not to do medicine) and then use it to move up in the corporate world or in a health company administrative capacity.
Feel free to PM me if you have more questions. Best of luck!

 

[PharMed2016]

thank you everybody for starting and contributing to this thread gives me a lot, LOT of hope.
I am a PharmD (straight out of high school, 0-6 program) strongly considering medicine in the future. However, the top thing pulling me away is a my cumulative PharmD GPA of a 3.25. Prior to pharmacy school (2 years undergrad), my cGPA was a 3.5, my science GPA is probably ~3.3-3.4. I started considering medical school during my last year of pharmacy school as I had experience rounding with medical doctors and had really, really enjoyed my experience "shadowing" them (although I was on rotation supposed to do work). I have constantly doubted myself and my ability to go to medical school and am still not sure if I can do it, but after reading some of the success stories here, I realize it is doable if it is ultimately my passion. I am 23 right now and don't think I can actually do it until I'm 26 or 27, but I hope to get a job right now and sustain financially prior to considering medical school.

I believe the key reason for my low GPA was uncertainty in pharmacy school (didn't know if I wanted to do it but got into a good program, unhappy in school with horrible friends, lack of maturity, family illness issues, unable to get a job in a pharmacy during school which has ultimately made it hard to find a job as a graduate now, unsupportive faculty, etc.)

I have always been wanting to do an MPH program (out of my own career interests, not just to get into med school) and would be keen on doing that instead of trying out an SMP. I have been wondering if the MPH, + some undergrad classes (since I never took physics) and a (hopefully) good MCAT score would make my application reasonable (feel free to DM me with advice, if any).

I have lost a lot of hope over the years over many rejections during the course of my undergrad/pharmacy career, but thank you all for giving me some hope and faith

Make sure that medical school is something that you really want to do after pharmacy school. In terms of financial rewards, there isn't a whole lot of difference given the additional time investment and increased liability. It's the personal and intellectual rewards that drive many individuals including myself. However, I would be lying to say that I didn't have second thoughts about the path that I had taken especially this year as I see a lot of my friends becoming established in their professional lives and enjoying their personal lives.

 

[PositiveThoughts]

Oh man... I'm in exactly the same situation as you, except that my undergrad cGPA (2 years) is 3.55, and my pharmacy cGPA is 2.86... I am now a 4th year pharmacy student doing clinical rotations for the year.

I, too, realized that being a medical doctor is something that I ultimately want to do in the future.

I know i have the intelligence and skills to do it, it's just that I did not have the real motivation to achieve high marks in pharmacy (as my main goal then was to enjoy life and pass school)

Now I'm in a dilemma, where I could work as a pharmacist for a year, get into a MBA school to boost up my marks and apply to a med school.

But I had a question in regards to what marks schools look at in terms of GPA. Would be literally every single course taken at university level? (i.e. 2 undergrad + 4 pharmacy + 1 or 2 MBA)

Thanks.

I'm literally in the same situation as you.. 3.7ish uGPA (2 years)... 2.9 gGPA in pharmacy (4 years). Any updates???

 

[KoolKeith]

I'm literally in the same situation as you.. 3.7ish uGPA (2 years)... 2.9 gGPA in pharmacy (4 years). Any updates???

Just wanted to give you guys a perspective from a pharmacist applying with a high uGPA and lower pharm GPA. I'm applying this cycle and have done ok with MD programs so far, not so great with DO schools. I had 3.95 uGPA and 3.2 pharmacy school GPA. I think a lot of people, some adcoms included, don't realize the killer curves in some pharmacy schools. I think it's pretty reasonable to get B's while taking 6 upper level science classes, doing research and competing for grades on a strict bell curve against kids that were largely near the top of their classes at good undergrad schools. I would expect the quality of students at a top pharmacy school to be at least as good as those at DO, and lower or mid-tier MD schools. People have an expectation for those going to "grad school" to get all A's but that was not my experience at all. Moral of the story is: I think you guys will be just fine if you apply broadly.

 

[PositiveThoughts]

Just wanted to give you guys a perspective from a pharmacist applying with a high uGPA and lower pharm GPA. I'm applying this cycle and have done ok with MD programs so far, not so great with DO schools. I had 3.95 uGPA and 3.2 pharmacy school GPA. I think a lot of people, some adcoms included, don't realize the killer curves in some pharmacy schools. I think it's pretty reasonable to get B's while taking 6 upper level science classes, doing research and competing for grades on a strict bell curve against kids that were largely near the top of their classes at good undergrad schools. I would expect the quality of students at a top pharmacy school to be at least as good as those at DO, and lower or mid-tier MD schools. People have an expectation for those going to "grad school" to get all A's but that was not my experience at all. Moral of the story is: I think you guys will be just fine if you apply broadly.

Hey, thanks for your input. Just wanted to double-check, have you finished your bachelor's prior to applying to med school? If you simply hold the PharmD, it's my understanding that AMCAS will consider your first 1,2 years of pharmacy school and clump it in to uGPA. Whereas for AMCOMAS, they include all the courses. Am i correct?

Thanks.

 

[KoolKeith]

Hey, thanks for your input. Just wanted to double-check, have you finished your bachelor's prior to applying to med school? If you simply hold the PharmD, it's my understanding that AMCAS will consider your first 1,2 years of pharmacy school and clump it in to uGPA. Whereas for AMCOMAS, they include all the courses. Am i correct?

Thanks.

I finished my BS before pharmacy so I think they consider them separately. My uGPA and gpa were pretty much the same on amcas and aacomas.