change to pharmD?

frikarika said:

First off, let me tell you a little bit about my self, I'm a 21yr old senior majoring in medicinal chemistry at a Midwestern university. For the past couple years I've been preparing to apply to medical school, I've done a lot of medical research, volunteering, leadership, high GPA, taken the MCAT, ect. But, recently I have been wondering whether medicine is exactly the field I want to go into for one big reason, quality of life. I want to be able to work, but I also want to be able to have fun. I would like to travel, have a family, go fishing, play golf, and be financially stable for the rest of my life. I was interested in pharmacy before I became fixated on becoming an MD, but then I thought pharmacy would be too boring, just counting pills all day. But the more I talk to residents & medical students, the less attracted I am to medicine, the tremendous STRESS, 80hr work weeks, complete lack of a social life.
Anyway, so I am thinking about taking the PCAT and applying to a pharmD program. I checked out the pharm FAQ, but I think it leaves some gaps in my understanding of the career.
Can some of you shed some light on the pharmacy career for me? What is Pharm School like, did you enjoy it? Are you happy with your career choice? What are the pros/cons?

Thanks in advance

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It's not just counting the pills - we also lick and stick the label on the bottle

I know you've tried to look for answers here & I'd encourage you do do an advance search - use the key words - pharmacy pros cons....

Many of us could go on and on and on about what we like & don't like & have at many times...many of us have detailed it on other threads.

But - its hard to keep doing it. There are times I dislike my job(s), but most times I love it.

But....what will make me happy or someone else happy won't necessarily be what will make you happy.

Also - you've already discovered the job won't necessarily make your life fulfilled or successful. It is only one part of your life and you've already discovered the negatives of medicine. There are similar, but different negatives with pharmacy as well. Altho....each profession has those, who like me, wouldn't do anything different if given the choice.

I'd advise you to try to meet & see what actual pharmacists do in a variety of settings. Call up a pharmacy director & see if you can shadow a hospital pharmacist for a day or two. Do the same with an independent retail pharmacist (the chains will blow you off probably). Call up a compounding pharmacist & do the same.

As for enjoying pharmacy school - that is fleeting! I loved my years, but they were 30 years ago. The most difficult part of my education has been not just getting it, but keeping up with it!

You can pm me if you want. I'm a pharmacist & have been for a long time. I'm married to a dentist & my daughter is in med school. We all have different mindsets & what motivates & stimulates us professionally & mentally. I do believe there are different personalities which are drawn to each.

Best of luck! I know its not an easy decision, but you're very young. You have time to make a considered decision.

frikarika said:

mmhmmm.....thanks for your enlightening reply. Is it impossible to elicit any serious response from this forum?

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Please.....try to be patient!!!!!

You posted this just a few hours ago.....I've worked 14 hours today - give us all a break! You'd get more thoughtful answers if you'd give those of us who are actually working some time to give you a thoughtful answer.

Moving to pre-pharmacy with the other admissions/career decision threads.

Here's my 2 cents. I've posted a fair amount on the switch from medicine to pharmacy so look up my previous posts for more of my insights if you wish.

I'm 28, just got accepted into pharm school beginning fall of 2007, but previous to that completed my MD and 1.5 yrs of family medicine residency. I have been a stay at home dad for a year now while figuring out my the direction I want to go in while my wife continues in the same FM residency and will finish next year.

I don't give advice to others, only my perspective. Everyone needs to figure out what's right for them. For me, I too was a high achieving undergrad, enjoyed sciences, and figured a life in medicine was for me. In retrospect, I didn't know enough about what a medical career would entail or what life after college really would turn out to be about. But also I think it is nearly impossible to have those insights at 21 or 22 yrs old.

What I have learned is that within health professions such as medicine and pharmacy, there is a wide variety of job types. I knew very little about pharmacy before my medical training and now see that there are some roles that involve a fair amount of medical cognitive reasoning and are a bit more technical (or hard science based) than doctor's work. This in a nutshell is the reason for my switch. Flexibility of pharmacy jobs, and no call are lifestyle bonuses to pharmacy as well. What I didn't like about medicine was the constant uncertainty of patient diagnosis and to be quite frank, how important patient's stories or concerns were in reaching a diagnosis and impacting the type of care they received. This is what I mean by having a greater interest in a hard science or more technically based job in health care.

It was a huge decision with financial, social and familial repercussions but so far, it seems to be the right one for me.

As for medical school/residency, you're looking at 7-10 years of training which at times can be very grueling. You also get little control of your schedule during that time, and once you're in a couple of years, it can be very financially difficult to leave. Having a social life and free time depends on your dispostion and priorities. Different med students/residents give different accounts of how impacted their life outside work is. My opinion is that it can be significantly harder on married folk (especially with kids) than singles. Med school requires time of intense studying where other parts of your life take a back seat, but there are also large chucks of time off (1-2 months at a time) which some people travel during. Years 3-4 of med school and all of residency requires significant working hours including more than half of your weekends. If there is a family emergency, a wedding, a planned for trip upcoming, time off for that is usually not a problem. But last minute plans, a weekend away, softball leagues, Saturdays out with buddies etc. are difficult to do on a whim oftentimes.

Different medical specialties have different workloads during residency. The trend these days is that those with easier workloads during and after residency and higher pay are more competitive (ie radiology, dermatology). Once residency is complete, you can have more say over your lifestyle depending on what type of practice you join. Many docs now work part time. Some specialties have no call (i.e. emergency medicine is shift work).

The best thing to do is to try to find people in either profession who will give you a straight answer. Follow them in their work. Also, if you can, seek out pharm or med students or residents to follow them for a day. They will tell you what it's really like. I'm sure most school's adminstrations could help you find a student or resident to follow.

All that being said, pursuing a graduate level degreee in medicine or pharmacy because you didn't like the alternative field as much may not be fulfilling at the end of the day. I moved toward pharmacy because of many aspects of it that I like. Those interests are what will drive me to work hard each day, and put up with the negatives of my career. In short, experience has taught me that chasing dreams and pursuing my interests is what is fulfilling, not opting for a path purely because of prestige, money, others' expectations, etc.

Hope this helps!

Well, I have found my calling and there is no going back this time. I have been contemplating a pharmacy vs a medical career for some time now. I am a nontraditional student and the stress of choosing a career was beginning to choke me. I mean, one week I'm excited about pharmacy and another week I want to be a physician. Fortunately, I still had time to make a decision (see my previous posts on this matter). On the SDN medicine, I read some candid replies about med students, far in their studies, who simply would not do it again. I'm sure the same can apply to pharmacy school, but there is no telling that one can have a very comfortable lifestyle and still make a great living with much less stress. The one field of pharmacy that really interests me is clinical pharmacy (or perhaps it's called hospital pharmacy). Just last night, I just could not sleep as I was so relieved I had finally made up my mind and geez does it feel good. There's a reason the prerequesites are the same for med school. It is equally challenging. At 28, I'll hope to enter pharmacy school at 29; in fact, it most likely will happen (I'm preparing for the June PCAT exam already). I can only say to the OP that it can be very stressful to choose between the two. I hear some people say to shadow someone but this is just not so easy to do. Unless you know someone that may grant you permission to, I just don't see how easy it is to shadow (of course it has been done). In addition, just following someone around, you can hardly be learning much.
I went in some retail pharmacies and observed the pharmacists, although they get paid very well, I am not interested in that area of pharmacy (I may end up there, who knows). I really like what pharmacists do, unfortunately there are just very few who seem to radiate any excitement whatsoever for what they do. (perhaps the older ones, I don't know why) I intend to do a residency in internal medicine for pharmacists. I hope you find your way!

I'M SOO EXCITED!!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=195799

DOPharmMD, we share similar perspectives on the profession (except that exciting people are rare no matter what the environment); I wish you the best of luck.

If you ever have any questions regarding pharmacy school or some aspects of the profession feel free to PM / or aim me : turnthepage200 .

I'm a P2, cheers.

Hey guys, like frikarika I'm also contemplating pharmacy. I'm currently a DO student first year and have begun to question whether medicine is for me (see my previous post). I just want to say i'm very glad to have stumbled upon responses from SobeGekko and DOPharmMD. I'm contemplating pharmacy for the exact very same reasons SobeGekko had. Just want to say thanks again for your 2 cents...I'm beginning to have a clearer sense of what I want to do with my career.

frikarika, from hindsight i really recommend talking to med students (perhaps sitting in their classes and follow them throughout the day to see what their daily life is like) and doctors as well to get a better idea of medicine, as well as with pharmacy (I need to do the latter myself). I wish you luck with your decision!

I've only been in pharmacy school for a semester and I've yet to be taught how to count (maybe that comes later?). We've spent a lot of time on patient counseling - what questions does one ask patients seeking to self-treat. What conditions preclude self-treatment and why? We've covered OTC products extensively (which was more involved than I thought). We've covered a lot of basic sciences and learned a little about the healthcare system. We talk about "patients" not "customers".

In the second semester we're covering physiology - system by system. We're starting to talk about medicinal chemistry. We're learning about parenterals and doing dosage/compounding calculations. We're being sent out to teach nutrition to elementary school kids (it's not as dumb as it sounds). I've yet to count a pill at school (although I counted some jellybeans once as a demonstration of issues preventing medication adherence). I know counting is part of the profession, but not if one wants to move in another direction. But even the "pill-counters" have real knowledge about medications and genuine concern for patients.

Every pharmacy school approaches teaching from a different direction so most people in this forum will have different experiences.

The MD students in their second semester at CU are doing physiology and biochemistry all day, everyday. There's a little bit of exposure to "doctoring", but I feel like my PharmD education is much more varied and preparatory at this point. We'll probably catch up with each other in terms of practical education at some point in our 3rd or 4th years.

I'm not dis-ing the MD students at all - the process and focus are just on different things.

I'm happy with my decision. I feel like pharmacy is, so far, very suited to my academic strengths and personal qualities. Good luck in your decision.