Advice for Students: PharmD, MD, PharmD vs. MD

I'm a freshman undergraduate student in a six-year PharmD program. Here is some general advice for those contemplating on pharmacy or medicine but have not decided yet.

I'm sure many of you are in high school, so here is a head's up: high school, to be honest, isn't the best indicator of what you want to be in the future. Although I spent many years in high school listing my future career pathways, I am here today in college more undecided than ever before. High school's primary purpose in our education system is to prepare you for the fast-pace of college and learning skills you will need to succeed. As far as what I have experienced, in college, I am so far receiving no homework. Sounds pretty chill, right? Well, I can't believe I am saying this now, but I actually miss having homework. In college you discipline yourself: You will read your textbooks at your own discretion. You will go to lectures and can't guarantee yourself to have an amazing professor, even if you go to a good school. I used to like raising my hand in class and participating because it kept me awake and helped me learn, but in a class with almost 200 kids, that is not always possible. I am not trying to demean any of you. I am sure that many of you are very intelligent people and can make it through. But don't assume that high school is the arena to start your career preparation: because college requires a different learning experience that branches off what you've acquired in high school, your passions will most likely unfold in your first couple of years in college.

With that said, some of you may be looking forward to getting into 6-year PharmD programs or MD programs or pre-pharmacy/pre-medicine pathways. The advantages of these programs are:

• Shortened time
• Direct pathway to what you want to do (as in, no worries about entrance exams, future applications, etc.)

Are there disadvantages? A few, yes. But don't go .

• Pressure to stay in the program, even if you feel like you aren't decided: What I mean by this is that, say you got into the program but feel like you might want to switch. At the same time, your mind is telling you that if you leave your current program, chances are you may not get back in. Like I said, college is the eye-opener for what you want to be in the future, and sometimes deciding too early may put you in an undecided situation-not what you were hoping to get out of a shortened program.
• Narrowed choices: Usually MD programs provide you a BA/MD or BS/MD, so you might have a chance to major in something liberal-arts related. But 6-year PharmD programs will only grant you a PharmD: there is no BA/BS involved. That is not to say that in pharmacy, you don't get a chance to see what else is out there: you get a few electives here and there. However, if you're interested in doing something liberal-artsy on the side, the PharmD program doesn't include it for you. However PharmD programs do come in some joint programs, ie: pharmD/MBA, etc., but many of those degrees are post-graduate.

Bottom line: Shortened programs may be great if you are absolutely-positively certain about your goals, but, as one of my friends said "going ahead isn't always great because eventually everybody will be at the same pace". If you feel like you need legroom in deciding-relax! Applying to MD or PharmD after four years of college isn't a "waste-of-time": it is more valuable to be thoroughly decided than to be half-decided.

Unsure about PharmD or MD? Want to know the differences?

Pharmacy and medicine are completely different career pathways that share common core knowledge to satisfy relatively the same purposes. Some people do the "pharmD" or "MD" pick and choose, however, it doesn't work on an "either-or" situation.

Pharmacy is the study of synthetic compounds and their affects on the human body. In other words, you get to learn what makes Tylenol relieve your headaches and obviously, much more beyond that. In addition, you may ask yourself, what kind of effect will Tylenol have if somebody consumes too much? Pharmacy is about medication, dosage, and its effects on the body.

Because most of pharmacy is a study of synthetic compounds, you will have to know loads and loads of chemistry and biochemistry.

Pharmacy is both a clinical practice and a research-oriented practice. In clinical pharmacies, you not only dispense medication, but inform patients about the effects when they ask you and can also help monitor patients' dosage. Some people in pharmacy complete residencies in order to specialize in a certain area of pharmacy so that they have more information when speaking to patients about medication. Pharmacists sometimes are also a part of disease-management teams.

Medicine, on the other hand, is more about what goes on in the human body and obviously, much more. If you wonder about how the brain works and what dysfunctions causes the brain to work abnormally, then perhaps you may find yourself thinking about something along the lines of medicine. Medicine deals with the natural structure and function of the human body. In medicine, you officially diagnose problems to patients, educate them and monitor their conditions. If you find yourself to be more of a biology and anatomy loving person, medicine may be your niche. In clinical medical practices, you MUST be a people's person: your job NEEDS you to continuously talk to patients and help them understand what's wrong. In medicine, you are both the student and the teacher of your patients: you will first learn from your patients' problems, analyze the issue, and explain to them what exactly is wrong and take preventative measures against it.

Reasons to not choose in between pharmacy or medicine!

You might have noticed that in all this time, I didn't mention the pay, education, or hours of either a pharmacist or a physician. Why? Because that is not the reason why you should choose your career. I have many friends who initially wanted to become doctors, but chose pharmacy over medicine because most pharmacy programs will get you a PharmD in six years, as opposed to most medicine programs, which take 7-8 years, plus internships/residencies. That is not the reason why any of you should pick a career. A career is reflective of your passions and how you implement those passions to benefit society. If you dream it, you can DEFINITELY do it. All it needs is a passionate objective.

As high schoolers, many of you may not be able to see that. That's why when people initially start with a major in college, they find themselves switching several times before making the right decision. In college, your mindset will mature because you will realize why you want to do what you want to do.

Many of the kids in my pharmacy program are in because the money turned them on. Err...mate! Don't let money be your decision-maker. Regardless of what career you have, in the end, everybody will make money. But what matters most in a career is what you have experienced personally that will make your impact in that field significant. I know of some people who want to be doctors because they personally have felt the pain of having a shortage-of-doctors when they were in the army. Having this closeness to what you want to do will not only make you happy about what you are doing, but will help you excel in it and automatically generate rewards for you.

Have any more questions? Don't hesitate to ask me! E-mail me at [email protected] if you want to know more. Even if you don't have a question and are in need of some motivation, I'll be glad to give it my best shot.

Sincerely,
Your neighborhood friendly college student
-Samia Bagel (that's not my real last name, but you know, Lemony Snicket's real name isn't Lemony Snicket).

MilkmanAl said:

I agree with most of what you said, and you've provided some extremely useful information. This quote, however, I take exception to. Going into a profession without knowing what sort of lifestyle it entails is extremely unwise. If you want a family or just plain don't want to spend 7+ years getting the **** kicked out of you physically and emotionally before you're even qualified to have a job, pharmacy is definitely a much less rocky and tortuous path. Yeah, enjoying what you do professionally definitely helps, but if you can pick something that you enjoy a little bit less that also allows you to live the personal life you want, there's no question which you should go for.

It'd be excellent if everyone could do everything he/she wanted in life, but that's just not the case. Love neurosurgery? Well, you're going to be working 80+ hours a week for the rest of your life. Pharmacy, on the other hand, guarantees a very nice salary and a set schedule. All the "love what you do" idealism sounds great until you try to put it into practice.

Ehhh...this strikes me as more idealism. You don't need to have some revelatory experience in a field related your profession of choice to enjoy or pursue that profession and be good at it. Contrary to what most personal statements would lead you to believe, the vast majority of people don't have a moment of clarity where they say, "Hey, I'm going to be a pharmacist/doctor!"

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Hi MilkmanAl, thanks for the reply.

That's true. You would need to have some knowledge of what it takes to get to where you want to be, but I don't think that should be the ultimate-decision maker. Upon the entrance of pharmacy school, I found the study of medication and the clinical practices of pharmacy unappealing to me, so I'm not certain if I will pursue pharmacy. I don't think I could manage to pursue something I would enjoy "less"-I mean, it comes down to whether I enjoy it or not, period Healthcare doesn't have to be a clearcut option for everybody--in fact, many of my family members initially were pursuing medicine but then decided to do something like economics, anthropology, accounting and finance because they found that very appealing. They might as well have chosen pharmacy because pharmacy is closer to medicine than economics and whatnot and it would provide them with a more secure job with a good pay and time for leisure and family, but they instead found their passion in totally different fields. Everybody is a different person, so one formula cannot apply for everybody...which is something I might add to my post, just because I've given my advice based on my experience, a story doesn't end there.

I don't think there should be a battle though between MD and pharmD. They're alike in many ways but completely different fields, so I don't think people should list a pharmD or MD as an "alternative" unless they like the study in one field more than the other field. It's just like how my cousins chose in between medicine and economics--not the same at all but they found one of their clearcut passions in one.

Of course nobody has to have a personal story attached to why they want to be who they want to be, but there evidently needs to be some reason why they want to do what they want to do and it shouldn't be just limited to "living a good life".

I don't mean to argue, but I think too many people make decisions upon entering a field in healthcare without thinking about what the study of the field entails, and with that, I think many people are just interested in to go to college to solely get a degree and get out to live a life. There is more to that than having a career.

CScull said:

I don't think that pay is really relevent, because either way (pharmacist or physican) you're going to be able to afford a comfortable life. Hours are kind of important though... for those of us considering having munchkins someday that is. haha.

Thanks so much for the info! Quick question, what are the difference in courses like Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry?

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I haven't taken either of the courses yet, but have you taken chemistry? Orgo deals with hydrocarbons and stuff--I've heard over and over again that it's a difficult class, but don't let that bring you down. I think biochemistry is more oriented towards biological topics and the chemical aspects involved in it. I know I'm saying this in layman terms but afterall, I am a layman kinda person. Oh wells.

True that! Hours will matter, but you cannot guarantee yourself great hours by picking one field or the other. In medicine, it depends on your specialty. One of my dad's cousin, a pharmacist, seems to be enjoying her kids, but so are my two other cousins, who are both physicians. My aunt, on the other hand, who works in finance, works way too many hours that she burns herself out. I don't think she likes her job at all; she actually tells me she wishes she were a physician. It all boils down to what you are looking forward to doing.

Many things in life won't come easy. In my life itself, I've undergone many hardships, but once you come out of them and learn the art of turning the negative into the positive, your life will be changed. People can only give you advice to a point, but you are your ultimate advice giver.