4th year Pharmacy student wants become a physician

[ziizi]

Hello everyone,

I had to make my own thread because I couldn't really find anyone in the same boat as me. So I'll be writing a lot. Please bear with me since I am in such a difficult situation and need to decide ASAP.

I am currently a 4th year student at a well-known Pharmacy School (6 year program) and I want to become a physician instead of a pharmacist because I realized my final goal is to go to poor countries to help patients in need. Becoming a pharmacist wouldn't really help realize that goal because I don't really get to learn how to diagnose patients. So I really want to become a physician.

Here are some problems:

I got held back one year due to bad grades so it would eventually take me three and half more years to get my PharmD. So I thought about just transferring to finish my degree in Biology or a pre-med major since I don't have a bachelor's degree to even apply to post-bacc program. I am pretty sure I finished either all or most of the pre-requisites for medical schools so I'll be taking required courses just to graduate with a major. THE ISSUE is that my GPA is really bad. I'm not really sure how to calculate my science GPA but my cumulative GPA is around 2.9 rn and there is no upward trend from freshman year until now. Even if I transfer to another school, my pre-requisite course grades would still be not good so I'm not sure what I can graduate with. Hoping that I can get like 3.8+ at my post-bacc program and a good score in MCAT, maybe I'll get into a low ranked MD or OD school? OR I'll be desperate af and go to a Carribean medical school lol. The reason why I never cared too much about grades was because I knew I wanted to get into the pharmaceutical industry (doesn't require high GPA, they just need to see your PharmD) so I was fine with passing my classes. Now that I want to become a physician, this has become a huge issue for me.

SO after reading this what do you think?

To summarize:

I am 22 years old btw

Options 1: Three and half more year to finish PharmD. One or two years to finish Post-bacc (Idk if I can apply after only having PharmD). Four years to finish Medical School. Couple years in Residency. That's at least 10+ more years to become a physician. However, I am thinking about this option only because PharmD may serve as an advantage for me (purely my assumption) even if I don't graduate with a good GPA.

Option 2: Transfer to another school to graduate with a Biology or another science major (Idk how long this would take but I am assuming at least two years because most of my classes starting from third year was pharmacy specific which is non-transferable for a Biology degree). One or two years to finish Post-bacc. Four years to finish Medical School. Couple years in Residency. So this route does seem shorter, but my only concern is that I'm afraid I would not get very high GPA after I withdraw from the Pharmacy school and I would end up with a Biology degree only.

I really appreciate your time if you actually read the whole thing up to this point. Please give me your advice that would actually help me. I am very desperate. Thank you everyone!

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[ForgotUserName]

If I were in your shoes I would probably try to finish the PharmD then pursue medical school. I think it would be viewed more positively that you completed the degree before changing gears. Who knows, during this time you may find that the PharmD may provide you with the charitale contributions that you're seeking - I know of pharmacists that are able to participate in mission trips. My concern with you ditching the PharmD and applying straight to medical school would be the admission committee questioning your committment. You're still really young so you have that working for you.

 

[Goro]

Hello everyone,

I had to make my own thread because I couldn't really find anyone in the same boat as me. So I'll be writing a lot. Please bear with me since I am in such a difficult situation and need to decide ASAP.

I am currently a 4th year student at a well-known Pharmacy School (6 year program) and I want to become a physician instead of a pharmacist because I realized my final goal is to go to poor countries to help patients in need. Becoming a pharmacist wouldn't really help realize that goal because I don't really get to learn how to diagnose patients. So I really want to become a physician.

Here are some problems:

I got held back one year due to bad grades so it would eventually take me three and half more years to get my PharmD. So I thought about just transferring to finish my degree in Biology or a pre-med major since I don't have a bachelor's degree to even apply to post-bacc program. I am pretty sure I finished either all or most of the pre-requisites for medical schools so I'll be taking required courses just to graduate with a major. THE ISSUE is that my GPA is really bad. I'm not really sure how to calculate my science GPA but my cumulative GPA is around 2.9 rn and there is no upward trend from freshman year until now. Even if I transfer to another school, my pre-requisite course grades would still be not good so I'm not sure what I can graduate with. Hoping that I can get like 3.8+ at my post-bacc program and a good score in MCAT, maybe I'll get into a low ranked MD or OD school? OR I'll be desperate af and go to a Carribean medical school lol. The reason why I never cared too much about grades was because I knew I wanted to get into the pharmaceutical industry (doesn't require high GPA, they just need to see your PharmD) so I was fine with passing my classes. Now that I want to become a physician, this has become a huge issue for me.

SO after reading this what do you think?

To summarize:

I am 22 years old btw

Options 1: Three and half more year to finish PharmD. One or two years to finish Post-bacc (Idk if I can apply after only having PharmD). Four years to finish Medical School. Couple years in Residency. That's at least 10+ more years to become a physician. However, I am thinking about this option only because PharmD may serve as an advantage for me (purely my assumption) even if I don't graduate with a good GPA.

Option 2: Transfer to another school to graduate with a Biology or another science major (Idk how long this would take but I am assuming at least two years because most of my classes starting from third year was pharmacy specific which is non-transferable for a Biology degree). One or two years to finish Post-bacc. Four years to finish Medical School. Couple years in Residency. So this route does seem shorter, but my only concern is that I'm afraid I would not get very high GPA after I withdraw from the Pharmacy school and I would end up with a Biology degree only.

I really appreciate your time if you actually read the whole thing up to this point. Please give me your advice that would actually help me. I am very desperate. Thank you everyone!

1) Finish the PharmD
2) Work and save up money for an SMP
3) Ace SMP
4) Ace MCAT
5) Apply to med school

While I find you motivations to go help people overseas to be laudable, there are many other venues in which you can accomplish this without having to go to med school. Go work with an NGO, join the Peace Corps, for example.

No med school would do you any favors in accepting you right now. You are at a major risk for failing out. The Carib school are salivating at the though of you though. Their business plan depends upon desperate, uninformed underachievers like you. Do a search in these fora on the subject to find out why the carib route a really, really bad idea.

Ad it's DO school, not OD...those are optometrists.

 

[SpartanDOnoharm]

Finish the Pharm.D. If you don’t and don’t get into medical school what would you do then? Another hint to consider is you might end up finding a field of pharmacy that you really like.

One of the huge things for working overseas with limited resources is knowing medications inside and out. I get many questions from physicians and nurses working overseas about antibiotics and what treats what especially when they only have one or two antibiotics. A pharmacist can be a huge asset in these situations.