A few questions...

[20YearsOfSnow]

Hi! I've been lurking here at SDN for months, but only recently created an account.

After doing research into various health professions (most specifically medicine and pharmacy), I am very certain that I wish to earn my PharmD after I finish up my bachelor's at Case Western. I'm working towards a BS in biology and a BA in psychology, and I just finished my freshman year. Pharmacy really seems to fit my interests, much more so than medicine.

With that being said, I do have a few questions. I really hope I'm not beating a dead horse here, and if I am, I apologize.


I've been reading over the course requirements for the colleges that I'm interested in, and I've noticed that for several schools, they require Anatomy & Physiology with lab (for 8 credits total). However, Case doesn't offer lab sections for these courses, which are 3 credits each. Anatomy is designed to have a lab built in, but it hasn't been implemented in recent years due to the unavailability of cadavers. Physiology doesn't have any sort of lab portion.

Would pharm schools expect me to find another school to take these requirements at? This seems unreasonable especially since it will be especially difficult to find a school offering these labs over the summer. Cross-registering at CSU isn't a feasible option for me because I don't have a car, which leaves me to rely on public transportation to a less-than-stellar part of town, at night by myself. In addition, we can only cross-register for one class a semester, and the lab & lecture are two separate classes and corequisites.

Is this one of those "suck it up and find a way" situations? If it helps at all, I've been looking at schools such as UMich, UCSF, USC, UCSD, UHawai'i-Hilo, UNC, etc. I'm waiting to finish my BS/BA before attending so obviously I still have two years before I need to really narrow down my list.


My next concern is regarding extracurriculars. I'm on the varsity swim team here, which eats up a ton of my time (9+ practices a week, and meets generally are an all-day or multiple-day ordeal due to travel). This on top of a demanding course load unfortunately makes it difficult to hold down a part-time job during the school year.

I did my best to find a pharm tech position here at home over the summer, but unfortunately nobody wants to hire someone who'll be leaving in three months (especially in Michigan's economy). I'll be staying in Cleveland next summer, but I feel like that might be too late to start.

Any suggestions for earning some long-term pharmacy-related experience over the school year without overwhelming myself? The University Hospital complex is right on campus, should I try to find a volunteer position for a couple of hours a week? Obviously shadowing is an option that I hope to exercise this summer but I'm hoping for something more substantial.


Thanks for any help you can give me! Hope I'm not too much of a bother.

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[fenixtnlfan]

Wow that was a long post! lol. Yes, unfortunately you are going to have to find a way to take the lab. There might be some schools out there that don't require a lab, but that is for you to research. For experience, definitely do volunteering and shadowing. I only volunteered and got accepted.

 

[Drug Doc]

unfortunately these pharm schools do expect us to bend over backwards for them...bastards! i would recommend looking into community colleges for those prereqs your school doesn't have. cc's are always much easier to enroll in, cheaper, and typically there are always many community colleges available within a city. as for pharm experience, i highly recommend getting some of that under your belt before you apply. since your schedule is super busy try to get whatever volunteer hrs you can, even if its just like 2 hrs per week. yeah u might not get too much out of it but in the long run pharm schools will at least see that you tried to get experience and also maybe you could use that experience as a way to get a job over the summer as a clerk or tech or somthin. best of luck

 

[RxWildcat]

You should contact the schools you are interested in and ask them specifically what will fulfill their pre-reqs. Like the others said, even though it may not be offered at your current college you are likely still going to have to find a course and take it somewhere else. The swim team would be a great EC to put on there, I think that most adcoms are looking at ECs to see what else you do and how well-rounded you are. I would try to get as much pharmacy experience as you can, so if you can't find a job then I would definitely recommend volunteering like you mentioned.