Advice for current situation

[PillsburyDoughboy]

Hi all, I wanted to get some advice on my situation. I enrolled in a good pharmacy school on the east coast in fall 2010 with a pre-pharmacy curriculum (no b.s. degree at that point). My first year went well and I made good grades in all my classes. Between the first and second year I had something weird happen to my vision. It wasn't blurry but was uncomfortable and made studying a chore. I tried to figure it out with eye doctors but no one figured it out for a while. In the meantime, I stupidly forced myself through my second and third years at pharmacy school doing well in non intense classes, but my grades for all my therapeutics courses ranged from high to low C (even though I studied my tail off for those classes). I was in my final year with APPE rotations, and after two of nine I just couldn't take it anymore. The rotations really made it difficult to mask my vision problems. So I spoke with the school and went on medical leave trying to solve my vision problems. I spend three years getting care from a ton of really good opthalmologists at the local hospital. I attempted a return to school in spring of 2015, but got very sick and my vision got even worse from then on. Since then my vision gets clear and blurry fluctuating several times a minute. However, the main issue is there is so much pressure built up around my eyes that reading for long periods is very hard and uncomfortable. So I've been on medical leave again since then. Last year I had a MRI and was diagnosed with MS. The doctors since have said that their best guess is it's related to that. So it seems my vision will stay like this permanently. So all this to say that I had a couple questions. First, has anyone else in pharmacy practice or school dealt with visual impairment and if so what techniques did you use that helped? Secondly, does anyone know of any careers in the pharmaceutical field that may be more suited for someone with vision difficulty? I can read clearly but it's slow and uncomfortable. There is assistive technology such as text to speech that helps, but I'm looking for jobs that these technologies are suitable for. Finally, would these jobs require a Pharm. D degree? At the end of py3 year, I received B.S. in pharmaceutical science and am wondering if I should try to return and finish my pharm D degree. I met with the dean of the pharmacy school and she said that since I've completed all the classwork I may be able to get some jobs without the pharm D. degree. Just wondering if it's worth trying to return or not. Thanks!

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[Rouelle]

I think you’re going to find that pharmacist work is going to be a giant challenge for you. A large portion of the job entails either reading/typing orders/scripts or visually verifying products. I assume this will cause eye fatigue for you.

I am not particularly aware of other pharmaceutical options you have. Laboratory research will present the same challenge. Maybe sales?

 

[DrVader]

Hi all, I wanted to get some advice on my situation. I enrolled in a good pharmacy school on the east coast in fall 2010 with a pre-pharmacy curriculum (no b.s. degree at that point). My first year went well and I made good grades in all my classes. Between the first and second year I had something weird happen to my vision. It wasn't blurry but was uncomfortable and made studying a chore. I tried to figure it out with eye doctors but no one figured it out for a while. In the meantime, I stupidly forced myself through my second and third years at pharmacy school doing well in non intense classes, but my grades for all my therapeutics courses ranged from high to low C (even though I studied my tail off for those classes). I was in my final year with APPE rotations, and after two of nine I just couldn't take it anymore. The rotations really made it difficult to mask my vision problems. So I spoke with the school and went on medical leave trying to solve my vision problems. I spend three years getting care from a ton of really good opthalmologists at the local hospital. I attempted a return to school in spring of 2015, but got very sick and my vision got even worse from then on. Since then my vision gets clear and blurry fluctuating several times a minute. However, the main issue is there is so much pressure built up around my eyes that reading for long periods is very hard and uncomfortable. So I've been on medical leave again since then. Last year I had a MRI and was diagnosed with MS. The doctors since have said that their best guess is it's related to that. So it seems my vision will stay like this permanently. So all this to say that I had a couple questions. First, has anyone else in pharmacy practice or school dealt with visual impairment and if so what techniques did you use that helped? Secondly, does anyone know of any careers in the pharmaceutical field that may be more suited for someone with vision difficulty? I can read clearly but it's slow and uncomfortable. There is assistive technology such as text to speech that helps, but I'm looking for jobs that these technologies are suitable for. Finally, would these jobs require a Pharm. D degree? At the end of py3 year, I received B.S. in pharmaceutical science and am wondering if I should try to return and finish my pharm D degree. I met with the dean of the pharmacy school and she said that since I've completed all the classwork I may be able to get some jobs without the pharm D. degree. Just wondering if it's worth trying to return or not. Thanks!

With a restriction like that, retail or hospital isn't for you. I think you have invested too much to call it quits. I would suggest that you try to work for a non profit or drug company. You could do work as a consultant, you could also teach as well. If all you have is one year left then I would try to finish.

 

[Gombrich12]

Sounds like working on prior auths at a PBM would be something you may be able to handle.

 

[zelman]

If you can finish your PharmD and become fluent in braille, maybe look into drug information or poison control centers.