Advice from Pharmacy Student's

[dempsie5688]

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I had the opportunity to read the post on Pharmacy School as a Returning Student and I also have questions. I too have been out of school for a while (6 years). I always wanted to study pharmacy but never got around to applying. I remeber very basic things about General Chemisty, had a B average in Organic Chemistry did not like it. My question is, if you work hard can you succeed in pharmacy school, if you don't remember much undergrad. Please be frank, I have Pharmacy school interviews begining soon. I love the idea of helping people and truly believe I will make a good pharmacist and will definitely commit to studying. Basically, can you succeed if you work hard, but I feel like I remember nothing about my prereq's (3.5 gpa). I currently make 85,000 a year but I hate my job, I really want to do something I love and is more focused on health care and service.

Thanks

 

[dempsie5688]

I had the opportunity to read the post on Pharmacy School as a Returning Student and I also have questions. I too have been out of school for a while (6 years). I always wanted to study pharmacy but never got around to applying. I remeber very basic things about General Chemisty, had a B average in Organic Chemistry did not like it. My question is, if you work hard can you succeed in pharmacy school, if you don't remember much undergrad. Please be frank, I have Pharmacy school interviews begining soon. I love the idea of helping people and truly believe I will make a good pharmacist and will definitely commit to studying. Basically, can you succeed if you work hard, but I feel like I remember nothing about my prereq's (3.5 gpa). I currently make 85,000 a year but I hate my job, I really want to do something I love and is more focused on health care and service.

Thanks

I am really nervous about changing careers, just need advice, mainly I don't want to fail, Pharmacy school is expensive, any advice would be appreciated. I make a good salary I'm just not happy and feel that I should be helping other's more. Please advice

Thanks

 

[GAP2012]

Im currently a first year pharmacy student. I recommend you really make sure pharmacy is what you want to do. If so I think you should go for it. Its alot of hard work, but feasible if you are willing to put in the long hours. You might have to work even a little harder if you dont have a strong science background, but once again if you are dedicated you can do it. There are many career changers in my class and they are doing fine.

 

[dempsie5688]

Im currently a first year pharmacy student. I recommend you really make sure pharmacy is what you want to do. If so I think you should go for it. Its alot of hard work, but feasible if you are willing to put in the long hours. You might have to work even a little harder if you dont have a strong science background, but once again if you are dedicated you can do it. There are many career changers in my class and they are doing fine.

Thanks Gap2012,

What has been your most challenging classes, and what prereq's are most helpful to you

 

[flillia]

I'm a first year pharmacy student and I haven't really seen that much from my prereqs come into play. The only place where I really noticed it honestly was in biochemistry.. it used a lot of acid/base stuff from gen chem

 

[deleted205891]

Keep in mind that many schools don't accept prereqs if they're over 5 years old. You better make sure with the schools that you're interviewing at that they accept your credits.

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

Let's do some math.

$85,000 X 4 = $340,000 you won't make while you're in RX school.

$12 X 20hours X 52weeks X 4 = $50,000 you may make working as an intern while in RX school.

$35,000 School & fees per year X 4 = $140,000

$340,000 - $50,000 + $140,000 = $430,000.

$120,000 (pharmacist salary) - $85,000 (your current salary) = $35,000

$430,000/$35,000 = 12.

It will take you 12 years after finishing Pharmacy school to break even on the opportunity cost you will lose by becoming a pharmacist. I would make sure being a pharmacist is important to you and make sure you'll enjoy working as a pharmacist.

Good Luck.

PS.. it's just a guestimated calculation without factoring in taxes...etc. But you get the idea.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

I think you can do it as long as you are committed to working a little harder than your peers. It might be a little hard for you at first to get back into a school schedule and doing tests. I would suggest reviewing some Gen Chem (acid/base, thermochemistry) and OChem (functional groups and naming). Probably a review of intro bio would be good, especially pertaining to cells. Be able to do simple algebra like 10x-2=5. When you get past your first year, I am under the impression you will need a more thorough review of OChem. I'm still in my first year, but from what I've learned about some of the upper classes knowing your OChem will be helpful.

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

10 x -2 equals -20

 

[aFarmD]

I think you can do it as long as you are committed to working a little harder than your peers. It might be a little hard for you at first to get back into a school schedule and doing tests. I would suggest reviewing some Gen Chem (acid/base, thermochemistry) and OChem (functional groups and naming). Probably a review of intro bio would be good, especially pertaining to cells. Be able to do simple algebra like 10x-2=5. When you get past your first year, I am under the impression you will need a more thorough review of OChem. I'm still in my first year, but from what I've learned about some of the upper classes knowing your OChem will be helpful.

What do you suggest on how to go about reviewing gchem and o chem?
Buying some used books and review them?
thanks

 

[FAMUPharmD09]

10 x -2 equals -20

 

[fenixtnlfan]

10 x -2 equals -20

I meant as in solve for x. I should have been clearer.

aFarmD, yeah used books would be good. You could even audit classes if you have a CC or university nearby if you want a more formal learning setting.

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

I meant as in solve for x. I should have been clearer.

aFarmD, yeah used books would be good. You could even audit classes if you have a CC or university nearby if you want a more formal learning setting.

Ok..

7/10

 

[aFarmD]

quote=fenixtnlfan;7641615]
aFarmD, yeah used books would be good. You could even audit classes if you have a CC or university nearby if you want a more formal learning setting.[/quote]

Thanks, I'll probably get some used books.
Audit class? You mean you can actually come and attend classes?

 

[themorphinerule]

Let's do some math.

$85,000 X 4 = $340,000 you won't make while you're in RX school.

$12 X 20hours X 52weeks X 4 = $50,000 you may make working as an intern while in RX school.

$35,000 School & fees per year X 4 = $140,000

$340,000 - $50,000 + $140,000 = $430,000.

$120,000 (pharmacist salary) - $85,000 (your current salary) = $35,000

$430,000/$35,000 = 12.

It will take you 12 years after finishing Pharmacy school to break even on the opportunity cost you will lose by becoming a pharmacist. I would make sure being a pharmacist is important to you and make sure you'll enjoy working as a pharmacist.

Good Luck.

PS.. it's just a guestimated calculation without factoring in taxes...etc. But you get the idea.

Very good analysis zyvox... This is my second year of pharmacy school and I've become a little jaded (I think I developed an arrhythmia last semester, which is hopefully the worst semester in the curriculum)... I used to get excited to hear people express and interest in going to pharmacy school but I recently had to hold myself back from discouraging a friend from pursuing it and just found myself saying, "if that's your heart's desire-- go for it". In my opinion it's torture-- emotionally, physically, and socially. Make sure you carefully weigh the pro's and con's. Money doesn't seem to be your chief concern since you make a decent salary, but also keep in mind that the highest paid entry level pharmacy positions are in retail and it takes a certain mindset to practice in retail. Working as a staff pharmacist in a hospital, from what I've seen, would be somewhere closer to $90+ a year, so not much more than where you are: the pro-- job security and possible better job satisfaction. The con-- all the opportunity costs associated for a seemingly "lateral" promotion (pay-wise). Overall I love pharmacy and its my passion, just make sure its yours before investing your life resources into it. 🙂

 

[fenixtnlfan]

Thanks, I'll probably get some used books.
Audit class? You mean you can actually come and attend classes?

Yeah, you do everything like you were actually taking the class. Typically you don't have to take the tests unless you want to and you don't get a grade. It's put on a transcript as an audit.

 

[DanManuel]

I had been out of school for 3 years and began Pharmacy this past year. I too was working at a job that payed about $65,000 a year. As far as getting back to school it was difficult at first because so many of the students were fresh out of school, so they maintained their strong study habits, while it took me 4 to 6 weeks to find a good routine.
My biggest advice is to make sure you want this is the profession for you. I gained experience at a retail pharmacy and absolutely hated it, it is difficult to remain diligent in class knowing what the future holds for you, particularly if you have an exit that pays a decent amount. I plan on finishing out the year and shadow specialized Pharmacist, to ensure I want to dedicate my life to this profession. I hope this helps, BOL

 

[dangerdog]

like others said, first make sure pharmacy is right for you. I went in thinking I'll do retail pharmacy, but 3 months of working for walgreens made me learn how much I hate retail pharmacy. 😀 Luckly, my hospital internship more than made up for it.

Other wise, I was out of school for a while too. For you, I would suggest going to a cheaper public college of pharmacy. Taking out $140K in loans to gain $10K in pay just doesn't make sense for you.

I'll be graduating from OSU with $80K in loans, and $38K of that was from my p1 year as an out-of-state student with no scholarship and internship (and a partier). P2 onward, in-state + scholarships (good GPA does pay), and internships, I'm only taking out about $12-$13K a year in loans. So for many, 4 years of pharmacy school on $50K loans aren't hard to do.