Cardiothoracic Surgeon vs Pharmacist

[SanaPatel91]

I'm entering my first year in college and will be going to Baylor. I will be transferring out in two years. I'm currently going in as a BioChem major and a pre professional program: Pre Pharm. I'm currently studying for the PTCB Exam and getting a little bored and i'm nervous that it will end up being boring. I'm really interested in the heart and lung and have a love for anatomy. I've been told (numerous times) that i might not make it. I get that, but i'm just keeping my options open. So I guess right now, my choice is between Pharmacy School and Medical School. Any insight?

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[MtnRescue]

Smells like...Pre-Allo...

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

They're majorly different fields. Pharmacy you're working in a Safeway with annoying hours but relatively no stress and could be basically begin working at age 24 if you're doing a 2+4 program. Physician is stressful and full of longer years of study ( 4+4+4). If you have a strong interest in human anatomy then by all means, attempt medical school. But know that medicine isn't for the faint of heart and will be hard work for basically your whole career if you're into surgery.

 

[morning]

I DEFINITELY think janitor.

 

[Electronegative]

You know how people say you're comparing apples to oranges. Well you're not, you are comparing grapes to potatoes.

EN

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I think you're the only one that can answer that question, honestly. You know where your passions lie and how much work you are willing to put into becoming a medical professional.


A few questions that you will need to think about:

1) First and foremost: Do you have a sincere desire to be a doctor? IF so...WHY?

2) Can you get the grades/MCAT score necessary to become a physician?

3) What interests you so much about medicine, as opposed to pharmacy?

4) Can you live the life of a physician? Most pharmacists work 8-12 hour days, for X number of days a week. It's a fairly set schedule and the type of work is more "desk" like..You stand (or sit if you're lucky) and dispense medication (count pills, essentially). It's very repetitive and has "somewhat less" patient interaction than a physician.

A physician (and this will vary by specialty) will work a similar schedule, 8-12 hours/day X number of days per week. BUT...depending on the type of medical group you're working for, you may have some "call" responsibility (you may be on-call and be required to be near a hospital to respond to an emergency)...you may end up doing hospital rounds, etc...and this will be in addition to your 8-12 hour day.

CT surgery and Pharmacy will be even more different than I had described above...since CT surgery will vary, especially depending on your patients' surgical procedures and complications...etc.

 

[SitraAchra]

You can always complete pharmacy school and then apply to medical school once that's over.

Also I love the premed delusion that all pharmacists are retail.

 

[MCAT guy]

I'm entering my first year in college and will be going to Baylor. I will be transferring out in two years. I'm currently going in as a BioChem major and a pre professional program: Pre Pharm. I'm currently studying for the PTCB Exam and getting a little bored and i'm nervous that it will end up being boring. I'm really interested in the heart and lung and have a love for anatomy. I've been told (numerous times) that i might not make it. I get that, but i'm just keeping my options open. So I guess right now, my choice is between Pharmacy School and Medical School. Any insight?

educate yourself, try to shadow a surgeon to see what he does (ask around constantly or maybe you have medical people in your family?). I personally asked around at my university and found a guy to shadow.

You never know what you will do. Work really hard and make yourself an excellent candidate, search this website and learn what makes a good applicant. Stay busy and most importantly, get around the field and people in the field so you can see what it is like (volunteer, shadow, etc).

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Also why are you going to transfer out of Baylor your junior year? Did you decide that paying 40k a year for 3 years isn't worth it to get a Baylor degree?

 

[MediCynical]

You know how people say you're comparing apples to oranges. Well you're not, you are comparing grapes to potatoes.

EN

 

[Kaustikos]

I'm entering my first year in college and will be going to Baylor. I will be transferring out in two years. I'm currently going in as a BioChem major and a pre professional program: Pre Pharm. I'm currently studying for the PTCB Exam and getting a little bored and i'm nervous that it will end up being boring. I'm really interested in the heart and lung and have a love for anatomy. I've been told (numerous times) that i might not make it. I get that, but i'm just keeping my options open. So I guess right now, my choice is between Pharmacy School and Medical School. Any insight?

Go shadow physicians and pharmacists. Go talk to them..work with them.

Honestly? You need to answer why medicine or why pharmacy. Find that answer. Shadowing/volunteering/ helps sort of decipher that.

 

[orthomyxo]

You can always complete pharmacy school and then apply to medical school once that's over.

Also I love the premed delusion that all pharmacists are retail.

That's horrible advice. It would be ridiculously impractical to spend six years (or more) getting a PharmD while taking on thousands in debt to turn right around and go to medical school.

OP, I was in a 0-6 PharmD program but I withdrew after figuring out that I couldn't picture myself being a pharmacist for the rest of my life. I suggest you shadow a pharmacist and a doctor and see which career you think would be a better fit for you. After I got a job as a tech and was actually exposed to the field, it became very clear that it wasn't for me.

 

[NickNaylor]

Sic 'em Bears.

 

[Kaustikos]

Sic 'em Bears.

 

[VCU07]

that's horrible advice. It would be ridiculously impractical to spend six years (or more) getting a pharmd while taking on thousands in debt to turn right around and go to medical school.

Op, i was in a 0-6 pharmd program but i withdrew after figuring out that i couldn't picture myself being a pharmacist for the rest of my life. I suggest you shadow a pharmacist and a doctor and see which career you think would be a better fit for you. After i got a job as a tech and was actually exposed to the field, it became very clear that it wasn't for me.

+1

 

[chman]

I DEFINITELY think janitor.

The veteran pre-allos have now decided that UPS truck driver is the recommended career for this situation. salary @ $70,000 yr.


OP, chill out a little and enjoy college. You have time before making this decision. But as others have said, they are very different careers. I recommend volunteering at a hospital to get an idea of what different health professionals do, including doctors. Try talking to people in the field, read on google, etc.

 

[armybound]

Sic 'em Bears.

+1

Cole you didn't go to Baylor, did you?

 

[Hurricane95]

I suggest a new thread...

astronaut vs. exotic dancer.

 

[rawkfist]

Sicccemmm bearss

 

[MiCasaMD]

I suggest a new thread...

astronaut vs. exotic dancer.

LOL That's funny Sh$%T. Cardiothoracic surgeon Vs Pharmacist? Really dude? At least if you had titled it as medical school Vs pharmacy school, people here would be more helpful. Do you even know what it takes to get that residency??? It's definitely not like getting a residency at Safeway. I promise!

 

[theVster]

... This is the oddest dichotomy i've ever seen

 

[orthomyxo]

I suggest a new thread...

astronaut vs. exotic dancer.

 

[delano2000]

... This is the oddest dichotomy i've ever seen

Exact same thing I told the OP.

 

[NickNaylor]

+1

Cole you didn't go to Baylor, did you?

I'll be a senior this upcoming year!

 

[marble30]

I suggest a new thread...

astronaut vs. exotic dancer.

 

[bassvp]

OP,

I'm a pharmacist, and it's true, many of us are pretty bored. Many pharmacists are retail...but that is only one side of the coin. I've done both now. Where I'm at, retail makes ~$120k/yr and clinical/hospital makes ~$100k/yr. For the most part, it's all 40 hours/wk if you want it...so it's fantastic if you cannot give up all your "normal life" kinds of things...but for me it doesn't quite feel like the career it's cracked up to be. Autonomy is all over the board...but it all depends on who you're working with. Places that provide collaborative practice agreements where the doc decides and is comfortable with you making decisions within your scope of practice can be pretty fun! But less autonomy and all your stuck with is the paycheck and the hours.

 

[armybound]

I'll be a senior this upcoming year!

word. sic 'em

 

[TheCatalyst]

I was Pre-Pharmacy until my first day month as a CVS certified tech...

I promptly switched to Pre-Med haha

Lectures have become EXCEEDINGLY more interesting when you incorporate Medical viewpoints of the information in stead of Pharmacy based ones.

After my first day as an ER Scribe, I knew medicine was for me

Different strokes for different folks...but Pharmacy seemed like a pretty lame stroke haha

 

[bullsfan1986]

Haha, pharmacy is definitely a lame stroke. Going to pharmacy school is the most regrettable thing I've done in my life.

 

[brooklynblunder]

I was Pre-Pharmacy until my first day month as a CVS certified tech...

I promptly switched to Pre-Med haha

Lectures have become EXCEEDINGLY more interesting when you incorporate Medical viewpoints of the information in stead of Pharmacy based ones.

After my first day as an ER Scribe, I knew medicine was for me

Different strokes for different folks...but Pharmacy seemed like a pretty lame stroke haha

wow, you really like to decide things on the first day

 

[orthomyxo]

Haha, pharmacy is definitely a lame stroke. Going to pharmacy school is the most regrettable thing I've done in my life.

Yea, thank God I figured out how lame it was before I got into my professional years. I was in a 0-6, but I'm in the process of transferring.

 

[fahimaz7]

+1

We have several pharmD's in my medical school class. All of them went into pharmacy after 2 years in undergrad, and upon completion enrolled into medical school.

 

[Vadoff]

Pharmacist
Works 40 hours per week
4 years of education after college
Average GPA: 3.45
Makes 108k per year

Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Works 70 hours per week
11 years of education after college
Average GPA: 3.59
Makes 441K per year
(Heard it's hard to find a job, a dwindling field)

 

[orthomyxo]

Pharmacist
Works 40 hours per week
2 years of education after college
Average GPA: 3.45
Makes 108k per year

Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Works 70 hours per week
13 years of education after college
Average GPA: 3.59
Makes 441K per year
(Heard it's hard to find a job, a dwindling field)

Seriously?? That seems odd to me.

 

[Vadoff]

Seriously?? That seems odd to me.

I thought it was odd too, but there seems to be lots of articles on the web saying this. An example:

"The Plight of the Cardiac Surgeon


Consider the CABG, for the last forty years the bread-and-butter operation for the average heart surgeon. During the decade 1993-2003, the number of CABGs in the United States declined about 11 percent, from about 340,000 to just over 300,000, even though the prime-age patient population grew by more than a fourth. Interventional cardiology, in the meanwhile, has been struggling with exploding workloads. Stents and angioplasties, the main catheter-based CABG substitutes, had more than doubled, to more than a million, by 2006. By 2000 or so, one- and two-coronary bypass operations were already becoming a rarity.


Rubbing it in, insurance reimbursement rates for CABGs have been steadily falling as well. Medicare reimbursement for the standard leg-vein triple-bypass operation is down 20 percent since 1998, or by about a third if inflation is taken into account. Private insurers pay better rates than Medicare, but the gap is narrowing fast as health plans consolidate and the demand hospital wide price concessions. Fees for interventional cardiologists have been dropping even faster than for heart surgeons, but soaring volumes more than make up the difference.


Signs that the wolf is really at the door came in the spring of 2006, when seventeen newly minted cardiothoracic surgeons failed to find jobs - the first time that has ever happened. The accreditation authorities responded by cutting back on accredited programs and residency slots. Worse, there is evidence that the best candidates may be drifting towards other specialties. Cardiothoracic residency slots have always drawn a surplus of candidates. But in the 2006 national residency match, there were only 102 applications for 126 approved slots. Eleven of the applicants then dropped out before the match, so 35 slots were not filled. That is unheard of - like Harvard going begging for undergraduate applications. The effect on academic program staffing will be profound. In the academic year 2004-2005, the first-year residency class was 141. In 2007-2008, when the group from 2006 match begin their residencies, there will be only 91, a drop of 35 percent."

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Except pharmacy school in the U.S is 4 years of education.

 

[JKGable]

I am registered pharmacist who decided to go back to med-school. Med-school and pharmacy school are very different. Here are a few differences as I see them:

Pharmacy school is a lot of memorization and regurgitation of facts (a whole lot of facts). The hard part is being able to recall the necessary facts when you need them. It's 3 years in the class room and 1 year experiential. The hard part of med-school is learning to applying all the information (massive amounts of information). Med-school is 2 years classroom and 2 years in the hospital. But, after med-school you still have to do a residency and maybe a fellowship. Pharmacy doesn't require and residency, but it is recommended if you want to work in a hospital setting.

You will study a LOT with either option. I found pharmacy school slightly easier, but that's because I'm better at "read and regurgitate" than I am at looking at some anatomical structure and remembering it's name. How hard each school is, is not a reason to pick one over the other. The amount of time studying will suck either way.

Pharmacist salary varies depending on where you want to work. Rural areas tend to pay more because the demand is greater than in metro areas. In really rural areas pay of 180K is average, whereas metro areas will be closer to 100K. Doctors pay varies widely depending on specialty and experience. (And who know what's going to happen with doctor salaries with the new healthcare act).

Pharmacists tend to have more regular schedules than most doctors, and no call. Pharmacists will work 40-45 hours weekly (unless you own your own indepent pharmacy). Doctors will work 60+. If you're a woman and want to take time off for kids, then pharmacy is hard to beat (you can make 60K working part-time).

You will get stressed in both. Work sucks. Deal with it.

Pharmacists are lower on the food chain and usually have a boss above them. Doctors are nearer the top of the food chain, but they have more risk (lawsuits, small business issues, etc). Pharmacists are more capable of leaving their work at the office (so to speak), whereas doctors can't necessarily do that.

If you like dealing with patients, then it depends on what medical specialty you go into. Pharmacist must deal with patients, especially in retail pharmacy. Some doctors rarely or never see patients (at least ones that are still alive) but most doctors will have plenty of face time with patients.

I think both medicine and pharmacy are great professions. Both have their draw-backs and both have their strong points. Do your research and make sure you pick the one that will make you work the best for you.

 

[VCU07]

We have several pharmD's in my medical school class. All of them went into pharmacy after 2 years in undergrad, and upon completion enrolled into medical school.

I wish I had saved two yrs by doing so. I did 4 + 4, worked as a pharmacist for 3 years and now, another 4

 

[VCU07]

Seriously?? That seems odd to me.

Not necessarily true. Like someone else mentioned, it is another 4yrs after undergrad...so you end up spending somewhere b/n 6-8 yrs on a Pharm.D. The salary will depend on geographic location. Currently, the 108k is high based upon average salaries. I am not sure what is going to happen to pharmacy in the next few years due to oversaturation, but it is something to keep in mind. It seems as if new pharmacy schools keep popping up, but there just are not jobs for new grads like the boom of the late 90s to early 2000s. I would suggest you shadow both physicians and pharmacists in different settings to see what you enjoy the most.

 

[orthomyxo]

Except pharmacy school in the U.S is 4 years of education.

Unless you get into a 0-6, which is considered to be 2 years of graduate education (P3 and P4). The first 2 years of pre-pharm, and P1 and P2 are considered to be undergrad, so I think that's what Vadoff meant.

 

[Ischemic]

CT surgery is a dying field.