Career Change

[dannyginaterrel]

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I just turned 32 and I'm thinking to go back to school to become a pharmacist. I have a degree in math but right now I'm a finance analyst making 50k a year in Dallas, Texas. I will enroll in a community college for my prerequisites then transfer to a pharmacy school in Texas. I calculated it will cost me 15k a year for 4 years if I get accepted here in Texas. Therefore, 4 years lost of income is 200k plus 60k in tuition fees so 260k is the cost to follow my dream. I figured that 60k is not too heavy in student loan right? Since I will make at least 100k a year. However, I do worry about my age. I'm not sure if I should do it at this point of my life.

Ps. Sorry for my grammar since english is not my first language.

 

[sfwusc]

I was kind of in the same boat. I was 25 and a CPA for a big four accounting firm. I actually left to go to medical school, but for whatever reason didn't get in.

$60k in loan is going to be nothing on a $100k salary, but you know that already.

You are basically going to increase your income by $50K a year for $260K investment. If you work for 25 years, then you are going to make a very nice ROI even considering we are doing it all pretax.

If you want to do, then math says do it (assuming you get in and get a $100k job). I went for medical school and ended up in pharmacy school, but the math will still work in your favor.

 

[Skawty]

You only live once. If there's ever a time to start, now's the time.🙂

 

[Hello2000]

No no amigo you're ok, my friend start his Pharmacy school when he was 60, he finished when he was 63 and walk into a job on his zimmer frame at CVS in Alaska..Age makes no diference in this industry... The world is so short of Pharmacy Students and there are loads of pharmacists retiring this year including my friend from CVS. They say WAGS, RiteAid etc will have to close stores soon as they just can not find any pharmacists to cover them...The Pharmacy schools are bloody honest and reckon that by 2013 they will need another 60,000 pharmacists in CA alone!!!I heard the way things going with the pharmacist shortage, falling oil price, and huge profit that the Chains make they will start to pay Interns, crikey imagine that, WE GET PAID!! They may pay our licence fee too. Plus some of these contracts these days are chance of a life time places..Imagine this, YOU get paid to live in Wisconsin, Wyoming, Missouri etc the list go's on! And you get internet too so you can watch your kids grow up on Skype!!! GO FOR IT!! get a big loan and just get your old man to remortgage their house or ponse some of your nans savings..Then they can tell their friends that there son/daughter is a pharmacist. defintalty worth it...

Ha ha, a light hearted look at the current market, I copy and pasted it from another Spanish speaking forum.

 

[minette]

No no amigo you're ok, my friend start his Pharmacy school when he was 60, he finished when he was 63 and walk into a job on his zimmer frame at CVS in Alaska..Age makes no diference in this industry... The world is so short of Pharmacy Students and there are loads of pharmacists retiring this year including my friend from CVS. They say WAGS, RiteAid etc will have to close stores soon as they just can not find any pharmacists to cover them...The Pharmacy schools are bloody honest and reckon that by 2013 they will need another 60,000 pharmacists in CA alone!!!I heard the way things going with the pharmacist shortage, falling oil price, and huge profit that the Chains make they will start to pay Interns, crikey imagine that, WE GET PAID!! They may pay our licence fee too. Plus some of these contracts these days are chance of a life time places..Imagine this, YOU get paid to live in Wisconsin, Wyoming, Missouri etc the list go's on! And you get internet too so you can watch your kids grow up on Skype!!! GO FOR IT!! get a big loan and just get your old man to remortgage their house or ponse some of your nans savings..Then they can tell their friends that there son/daughter is a pharmacist. defintalty worth it...

Ha ha, a light hearted look at the current market, I copy and pasted it from another Spanish speaking forum.

LOL

 

[crossurfingers]

No no amigo you're ok, my friend start his Pharmacy school when he was 60, he finished when he was 63 and walk into a job on his zimmer frame at CVS in Alaska..Age makes no diference in this industry... The world is so short of Pharmacy Students and there are loads of pharmacists retiring this year including my friend from CVS. They say WAGS, RiteAid etc will have to close stores soon as they just can not find any pharmacists to cover them...The Pharmacy schools are bloody honest and reckon that by 2013 they will need another 60,000 pharmacists in CA alone!!!I heard the way things going with the pharmacist shortage, falling oil price, and huge profit that the Chains make they will start to pay Interns, crikey imagine that, WE GET PAID!! They may pay our licence fee too. Plus some of these contracts these days are chance of a life time places..Imagine this, YOU get paid to live in Wisconsin, Wyoming, Missouri etc the list go's on! And you get internet too so you can watch your kids grow up on Skype!!! GO FOR IT!! get a big loan and just get your old man to remortgage their house or ponse some of your nans savings..Then they can tell their friends that there son/daughter is a pharmacist. defintalty worth it...

I completely agree! Don't worry about your loans. You're pretty much guaranteed a job starting at $100k right out of school (and the pay may even increase in the coming years). I'm betting you won't even have to interview for a job, they will just automatically promote you since they're desperate for pharmacists. And of course you can pick up overtime at time and a half pay anytime you want. You should probably start planning out the things you're going to be able to buy- the million dollar house, the Bentley, pretty much unlimited designer clothing and jewelry too.

The most important thing you will love is going to work every day and getting to serve all the grateful customers who understand that you are a professional and treat you like one. They are all super nice and hardly ever complain. They take part of the responsibility when it comes to their own healthcare so that helps a lot. They are even familiar with their insurance plans so you will rarely have to deal with that.

If you want to go retail, I think all the chains are pretty good. They always have the best interest of the pharmacist in mind. Safety is number one. They encourage you to take as much time as you need to fill prescriptions, give immunizations and health screening tests. There's always adequate tech help. You will have plenty of time for lunch and you will hardly notice standing during your entire shift.

Sounds like a no brainer for me!

 

[rph3664]

You do realize that the OP is not a native English speaker, and may not pick up on your sarcasm? 🙄 😳

DGT, have you ever worked in a pharmacy? If you haven't, GET A JOB IN A PHARMACY - any pharmacy, be it hospital, retail, LTC, etc. so you know what this job's really like. Too many people find the theory interesting but the practice unappealing, and if you're going to spend 4 years and many thousands of dollars to obtain a degree that is becoming more and more worthless (yes, you read that right), at least know what you'd be getting into once you're out.

 

[pharmasaur]

lol it's always so amusing how everyone on this forum always discourage pre-pharms from joining the club

 

[Rph888]

I just turned 32 and I'm thinking to go back to school to become a pharmacist. I have a degree in math but right now I'm a finance analyst making 50k a year in Dallas, Texas. I will enroll in a community college for my prerequisites then transfer to a pharmacy school in Texas. I calculated it will cost me 15k a year for 4 years if I get accepted here in Texas. Therefore, 4 years lost of income is 200k plus 60k in tuition fees so 260k is the cost to follow my dream. I figured that 60k is not too heavy in student loan right? Since I will make at least 100k a year. However, I do worry about my age. I'm not sure if I should do it at this point of my life.

Ps. Sorry for my grammar since english is not my first language.

And how did you come upon this dream of yours? Careful, a dream can turn into a nightmare real quick. Please use your math and analysis skills to look at the future of this career.

 

[rph3664]

lol it's always so amusing how everyone on this forum always discourage pre-pharms from joining the club

Until about 3 years ago, I would have been one of the last people on earth to discourage someone from going into it, but now, it's a whole 'nother story.

 

[Hello2000]

i completely agree! Don't worry about your loans. You're pretty much guaranteed a job starting at $100k right out of school (and the pay may even increase in the coming years). I'm betting you won't even have to interview for a job, they will just automatically promote you since they're desperate for pharmacists. And of course you can pick up overtime at time and a half pay anytime you want. You should probably start planning out the things you're going to be able to buy- the million dollar house, the bentley, pretty much unlimited designer clothing and jewelry too.

The most important thing you will love is going to work every day and getting to serve all the grateful customers who understand that you are a professional and treat you like one. They are all super nice and hardly ever complain. They take part of the responsibility when it comes to their own healthcare so that helps a lot. They are even familiar with their insurance plans so you will rarely have to deal with that.

If you want to go retail, i think all the chains are pretty good. They always have the best interest of the pharmacist in mind. Safety is number one. They encourage you to take as much time as you need to fill prescriptions, give immunizations and health screening tests. There's always adequate tech help. You will have plenty of time for lunch and you will hardly notice standing during your entire shift.

Sounds like a no brainer for me!

+1 :-d

 

[rxlea]

Amateur trolls up in here 🙄

 

[xXRAYNEXx]

I just turned 32 and I'm thinking to go back to school to become a pharmacist. I have a degree in math but right now I'm a finance analyst making 50k a year in Dallas, Texas. I will enroll in a community college for my prerequisites then transfer to a pharmacy school in Texas. I calculated it will cost me 15k a year for 4 years if I get accepted here in Texas. Therefore, 4 years lost of income is 200k plus 60k in tuition fees so 260k is the cost to follow my dream. I figured that 60k is not too heavy in student loan right? Since I will make at least 100k a year. However, I do worry about my age. I'm not sure if I should do it at this point of my life.

Ps. Sorry for my grammar since english is not my first language.

I don't hate you enough to encourage this plan.

Haha just kidding. For that hella low tuition, I would totally go for it. Then I won't mind making only $60k a year. There's a student at UCSF pharm school that's around 60 years old. So compared to him, you're still a baby.

 

[Hello2000]

Amateur trolls up in here

Brilliant 🙂

 

[rxlea]

Brilliant 🙂

Thanks! 🙂

 

[Hello2000]

You are very welcome lol 😛

 

[124bbb]

You do realize that the OP is not a native English speaker, and may not pick up on your sarcasm? 🙄 😳
.

I second this statement. English is my first language and even I didn't quite pick up on the humor. Here's to hoping the original poster gained some insight since I haven't seen a response.

Amateur trolls up in here 🙄

👍👍

 

[Hello2000]

Come on guys, lighten up a bit. How can I be trolling when I state it was a light hearted look at the market in my reply? I also stated it was taken from a Spanish speaking forum so a combination of my Spanish and google translate has led to some grammatical errors. I thought it was funny ok, and my motto is; if you can put a smile on someone's face you are making them feel better already :-D

 

[xtsukiyox]

This is really a pre-pharm question. Let me move it there for you. 🙂