Clinical Pharmacist vs. Doctor
Started by reese07
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oh christ...here we go!
The differences are vast to put it lightly, it feels like hard work, and Pharmacists are far from diagnosticians. Thread closed?
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Both professions need to be able to rapidly utilize available information.
You can start now!
Go visit the FAQ's....then use the search function.....
then come back & ask more questions - less broadly perhaps😀.
I know you're new, but that is really, really where to begin - unless, of course, you're just here to stir up trouble.
You can start now!
Go visit the FAQ's....then use the search function.....
then come back & ask more questions - less broadly perhaps😀.
I know you're new, but that is really, really where to begin - unless, of course, you're just here to stir up trouble.
Not to hijack the thread or anything but I think I may have found quite possibly the gayest smiley ever... 
I don't like that smilie.
His name also annoys me. :big love:
His name also annoys me. :big love:
I like the banana a lot. 
I think we could use some new smilies though. Anyone care to propose any?
I think we could use some new smilies though. Anyone care to propose any?
Peanut Butter Jelly with a baseball bat....
I bet you do! 😉I like the banana a lot.
bwahahahathis smiley is up there on the gayness meter...😆 as well as this one
and this one 
by far, the best smiley is this one...this is me after I read one of SDN1977's novels....
i'll answer that one, because i work for one. The difference is how the patient is treated. The way i like to think of it is that i am a specialist in medication therapies, like there is an internal medicine specialist and neurologist. MD's treat the patient for their ailments. Clinical pharmacists understand the ailments that the patient have and understand the medications that they should be/shouldn't be taking and advise doctors and the patients what to be doing about them. They take note of any side effects, competing medications etc. In short they understand medication therapies (drugs) better then the doctors do and correspondingly advise them and their patients how to understand them. Hope this was useful
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The answers vary because the jobs/circumstances/settings & outlook varies.
What exactly confuses you?
Altho Drug Dealer made a valiant attempt....I don't agree.
Doctors (are you meaning here physicians?) diagnose & decide on treatment. I disagree they don't know the drugs as well. They may not know the breadth of drugs to the degree we do, but many know the drugs they use very, very well.
Pharmacists do not get involved in diagnosis. We stay on the treatment end with many functions - dispensing, education, compounding, adjusting therapy, etc..
Now....what is confusing? All that talk about gay smileys???? They confuse me too - watch.....Caverject will slap that new one on me.😀
Just don't get wound up with the titles & their significance. That is really the most iinsignificant part of our job - our title.
Come back with a specific question we can clarify.
No - you don't have too much patient interaction (as compared with 20 years ago), but that is not the same as not being in the various pt units.
The reasons are varied & one is because pts stay for such shorter lengths of time in the hospital. Very few hospital pharmacists will actually stay within the main pharmacy. They will often work out of remote offices & sometimes unit pharmacies.
Personally, I have more interaction with physicians, RT & nurses than I do with pts when I work inpt. But - even if I did have a lot of pt interaction, they wouldn't remember me because I work ICU & OR.
So....if you're looking for lots of pt interaction, inpt acute medicine is not the best place. That doesn't mean we're not working closely & vigorously for the pt - just not "with" the pt.
Get the difference?
When you ask about being a doctor, are you speaking about becoming a physician?
The reason I ask is there is as much variation among physicians as there is among pharmacists.
You cannot take a residency in pharmacy which will take you anywhere near becoming a physician anymore than taking a medical residency in pediatrics will let you become a radiation oncologist or a pharmacist for that matter.
If you want to become a physician - which means diagnosing and treating illness as well as facilitating wellness....pursue that path.
If you want to become a pharmacist - which means being an integral part drug treatment of illness as well as facilitating wellness...pursue that path. Ambulatory care will involve more patient interaction, but there are pharmacists in many venues other than acute inpt medicine which involve interactions - mental health, university health centers, oncology, pain management & hospice...
But - you seem a bit conflicted about the path you want to take. It seems as if you need more time to sort out which path you actually want. Both are long, arduous, wonderful for those who chose for the right reasons and horrible for those who chose for the wrong ones. Take time to be sure of your choice.
Good luck!
if by doctor you mean physician, then you sound so deadset on being a physician--why not just be one? you seem like you want to be an MD by doing the least work and you seem to be under the impression that such a path is pharmacy path (the "shorter" one in comparison). Med school is med school. Pharmacy school is pharmacy school.
PS--pharmacists are "doctors" too.
PPS--you can complete a residency in "medicine" --I hear it's only 4 years in the School of Medicine, plus some 3-6 years of additional schooling
An alternative would be to major in pharmacy and minor in medicine 😉
PS--pharmacists are "doctors" too.
PPS--you can complete a residency in "medicine" --I hear it's only 4 years in the School of Medicine, plus some 3-6 years of additional schooling
That poor horse's balls need a rest.
