Debating dropping out as a P1

[FuhFuhFifty2]

Hey everybody,

Perhaps I read too much gloom and doom, but I’d like to have some thoughts about my prospects.

I’m in my early 20s, I’ve got about 76k in student loans, and a PRN in-patient job that constantly has full time positions open where I’d make $15/hr. To be honest, I wouldn’t even mind just doing technician stuff as a career.

At this rate, I’d finish school with about $220k in loans in 2022. As far as classes go, I’ve done okay. A’s and B’s, one C last semester. Same outlook this semester. I’m not too worried about getting through pharmacy school and getting licensure, I’ve always been a solid student, although my school is in the batch of worst NAPLEX scores.

Now, I love my current job and I would happily be an in-patient staff pharmacist and I don’t mind moving wherever to do that. With that said, I desperately want to avoid a residency and I would likely rather die than work another day in retail. My caveat for a career in pharmacy is I want to avoid handling patients directly as much as possible, so I find other careers such as nursing and PA undesirable. I enjoy the medicine side of the job and working with other healthcare workers.

I don’t have a bachelors, but my prerequisites are lined up in a way that I could go another year (for greatly reduced cost, thanks to family) and wind up with something like a med tech degree, which was my initial backup plan.

Obviously this is a personal choice, but I was hoping to hear some input from people with a better grasp on the prospects of the degree. If I were to drop out, this is probably my last chance to do it before I hit the $120k in debt mark next year. I’m planning on staying in the midwest, should I graduate.

Thanks all.

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[zona2016]

Try to minimize student loans and look for scholarships. You already have job in the field and might be competitive for hospital jobs. If you dont want to deal with people then definetely don't go PA or nursing school you will hate it. Med tech might be a good idea but you still have 76k in debt and that will make your life pretty miserable on a 50k to 60k salary unless you commit to paying off student loans asap or go to a place where they offer loan repayment (public service, military or some other random programs). Its all relative to your goals and the work that you want to do.

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

Everyone on this board is going to tell you to drop out and that pharmacy is a scam. It’s like beating a dead horse at this point.

I mean you already have one year under your belt and if you drop out that will be completely waisted just to become a med tech ( which I assume is like a cna).

However if you don’t want to do a residency and you don’t want to work in retail what do you expect to be doing as a pharmacist?

 

[Thoughtfulsinner]

I would not let this board dictate what you decide to do. This board consists of 0.001% of pharmacists all who share extremely pessimistic views and frequently piss down their legs at the first sign of trouble.

 

[Corytrade]

The direction of pharmacy is more patient care, accept it or expect to fight the wind the rest of your career.

 

[alpha12]

I mean you already have one year under your belt and if you drop out that will be completely waisted just to become a med tech ( which I assume is like a cna).

 

[FuhFuhFifty2]

Everyone on this board is going to tell you to drop out and that pharmacy is a scam. It’s like beating a dead horse at this point.

I mean you already have one year under your belt and if you drop out that will be completely waisted just to become a med tech ( which I assume is like a cna).

However if you don’t want to do a residency and you don’t want to work in retail what do you expect to be doing as a pharmacist?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but CNAs typically don't have college degrees and are more akin to a pharmacy technician position where you're making a few bucks over minimum wage for the sake of some certification. Med techs typically work in labs with patient samples, require a bachelors plus an on-the-job rotation like experience, and make anywhere between 50k and 60k per yer. My ideal pharmacy career trajectory is to staff at a hospital for 5-10 years and then move into a more clinical or management position in an in-patient setting, possibly even at a rural hospital. I currently work at a 400-some bed hospital in a midsize city as an IV/chemo tech and have done so with varying degrees of full-time and PRN statuses over the last couple years. By the time I graduate, I'll have worked at the same hospital for 6 years and I'm banking on management that I've become familiar with staying the same. Given the saturation and the recent opening of a pharmacy school in the city (the state overall still has less schools than average), I've been wondering if it's likely that my connections hold up but the pharmacy department itself hasn't had an opening for pharmacists in over a year.

I would not let this board dictate what you decide to do. This board consists of 0.001% of pharmacists all who share extremely pessimistic views and frequently piss down their legs at the first sign of trouble.

Don't worry! My philosophy is to take internet forum advice with a grain of salt, I'm just looking for perspectives.

 

[hye345]

No joke, I was just watching this very scene last night.

 

[Momus]

Drop out and pursue MD/comp sci, do trades, or run side hussle full time: blog, sell sh1t online, Youtube. Don't drop out to be nothing.

 

[tlh908]

Be a nurse, my wife makes $42/hour plus shift and weekend differential. Her degree cost less than 10k and with 2 more years she could be an NP making as much as pharmacists do.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Not willing to work retail and not willing to do a residency? Is this an April Fools joke?

 

[FuhFuhFifty2]

Not willing to work retail and not willing to do a residency? Is this an April Fools joke?

Nope. I’m not closed off to a residency, obviously, but being 220k in debt and competing for a position where I’m being paid a fourth of a normal salary for a year of pharmd labor doesn’t really appeal to my common sense if it’s possible to land a similar job somewhere without one.

Don’t even post if you’re not going to offer anything constructive.

 

[gwarm01]

Don’t even post if you’re not going to offer anything constructive.

Drive-by posting is our god given right.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Nope. I’m not closed off to a residency, obviously, but being 220k in debt and competing for a position where I’m being paid a fourth of a normal salary for a year of pharmd labor doesn’t really appeal to my common sense if it’s possible to land a similar job somewhere without one.

Don’t even post if you’re not going to offer anything constructive.

I'll be a bit more construtive and straightforward then:

Your plans are most definitely not going to work out so you should drop out of pharmacy and cut your losses.

I am sorry, I thought it was an April Fool's joke because you typically have to be a unicorn to be able to land a job when you don't want to work retail AND don't want to do residency.

 

[Xenophylia]

Get out. Run far, far away. Unless you've got some painless means of killing yourself devised after you come to your senses in a few years it's easier just not to start. I can't think of anything more soul crushing or less satisfying than pharmacy. And I've been a pharmacist for a long time. My soul is dead and withered. The thought of spending another day in a pharmacy makes even the most terrible visions of hell seem like Club Med. In fact, Satan often calls on me to help him come up with new forms of torment for the damned and I never leave him wanting. Does that help in your decision?

 

[rxkrafted]

I’m in my early 20s, I’ve got about 76k in student loans, and a PRN in-patient job that constantly has full time positions open where I’d make $15/hr. To be honest, I wouldn’t even mind just doing technician stuff as a career.

So are you working PRN at a hospital right now or what? I'm confused because you said "you would make". I'm sure you have done your research but by the time you graduate, it may become mandatory to have a residency to grab a position straight out of school. You may have a shot at transitioning into an inpatient gig at the hospital (assuming you already work there and become an intern).

You should finish your program if you don't mind working retail... Otherwise look for other career choices. When you have > 200K in student loans, you don't get to be picky about where you find a job.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Such a great f---ing show

 

[owlegrad]

Such a great f---ing show

I wasn't able to get into like I did for Breaking Bad. No idea why.

 

[alpha12]

Such a great f---ing show

It is. This show along with breaking bad and game of thrones are the only ones I have liked so far.

 

[rph3664]

Go with the med tech degree, since you appear to know something about it. And don't let anyone tell you that your P1 classes are a waste, because legitimate education never is.

 

[sakigt]

Agree with hiding in the lab if you don't want patient care.

76k, how do you plan on paying that off at $15/hr?

 

[spacecowgirl]

I wasn't able to get into like I did for Breaking Bad. No idea why.

Well BB is like #1 of all time. ALL TIME. Mastery. But I like Saul because similar to BB, the protagonist is unclear and you're rooting for someone who is basically a good person, yes, but also does terrible things.

I'm rewatching BB as my workout incentive. Even better the second time so far. So much nuance I missed.

 

[hye345]

It is. This show along with breaking bad and game of thrones are the only ones I have liked so far.

Game of Thrones was a very slow burn… You really have to invest in it to get anything back. I watched the first episode of season one, Took me six months before I could muster up the will power to watch episode number two.

 

[mentos]

Agree with hiding in the lab if you don't want patient care.

76k, how do you plan on paying that off at $15/hr?

76k @ $15/hr in desirable location, low stress
Vs.
300k @ $50/hr (if you're lucky to get a job) in BFE, high stress

I'd choose the first option. Lower tax bracket, you can deduct student loan interest, qualify for more tax credits, probably get a raise every year unlike pharmacists...

 

[BidingMyTime]

Be a nurse, my wife makes $42/hour plus shift and weekend differential. Her degree cost less than 10k and with 2 more years she could be an NP making as much as pharmacists do.

OP doesn't want to be around patients, that is why retail is out. So nursing would be a far worse job for OP, then retail.

Not willing to work retail and not willing to do a residency? Is this an April Fools joke?

Yeah, I don't think OP has researched pharmacy enough.

OP, I don't recommend that anyone go into pharmacy, unless they would be content working retail, because the majority of pharmacist jobs are in retail. Now you do have hospital experience, and chances are you could snag a job in hospital, but as has been mentioned, residency will greatly expand your chances of that. The fact that the hospital you are at hasn't hired in over a year, and that there is a pharmacy school in the same city, I would expect *not* to get a job at your hospital once you graduate. Hopefully, they will give you good references and you can get a job another hospital job.

But reality is, you need to plan on getting a hospital job....but if you can't, then you need to plan on doing a residency....and if you aren't accepted, then you need to plan on getting a retail job. If you can not commit to that plan, then you would be better to cut your losses and get out now. You really don't want to have 4 years pharmacy school debt, and be unemployed because you refuse to work retail.

 

[alpha12]

Game of Thrones was a very slow burn… You really have to invest in it to get anything back. I watched the first episode of season one, Took me six months before I could muster up the will power to watch episode number two.

Yeah season one was slow but it should pick up later in the season. That's when people start dying.

 

[UGAZ]

If I were you, I would switch to other career, immediately. Pharmacy is done...unless you already have something lining up for you. We are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy saturated.

 

[APN-59 rph]

The only way I can see that you MIGHT make it as a pharmacist going forward is to MINIMIZE your debt load ...make good friends with an owner out in the sticks....make a deal to do internship etc. with that owner...and THEN, if the pharmacy business is still holding up for that owner (5 years from now) use whatever you have learned at that venue and open your own place.....out in some other stix..OR, work for that owner.....unless and until things change radically for the better; if you graduate 100 or 200k in debt...YOU are SUNK..

 

[beautifulrobot]

My general advice when trying to make a big decision like this is to:

1) think about where you want to end up, and then come up with a plan on how to get there. Think about your role models, shadow different professionals, research as much as you can about different career fields, talk to a career advisor (if you have an undergraduate college affiliated with the pharmacy school you attend you should be able to hit up their career services), and talk to trusted mentors.

2) Prioritize what's important to you, and then be honest with yourself about what you're willing to sacrifice. Maybe one of your role models is an air force flight surgeon who is doing cutting edge work with space medicine and you think thats awesome, but you dont have enough ****s to give to go through med school and join the air force and all of that. That's okay. Or, like youre saying, you want to do inpatient pharmacy but you dont want to deal with the sacrifices of doing residency - that's fine, and its good that youre being honest with yourself. just realize you limit your options/opportunities by not sacrificing certain things (e.g., time, money, quality of life, health).

3) Talk to other people that you trust. There is always something to gain from an outside perspective. We have blindspots that we just don't realize until we talk to other people. Talk to your mentors, academic advisors, school faculty, and even a behavioral therapist (e.g., psychologist, clinical social worker, or other type of behavioral therapist/counselor). As a college student you pay a lot of money in fees for these services and access to faculty, take advantage of it!