dental or pharmacy?Please help

[bruinlovejake]

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Hi i am a second year in college. I both work as a pharmacy technician and dental assistance. I love both fields. I only have one more year to decide which route i should take. To tell you the truth, it is really hard decision for me since i think i love both. I ask the predent forum they told me just go with your heart.
Can you tell me why i should pick pharmacy over dental? Do pharmacist make more money than dentist? and do pharmacist have more privilege than dentist?
P.S. PLEASE DO NOT FLAME ME. I ask those questions because i always got different answer and i truly love both field.

 

[Regmata]

Pharmacists make less and I don't think they have more privilege than dentists, but I don't really know what you mean

 

[USU24]

The question you should be asking (yourself) is: which do you love more?

 

[blankguy]

I think making the decision based on prestige is a bit shortsighted. It's the line of work that you should look at. Pharmacist are "drug librarians". It is a good secure job but I can't picture myself working in a retail setting so I decided against it. They do make good money but they don't have the potential of dentists. Dentist in a way is more high stakes because you are treating a patient. This requires delicate handling of the instruments and great deal of manual coordination. Often dentist run their own show(i.e. offices) which makes their earning potential greater than pharmacists in general.

 

[qwerty86]

I was initially planning on doing pharmacy(been working there for 3 years).
Changed my mind after working there. Job gets boring, tough, bad work hours. Plus not much into pharmacology. Basically you just check the filled prescriptions for accuracy and drug interactions for hours and hours. Most of times you have to deal too much with insurance cause claims wont go through. Many times some pharmacy chains dont provide you with enough help (pharmacy techs) that increases your work load. its just corporate trying to maximize their profits. But overall its not bad.

 

[letsgfuad]

my brother is a pharmacist at target and as far as i can tell he loves his job. He has a lot of interactions with his patients. He will meet with them and talk to them about their drugs and interactions. Things they should and should not do. Also he spends a good amount of time talking to doctors. He has a few doctors calling him weekly asking about his opinion on prescriptions for patients.

In other words pharmacy deals with a lot more than pill counting, insurance, and checking interactions (even though they do do that daily). As navy dds said, there are many career paths. You could work for a pharmaceutical working on phase I, II, III trials, work in a hospital, or manage multiple CVS, target, walgreen pharmacies.

He like his job and makes great money for workign 3 days one week and 4 the next.

 

[ChoDog]

Care to elaborate as to why pharmacy is more than just a pill pushing job?

Anyways, I believe pharmacists have it the worse in the health profession as they are the ones to hear it from doctors, patients, and insurance agencies. The general consensus is that most med/dental students hate pharmacology class. But if thats what you like, then go for it.

 

[sajjy]

I had the same confusion 3 years back...Pharmacy or Dentist??
But the idea of working in stores all through life and then heard that pharmacist work around 50-55 hours per week (though they get overtime) made me not to go for pharmacy.....

 

[denticus]

The question you should be asking (yourself) is: which do you love more?[/quote]


Exactly my thoughts before I even read the responses to your question. You shouldn't make your mind up based off of which representatives from either dentistry or pharmacy can persuade you the most effectively. You're talking about pursuing a career in something you intend on making a living out of for a great fraction of your life. The reality is that what may seem like heaven to me (dentistry) may very well be a living hell to you and vice versa with regards to pharmacy. Follow your heart, your gut, your conscience, and your instincts rather then the whims of those around you...who don't even KNOW YOU! I would strongly recommend (if you really do have no clue) spending a great deal of time observing the lifestyles of pharmacists and dentists. Observe how they consider a day successful. Analyze how rewarding those days would feel if you were in their shoes. This may be the one time in your life, other then marriage, where you're going to really have to do some work to find the path that YOU WANT, perhaps unbeknownst to you, to follow. Good luck!!!

 

[Suren911]

I personally think dentistry is better. I've thought about pharmacy years ago until I saw the crap they have to be put up with in hospitals. I feel like pharmacists work at the lowest level in the "doctor" hierarchy. I mean, it's a rewarding job and all - good money and not physically demanding, but I want to be able to be the boss and say it is so, not told what to do. And of course, you can work at any drug store. It seems like a nice job. Whatever floats your boat, really.

 

[lnsip9reg]

i'm a D1 now and enjoying school. i've met many P1s as well, and i am very impressed with them as well as my own classmates =)

i have equal respect for both professions!

really it comes down to what you're looking for. sometimes the idea of running my own office, working on patients, etc. is daunting to me . and i'm actually really enjoying the pharmacology part of our basic sciences stream. hah, though honestly it's a bit too late to change 😛

don't knock pharmacy because in other's eyes' it might have "less prestige". prestige doesn't mean anything if you're unhappy with your job. if you enjoy pharmacy or dentistry, that's what'll make it worthwhile!

 

[jeezy]

take the PCAT and the DAT. go with which ever one you do better on.

admissions are getting more competitive for both fields and you will be financially well off either way.

you said that you've worked in both fields, so you probably have a better idea of the trade-offs than many of us. make a list.. then post it here cuz i'd like to read it

 

[blankguy]

Personally, i think anyone that is in any career because of the prestige is an idiot. If you love the field, great. But if it is because of the prestige, you are a very shallow person.

Also, there are those people in all professions who love their field, but don't want the hassles of running a business. Owning a dental practices allows you the opportunity to rake in a lot more money, but it doesn't mea you'll be happy. Having others run a business so you can do what you love to do isn't necessarily a bad thing even if it means having someone else as your boss.

I think people need to find out for sure what they want to do. I feel a lot of predents(no offence to them) say they want to be their own boss without really getting a sense of what that entails. Since a lot of them come straight from undergrad they haven't really had a chance to see what having a career is like.

 

[bruinlovejake]

Here is the observation that i have when i work at both:
It seemed that dentist is stress out so much more than pharmacist. My boss work from 8:30 to 6. It seem to me that she has incompetence staff. She is also really cheap in hiring staff as in she does not hiring a real dental assistance, she hired someone that had no experience so that she can pay them less money (of course she had to train them).
I never seen her happy. She is always happy with her patients. But she just keep yelling at her staff
I don't know if she is unhappy because of her career or she is just so unorganized. I'm afraid to ask😳
Pharmacist on the other hand are always happy. But this guy told me that in 10 more years people can invent a robot can do what a pharmacist do. That really scares me off!!!!

 

[blankguy]

Here is the observation that i have when i work at both:
It seemed that dentist is stress out so much more than pharmacist. My boss work from 8:30 to 6. It seem to me that she has incompetence staff. She is also really cheap in hiring staff as in she does not hiring a real dental assistance, she hired someone that had no experience so that she can pay them less money (of course she had to train them).
I never seen her happy. She is always happy with her patients. But she just keep yelling at her staff
I don't know if she is unhappy because of her career or she is just so unorganized. I'm afraid to ask😳
Pharmacist on the other hand are always happy. But this guy told me that in 10 more years people can invent a robot can do what a pharmacist do. That really scares me off!!!!

Dentistry is probably has higher stakes than pharmacist in general. This is primarily due to the fact that pharmacy is dominated by big retail chains so that pharmacy managers are responsible to the regional manager of say walgreens, cvs, etc... The dentist are responsible for their own practices and since there are not part of a big corporate chain with set procedures personality becomes bigger factor. If a dentist has a big character fault like impatience then people will find it hard to work for him/her. This in turn gets reflected on how well or poorly the practice performs. There are drawbacks to being part of a corporate chain but as individual dentist the weight of running the practice falls squarely on the individual dentist.

 

[sharpshooter24]

Hi i am a second year in college. I both work as a pharmacy technician and dental assistance. I love both fields. I only have one more year to decide which route i should take. To tell you the truth, it is really hard decision for me since i think i love both. I ask the predent forum they told me just go with your heart.
Can you tell me why i should pick pharmacy over dental? Do pharmacist make more money than dentist? and do pharmacist have more privilege than dentist?
P.S. PLEASE DO NOT FLAME ME. I ask those questions because i always got different answer and i truly love both field.

well it depends on what you like/ love?

i know i am pre optometry, but i got a crapload of friends with AASDAS GPA's of 3.4-3.8 , DAT 17-21, and still cant get to one damn dental school.

 

[haisha ni narou]

Pharm is for squares.

 

[airsimon]

Do both Pharm and dentistry. Then you'd have the best of both world's, and you would be a happy man. Work as a dentist during the week and then you could fill your own prescriptions afterwards.

 

[futuredentist23]

i understand your dilemma and that you need some opinions. But the truth of the fact is, nobody here can help you with deciding which career is the right one for you. i think that you need to sit down and carefully think about what you want and what you want to do for the rest of your life.

In my opinion, both professions are very, very different. If you are having trouble seeing that, then i think you need to do some research and start experimenting with both fields. Did I mention 'start'?

Good luck

 

[jigabodo]

well it depends on what you like/ love?

i know i am pre optometry, but i got a crapload of friends with AASDAS GPA's of 3.4-3.8 , DAT 17-21, and still cant get to one damn dental school.

It's hard to get into schools with a 17 nowadays.

 

[tekstyle]

I was in the same dilemma myself too a couple years back. What decided for me was the fact that I wasn't good at chemistry and rather not be in a profession that deals with it everyday if not on the job, in school learning and applying it. Just like what someone said, making a decision based on the prestige is shortsighted. Just like how I have met a handful of dentists that love what they do, there are also a handful that regrets ever becoming one. go with you what you see you are capable of and love to doing for a living. Motivation drives success.

 

[dr bojangles]

in both fields, there is more than meets the eye (TRANSFORMERS!! sorry, i had to....). pharmacy is more than counting pills, dentistry is more than poking gums with the explorer.
if you really want the greatest advice, besides following your heart, etc. etc., you should ask the people you work with. i mean, lets be honest, you already have your foot in the door in both fields. just ask the people you work with at each job. i'm sure there is a pharmacist and dentist that you can talk to for 2 min, or if not, at the very least just ask them quickly your one question, why they chose their respective fields. the money/prestige/girls (guys?) will come in due time in both fields. good luck.

 

[poppajac]

I have several pharmacist family members. I would personally never even consider it.

 

[aggie-master]

Care to elaborate as to why pharmacy is more than just a pill pushing job?

Anyways, I believe pharmacists have it the worse in the health profession as they are the ones to hear it from doctors, patients, and insurance agencies. The general consensus is that most med/dental students hate pharmacology class. But if thats what you like, then go for it.

I like pharmacology class. I'll take it any day over gross anatomy.

 

[toofshucker]

I like pharmacology class. I'll take it any day over gross anatomy.

You, my friend, are crazy. 😉😀

 

[belmont]

Pharmacists have customers. Dentists have patients.