Double major in chemistry/nursing thinking about pharmacy school

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chemnursepharm

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Hi all, new to this site.
I am a bit of a perpetual student but I think the path I have taken has finally led me to pharmacy. I am really excited about the idea but not sure if I have a chance of getting admission. As a reference I am 26 years old.

I have a BS in chemistry with a minor in math, was magna cum laude. Also have a masters in chemistry. Right now I am almost done with a BSN (nursing) and throughout my clinical experience have found I LOVE what the clinical pharmacists do. As I am more minded toward pure science my favorite part of nursing school is pharmacology. I thought I might want to be a CRNA or NP but have found that advance practice nursing is getting out of control (now requiring a "DNP"--an online doctorate that was recently invented that can be completed while working fulltime and I feel I would not be proud of). I think as an advance practice nurse I would be scared of all the things i DONT know by not going to medical school (which I feel its too late to do and don't really have the desire to do). This is not to bash nurses or the nursing profession, I just think it may not be as much for me as I thought originally.

My overall GPA after nursing school (only made one B ever in chemistry/math but have almost all b's in nursing!!) would be around 3.6-3.7. The only pre-requestite I would need is General Biology, which I plan to take my first year working as a nurse.

What type of work/volunteer experience do pharmacy schools really look for? I currently volunteer with a non-profit but have never worked in a pharmacy.

Are there any RN/PharmD's out there? I am wondering if it would be a unique combination to keep my nursing license active if I end up doing pharmacy.

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I think if you take the PCAT and finish all your pre-reqs then youll get in. But I think most schools require pre-reqs to be taken within 5 years of applying, and it looks like you have been through a lot of school, so id look into how long its been since youve taken some of those pre-reqs.
 
Seems like you'd prefer pharmacy school. Masters in chem., ...why wouldn't you do that?

Guess if you wanted to work while in pharm school, yes, you would need to keep up your professional nursing license.

Every discipline has its own SOP it must follow, regardless. If you prefer pharmacy, definitely that is what you should go for. No reason why you couldn't work as a nurse while going to pharm. school, at least on some kind of part-time basis. Where you could potentially make six figures and bonuses by combining nursing and pharmacy is through pharm rep.
 
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I'm similar to you, I'm 24, have a BSN, I've been a ICU nurse for a little over a year and a half. I'm currently finishing my last pharm prereq and will be sending off my pharm apps this week.
I enjoy nursing most days, but its honestly not something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. I feel like I'm not living up to my full potential lol.

Oh and I'm keeping my nursing license active as long as I can just in case this whole pharmacy thing doesn't work out. I can also make a decent amount of money working one day a week while in pharmacy school if I get accepted.
 
Your future RN working exp will be more than enough for pharmacy school.

Yes there are a lot of PharmD/RN out there. I also agree with AlexSC that you should keep your RN license active until you get a full-time pharmacist job
 
Good luck with your career as a RN (and PharmD later) !
 
yeah,i think so, i know this is late but good luck with your apps!! good luck with you
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