help for possible pre-med, high school senior?

[gmcsierra]

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i am trying to decide if i am going to go into pre-med next year or pharmacy. i have heard horror stories about med school. first off, i enjoy running, hope to be running around 80 minutes twice daily soon. is there time for this during med school/residency even pre-med? also, i only had a 29 act and 3.8 in high school. is that competitive enough? my parents don't have any money to put me through med school, and pharmacy is really competitive lately with 100% placement coming out of the college that i am going to next year. i also want to start a family or have a normal life and so on some day. is this all possible with med school. thanks a lot for your time.

 

[dustinspeer]

Since I have been faced with the same decision, I'll offer my advice. If you are completely set on becoming a doctor, then do it. No matter what people tell you or how hard you think it will be. If not, you will regret it for the rest of your life. Pharmacy, in comparison, is easier in the fact that there is no residency requirement if you don't go into the clinical aspect. The school, however, is nothing to be taken lightly. It involves a lot of tough biochem. Just because the admissions test is easier does not make the school easier. Med school is not much longer than pharmacy, only by 2 years. (6 for pharm, assuming you do the 2+4, and 8 for med.) If you are thinking about a Bachelor's in Pharm, think again, because you won't be able to get a license for long. They are phasing out the degrees and soon will only be offering PharmD's.

If you want to be a doctor, go for it. It is always worth a shot. But be cognizent of what you are getting into.

 

[Cerberus]

gmcsierra, don't stress your high school GPA and ACT scores they are actually way above average. As for choosing a career just choose the one you find most interesting a realize that both paths are going to be difficult. If medicine or pharmacy is what you truly want to do, you'll find a way.

 

[megkudos]

Bottom line- if you want to do medicine, you can. Don't psych yourself out about it. It takes a lot of work, but so does pharmacy! You only have to worry about your college grades and MCAT scores, not any high school stuff. Just set you mind to it and do it if it's what you want.

I would base you decision on other factors like lifestyle. You can have a good lifestyle as a phsyician, it depends on what field you go into.

Many pre-meds, medical students have interests outside of medicine, such as running as you were talking about. You have to make the time for it, but it's definately possible.

I don't know, I think I'm just biased too because I worked in a pharmacy. Retail pharmacy (which is what most pharmacists do) pays well but is a pain in the butt. Many of the pharmacists I worked with were unhappy with their jobs. If you become a phsyician you have many choices of what type of field/lifestle you want. You get a lot of patient interaction. Also one of my good friends went all the way through pharmacy school and decided to go to medical school afterwards because he was unhappy.

Maybe try to talk to some doctors and pharmacists and get a first hand opinion. Good luck.

 

[vixen]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by gmcsierra:
i am trying to decide if i am going to go into pre-med next year or pharmacy.

look more into both fields and see what suits you better...From what I know, pharmacists have a better work schedule and aren't on call...doctors deal w/people more...

i have heard horror stories about med school. first off, i enjoy running, hope to be running around 80 minutes twice daily soon. is there time for this during med school/residency even pre-med?

there's enough time for many things if you can manage your time appropriately


also, i only had a 29 act and 3.8 in high school. is that competitive enough?

competitive enough for what? College...med schools don't look at your high school gpa and I think your grades seem good for pharmacy...even if you go to college and then decide to do pharmacy, you can transfer in...

my parents don't have any money to put me through med school,

you can take out loans, as many and most people do...

and pharmacy is really competitive lately with 100% placement coming out of the college that i am going to next year. i also want to start a family or have a normal life and so on some day. is this all possible with med school.


of course you'll be able to have a family...I don't know what you mean by "normal", but you probably know you'll be working hard, especially when you have to do a residency after med school, but if you want to have more time for your family, don't go for surgery because its notorious for spending a lot of time in the hospital...When you go to college, make sure you speak to your premed advisor, he/she will be able to answer many of your questions and GOOD LUCK 🙂

thanks a lot for your time.••••

 

[none]

It's not something you need to really be considering right now. Aren't the pre-pharm and pre-med requirements pretty much the same? Couldn't they both be filled within a biology major?