If I could go back, I would not choose pre-pharmacy (rant)

[pharmwannebe2]

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Bleh, I had some sympathy until I read international student. Why don't you go back to your own country?

agreed!! reminds me of that south park episode. They took darrre jobs!!

 

[rxlea]

I am exactly the same offline as I am online. Whether that is a good thing, I do not know.

Me too. Although I probably seem a lot more stressed out in person these days 🙂

 

[Circle Slash]

Why would you so hard to be competitive enough to get into pharm school but are afraid of a little competition in the job market? As someone who has a business degree, I know that every market has it's ups and downs. Sometimes you have to work a little harder for the results you want. Another thing, keep in mind that the peak of the baby boomers are also approaching retirement...and the tail-end will shortly follow. I'm sure that will contribute to some more jobs in all industries...and even if it doesn't, it wouldn't hurt to find more ways to give yourself a strategic advantage over the competition. Isn't that what life is anyways?...a continuous competition no matter what point you are in life. Not to sound like a complete anus-hole but I don't think there is a resting point in life until you can retire. 😎

 

[Tinkerbell22]

work hard, learn as much as you can, make your self an asset, and a valueble member of whatever profession you are in. I am looking to go into nuclear pharm, and Im going to bust my but and get under some successful pharmacist wing and soak it all up like a sponge.

This is true... if you find an area of pharmacy you love and you shine in that area, you shouldn't have a problem finding opportunities that will work for you. If you just do the bare minimum and don't really care about actually working towards your goals than you will have a hard time impressing potential employers.

Not that many odontophiliacs out there, eh?

I wonder what people say in their dental school interviews? "I love teeth because they're such an integral part of people's self esteem... I want to help people have beautiful healthy teeth? Teeth contribute to your overall health and I want to help people keep their mouths clean?' Or "People pay big cash money for teeth and dermatologists because you can't hide your teeth or skin problems" lol When I was researching health careers I thought about dentistry because I have small dexterous hands from playing the piano my whole life, but then I thought about it and I just couldn't see myself getting totally excited about teeth teeth and more teeth like I can about the diverse career options in pharmacy. A friend of mine is in dental school at Nova now and she said she chose dentistry after volunteering in a hospital for pre-med work and it was depressing because you mainly see people when they're the most sick... she said she wanted to have regular patients come in on a routine schedule and develop relationships with them and help them even when they're not just deathly sick. So I guess that is one reason.

Seriously, you bring Harvard up in some way or another in almost every post now. 😉

Pahk the cah in the Hahvahd Yahd. lol

Already done, dude,

Our class president shaved his hair in mohawk and I'm wearing shortie short stuff in neon colors.

Is it bad that I'm totally stuck in the 80's?

I just love American Apparel. lol

but is your ball sack hanging out? That's the clincher right there

Hey! Keep the mouse in the house mkay!

I actually cheered and danced on a coed team, and one of my male friends came to practice one day in knee high socks, shortttttt gym shorts, a mesh tank top, and a ribbon around his head... very Richard Simmons. It worked hilariously until the end of practice when we had to lay in the circle and do sit ups and stretch. lol

 

[annguyen0416]

I don't feel like typing much so I'll just get to the point.

If I knew about the current surplus due to all the new schools opening and how I'm going to have to look really hard to find a job (moving to crappy places, crappy schedules, crappy pay, only to pay off 200k debt), I would have done something else.

Even still it's tempting to stop now but this is my 3rd year in pre-pharm, 3.8 gpa, 80 pcat, I've kept my entire focus for the last 3 years on getting into pharmacy and even though the profession looks like it's going into the ****ter, I can't change course now.

I'll be turning 21 in march and I can already feel the mental inflexibility that comes with age.

Discuss.

Sorry about your regret. If you love your profession, I think you should go for it. You had told me that the only problem for international student in pharmacy school is paying for tuition.
I know it's really hard to go back and choose another profession because it's depended on our interests:

Dentist: if you love teeth & Hollywood smile
Optometrist: if you love eyeball
Physician: too long and cost a lot of money + years of residency
Am I right?
Also, may I ask where do you live?

 

[DrEaMeRcHiCk]

To be honest, even though the original poster probably went into pharmacy for the wrong reasons (as many people....which is very frustrating)...he does have a point.

As a current 2nd year student, because of the economy and the crazy number of schools opening up....we had tough times getting internships to complete our hours. Some ended up being unpaid interns just to get hours. You may think that it just stop here, but friends who have graduated have had difficulty as well. Those completing residencies couldn't find a clinical position but instead are doing per diem work in the inpatient pharmacy until a clinical position opens up. And it is not because these individuals are not working hard, they are...the opportunities are just not there.

Same goes for community positions, chain pharmacies are on budget as well and graduating pharmacists do not have full time. This is not the case everywhere, but at least in California, we have seen these problems.

Those of you entering pharmacy for the wrong reasons, change your career because only those of us who do not care about the money will be happy regardless of what happens in the future. And for those of you with the passion, get involved legislatively (as I have done) to fight to get the respect we deserve in health care. As for the new the schools, we have no control at this point.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

To be honest, even though the original poster probably went into pharmacy for the wrong reasons (as many people....which is very frustrating)...he does have a point.

As a current 2nd year student, because of the economy and the crazy number of schools opening up....we had tough times getting internships to complete our hours. Some ended up being unpaid interns just to get hours. You may think that it just stop here, but friends who have graduated have had difficulty as well. Those completing residencies couldn't find a clinical position but instead are doing per diem work in the inpatient pharmacy until a clinical position opens up. And it is not because these individuals are not working hard, they are...the opportunities are just not there.

Same goes for community positions, chain pharmacies are on budget as well and graduating pharmacists do not have full time. This is not the case everywhere, but at least in California, we have seen these problems.

Those of you entering pharmacy for the wrong reasons, change your career because only those of us who do not care about the money will be happy regardless of what happens in the future. And for those of you with the passion, get involved legislatively (as I have done) to fight to get the respect we deserve in health care. As for the new the schools, we have no control at this point.

I think the problem is always going to be more pronounced in populated areas of states like California and Florida. I did my undergraduate work in Miami and I couldn't find a pharmacy to even let me shadow or volunteer at, much less work. I ended up volunteering in a hospital pharmacy, after some research I found just one in the whole area who took pharmacy volunteers. I ended up moving out of Miami after graduation because I couldn't get a job as a tech and I just recently was hired after going to a more rural place in south Florida (if you can call it that). I'm assuming more and more people are going to have to pick up and move if they want jobs right away or full time positions.