interested in pharmacy

[itsjustlenny]

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hi everyone. new guy here..lol

anyways, i was just wondering if im on the right path. a few days ago i decided to do a pharmacy tech course at western career college, which according to them will be about 1 year and 3 months. then when im done with that i would like to continue on to become a pharmacist. my question is: should i bother doing the pharmacy tech courses or should i just go straight into pharmacy school???

I'll be honest and say the reason i want to do pharmacy tech and continue to pharmacist is because of where i work. i work at cardinal health but in a distribution center. i figured since im already in this company i might as well do pharm tech and eventually (from what i heard its about 5-6 years of schooling) become a pharmacist within my own company.

any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated. By the way i am going today to finalize my registration at western career college. so any thoughts before i go would MOST DEFINITELY be appreciated. thank you all.

 

[omnione]

Plenty of people are pharm techs before entering pharmacy school and the position helps you learn about the pharmacy profession while showing pharmacy schools of interest that you have experience in the field.

State requirements vary regarding coursework, so take the courses if needed and if you have the time to work as a pharm tech while keeping your academic commitments up.

 

[itsjustlenny]

thank you, i just wanted to make sure i didnt waste time and money (15 month pharm tech = $24,000) and then find out at the end i didnt really need it.

 

[UES Girl]

thank you, i just wanted to make sure i didnt waste time and money (15 month pharm tech = $24,000) and then find out at the end i didnt really need it.

I don't know if courses you take as a pharmtech will apply towards your pre-reqs. In my school all the people who are pharmtechs still took the exact same pre-reqs as those of us who do not work as pharmtechs. So you won't be able to go staight from pharm tech program into pharmacy school - you'll still have to go through a regular route, it's just the fact that you will be a pharmtech will benefit you in the way that you'll have the experience of working in the pharmacy setting.

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

Wow, 24,000! You can get trained to be a pharm tech on the job at many places and study on your own with cheap online materials for the pharm tech certification. The classes in pharm tech school will NOT count toward your prereqs for pharmacy school. Unless you want to make a career as a pharm tech I think it is a waste of 24,000 dollars. Spend the money towards real school prereqs. If you start now, you could finish your prereqs in about 2-3 years and apply to pharmacy school which depending on the program would be another 3-4 years. Also the pharm tech program is a waste of 15 months you could have been taking classes that are actually required to get into Pharmacy School. I would really think about this and contact a pharmacy counselor at a local university, 15 months, 24,000, and not getting any prereqs done sounds like a lot of waste. Getting into Pharmacy School is getting pretty damn competitive so focusing on school and getting those prereqs done is important. There will be time for job experience and volunteering while your in undergrad preparing to apply to Pharmacy School.

Having experience is important and looks great on an application but focus your money and attention toward Prereq courses and find a pharm tech job that will train you on site, clerk job to start out or volunteer at an independent.

 

[oink2655]

DO NOT go to Western or any school that charge you 20K for tuition. You can simply take the PTCB exam and be certified. There are a lot of ppl that don't know about the test and waste so much money with programs like this. If you do a search at local CC, you may be able to find a tech program for ~1200 if you want to go to a class and learn that way. Otherwise, buy a book and study from that.