Is PGY3 the Future of Clinical Pharmacy Training?

[Splenda88]

If even PGY2 is in the card to get a clinical pharmacy job, you might as well go to med school and become an FM, IM or a Preventive Medicine physician, work Mon-Thur for 170-200k/yr.

Many of you can get into MD/DO school...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Splenda88]

Except medical residents need the residency to practice medicine.... Since it’s an optional exercise for us... Well you see where I’m going with that, right?

That is true but compared to what pharmacy is going thru right now, needing residency is not the end of the world... If you are a US student, you will get into a residency of some sort (IM or FM etc...). I have classmates who failed one or both steps and they were able to get into FM.

If your dream is to dispense meds, you can also do it as a physician

 

[Modest_anteater]

A PGY-3 would signal the end of the profession. I'm not kidding either.

you realize many hospitals have PGY 1 PGY2 Fellowship 1 fellow ship 2 for pharmDs which is basically PGY1-4 already bro...

 

[BenJammin]

you realize many hospitals have PGY 1 PGY2 Fellowship 1 fellow ship 2 for pharmDs which is basically PGY1-4 already bro...

I posted that over 3 years ago. I'm a goddamn genius.

 

[projektreverb]

So 10 years down the line I’m guessing we’ll be at PGY-8?

 

[mentos]

So 10 years down the line I’m guessing we’ll be at PGY-8?

Yup for community. Why pay full price when you can get a sucker for 1/3 price?

 

[deleted562805]

Looks like he took down the article. SDN and Reddit Pharmacy were too savage for him. Or maybe the physicians got wind of his article and started to trash talk him.

It looks like he also took down the article in which he mentioned that he was okay with students calling him "doctor" at the school but wanted them to refrain from doing so at the hospital. You can't eat your cake and have it too pal.

Reminds me of preceptor who was essentially a paid volunteer from my pharmacy school and just precepting students. and the pharmacists who were employed at the hospital, did not like that the school allowed these faculty to just do nothing but precept students.

 

[deleted562805]

That's not entirely true.

ID docs aren't rolling in the $$$


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Their pay is still better than pharmacist pay, plus job security. a hospital only hires one or two ID specialists

 

[deleted562805]

Pharmacists are making 130-140K-ish w/no shift differential/OT included in my market... ID MDs make around 200K.... But have 3 years residency plus 3 years fellowship. And med school is longer if you did a 6 year pharmD. Not sure they come out much ahead of a pharmacist

Did these Pharmacists have a residency of a year or two? and ID fellowship is 2 years. if these pharmacists had a residency, then there is not much difference. Med school is long regardless.

 

[deleted562805]

I think part of the issue is that most students entering pharmacy aren't really aware of the options post-graduation until they're well into it. I know I hadn't even realized residencies were a thing despite looking into pharmacy in general. So when you are already 2 years into pharmacy school and decide you don't want to work retail, it is not like you can just say "well medical school is better then." You are already 2 years in and would lose another at minimum applying, plus you have the loans from at least 2 years of professional school. So that is when students say "Well I better do a residency then." So if the PGY3 is added, people will do them because they don't want to do retail and they didn't realize the commitment to get out of retail before starting.
[/Q

Well, they could have done med school. there is a story of a student that did Pharmacy and then went on to do medical school on Student Doctor.

 

[Secret_Informant]

Well, they could have done med school. there is a story of a student that did Pharmacy and then went on to do medical school on Student Doctor.

Stories of former pharmacists and pharmacy students pursuing alternative careers are not uncommon. Most who want to pursue medical school (MD/DO) graduate from pharmacy school and/or work while preparing their application during their first-third professional year and without telling pharmacy personnel or peers their decision-making plans (common-sense reasons). The insider tip is that pharmacy programs train you to be committed to pharmacy only and nothing else; they train you to be a licensed pharmacist and to be "committed" to the profession. Any skills outside of that must be gained before entering the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum, during the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum, as a registered/licensed pharmacist, or at another job elsewhere. These stories have been present on SDN since I've been a member and long before: "Seek and you shall find."

Studentdoctor.net (SDN) is also not the only source of information on career-changing pharmacists; social media in general has a plethora of these individuals and their profiles are not hard to find. One of my classmates (with initials PD) was admitted into DO school this year. I already alluded to the PharmD to Physician Assistant transition already in my previous posts. Such career changes occur with former licensed pharmacists becoming researchers through PhD or MS degree programs, a completely different direction than what they had before. Of course research experience is paramount as well as clinical reviews and published works. Some researchers worked in clinical pharmacy (and/or completed a pharmacy residency), then decided they "didn't like it too much."

I would not be surprised with the recent WalMart layoffs that some pharmacists are already making moves. There are already recruiters reaching out to former pharmacists for positions to help with their transferable skills to help them land jobs. Some become consults, create Medication Therapy Management (MTM) contract businesses, or career development businesses just to make some money and to keep their skills up. Not everyone who earns a license stays in pharmacy.

As far as relevance to the PGY3 thread, there are other ways to market yourself other than "sipping the KoolAid." Some individuals have more mettle than others to take the MCAT, prepare the medical school or osteopathic school application, and not say anything to their peers about it.