Is pharmacy a good career for those who love chemistry?

[I_am_sleep_deprived]

I'm current a HS junior. I loved pre-AP chem, and I'm taking AP chem my senior year. I'm in AP physics now.

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[PharmtoCS]

No. It's only a good career if you like being $200k+ in debt with terrible job prospects and working in sweatshop settings.

I would look at other professions, i.e. computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, etc. that offer better job prospects and a better work environment without you having to take out so much in loans.

 

[axelz165]

no it is not.

 

[Amicable Angora]

I'm current a HS junior. I loved pre-AP chem, and I'm taking AP chem my senior year. I'm in AP physics now.

Organic and inorganic chemistry are not used to any serious depth in pharmacy school. Nomenclature and structure will help slightly but actual wet lab techniques and theory are missing.

In actual pharmacy practice, you will never use college chemistry.

 

[AHossain]

It's been a pretty down market recently


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[chemistrytrash]

In school you will have the opportunity to study a lot of chemistry! So it can be a good path, but I would definitely recommend getting your start as a pharmacy technician as soon as you can to see if health care is the right field for you. If you decide you still like chemistry, but not so much healthcare, you could always go the PhD route instead of pharmd!

Try not to focus on people who are jaded by the field. The way the economy is currently, that how EVERY field is! Stick with what you're passionate about and you'll land on your feet

 

[axelz165]

In school you will have the opportunity to study a lot of chemistry! So it can be a good path, but I would definitely recommend getting your start as a pharmacy technician as soon as you can to see if health care is the right field for you. If you decide you still like chemistry, but not so much healthcare, you could always go the PhD route instead of pharmd!

Try not to focus on people who are jaded by the field. The way the economy is currently, that how EVERY field is! Stick with what you're passionate about and you'll land on your feet

Hon, every other field doesn't put you 100-200k in debt.

if he's passionate about chemistry, then pharmacy is a waste of time for him. There are 2 classes that focus on chemistry in most pharmacy curriculum and they're usually blown over very quickly and DO NOT matter at all and the concepts are never touched upon again. You will never worry, nor care about the chemical composition of drugs in retail and VERY seldom to never in clinical practice. Don't pull wool over his eyes jesus.

 

[ilead]

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't, I'll just tell you my experience and you can decide for yourself.
After taking AP Chem my senior year, I realized that I loved chemistry. After volunteering at a pharmacy, I decided that I wanted to go into healthcare and thought that pharmacy would be a good choice because I was always interested in biology and chemistry.
I'll be a junior in a 7 year pharmacy program and so far, chemistry has been a big part of our curriculum. In freshman year, there's gen chem and in sophomore year, there is organic chem. In junior year, we have biochem (which I haven't taken yet, but from what I can tell, there is a lot of chemistry involved). I've also heard that NAPLEX (the national exam to get license) also has organic chem.
So far, I've enjoyed being in pre-pharmacy and learned a lot about chemistry, but I don't know what it's like if you choose to attend a general 4 year college and pursue graduate school. I'm sorry but I also don't know much about chemistry in the professional program.
Regarding pharmacy as a career, from what I've seen, chemistry isn't used much.
But as people have said, you should also consider job outlook and if you want to pursue a career in healthcare. If you are really interested in chemistry, there are many different jobs that you can choose from

 

[UGAZ]

If you love chemistry, be a chemist, or get your phD in chemistry. I almost use nothing in chemistry during my pharmacy career so far.

 

[Apples2Oranges]

if you're good in chemistry and you like it, PhD for you! You'll use some biochemistry for the most part, but it's not anything invigorating. As a pharmacist in general, you will learn what is already available, not what can be possibly made like a scientist. That goes for most medical fields...unless you're like an MD/PhD or PharmD/PhD.

I was pretty good at chemistry, but dear god I hated it. I just pushed through it for school.

 

[Dalteparin]

I agree with all the folks advising you to go the PhD route. If you really want to do chemistry for a career, pharmacy probably won't give you what you're looking for. I took a ton of chemistry in pharm school but I use none of it at work. Plus, if new drug discovery is what interests you, a PharmD alone won't prepare you to do that - those jobs require a PhD or a PharmD/PhD.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

To be honest, a BS in chemistry is not even worth it if you're interested in chemistry.

Get a chemical engineering degree. It will make you a stronger candidate for the white collar industry jobs, while a Bachelor's of chemistry will more likely get you a low-level tech or lab assistant job.