Is Pharmacy Really For You?

[quitejaded]

Hey guys,

I'm going through a reflective time in my young life. Deciding what career I will want to pursue (I'm 20 contemplating grad school after getting a BSc in Management Science and a BA in Philosophy).

Anyway, I'd like to take a bit of a survey. Why did you decide to do pharmacy? What is it about pharmacy that attracted you and why do you think YOU will succeed in this field?

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[confettiflyer]

Hey guys,

I'm going through a reflective time in my young life. Deciding what career I will want to pursue (I'm 20 contemplating grad school after getting a BSc in Management Science and a BA in Philosophy).

Anyway, I'd like to take a bit of a survey. Why did you decide to do pharmacy? What is it about pharmacy that attracted you and why do you think YOU will succeed in this field?

I like health care, I generally don't like touching people on a regular basis....pharmacy.

 

[CCPPharmChick]

I like health care, I generally don't like touching people on a regular basis....pharmacy.

same here =P

 

[Passion4Sci]

I just couldn't get into med school, and pharmacy was my fall back plan.

Getting paid $100,000 a year to count pills, what could be better?

 

[NaOH]

The white coat which mysteriously lacks sleeves.

 

[IrishRxMan]

I like being able to help people with my knowledge and skills but I don't want the electronic leash (pager) that docs usually have to have. The more I learn about the profession, the more and more I want to be a pharmacist. It's not for everyone, but all professions are that way. It's kind of a subjective question, actually.

 

[RealUnreaL]

it calls m-o-n-e-y

 

[IrishHammer]

Hey guys,

I'm going through a reflective time in my young life. Deciding what career I will want to pursue (I'm 20 contemplating grad school after getting a BSc in Management Science and a BA in Philosophy).

Anyway, I'd like to take a bit of a survey. Why did you decide to do pharmacy? What is it about pharmacy that attracted you and why do you think YOU will succeed in this field?

Two reasons:

1.) I'm very OCD-ish in that I hate handling any bodily fluids. To paraphrase what confettiflyer said, pharmacy allows me to work in health care without the prospect of being urinated on by a patient. Plus, pharmacies by their very nature are an incredibly structured environment.

2.) I love learning new things, and to be a pharmacist, you have to be willing to be a life-long learner. There are always new drugs coming out, say nothing of the scores of drugs already on the market, and you have to be able to have an awful lot of information right at the tip of your tongue even for the most basic job functions. That's the primary reason I picked the profession. My cup runneth over with geektacular nerditry.

If you're unsure about the field, I would suggest getting some experience in it. Try to land a tech job, or even just volunteer/shadow at a pharmacy, see what it's all about. The classes and the schools won't give you nearly as good of an idea on whether this is something you want to do.

 

[jasonbourne]

Hey guys,

I'm going through a reflective time in my young life. Deciding what career I will want to pursue (I'm 20 contemplating grad school after getting a BSc in Management Science and a BA in Philosophy).

Anyway, I'd like to take a bit of a survey. Why did you decide to do pharmacy? What is it about pharmacy that attracted you and why do you think YOU will succeed in this field?

I was attracted because i saw it as a means of positively impacting my community. My dream has always been to work in the healthcare industry. It rocks when you think of the fact that you save lives

 

[RealUnreaL]

I was attracted because i saw it as a means of positively impacting my community. My dream has always been to work in the healthcare industry. It rocks when you think of the fact that you save lives

Jason
for a sec. I thought that you were talking about your girl friend lol

 

[jasonbourne]

Jason
for a sec. I thought that you were talking about your girl friend lol

Really!! LOL

 

[thephoenician88]

i enjoy the pharmacology aspect of pharmacy and being able to explain that to others.........sometimes.

 

[charfdorn]

Two reasons:

1.) I'm very OCD-ish in that I hate handling any bodily fluids. To paraphrase what confettiflyer said, pharmacy allows me to work in health care without the prospect of being urinated on by a patient.

There's no guarantee of that. But it'll happen much less often.

If you're unsure about the field, I would suggest getting some experience in it. Try to land a tech job, or even just volunteer/shadow at a pharmacy, see what it's all about. The classes and the schools won't give you nearly as good of an idea on whether this is something you want to do.

Reallly good idea. Really. Seriously. Don't take two years of prereqs just to get a year into pharm school and go, oh, THAT's pharmacy?

Anyway, what I like about the career is pretty similar to previous posts: health care field with no bodily fluids, requires analytical mind with great memory capacity, etc.

Also, this career offers human interaction as well as the opportunity to work away from people at times. That's a good mix. The further into it I get, the more things I find that I like. I don't really care for general chemistry, but organic chemistry just makes perfect sense to me. It's like building with LEGOs or solving a logic puzzle.

I could probably go on for about a day and a half, but those are the biggies.

 

[IrishHammer]

There's no guarantee of that. But it'll happen much less often.

If it happens in pharmacy, it's much easier to defend my action of punching the guy's lights out.

 

[trailrider400]

Let's say HYPOTHETICALLY a guy likes getting peed on... She I ahem i mean he consider another career

 

[luwical]

Let's say HYPOTHETICALLY a guy likes getting peed on... She I ahem i mean he consider another career

How about when you tell a patient that their medication will taste like wasabi?

Only the God of Pharmacy knows, they might throw up on you.

I would prefer pee because it is less infectious.

 

[IrishHammer]

Let's say HYPOTHETICALLY a guy likes getting peed on... She I ahem i mean he consider another career

I believe R. Kelly could offer that person a job.

 

[fuCl]

my parents made me.

 

[MIkeNB]

because i want to join forces with all independent pharmacies around the nation to beat the chain pharmacies. lol. Jk, that's an impossible task.

 

[iBeast]

Don't know but 6 figures + is definitely for me.

 

[xtsukiyox]

If you're unsure about the field, I would suggest getting some experience in it. Try to land a tech job, or even just volunteer/shadow at a pharmacy, see what it's all about. The classes and the schools won't give you nearly as good of an idea on whether this is something you want to do.

Heartily seconded! If you need some advice on how to go about it, there are a lot of certified people here who can tell you where to go to get your licensure. (I'm in AZ - if that's where you happen to be, I'd be happy to point you to some resources.) I found it useful to have already taken Gen Chem II, but if you took high school chemistry and really "got it," or have good study skills and motivation, you should be just fine.

My reasons? In no real particular order:
1) The money. The only three ways to get ahead are a) school, b) luck, c) "the next big thing." My mum has been trying to invent the "next big thing" for as long as I can remember, and it hasn't worked yet. Oh, I also buy Lotto tickets.

2) Flexible working environment. I really haven't figured out what work environment suits me best, so having many options is good. (Electrical Engineering, my previous major? Not as much.) You can work retail, pbm (checking scripts or phone work), hospital, administration (drug & insurance companies)... Those are just what I can think of off the top of my head. Oh yeah! Radiopharmacy, too.

3) I like to constantly learn new things. I get bored when I get in a rut. Pharmacy is a field in which you can constantly learn about new things - If you manage to have your fill of learning about drugs for the moment, there are so many subjects tangential to Pharmacy that I can't even imagine getting to the end of what would interest me!

4) While I'm sure I could handle bodily fluids, the option of having the above three items met without having to do physical hard labor or cleaning up infectious liquids is good.

5) Respect. Nobody in my family has above a Master's (and even that's in French... and her kids don't speak French. What a waste). Plus, as someone mentioned above, the mysteriously sleeveless white coat.

I'm sure I can think of more, but this verges on being a novella already.

 

[mmcaule]

While no one area of pharmacy really appeals to me, I think it's great that there are so many paths to take and that you are hardly stuck in one of those paths once you have chosen it. If, as an MD, for example, you choose to become a pathologist and then get bored of all the lab work and rather want the intensity of being an ER doc, then you'll have to go through another four or five (or whatever) years of intense residency. This is not really the case for the retail pharmacist who grows tired of counting pills. Not to mention the rather realistic possibilities of working part-time, on a contractual basis (i.e. as a relief pharmacist), and owning my own business.

I can't imagine myself working the same job for the next 40 or so years, so the possibility of changing careers fairly seamlessly is VERY appealing.

That, and I truly want to go to work feeling like an expert who gets to share his knowledge and help others. That I'd get paid well to do so is also quite appealing.

 

[confettiflyer]

i'll bet it was a lot of "process of elimination" that led people to this field, just a hunch

 

[RealUnreaL]

force be with you.

 

[koercive]

I don't want to work retail personally. I want to be a part of a govt agency or corporation to put my skills and education to use. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that pharmacists only work retail positions counting pills

 

[IrishRxMan]

I don't want to work retail personally. I want to be a part of a govt agency or corporation to put my skills and education to use. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that pharmacists only work retail positions counting pills

There is the Indian Health Service, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, that will pay for part or all of your tuition over a period of time. You can also work for the FDA, Department of Corrections, or military. If you work for the government, it will depend on which agency you go with for what work you will be doing. When you get into pharmacy school, I would suggest going to the APhA annual meeting, your campus will have a chapter of APhA, and hit up the vendor booths that all the government agencies have for pharmacy. All the branches of service have separate booths and usually the FDA, IHS, and DOC are all right next to each other. They will tell you what they offer for how much of a commitment on your part. Just be careful and do the research behind what they tell you. They are there to sell to you the job. I'm not saying they will lie outright, but they will embellish what they're saying.

 

[pharm B]

Sorry to be off-topic. IrishRxMan, did you get my PM?

 

[BlueCosmos]

Medicine is more of a family breaker

 

[SHC1984]

1) The money. The only three ways to get ahead are a) school, b) luck, c) "the next big thing." My mum has been trying to invent the "next big thing" for as long as I can remember, and it hasn't worked yet. Oh, I also buy Lotto tickets.

d) becoming a celebrity. (would be the BEST thing.)

 

[mildlyneurotic]

what better way to get high?

oh, i mean, help people, sorry im high right now

lol i wonder how well that'll go over in an interview

 

[trailrider400]

what better way to get high?

oh, i mean, help people, sorry im high right now

That'll happen...

 

[veyep]

I just couldn't get into med school, and pharmacy was my fall back plan.

Getting paid $100,000 a year to count pills, what could be better?

which pharmacy pays you $100,000 for counting pills...? I have never seen that....There are numerous things pharmacist do from drug interaction monitoration, counseling, vaccination, recomendations to physicians and more...If you do residency there are even alot of other opportunities to give to back to the society...Please don't mislead people here.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

which pharmacy pays you $100,000 for counting pills...? I have never seen that....There are numerous things pharmacist do from drug interaction monitoration, counseling, vaccination, recomendations to physicians and more...If you do residency there are even alot of other opportunities to give to back to the society...Please don't mislead people here.

I believe Passio4Sci was being sarcastic, considering his other posts.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I believe Passio4Sci was being sarcastic, considering his other posts.

Yeah, I am really sarcastic on all of these, "Why Pharmacy?" posts. They're silly, and I think people start them for some sort of validation and they're being wishy-washy on what they want to do with their lives.

 

[RealUnreaL]

which pharmacy pays you $100,000 for counting pills...? I have never seen that....there are numerous things pharmacist do from drug interaction monitoration, counseling, vaccination, recomendations to physicians and more...if you do residency there are even alot of other opportunities to give to back to the society...please don't mislead people here.

+1

 

[charfdorn]

Yeah, I am really sarcastic on all of these, "Why Pharmacy?" posts. They're silly, and I think people start them for some sort of validation and they're being wishy-washy on what they want to do with their lives.

+2. I don't care why anyone else is going into pharmacy, and knowing their reasons won't help me make up my own mind.

 

[NaOH]

Actually, I take that back. I'm getting into pharmacy so I can move in the appropriate health-related circles to find myself a sugar mama so I can work part-time and be a stay-at-home dad.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

Actually, I take that back. I'm getting into pharmacy so I can move in the appropriate health-related circles to find myself a sugar mama so I can work part-time and be a stay-at-home dad.

My husband, who just got his PhD in molecular biology and wants to not only stay in research but in academia, teases that he's glad I'm going into pharmacy because eventually, I'll support his research habit.

And it probably will work out that he'll have the more flexible job and may be the one working from home when our eventual kids are sick...

 

[confettiflyer]

drug interaction monitoration

you mean drug interaction strategery?