Just looking for a little advice.

[Tnp8841]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I am just looking for a little advice on PharmD, If you want to help, thank you and I will do my best to answer any questions.
I am 21, went to RIT for mechanical engineering tech. but dropped out because I just didn't do the work, honestly I went straight out of HS and wasn't really ready for it. And I only have one or two college credits. I have been working 40 hrs a week the last two years and I have come to realize I need to do something with my life. I don't have a background in anything medical other than I find it interesting. I am rather bad at public speaking but I like to figure things out and can work hard if I am interested and always have been good at SCI and Math.
Now the last few weeks I have been looking at PharmD and some of the Pre-Pharm courses and schools. What are some things that someone like me has going good for PharmD?
Any tips on what I can expect with Pre-Pharm and later courses? And lastly I have managed to confuse myself on what is needed to enter Pre-Pharm?

 

[riggylou]

I started pursuing pre-pharmacy at 24..I had completed other education but nothing in science. I had never thought I was a math or science person. Doing pre-pharmacy is a lot more time demanding than I had ever expected--in order to do really well, you can't just sit back in class and expect to absorb the information, you'll spend a TON of time studying (enough to practically loathe the person who first invented the chair). And just so you know you'll have to put up with some subjects that are not directly relevant or all that interesting (like physics..apologies to anyone who LOVES physics).

I've had much more success with this than I had anticipated, having never cared too much about science or math and I think the end result will be worth it. But just know that it takes quite a bit of sacrifice...even without an active social life and without working, it can be tough just to get enough down time for sanity. And, of course, that is just pre-pharm which is nothing compared to pharmacy school.

Are you hoping to get your Bachelors degree or just do the prereqs? Some schools are starting to require a Bachelors and in all cases you will be more competitive if you have one (unless your application is otherwise flawless w/ stellar grades, extracurriculars, volunteer, and work experience). Most schools say it doesn't really matter what your major is though but how you do on the prereqs...you don't even have to be a science major if you have another interest. I would balance your schedule out by taking no more than 2-3 science/math courses at a time and fill the rest of your credits with non-science. It sounds too easy but it'll be tougher than you expect. Stay above 12 credits but keep it light enough that your GPA is high. That is pretty much what I did but I had done my general education already so I didn't have too much to add on top of the science. It took me basically 2.5 years...3 if you want to count my last semester where I only have one class left.

Good luck to you; I hope my rambling helps you a little...oh and public speaking is an acquired skill so don't worry about that..!

 

[pharmerbird]

First things first, I think most schools require an AA degree (or equivalent credit hours) and of course the pre-req courses for pharmacy school. I don't know of any that require Bachelor's (although there might be a few..) So I would consider enrolling in a community college and start taking the required courses for an A.A. degree and slowly ease into science/math courses to see how you like them/how well you can do. These science/math courses sometimes require more studying than the average course so make sure you keep that in mind.

General per-requisites for pharmacy school are:
Biology 1, Biology 2, (Sometimes Microbiology)
General Chemistry 1, General Chemistry 2, Organic Chemistry 1, Organic Chemistry 2 (Sometimes Biochemistry)
Physics 1, Physics 2
Anatomy & Physiology 1, Anatomy & Physiology 2 (Sometimes it is offered as Anatomy and then a course in Physiology)
and all math course up to Calculus (You will have to take College Algebra, Statistics, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus and then you can take Calculus)
Speech

Those are just the general so make sure you check the schools official websites you are interested in to see the actual requirements for the pharmacy schools you plan on applying to. All of this schooling in your situation would take about 2ish years to complete. Also make sure you keep your science & cumulative GPA above 3.0 (that's the minimum for most schools) you would want to try to stay in a range between 3.3-4.0 (I personally think that's a good GPA)

In the mean time important things would be volunteering in a pharmacy to see if you are interested and if you can working in a pharmacy. This will show you if you are really interested in the field and will look good on a pharmacy school application. I personally think pharmacy experience is invaluable and schools really like to see that. Also consider extra curricular activities in school that you are interested in that correlate with pharmacy.

After you have completed the required courses you will need to take the PCAT (some schools do not require it, but most do).

I think that's enough information and make sure you do your own research on the subject and look up the schools websites to see the OFFICIAL requirements (mine are only what I dealt with while applying...)

Good luck!!