Lifestyle difference between Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical

[Sn2Rxn]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hello everyone! I was unsure where to post the following, so I'd like to apologize if Im in the wrong thread.

My preparation:
Im a non traditional student (28, engaged) getting a BS in biochemistry with a focus on organic chemistry from a University of California (UC). Our biochem program is quite competitive, by the time I graduate I would have gone over biochem, biophysics, and the corresponding labs, along advance organic chemistry classes. I also took a very dense and involved drug design course, which I found to be amazing! In the class we used UCSF Chimera, UCSF DOCK, Spartan, PyMol, and Mathematica. I have excellent lab skills and have had the chance to take part in an organic chemistry research. After obtaining my BS, which will be in summer 2015, I plan to take an extra year for taking required preparatory courses such as physiology and anatomy amongst others, which I either did not have time to take, weren't offered, or were partially offered at my UC. Im looking to apply to Oregon State University's pharmacy program and to UCSF only (personal reason).

Moreover, I greatly enjoy organic chemistry and I enjoy biochem in general. I loved drug design and the whole process of it (we covered pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and much more), to me it felt like organic chemistry on much grandeur scale; putting puzzle pieces together super FUN. I've worked 7 years in a fast pace, fast response, and detail oriented environment geared toward providing high quality service in the food industry. Through this experience I've learned to efficiently interact with people from all walks of life and handle pressure and stress well.

I want a career, not just a job, where I can apply my gained knowledge and help people at the same time. A career that will afford me stability and the flexibility to spend time with family (as opposed to being chained down to my work). Im hungry, driven, and dedicated. I want to be able to enjoy what I do while being happy at home. I find myself indecisive between Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics.

1) Based on my preparation and the above given description could experienced professionals let me know where I would be a good fit?

2) Which career would leave me intellectually satisfied while allowing me to have a healthy family life?

Thank you for reading this lengthy post. I appreciate your time and efforts!

 

[Thestrugglez]

I'm gonna be honest with you.

As a pharmacist, you will most likely end up in retail, in which case you will rarely use what you learn and become equivalent to a human robot. However, you will get paid well, job stability, and fixed amount of hours of work a week. If you wish to pursue hospital pharmacy like me, you will be in school longer and get paid less, but actually use what you learned.

If you decide to pursue pharmaceuticals, you will end up in most likely end up in industry. Two of my professors told me that 90% of their fellow Caltech PhDs in organic chemistry graduating class get paid very well (better than pharmacists). However, they have zero control over what they do. Drug development is a very time consuming and unrewarding field if you work in industry. Majority of development originates from stealing from your competitors and in the rare event you do come up with something, you are obligated to sell your patent to your company (for a dollar). It is also a tough field with little job security. If you decide to pursue pharmaceutics as a university professor, it is extremely difficult nowadays to get tenured. Without tenure, you will constantly have to struggle to obtain grants. I have heard that writing grant proposals is the most stressful and time consuming thing imaginable. However, you will be able to research whatever you want (as long as the government thinks it's worthwhile).

I have highlighted the negatives to take into consideration. Hope that helps

 

[oldstock]

Hello everyone! I was unsure where to post the following, so I'd like to apologize if Im in the wrong thread.

My preparation:
Im a non traditional student (28, engaged) getting a BS in biochemistry with a focus on organic chemistry from a University of California (UC). Our biochem program is quite competitive, by the time I graduate I would have gone over biochem, biophysics, and the corresponding labs, along advance organic chemistry classes. I also took a very dense and involved drug design course, which I found to be amazing! In the class we used UCSF Chimera, UCSF DOCK, Spartan, PyMol, and Mathematica. I have excellent lab skills and have had the chance to take part in an organic chemistry research. After obtaining my BS, which will be in summer 2015, I plan to take an extra year for taking required preparatory courses such as physiology and anatomy amongst others, which I either did not have time to take, weren't offered, or were partially offered at my UC. Im looking to apply to Oregon State University's pharmacy program and to UCSF only (personal reason).

Moreover, I greatly enjoy organic chemistry and I enjoy biochem in general. I loved drug design and the whole process of it (we covered pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and much more), to me it felt like organic chemistry on much grandeur scale; putting puzzle pieces together super FUN. I've worked 7 years in a fast pace, fast response, and detail oriented environment geared toward providing high quality service in the food industry. Through this experience I've learned to efficiently interact with people from all walks of life and handle pressure and stress well.

I want a career, not just a job, where I can apply my gained knowledge and help people at the same time. A career that will afford me stability and the flexibility to spend time with family (as opposed to being chained down to my work). Im hungry, driven, and dedicated. I want to be able to enjoy what I do while being happy at home. I find myself indecisive between Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics.

1) Based on my preparation and the above given description could experienced professionals let me know where I would be a good fit?

2) Which career would leave me intellectually satisfied while allowing me to have a healthy family life?

Thank you for reading this lengthy post. I appreciate your time and efforts!

Like I said in reply to your original post in other thread, you could also choose to do the PharmD/PhD programs which would give the best of both world. There are several in the country. Google for it. GL 🙂