Major Career Decision, Please Help!!

[franfranny]

I have always wanted a career in the health field. I used to want to be a medical doctor, but that changed when I got into college and realized that it just wasn't the path for me. I've shadowed nursing, physical therapy, optometry, and dentistry since then.

My parents have been STRONGLY pushing me to go into dentistry for years solely because of the money and status, and to be blunt those are the factors that have been driving me as a pre-dental student for some time. My parents are a doctor and nurse from a third world country, so the career mentality in my household has always been to choose a career with money being the sole factor and happiness having no influence whatsoever. But lately I've been really soul searching and to be honest, I'm not sure if I have the passion for the oral cavity that a person needs to be happy in dentistry. I've been hearing that dentistry is a field that you'll be miserable in if you're not 100% passionate about being in it, so I'm vigorously debating whether or not I should switch to another health profession I've been interested in, which is pharmacy.

I guess my main question is, should I switch from Pre-Dentistry to Pre-Pharmacy? I'm stuck on what I should do. I have seen SOOO many forums about the doom and gloom about pharmacy's future, but I believe that the type of work in pharmacy lines up more with my personality and physical characteristics. I'm mostly a reserved person, but I can be assertive when duty calls. I already have slight back issues so hunching in a chair for dentistry does worry me for the long term, and I'm terrified with the prospect of having to handle my own business if I became a private practice dentist (which is what most dentists strive for, from what I've seen).

I haven't shadowed pharmacy yet, but I'm scared to because of all gloom on here and the BLS statistics. Is there anyone out there that has gone through the same thing? Or if there are any pharmacy students out there, would you recommend someone going into pharmacy now? I am not trying to assert that one profession is better than the other btw, I admire both.

Any advice is highly appreciated! Thank you

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[PharmtoCS]

I would definitely avoid switching into pharmacy right now. For money and status, computer science / programming is a much better profession to enter. Reasons:

1) Much better take-home pay compared to pharmacy, as you do not have to make $25k+/year in student loan payments every year for 10-20 years after you graduate. Starting pay is also good. You can easily break $100k+ in a few years without having to take out $200k+ in loans to go to pharmacy or dental school.
2) You can start earning money 4 years sooner compared to dentistry or pharmacy.
3) Great for reserved personalities. Retail, where 60-70% of pharmacist jobs are, involves mostly customer service, and that includes putting up with others verbally abusing you just because they can.
4) Technology companies treat their employees infinitely better compared to chain retail pharmacies. Many of them provide free catered meals, on-site laundry, employee shuttles, etc. whereas you would be lucky if your chain retail employer even gives you a lunch break.

 

[PromisedNeverland]

I have always wanted a career in the health field. I used to want to be a medical doctor, but that changed when I got into college and realized that it just wasn't the path for me. I've shadowed nursing, physical therapy, optometry, and dentistry since then.

My parents have been STRONGLY pushing me to go into dentistry for years solely because of the money and status, and to be blunt those are the factors that have been driving me as a pre-dental student for some time. My parents are a doctor and nurse from a third world country, so the career mentality in my household has always been to choose a career with money being the sole factor and happiness having no influence whatsoever. But lately I've been really soul searching and to be honest, I'm not sure if I have the passion for the oral cavity that a person needs to be happy in dentistry. I've been hearing that dentistry is a field that you'll be miserable in if you're not 100% passionate about being in it, so I'm vigorously debating whether or not I should switch to another health profession I've been interested in, which is pharmacy.

I guess my main question is, should I switch from Pre-Dentistry to Pre-Pharmacy? I'm stuck on what I should do. I have seen SOOO many forums about the doom and gloom about pharmacy's future, but I believe that the type of work in pharmacy lines up more with my personality and physical characteristics. I'm mostly a reserved person, but I can be assertive when duty calls. I already have slight back issues so hunching in a chair for dentistry does worry me for the long term, and I'm terrified with the prospect of having to handle my own business if I became a private practice dentist (which is what most dentists strive for, from what I've seen).

I haven't shadowed pharmacy yet, but I'm scared to because of all gloom on here and the BLS statistics. Is there anyone out there that has gone through the same thing? Or if there are any pharmacy students out there, would you recommend someone going into pharmacy now? I am not trying to assert that one profession is better than the other btw, I admire both.

Any advice is highly appreciated! Thank you

Where are you from ? If you don't mind me asking, if it's Cali, then yes DOOM 2020 when all non-accredited schools graduate there first class of pharmacy students

 

[ldiot]

There's no way I'd switch from dentist to pharmacy. That's nuts.

 

[pms_testosterone]

Have you ruled out being an RN? And what about well-payed medical technicians (xray tech, ultrasound, etc.)?

As far as pharmacy doom and gloom, be sure to do your research re: employability in the geographic area you want to work.

@stoichiometrist are you in computer science /programming? Because $100 k to start = results not typical

 

[franfranny]

Where are you from ? If you don't mind me asking, if it's Cali, then yes DOOM 2020 when all non-accredited schools graduate there first class of pharmacy students

I'm in Florida!

 

[franfranny]

There's no way I'd switch from dentist to pharmacy. That's nuts.

Could you please explain why? I've seen the posts about pharmacy's future and the hardships of retail, but is there more than that?

 

[franfranny]

I would definitely avoid switching into pharmacy right now. For money and status, computer science / programming is a much better profession to enter. Reasons:

1) Much better take-home pay compared to pharmacy, as you do not have to make $25k+/year in student loan payments every year for 10-20 years after you graduate. Starting pay is also good. You can easily break $100k+ in a few years without having to take out $200k+ in loans to go to pharmacy or dental school.
2) You can start earning money 4 years sooner compared to dentistry or pharmacy.
3) Great for reserved personalities. Retail, where 60-70% of pharmacist jobs are, involves mostly customer service, and that includes putting up with others verbally abusing you just because they can.
4) Technology companies treat their employees infinitely better compared to chain retail pharmacies. Many of them provide free catered meals, on-site laundry, employee shuttles, etc. whereas you would be lucky if your chain retail employer even gives you a lunch break.

Did you switch from pharmacy to computer science? and why? I have no experience in computers whatsoever so I'm unsure about that field, but thank you for the advice

 

[PharmtoCS]

Did you switch from pharmacy to computer science? and why? I have no experience in computers whatsoever so I'm unsure about that field, but thank you for the advice

I personally did not, but my peers who graduated in computer science had multiple job offers thrown at them before graduation. Some of them graduated from unrelated fields but went back to coding bootcamps and are now working as software engineers. There is huge demand for computer programmers right now, especially for a field which you do not even need a degree, let alone 4 additional years of professional school.

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[exiangwsu]

Only good coder will have six figure salary........majority of graduate start off making 60k.....I know CS people who graduate this year can not get a job.