Mock Interview Question #2

[bt61184]

Why Did You Choose Pharmacy Over Medicine? What specifically did pharmacy offer you?

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[imperial frog]

Why Did You Choose Pharmacy Over Medicine? What specifically did pharmacy offer you?

There was no choice to be made. Medicine never popped up on the option screen.

 

[fidelio]

If you mean being a medical doctor, I chose pharmacy over medical school specifically I think medical school overrated. It's not what it used to be. I actually chose pharmacy because I wanted to concentrate specifically on medication. Hence, medicine.

 

[bananaface]

I never considered medicine. I took a job in a pharmacy during my senior year of college, really enjoyed it, and decided that I wanted to stay in the field.

 

[Rx_of_Music]

I have some friends that are finishing up Medical School and they are well over $175,000 in debt. They have been in school for 9+ years and don't even know if they will truly enjoy their chosen profession. Not to mention that malpractice insurance is outrageous (over $100,000 per year in some cases). They may graduate and start practicing and hate it, but even if they decided to do something else they would still have to keep up the malpractice insurance for as long as the statute of limitations is in effect for the patients they’ve treated (i.e. 5 years for an Obstetrician). It’s a Catch 22 that I don’t want to deal with.
Another reason is the emotional strain medical doctors must endure seeing death on a daily basis (not saying that Pharmacists don’t see death, but surly not at frequently a surgeon does). I know that it comes with the job, but I don’t want to have to bring that kind of emotional baggage home to my family. My mother was a R.N. and worked Hospice and I saw what that does to a person and their family. I know that medical doctors are greatly financially compensated, but no amount of money is worth that kind of strain for me.

 

[freshbeatschris]

I'm coming into this whole medical/pharmacy field a little later in life than most. I'm already going to be 35 when I graduate from pharmacy school. My age was the main reason I felt I couldn't invest another 10 years in school to become a M.D. or D.O.

Chris

 

[ultracet]

this thread is quickly becoming a "what not to say in an interview" thread
in my opinion

 

[bananaface]

this thread is quickly becoming a "what not to say in an interview" thread
in my opinion

We think alike.

Mentioning money as a decisive factor or implying that you'd really like to be in medicine but pharmacy has to do can potentially blow an interview. Focus on what you like about pharmacy. And, don't talk extensively about medicine.

 

[fidelio]

Yea. This question is like a bomb ready to explode.