New to Pharmacy world.

[AmyElSh]

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Hey All,

I have recently decided to embark on this path to Pharmacy school. I hold a BSc., but wish to do something different. I am nervous and worried, as my biggest fear is failure. ALL guidance and advise, experiences etc, are welcome.

Hope to start connecting with you,
Amy

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Hey All,

I have recently decided to embark on this path to Pharmacy school. I hold a BSc., but wish to do something different. I am nervous and worried, as my biggest fear is failure. ALL guidance and advise, experiences etc, are welcome.

Hope to start connecting with you,
Amy

I'm not going down the pharmacy path, but I was considering it once upon a time (~5 years ago). At the time, I kinda just decided that I didn't want to do pharmacy (because I thought it'd be boring) and didn't want to do medicine (because it sounded like too much work). I'm glad that I didn't decide to go down the pharmacy path due to job prospects; I ended up going down the medicine path once I grew up a bit and realized that life can't always be sleeping til 12pm and lounging under the warm California sun.

I'm curious as to why you want to pursue Pharmacy, as opposed to some other sort of healthcare provider role? Surely you must be familiar with the current job trend in pharmacy? I spent all of 2 minutes reading the Pharmacy forum, and I learned so much about the unfortunate situation in Pharmacy right now that I was not aware of at all before. In my mind, pharmacy was still a widely respected field that was relatively competitive and had great job prospects. Clearly, much has changed recently

 

[AmyElSh]

I'm not going down the pharmacy path, but I was considering it once upon a time (~5 years ago). At the time, I kinda just decided that I didn't want to do pharmacy (because I thought it'd be boring) and didn't want to do medicine (because it sounded like too much work). I'm glad that I didn't decide to go down the pharmacy path due to job prospects; I ended up going down the medicine path once I grew up a bit and realized that life can't always be sleeping til 12pm and lounging under the warm California sun.

I'm curious as to why you want to pursue Pharmacy, as opposed to some other sort of healthcare provider role? Surely you must be familiar with the current job trend in pharmacy? I spent all of 2 minutes reading the Pharmacy forum, and I learned so much about the unfortunate situation in Pharmacy right now that I was not aware of at all before. In my mind, pharmacy was still a widely respected field that was relatively competitive and had great job prospects. Clearly, much has changed recently

Thank you for your reply. I simply enjoy the environment. As for jobs, I come from a mixed background. So I am not limited to only applying in the U.S. As for everything else, I think I could say the same thing about medicine and the way the health care system has shifted. I have many physician friends who would not recommend anyone go into medicine. So perhaps it is what each person likes?

I like your bluntness, and yes, I have considered everything that could go wrong. I have decided to go this way because I found that I just really enjoy the pharmacy environment.
What do you do now?

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Thank you for your reply. I simply enjoy the environment. As for jobs, I come from a mixed background. So I am not limited to only applying in the U.S. As for everything else, I think I could say the same thing about medicine and the way the health care system has shifted. I have many physician friends who would not recommend anyone go into medicine. So perhaps it is what each person likes?

I like your bluntness, and yes, I have considered everything that could go wrong. I have decided to go this way because I found that I just really enjoy the pharmacy environment.
What do you do now?

Oh for sure, I'd say that 2/3 of the doctors I shadowed recommend that I go into something besides medicine. But I guess that this career is my own coffin to nail now. I guess that it's a nice thought to know that at least job security is there post-graduation for med students, even if it is in a miserable field.

That's good that you thought it all through; I didn't mean to rain on your parade or anything like that. I know plenty of people who are doing just fine now having graduated from pharmacy school!

I worked for a couple years as a high school teacher (thought that secondary education was the career that I wanted to pursue, so I wanted to dip my feet into it) and now just doing research during my gap year. What about you? 🙂

 

[PharmtoCS]

Computer programming is much better career path. You work in a very low stress environment for about 40 hours per week and actually spend about 20 of those hours working. You also can earn very good money, often $100k straight out of college without having to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years in school.

There is a huge shortage of computer programmers right now. Companies are afraid to treat programmers poorly because they are afraid that their workers will leave. This is unlike pharmacy, which there are far more positions than jobs and companies know there are 20 new grads ready to replace you for lower pay if you complain.

 

[jblil]

Computer programming is much better career path. You work in a very low stress environment for about 40 hours per week and actually spend about 20 of those hours working.

For high-paying programming jobs ($100K+), expect a lot of stress and pressure. I was in that field before.

 

[bulldog1123]

Computer programming is much better career path. You work in a very low stress environment for about 40 hours per week and actually spend about 20 of those hours working. You also can earn very good money, often $100k straight out of college without having to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years in school.

There is a huge shortage of computer programmers right now. Companies are afraid to treat programmers poorly because they are afraid that their workers will leave. This is unlike pharmacy, which there are far more positions than jobs and companies know there are 20 new grads ready to replace you for lower pay if you complain.

Coming from a family that has two computer programmers and one computer information systems manager, it is not the norm to get a $100k job straight out of college. Even the word 'often' does not do it justice. Only the cream of the crop get that. That being said, $100k is very attainable within the IT field. It does take 4-5 years of hard work, networking and enhancing your resume to attain that as my brother in law just did. As stoichiometrist said, you do avoid the loans and 4 years of college, but the picture he painted of green fields as a computer programmer is not as pretty as he claims. Every year IT specialists from India and other foreign nations keep coming into the states and are willing to work those jobs for less money or a chance to get a green card. I know many programmers that are making $50-70k.

that being said, I am attending pharmacy school this year. I am well aware of the saturation thanks to these forums. Pharmacy is considerably bleaker then the IT field. It will require the same hard work, networking and enhancing your resume to secure a good position or even a crappy one in CVS/Wags along with loans. Its up to you to decide if you have/will be able to make those connections and what you want to do with the rest of your life. There are no easy high paying jobs in the United States. Without hard work and taking risks, money will not normally fall into your lap.

tl;dr: Yes computer programming is a good career path, but it isn't as picture perfect as described on these forums. I have first hand experience due to my ethnicity and family.

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Coming from a family that has two computer programmers and one computer information systems manager, it is not the norm to get a $100k job straight out of college. Even the word 'often' does not do it justice. Only the cream of the crop get that. That being said, $100k is very attainable within the IT field. It does take 4-5 years of hard work, networking and enhancing your resume to attain that as my brother in law just did. As stoichiometrist said, you do avoid the loans and 4 years of college, but the picture he painted of green fields as a computer programmer is not as pretty as he claims. Every year IT specialists from India and other foreign nations keep coming into the states and are willing to work those jobs for less money or a chance to get a green card. I know many programmers that are making $50-70k.

that being said, I am attending pharmacy school this year. I am well aware of the saturation thanks to these forums. Pharmacy is considerably bleaker then the IT field. It will require the same hard work, networking and enhancing your resume to secure a good position or even a crappy one in CVS/Wags along with loans. Its up to you to decide if you have/will be able to make those connections and what you want to do with the rest of your life. There are no easy high paying jobs in the United States. Without hard work and taking risks, money will not normally fall into your lap.

tl;dr: Yes computer programming is a good career path, but it isn't as picture perfect as described on these forums. I have first hand experience due to my ethnicity and family.

What draws you to pharmacy over other healthcare professions - many of which have bright job prospects in the future? Take NP and PA for example. Their demand is only going to keep increasing in the future, and schooling for them is cheaper (slightly) than it is for Pharmacy. You'd have no trouble finding a job at all, and you have no trouble maintaining a family life in these occupations as well thanks to not being on call. Is the draw the understanding of some of the science behind drug mechanisms? While NP's don't learn much about the science, PA's definitely do. I don't mean to offend with my post; I'm just genuinely curious as to why so many people who know about the future of pharmacy are still wanting to go down that route. It must be some sort of passion for the specific profession, and I want to know what it is for people

 

[AmyElSh]

Computer programming is much better career path. You work in a very low stress environment for about 40 hours per week and actually spend about 20 of those hours working. You also can earn very good money, often $100k straight out of college without having to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years in school.

There is a huge shortage of computer programmers right now. Companies are afraid to treat programmers poorly because they are afraid that their workers will leave. This is unlike pharmacy, which there are far more positions than jobs and companies know there are 20 new grads ready to replace you for lower pay if you complain.

you are so optimistic hahaha

 

[AmyElSh]

bulldog...thank you for your response and input. I feel as though I am in the wrong forum, with everyone putting pharmacy down. And honestly, in response to what everyone has posted...there are no guarantees in any field. Salaries range from title to title, and from state to state, and from city to city. So yes, while it is important to go into something that will insure job security, you also want to go into something you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life. I don't believe in following JUST your passion, but use your head too. I like pharmacy environment, and willing to put the work needed to make it work. IT, or business don't interest me, so regardless of the work load, I wouldn't do well because I wouldn't be motivated with that path.

I am VERY new to pharmacy...like I am not kidding. It is kind of intimidating. But I also believe that absolutely anything is possible. I just need to be in the right environment, with right people and right support.

🙂 🙂 My sister is doing CIS...and loves it. I think it is a great field. I don't think that one field is better than the other, because it depends what you want out of it. So it is all subjective. 😀

 

[PharmtoCS]

you are so optimistic hahaha

🙂 🙂 My sister is doing CIS...and loves it. I think it is a great field. I don't think that one field is better than the other, because it depends what you want out of it. So it is all subjective. 😀

I am not necessarily optimistic about computer programming overall, but I am definitely far more optimistic about it compared to most other fields, especially pharmacy. The average pharmacist, especially those that are recent graduates, will be getting far less in return for the amount of work put in and level of stress endured compared to the average computer programmer.