Non-traditional and Looking for advice

[JL101]

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I'm a former pre-med student with a Master's Degree in Biology and I think that pharmacy is the choice for me. I've taken courses in pharmacology and toxicology and I really feel that it is the right profession.

The only thing I'm really worried about is that I got a C- in Bio Lab during my very first semester of college. It is a long story as to why. My undergrad gpa is about a 3.1-3.2 and my graduate gpa is a 3.6-3.7 overall.

I'd still have to take some pharmacy courses (such as calculus and macro-economics). I'm really looking to get into the pharmaceutical industry and/or working in a hospital. Retail pharmacy doesn't interest me all that much. I'm just wondering if I'd have to re-take the bio lab course (considering I have a Master's Degree). Also the likelihood of working in the industry rather than retail.

 

[Rxtillidie]

I'm a former pre-med student with a Master's Degree in Biology and I think that pharmacy is the choice for me. I've taken courses in pharmacology and toxicology and I really feel that it is the right profession.

The only thing I'm really worried about is that I got a C- in Bio Lab during my very first semester of college. It is a long story as to why. My undergrad gpa is about a 3.1-3.2 and my graduate gpa is a 3.6-3.7 overall.

I'd still have to take some pharmacy courses (such as calculus and macro-economics). I'm really looking to get into the pharmaceutical industry and/or working in a hospital. Retail pharmacy doesn't interest me all that much. I'm just wondering if I'd have to re-take the bio lab course (considering I have a Master's Degree). Also the likelihood of working in the industry rather than retail.

U might also wanna look into MSc. Pharmaceutical Sciences if you really wanna be in the industries.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

When you say "industry" what do you mean by that? There are great many different roles in the industry, no less different from each other than from retail.

 

[JL101]

Well, the pharmaceutical industry in some fashion, I don't know what area yet. I'm just interested in the best way to go about getting the right qualifications and getting my foot in the door, whether it be a another Master's Degree or a Pharm D. I think I would be better suited to the research side of things, though I'm not opposed to a corporate office and environment.

I've also been looking into hospital pharmacy as well. I'm at a cross-roads currently and I think this is the path that I want to go down and some advice on how to do it. I'm also on the East Coast in NY, so location and moving won't be all that much of a problem in terms of location.

 

[CUpharmD2013]

Well, the pharmaceutical industry in some fashion, I don't know what area yet. I'm just interested in the best way to go about getting the right qualifications and getting my foot in the door, whether it be a another Master's Degree or a Pharm D. I think I would be better suited to the research side of things, though I'm not opposed to a corporate office and environment.

I've also been looking into hospital pharmacy as well. I'm at a cross-roads currently and I think this is the path that I want to go down and some advice on how to do it. I'm also on the East Coast in NY, so location and moving won't be all that much of a problem in terms of location.

If you want to work in industry you're better served by a PhD. Since you're on the East Coast, you probably won't have a problem finding a job in industry. I'm pretty sure you could probably get some kind of employment in a hospital with a PhD too.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

What kind of schooling are you looking to do? Pharmacy school has a lot of tests and exams. You learn a lot about how to be a clinician, too, which may be frustrating, if you decide that's not what you want to do. And then there's the debt. Lots and lots of debt. With a PhD program, you'll have project-based schooling, your master's probably won't mean much except for the experience, and you don't know when you'll finish. But you won't have much debt, most likely, either. And it's more like a job.

Whatever you decide to do, look at the admissions requirements and talk with someone at the school to verify what you need, especially with pharmacy programs, since they tend to be pickier. They'll be able to tell you if they'll accept the C- or if you need to retake it. But if you do do pharmacy school, you'll probably have to take several pre-reqs. I came out of a PhD program and had to take a speech class, microbiology (even though I had TA'd a pre-req class!), and some o-chem, because what my school had me take wasn't on the acceptable list.

 

[JL101]

What kind of schooling are you looking to do? Pharmacy school has a lot of tests and exams. You learn a lot about how to be a clinician, too, which may be frustrating, if you decide that's not what you want to do. And then there's the debt. Lots and lots of debt. With a PhD program, you'll have project-based schooling, your master's probably won't mean much except for the experience, and you don't know when you'll finish. But you won't have much debt, most likely, either. And it's more like a job.

Whatever you decide to do, look at the admissions requirements and talk with someone at the school to verify what you need, especially with pharmacy programs, since they tend to be pickier. They'll be able to tell you if they'll accept the C- or if you need to retake it. But if you do do pharmacy school, you'll probably have to take several pre-reqs. I came out of a PhD program and had to take a speech class, microbiology (even though I had TA'd a pre-req class!), and some o-chem, because what my school had me take wasn't on the acceptable list.

Well, I'm not exactly sure yet. I was thinking about a Pharm D., but I'm not so sure now! I don't mind the debt, I'm in enough of it as is (yay private undergrad). I'm hoping they'll just average it with the grade that I got in Bio which was a B+ (I can't remember how I got a B+ in the course and C- in the lab).

I don't mind the pre-reqs either. I was thinking a Pharm D because if I couldn't go into the industry or didn't like it I could do something else. The only thing I was concerned with about a PhD is maybe less versatility if I couldn't get a job in the industry. I just don't want to back myself into a corner or anything

 

[FarscapeGirl]

Well, I'm not exactly sure yet. I was thinking about a Pharm D., but I'm not so sure now! I don't mind the debt, I'm in enough of it as is (yay private undergrad). I'm hoping they'll just average it with the grade that I got in Bio which was a B+ (I can't remember how I got a B+ in the course and C- in the lab).

I don't mind the pre-reqs either. I was thinking a Pharm D because if I couldn't go into the industry or didn't like it I could do something else. The only thing I was concerned with about a PhD is maybe less versatility if I couldn't get a job in the industry. I just don't want to back myself into a corner or anything

There is less flexibility with a PhD, and with a Master's and PharmD, you'd still have plenty of opportunities to go into research.

I just think that if you know you want to do research, you'd be better off not getting into quite so much debt for jobs that sometimes don't pay very much. However, if you want to keep your options open, a PharmD would be good. And you could always fill in at a community pharmacy once a month or something and make really good money, if you'd be up for that... If you have any desire to possibly have a clinical job, a PharmD is the way to go, too.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

Oh, and while you're debating the two, might as well look at the pre-reqs for both types of programs and make sure to check with the schools themselves to see what exactly you'd need to do (and what GPAs they look for and if you'd need to take the GRE or PCAT). I certainly wasn't expecting to have to repeat some o-chem when I was applying to pharmacy school. And, each pharmacy school can have rather different pre-req requirements, unlike grad schools, which tend to be more similar.

If you find out for the pharmacy schools you're interested in that you'd have to do a year's worth of pre-reqs just to apply, that might make the decision easier. Better to look into it earlier!