Passion for pharmacy, or it pays the bills?

Started by pharm B
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How do you feel about pharmacy?

  • Pharmacy is the bee's knees! No other life for me.

    Votes: 15 19.7%

  • I have no hobbies.

    Votes: 3 3.9%

  • Pharmacy is a great way to pay for what I really love to do.

    Votes: 58 76.3%
  • Total voters
    76
pharm B

pharm B

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So there have been a lot of debbie downers lately hating on the profession on these forums.

I went to a convention this weekend. I felt under the weather, so that probably colored my perceptions, but I really didn't feel "enthused" about pharmacy. Obviously, your specific job as a pharmacist can determine how much you love the field.

However, I see a lot of us have hobbies that are far removed from the pharmacy.

Are you super passionate about pharmacy, or does it pay the bills that let you do the stuff you're REALLY passionate about?
 
pretty obvious that the majority are in it for the bills, but that's pretty common among a lot of white-collar professions, not just pharmacy.
 
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my guess is that those who do research, write articles, etc actually do have at least a smidgen of interest in what they're studying. otherwise i just dont see how you can get through all that academic crap without breaking down.
 
I enjoy practicing pharmacy. I could probably live at work.
As soon as I leave, though, it all seems to vanish, and I forget that I even work.
 
I can see myself doing a few different things but I am truly passionate about pharmacy and love what I do. 🙂
 
Not as passionate about work in general compared to my hobbies which I have lots of.

But.. a friend once told me "Z...if you're going to do something, do it right..." somehow that hit me. Perhaps I went with the flow and did things half ass sometimes to just get by in my younger years.

Now... work/hobby/ or anything in life.. I do it with passion. Life is too short to do otherwise.
 
Its Z said:
Not as passionate about work in general compared to my hobbies which I have lots of.

But.. a friend once told me "Z...if you're going to do something, do it right..." somehow that hit me. Perhaps I went with the flow and did things half ass sometimes to just get by in my younger years.

Now... work/hobby/ or anything in life.. I do it with passion. Life is too short to do otherwise.
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How much time do you have for your hobbies compared to the time spent doing "work?" Do hours spent on a plane count? 😎
 
pharm B said:
How much time do you have for your hobbies compared to the time spent doing "work?" Do hours spent on a plane count? 😎
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My travel times are included in my work hours. My schedule is flexible as I set them. I would like to look at my work as in terms of quality and task accomplished, not by how many hours.

That being said.. 30 to 50 hours per week is a good estimate.
 
if you're not passionate about it, at least make sure you're good at it. nothing's worse than hating it and sucking at it too.
 
sanrevelle said:
if you're not passionate about it, at least make sure you're good at it. nothing's worse than hating it and sucking at it too.
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Agree 100%. I didn't really think of it in the form of Z's maxim, but I agree that it's not worth the time and energy investment to only end up being a dirt bag.

We had guys in the Navy who were purposely bad at everything so that no one trusted them with anything. I've unfortunately met some techs/pharmacists who seem to be pursuing a similar career track. Luckily, they're far outnumbered by the bright and driven people I've meet in the field. 👍
 
For me it pays the bills......but no matter what job I would ever have it will always be just a job. I'd rather be skiing, biking, boating any day of the week than at work. I enjoy my job for the most parts, some days suck @$$ but what job doesn't?
 
people have different thresholds for how much they can tolerate jobs they dont care about for the paycheck. some can do it easily. but there are also a lot of people who cant do a job if it doesnt spark some interest. you just gotta know yourself well enough.
 
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i wouldnt say pharmacy is my one passion, but that i try to be passionate about everything i do in life. so far, having worked hospital and nuclear..jobs in pharmacy are pretty damn laid back and enjoyable

so it's not my PASSION IN LIFE. but i expect i will enjoy the job to the point of looking forward to going into work every morning, and will be enjoyable enough to motivate me to excel. also , of course it will pay the bills

if you can't look forward to going to work, you're never going to have the motivation to excel and really get the most out of your opportunities. that's the way i look at it .

If i was at a desk job in engineering (as was mentioned in another recent thread) , i probably would be so stir crazy and bored that I would never enjoy it
 
type b pharmD said:
i wouldnt say pharmacy is my one passion, but that i try to be passionate about everything i do in life. so far, having worked hospital and nuclear..jobs in pharmacy are pretty damn laid back and enjoyable

so it's not my PASSION IN LIFE. but i expect i will enjoy the job to the point of looking forward to going into work every morning, and will be enjoyable enough to motivate me to excel. also , of course it will pay the bills

if you can't look forward to going to work, you're never going to have the motivation to excel and really get the most out of your opportunities. that's the way i look at it .

If i was at a desk job in engineering (as was mentioned in another recent thread) , i probably would be so stir crazy and bored that I would never enjoy it
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so you wouldnt like clinical pharmacy/hospital pharmacy for the most part then?
 
Farmercyst said:
Agreed. I want to vote for all three. Though once school is over, I want my hobbies back.
Click to expand...

I was sick this last weekend, so a pharmacy group convention wasn't really my idea of a fun time. I walked away from it bored and disappointed (based on competition performance) and didn't feel well enough to really socialize, etc.

I just wonder how our conventions, etc, compare to those of people who majored in History or something else. History seems much more engrossing and approachable than pharmacy at times, so I just wondered how many loved attending pharmacy conferences, and how many saw them as boring seminars for CE, etc.
 
Its Z said:
Not as passionate about work in general compared to my hobbies which I have lots of.

But.. a friend once told me "Z...if you're going to do something, do it right..." somehow that hit me. Perhaps I went with the flow and did things half ass sometimes to just get by in my younger years.

Now... work/hobby/ or anything in life.. I do it with passion. Life is too short to do otherwise.
Click to expand...


👍👍
 
I went in to pharmacy because I enjoy biology and chemistry and though it would be a good field to practice in that would not require being on call or bringing my work home. Currently, I'm using pharmacy more as a way to fund my real passion which are finance and business. My father and I recently purchased a home for 623,000 which we plan to demolish and rebuild for about 480,000. The market in the area is such that land is extremely expensive (close to dc) and houses are relatively cheap. What is nice, however, is that the synergy of having a nice house on a nice piece of land can create significant profit margin and we expect to sell for around 1.6m netting a 100-200k profit after all expenses and taxes.

I hope I can use this and other investment strategies to leave the world of pharmacy because I'm tired of felling as if I am doing more harm than good.
 
pharm B said:
I was sick this last weekend, so a pharmacy group convention wasn't really my idea of a fun time. I walked away from it bored and disappointed (based on competition performance) and didn't feel well enough to really socialize, etc.

I just wonder how our conventions, etc, compare to those of people who majored in History or something else. History seems much more engrossing and approachable than pharmacy at times, so I just wondered how many loved attending pharmacy conferences, and how many saw them as boring seminars for CE, etc.
Click to expand...

Definitely don't start judging a profession based on their conferences. I personally enjoyed going to the conferences I've been to so far, but that's because I have a personality that's tailor-made for attending conferences. You'll find that some conferences are better than others and some people like going more than others. I think you'll see that in any profession.

I don't know if you're working yet or not, but don't write it off yet until you've walked the proverbial mile in a bunch of different locations.
 
pharm B said:
Amen. I think we should start our own series of conventions. :highfive:
Click to expand...

I enjoy the conventions. But I also like being a professional student. I like going to the CE sessions and learning stuff (even if they are industry biased sometimes). I went to a "pediatrics for the non-pediatric pharmacist" session a couple years ago and it was just nice to sit and listen and take a few notes without having to worry about what material would be tested. 😛
 
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It is a job....It pays my bills. So i guess i should not be complaining too much.. I just got to suck it up. I hope to get out of retail pretty soon.
 
money the obviously the basic requirement. I doubt most of us would go this route if it paid much less.

Other wise, science and math subjects have always been every easy to me, which is also why I won't do retail. :meanie:
 
xiphoid2010 said:
That too goes with being chinese I guess. 😛 Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaa! 😀
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so-sorry.gif
 
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