PCAT times and med to pharm D

[lambeufl]

Hi,

I am a first year medical student and I am seriously considering going into a Pharm D program. I have realized that medicine is incredibly fascinating however it seems to come with a price that I am not willing to pay. Give up at least 7 years for training and then have to deal with all the crap that doctors have to deal with. Pharm D seems to offer a more sustainable lifestyle without all the headaches. Many people say that Pharmacists have a boring job, but I would rather be bored at work and have a great life outside of work than be completely stressed out and worn down all the time and ruin my personal life with constant stress.

I have missed the application deadline for fall 03 so I will have time to study for the PCAT this summer and apply for fall 04 programs.
I don?t know how the times work for the PCAT. When exactly is the PCAT offered through the year?

Also,
Does anyone out there have experience with changing from med to pharm and does having 1 year of medical school under your belt make you more competitive for pharm D programs?

Thank you

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[Brill]

The PCAT is offered three times a year (January, March, and October). If you're applying for Fall '04 you'll want to take it by January '04 at the latest.

If you're already in medical school I wouldn't worry very much about getting accepted into pharmacy school as long as you do ok on the PCAT (if you've already taken and done well on the MCAT it shouldn't be very much of a problem). Just be sure you can explain why you've decided to switch from medicine to pharmacy.

 

[tlh908]

Actually if you look, you will find some schools that are still accepting applications for this fall. And some schools don't even require the PCAT, so look around.

Also, I would carefully consider changing to pharmacy if you are already into one year of med school. It won't save you much time by going pharmacy, especially if you can't get in this fall. You would only spend one additional year to become a physician over becoming a pharmacists. If it was a difference of a year for me, I would definetly stay in med school.

But the decision is yours.....

 

[tryinghard]

hey...are you a male or female med student...can you comment on what you feel the gender issue in pharmacy is? is pharm currently a field that is dominated by woman?

 

[LSUMED2006]

Trying hard,

In my pharmacy class, it was roughly 50/50 male/female. I didn't find a huge gender diff. one way or the other.

 

[tryinghard]

but the phramcy class is in medical school. i.e. not part of the pahramcy school....so it would not reflect pharmacy school well?