Pharm D / JD Dual Degree

[blackjack109]

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I'm a recent PharmD grad working at Walgreens as a pharmacist. The job, to be honest, is not that enjoyable and I am looking into other options. I am considering going back for my JD and pursuing patent law. Does anyone have any real world feedback on this? I spoke with one PharmD/JD who is making a little more then typical pharmacist salary working for a patent firm, but his job is a lot more challenging then working retail.

So basically... how is the job and is the time spent in law school worth it (financially)?

 

[loo]

Blackjack109--

I feel your pain, buddy!

I can't give you any specific advice concerning law jobs, but I'd make sure you really want to go through the financial and psychological grind of law school to begin with!

Do you have large student loans to pay off? A significant other?

Try working in a different pharmacy environment before you make any quick decisions...

Good luck to you!

loo

 

[PharmDstudent]

My friend's brother is a patent attorney, and he's bored out of his mind! 😴

 

[blackjack109]

Blackjack109--

I feel your pain, buddy!

I can't give you any specific advice concerning law jobs, but I'd make sure you really want to go through the financial and psychological grind of law school to begin with!

Do you have large student loans to pay off? A significant other?

Try working in a different pharmacy environment before you make any quick decisions...

Good luck to you!

loo

Not too many loans.. can pay them all off by the end of this year. Not married either. My problem with retail is just the job itself, I've worked in other pharmacies as a tech or an intern and the job itself is pretty much the same anywhere you go. I was looking at law as being something more interesting, challenging, and financially rewarding. But then again, I don't know if thats really the case??

 

[loo]

Not too many loans.. can pay them all off by the end of this year. Not married either. My problem with retail is just the job itself, I've worked in other pharmacies as a tech or an intern and the job itself is pretty much the same anywhere you go. I was looking at law as being something more interesting, challenging, and financially rewarding. But then again, I don't know if thats really the case??

That's good that you're not in too much debt and not attached---you are "free" to explore other avenues.

I meant to try pharmacy in a non-retail setting---hospital, LTC, industrial,etc. I know of a pharmacist who joined the FBI and just loves it.

Do you have any friends/associates who are attorneys? It might help you to decide after talking to them about the pros and cons of practice.

Personally, you couldn't pay me to take the LSAT or go through the law school application process!

Again, I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide...just do whatever makes you content.

loo

 

[kitkat06]

WOAH! The FBI? What is your friend's position there? What are his job responsibilities? Is he in Forensics? Toxicology, perhaps? I am really curious

That's good that you're not in too much debt and not attached---you are "free" to explore other avenues.

I meant to try pharmacy in a non-retail setting---hospital, LTC, industrial,etc. I know of a pharmacist who joined the FBI and just loves it.

Do you have any friends/associates who are attorneys? It might help you to decide after talking to them about the pros and cons of practice.

Personally, you couldn't pay me to take the LSAT or go through the law school application process!

Again, I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide...just do whatever makes you content.

loo

 

[IndustryPharmD]

I have considered that route at one point of time. Sometimes I still do. However, I deal with patents in the course of my daily duties, and that helped me to realize that I would not enjoy it after all. It is a lot of guesswork, while all the time under pressure to produce a definite answer, and when you know that millions/billions depend on that answer... this is not something I would want to handle, probably. It is definitely interesting, though, and right now the environment for Pharma patents is changing with every new court decision and there is some interesting legislation in the works and recently passed... If you think you have the personality to be a patent lawyer, it is a rewarding career. They do work long hours, though, and sometimes have to sacrifice evenings/weekends/holidays on a very short notice.

 

[blackjack109]

I have considered that route at one point of time. Sometimes I still do. However, I deal with patents in the course of my daily duties, and that helped me to realize that I would not enjoy it after all. It is a lot of guesswork, while all the time under pressure to produce a definite answer, and when you know that millions/billions depend on that answer... this is not something I would want to handle, probably. It is definitely interesting, though, and right now the environment for Pharma patents is changing with every new court decision and there is some interesting legislation in the works and recently passed... If you think you have the personality to be a patent lawyer, it is a rewarding career. They do work long hours, though, and sometimes have to sacrifice evenings/weekends/holidays on a very short notice.

Thanks for the information.. I've heard the hours are longggg.. anyone else have any input??

 

[azPharmD2B]

I know someone with their associates in forensics who's working on a PharmD specifically to work for the FBI.

WOAH! The FBI? What is your friend's position there? What are his job responsibilities? Is he in Forensics? Toxicology, perhaps? I am really curious

 

[Pharmavixen]

I worked in retail for years and got totally burned out, and never intend to do it again. About 11 years ago, a friend whose husband was a jail guard told me the jail was looking for a pharmacist. So I got the job, and have been there ever since. I do methadone maintenance, and get all the medications in; we deal with lots of psychiatric, and acute drug and alcohol WD. It's sort of like working in a clinic, where I can confer directly with the doctors and nurses (instead of trying to phone a dr who wrote an illegible script while the line-up of angry people gets longer and longer).

Best part about being a pharmacist in a jail? The customer is always wrong 😀

 

[ageldred]

Perhaps this is a silly question but, do you fear for your safety there? It actually sounds like you have a very interesting job running the methadone clinic. Do you fill prescriptions for prisoners on other meds, such as for diabetes, high blood pressure, etc?

 

[Pharmavixen]

That's a common question, but seriously, this is the safest job I've ever had. At one of my last retail gigs, the store was held up three times in six months, and the last time, they had guns. In a jail, the criminals are locked up, and there are guards all over to look out for you.

Though at the place I work, it's maximum security, which means that inmates can't go anywhere unescorted. I've heard at medium and minimum places, inmates have more leeway to wander about within the institution, and I'm not sure how I'd feel about that.

I don't fill med orders for other than methadone because there's only one me, and 600 inmates, instead supplying the meds for the nurses to pour. But I do get to do some pharmaceutical care, vetting charts of medically-complicated inmates, like guys on Pegetron for hep C, or guys with HIV/Hep C/methadone.

 

[adams08]

On the JD idea, I would recommend finding something else in pharmacy first. I'm on the JD side, thinking about getting a PharmD for a variety of reasons.

I thought about patent law (biochem undergrad), but after taking a few intellectual property/patent prosecution classes in law school, I decided I would rather do a variety of other jobs than do patent prosecution (writing patents). Picture trying to describe a new drug 500 different ways. Or your suitcase. Tedious.

There is always patent litigation, which has way more jobs than patent prosecution. I find it ultra-boring watching big Pharma1 fight bigPharma 2 with truckloads of paper for 10 years over who came up with Epogen first, or whatever.

On the working in a prison/jail pharmacy, for CA, pretty safe. You are locked into the pharmacy (but can get out from the inside). I go to the prisons for my job, and I find it much safer than my neighborhood in the East Bay Area. At least in prison, you know who the criminals are.