Pharmacist vs Cardiothoracic Surgeon

Started by SanaPatel91
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SanaPatel91

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So I'm trying to study for my PTCB Exam and I'm almost ready to rip my hair out...it's dragging 😴 and it that's how it is now..then I'm scared about when i go to pharmacy school...
Turns out I'm still going to Baylor because I already finished my science requirements sophomore and junior year.
So I'm doing some research..and I remembered how much I love anatomy. Haven't been around it much lately, but it still fascinates me! The heart and the lungs have always been my favorite. My only fear is execution..I would say I'm relatively clutz-y...But that all comes in practice..and when I did the Bio Pig dissection, I didn't mess up..in fact I was pretty comfortable...So some advice?? Pros and Cons of both Pharmacist and Cardiothoracic Surgeon
 
SanaPatel91 said:
So I'm trying to study for my PTCB Exam and I'm almost ready to rip my hair out...it's dragging 😴 and it that's how it is now..then I'm scared about when i go to pharmacy school...
Turns out I'm still going to Baylor because I already finished my science requirements sophomore and junior year.
So I'm doing some research..and I remembered how much I love anatomy. Haven't been around it much lately, but it still fascinates me! The heart and the lungs have always been my favorite. My only fear is execution..I would say I'm relatively clutz-y...But that all comes in practice..and when I did the Bio Pig dissection, I didn't mess up..in fact I was pretty comfortable...So some advice?? Pros and Cons of both Pharmacist and Cardiothoracic Surgeon
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Use the search function. If you don't find what you're looking for then google it.

PS. Why are you comparing a pharmacist to a CT surgeon? That is a pretty odd comparison. You might also get better responses in the Allopathic forum about being a CT surgeon.
 
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delano2000 said:
That late? I always thought it was sometime in July. Are you gonna be moving?
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It's like 3 days before classes start, which (going off memory here because I'm at work) start on either the Monday or Tuesday after the orientation shindig.

We've already got most of the stuff set up in Stockton so there's not much moving to do. Majority of possessions will be kept w/ the wife in Palo, and I'm just gonna use the stuff that my parents have at the house during the week. They have awesome appliances (like abelskiever pans!!) so that'll be nice, LOL.

Going to have to turn the cable on for the internet but aside from that it's pretty turn-key.
 
Passion4Sci said:
It's like 3 days before classes start, which (going off memory here because I'm at work) start on either the Monday or Tuesday after the orientation shindig.

We've already got most of the stuff set up in Stockton so there's not much moving to do. Majority of possessions will be kept w/ the wife in Palo, and I'm just gonna use the stuff that my parents have at the house during the week. They have awesome appliances (like abelskiever pans!!) so that'll be nice, LOL.

Going to have to turn the cable on for the internet but aside from that it's pretty turn-key.
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:laugh: Sounds like you have everything in control. You work overnight at the hospital now?
 
These two professions are so different, you really need to see up close and personal what each profession does in order to decide what career path to pursue.

Plus to become a CT surgeon you have to have extremely competitive USMLE scores, so much experience, superb grades, this is all after you have been accepted to med school which is crazy in itself...

I sincerely suggest visiting a hospital and asking if you can shadow both professions. Love of anatomy is not the only thing a CT surgeon has to deal with.

Can you deal with the huge time pressure, everyone waiting on you to make a decision in a few seconds that will ultimately change the course of a patient's life while you're sweating bullets over the open chest of a person and a beating heart is in your hands...we're talking life or death here...the fact that if you clip even the tiniest fraction of an inch could mean paralysis for the rest of the patient's life or even death...

Not to mention, anatomy of what you probably had in college thus far is nothing like the anatomy you have to learn to become a CT surgeon...you have to know the location of every vessel, every arteriole, artery, vein, capillary, where it goes, how do they connect to the others, and this is why it is one of the hardest professions to get into.

You have to deal with the possibility that you may not enter this subspecialized residency even if you do ace MD school, followed by surgery residency followed by CT specialization. Then what? Can you settle for something else in the MD field?

It is a huge dedication and you should definitely shadow a person in the field for a few months and decide if you really like it, and if you can see yourself so dedicated to it that you will try no matter what to attain it. That is the type of dedication patients need when they're on the operating table.
 
SanaPatel91 said:
So I'm trying to study for my PTCB Exam and I'm almost ready to rip my hair out...it's dragging 😴 and it that's how it is now..then I'm scared about when i go to pharmacy school...
Turns out I'm still going to Baylor because I already finished my science requirements sophomore and junior year.
So I'm doing some research..and I remembered how much I love anatomy. Haven't been around it much lately, but it still fascinates me! The heart and the lungs have always been my favorite. My only fear is execution..I would say I'm relatively clutz-y...But that all comes in practice..and when I did the Bio Pig dissection, I didn't mess up..in fact I was pretty comfortable...So some advice?? Pros and Cons of both Pharmacist and Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Click to expand...
Since you still seem keen on spending a crap-load money at Baylor, you might as well do CT surgery. Get your money's worth.
 
Passion4Sci said:
Yep, everything's been planned intricately for some time now!

Nah, I don't work at the hospital, I volunteer there. 🙂

I'm actually not working at all at a pharmacy any more, sadly. 😡
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Are you gonna try to get a position in Stockton? I am still trying to figure out how I would pay for this school if I was to get accepted there.😕

samurai361 said:
These two professions are so different, you really need to see up close and personal what each profession does in order to decide what career path to pursue.

Plus to become a CT surgeon you have to have extremely competitive USMLE scores, so much experience, superb grades, this is all after you have been accepted to med school which is crazy in itself...

I sincerely suggest visiting a hospital and asking if you can shadow both professions. Love of anatomy is not the only thing a CT surgeon has to deal with.

Can you deal with the huge time pressure, everyone waiting on you to make a decision in a few seconds that will ultimately change the course of a patient's life while you're sweating bullets over the open chest of a person and a beating heart is in your hands...we're talking life or death here...the fact that if you clip even the tiniest fraction of an inch could mean paralysis for the rest of the patient's life or even death...

Not to mention, anatomy of what you probably had in college thus far is nothing like the anatomy you have to learn to become a CT surgeon...you have to know the location of every vessel, every arteriole, artery, vein, capillary, where it goes, how do they connect to the others, and this is why it is one of the hardest professions to get into.

You have to deal with the possibility that you may not enter this subspecialized residency even if you do ace MD school, followed by surgery residency followed by CT specialization. Then what? Can you settle for something else in the MD field?

It is a huge dedication and you should definitely shadow a person in the field for a few months and decide if you really like it, and if you can see yourself so dedicated to it that you will try no matter what to attain it. That is the type of dedication patients need when they're on the operating table.
Click to expand...



Anything surgical will be very time consuming. You have to stand pretty much in the same place for hours doing procedures. The only pro I could think of would be the paycheck. Some could make as much as $500k+😱
 
delano2000 said:
Anything surgical will be very time consuming. You have to stand pretty much in the same place for hours doing procedures. The only pro I could think of would be the paycheck. Some could make as much as $500k+😱
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Yeah, you might end up divorced but you'll be driving a 100K car 🙂 Guess it depends on what makes you happy in llife :laugh:
 
Passion4Sci: just because i'm spending 'a lot of money' for school doesn't mean that I'm stupid...it's pretty obvious that one is pharmacy school and one is med school

RxLea: that's some pretty good input 😀

ShadowRx: yea i was thinking that, but i'll be transferring out in two years no matter what...so technically it's not a 'crapload' of money

Samurai361: thank you for the advice...i'm planning on going with the flow for a year and see where it leads me...after all the requirements are the same for the first two years 🙂
 
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Passion4Sci: just because i'm spending 'a lot of money' for school doesn't mean that I'm stupid...it's pretty obvious that one is pharmacy school and one is med school
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Not sure where I brought money into this... so you might be mixing me up with someone else.

Listen, you're comparing apples to oranges here.

This is like me going to my college counselor back in 2004 and saying, "Hey man, can you help me? I'm choosing between being an airline pilot and a race car driver. What's better?"

True, they both are relatively in the same vein (driving/piloting expensive, fast moving machines, quick decision making necessary, etc) but there are as many if not more differences as there are similarities.

If you want to go to medical school, go to medical school... If you want to go to pharmacy school, go to pharmacy school.

Asking for random life coaching/advice from people on SDN is asking for trouble. You need to figure out what you want to do. This is the place to ask when certain supplementals are due, or for ideas on what to write for a PS, or to get opinions from people who have BTDT on which school is better for which region, etc.

But no one here knows squat about medical school (As there's a couple posters who briefly entertained medicine but for one reason or another are now doing pharmacy) and especially about a super-competitive residency. Furthermore, you can't go to medical school planning on one very narrow, very specific residency. What if you flubb your USMLEs? What if you don't get good rotations because you didn't go to the right med school?

If you just ask the Allo forum, and you just ask us, you're getting two extremely biased, very conflicting accounts of the two professions.
 
I had the same question a few years ago about pharmacist vs. rodeo clown. I decided to save money and chose rodeo clown school instead based on the advice of SDN. Bad choice. Sad face.

sad+rodeo+clown.jpg
 
Passion4Sci said:
Not sure where I brought money into this... so you might be mixing me up with someone else.

Listen, you're comparing apples to oranges here.

This is like me going to my college counselor back in 2004 and saying, "Hey man, can you help me? I'm choosing between being an airline pilot and a race car driver. What's better?"

True, they both are relatively in the same vein (driving/piloting expensive, fast moving machines, quick decision making necessary, etc) but there are as many if not more differences as there are similarities.

If you want to go to medical school, go to medical school... If you want to go to pharmacy school, go to pharmacy school.

Asking for random life coaching/advice from people on SDN is asking for trouble. You need to figure out what you want to do. This is the place to ask when certain supplementals are due, or for ideas on what to write for a PS, or to get opinions from people who have BTDT on which school is better for which region, etc.

But no one here knows squat about medical school (As there's a couple posters who briefly entertained medicine but for one reason or another are now doing pharmacy) and especially about a super-competitive residency. Furthermore, you can't go to medical school planning on one very narrow, very specific residency. What if you flubb your USMLEs? What if you don't get good rotations because you didn't go to the right med school?

If you just ask the Allo forum, and you just ask us, you're getting two extremely biased, very conflicting accounts of the two professions.
Click to expand...
okay let me lay this down...you're the one who was giving me "life choices" from the start telling me that a D in physics will be the best and that because you went to community college before and i shouldn't be upset that i might have to and that you got a late start in life...so to put it in simple terms..anything you tell me i will not see it the way you intend to...you may have good advice but honestly after you attacked me telling me that i shouldn't go to school i dont really respect you as much as i try to...and you did state the obvious to begin with...and okay i get that i wont exactly become a cardiothoracic surgeon but im just beginning college and thinking about my options
 
SanaPatel91 said:
So I'm trying to study for my PTCB Exam and I'm almost ready to rip my hair out...it's dragging 😴 and it that's how it is now..then I'm scared about when i go to pharmacy school...
Turns out I'm still going to Baylor because I already finished my science requirements sophomore and junior year.
So I'm doing some research..and I remembered how much I love anatomy. Haven't been around it much lately, but it still fascinates me! The heart and the lungs have always been my favorite. My only fear is execution..I would say I'm relatively clutz-y...But that all comes in practice..and when I did the Bio Pig dissection, I didn't mess up..in fact I was pretty comfortable...So some advice?? Pros and Cons of both Pharmacist and Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Click to expand...

As someone pointed out, you should definitely shadow a CT surgeon and a pharmacist to see which path is right for you. Have you thought of being a PharmD/MD.DO? It'll be 2+3/4+4 and residency this way to end up with both degrees. It'll give you a slight advantage when you get to medical school which can help you land that competitive residency later on.

This is the route that I've chosen and although I can't say that I don't have any regrets... I think having a PharmD will give me solid foundation in whatever I ultimately decided to do.
 
SanaPatel91 said:
okay let me lay this down
Click to expand...

Yeah, you LAY it down! On what, exactly?

you're the one who was giving me "life choices" from the start telling me that a D in physics will be the best
Click to expand...
The best what? Can you even finish a coherent thought?

and that because you went to community college before and i shouldn't be upset that i might have to
Click to expand...
That is absolutely true.

and that you got a late start in life...
Click to expand...
For pharmacy yes. I got a "normal to early" start to "life", graduating with my first 4 year degree when I was 20 years old.

so to put it in simple terms..anything you tell me i will not see it the way you intend to...
Click to expand...
This isn't any more simple than anything you've said so far. Besides all the ridiculous ellipses you've said (You should read up on how and when you use those). And again, your sentence structure is really confusing, awkward, and almost incoherent.

you may have good advice but honestly after you attacked me telling me that i shouldn't go to school
Click to expand...
I'm beginning to think that I was right, after reading this drivel...

i dont really respect you as much as i try to...and you did state the obvious to begin with
Click to expand...
I stated the obvious for every reason I enumerated above. You can't compare apples to oranges or pharmacy to a highly specialized, ultra-competitive medical school choice. They're incongruous...

and okay i get that i wont exactly become a cardiothoracic surgeon but im just beginning college and thinking about my options
Click to expand...
Then why don't you make a more realistic comparison like pharmacy vs. medicine as a general practice instead of choosing cardio-thoracic surgery?

Again, this forum isn't the right place to decide pharmacy vs. medicine (Or for us to tell you one way or the other). If you want someone to look at your transcripts and tell you that you're hopeless, we can do that.
 
PharMed2016 said:
As someone pointed out, you should definitely shadow a CT surgeon and a pharmacist to see which path is right for you. Have you thought of being a PharmD/MD.DO? It'll be 2+3/4+4 and residency this way to end up with both degrees. It'll give you a slight advantage when you get to medical school which can help you land that competitive residency later on.

This is the route that I've chosen and although I can't say that I don't have any regrets... I think having a PharmD will give me solid foundation in whatever I ultimately decided to do.
Click to expand...

I imagine a PharmD would do more good for someone planning to specialize in internal medicine or something of the sort as opposed to surgery.

OP, do your research very very well, choose one field and stick to it. My spider sense tells me you're better off giving medicine a try (else you may end up regretting not trying). Time and again, pharmacy has been treated as a backup plan. I expect that you will do the same. Having trouble in choosing between cardiothoracic surgery and pharmacy suggests you haven't the slightest clue about either of the fields.
 
Passion4Sci said:
Yeah, you LAY it down! On what, exactly?

The best what? Can you even finish a coherent thought?

That is absolutely true.

For pharmacy yes. I got a "normal to early" start to "life", graduating with my first 4 year degree when I was 20 years old.

This isn't any more simple than anything you've said so far. Besides all the ridiculous ellipses you've said (You should read up on how and when you use those). And again, your sentence structure is really confusing, awkward, and almost incoherent.

I'm beginning to think that I was right, after reading this drivel...

I stated the obvious for every reason I enumerated above. You can't compare apples to oranges or pharmacy to a highly specialized, ultra-competitive medical school choice. They're incongruous...

Then why don't you make a more realistic comparison like pharmacy vs. medicine as a general practice instead of choosing cardio-thoracic surgery?

Again, this forum isn't the right place to decide pharmacy vs. medicine (Or for us to tell you one way or the other). If you want someone to look at your transcripts and tell you that you're hopeless, we can do that.
Click to expand...
Just pure pwnage right there, P4Sci, pure pwnage.

OP, you're young, naive, still learning... you'll sorta get a sense of direction where your interests lie by the end of your first college year. Right now, you're jumping the gun, JUST BECAUSE you asked a question like pharmacy (very, VERY general) versus CT surgery (very damn specific).
 
SanaPatel91 said:
okay let me lay this down...you're the one who was giving me "life choices" from the start telling me that a D in physics will be the best and that because you went to community college before and i shouldn't be upset that i might have to and that you got a late start in life...so to put it in simple terms..anything you tell me i will not see it the way you intend to...you may have good advice but honestly after you attacked me telling me that i shouldn't go to school i dont really respect you as much as i try to...and you did state the obvious to begin with...and okay i get that i wont exactly become a cardiothoracic surgeon but im just beginning college and thinking about my options
Click to expand...

With your verbal skills, you'd be lucky getting a 7 on the MCAT verbal.
 
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delano2000 said:
You just have all these random thoughts popping up in your head don't you?😛

Funny enough I don't ever remember doing that as a kid. Different cultures maybe...?😕:shrug:
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You have no idea how many random thoughts pop into my head every minute of the day. Frankly, my mind is a frightening place:scared:.
 
Now, I remember why I stopped joining forums, a bunch of people, who think they know it all. Not that you guys don't have good advice, but because it's hard to get it with certain people always trailing off from the topic.
 
SanaPatel91 said:
Now, I remember why I stopped joining forums, a bunch of people, who think they know it all. Not that you guys don't have good advice, but because it's hard to get it with certain people always trailing off from the topic.
Click to expand...
Okay. I will get back on topic for you. My advice is to shadow both physicians and a pharmacist. I'm not talking about a CT surgen. I'm talking about shadowing a PCP. The reasoning behind this is that many people decide to go to med school in hope of attaining the uber prestigious fellowships. The issue with this is that very, and I mean VERY, few physicians can achieve these specialties and fellowships. So you have to ask yourself, could you be happy in another aspect of medicine?

Do not settle for a career because you fear not making it at the profession you desire. Medicine is also a vast field. There are many specialties and many more subspecialties in those specialties. Choosing a residency before you even decide you want to attend med school is like putting the cart before the horse.

In conclusion, shadow physicians and a pharmacist, and then decide what you plan on pursuing.👍
 
So ellipses are meant to indicate omitted word, phrase, or sentences? However, people use them to indicate pauses? Is that the issue?
 
SanaPatel91 said:
Now, I remember why I stopped joining forums, a bunch of people, who think they know it all. Not that you guys don't have good advice, but because it's hard to get it with certain people always trailing off from the topic.
Click to expand...

You also fail to grasp how to use commas correctly. I'm beginning to think truck driving school is right up your alley.
 
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