Pharmacist wannabe anesthesiologist

[maldini99]

Hey everyone,

I am a currently a pharmacy student. I am pretty seriously looking to get into med school after i graduate, and the reason is not that i dont like pharmacy, but simply all the great and very extensive knowledge that you gain in school, you never get to use in most cases. I enjoy being able to help people, but at the end of the day, in the world of pharmacy you just DO NOT make a difference, and that is sad. All you do is try to counsel some patients who dont even listen to you, and just want to get out of there. it can be very frustrating.

I am seriously interested in anesthesiology, and i must ask some questions, since i believe there is plenty of experts on the topic.

Will pharmD benefit me as a anesthesiologist? can it do any good? Maybe help in getting that residecy?

whats going on on the competitivness these years? I read that it is kinda in the middle compared to others...how can check this myself, are there charts or something...(i know this has been asked x times, but please try to emphatise)

are the residency hours crazy, like 80-100 per week? i have a little family so i have to mind them....

does being an international student, with a green card (permanent residency) can hinder me in getting into certain residencies?

what would be your general advice for me, as a graduate PharmD? would it be smart to go back to school instead of making 100k+ a year?

I sincerely apreciate any posts, and every comment is welcome

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[UTSouthwestern]

Hey everyone,

I am a currently a pharmacy student. I am pretty seriously looking to get into med school after i graduate, and the reason is not that i dont like pharmacy, but simply all the great and very extensive knowledge that you gain in school, you never get to use in most cases. I enjoy being able to help people, but at the end of the day, in the world of pharmacy you just DO NOT make a difference, and that is sad. All you do is try to counsel some patients who dont even listen to you, and just want to get out of there. it can be very frustrating.

I am seriously interested in anesthesiology, and i must ask some questions, since i believe there is plenty of experts on the topic.

Will pharmD benefit me as a anesthesiologist? can it do any good? Maybe help in getting that residecy?

whats going on on the competitivness these years? I read that it is kinda in the middle compared to others...how can check this myself, are there charts or something...(i know this has been asked x times, but please try to emphatise)

are the residency hours crazy, like 80-100 per week? i have a little family so i have to mind them....

does being an international student, with a green card (permanent residency) can hinder me in getting into certain residencies?

what would be your general advice for me, as a graduate PharmD? would it be smart to go back to school instead of making 100k+ a year?

I sincerely apreciate any posts, and every comment is welcome

Will the PharmD help you? Hell yes. You will have a depth of knowledge that will benefit you throughout your career.

Residency hours are limited to 80 hours a week by mandate and most are around 60-70 hours/wk.

You have a green card. It shouldn't affect your chances.

Going back to school is something you should want to do. If you are satisfied with your education and content making $100K+/year, you can spare yourself the trials of med school and residency (8 years of additional training). You can work as a pharmacist part time, though I wouldn't recommend that. If you decide to do it, make sure your family is on board with you.

 

[InductionAgent]

All you do is try to counsel some patients who dont even listen to you, and just want to get out of there. it can be very frustrating.

Sounds like being a primary care physician. At least you're looking at a specialty in which patients tend to be extremely compliant with the recommended treatment regimen while they're under your care.

 

[sdn1977]

Well....I'll chime in since I'm a pharmacist.

As far as your knowledge goes, graduating from pharmacy school gives you a "background" in drugs & a definite methodology by which to study them. But, it takes years to learn your speciality well - just like medicine.

Your biggest hurdle will be in getting into medical school in the first place. Admissions committees will want to know why you think THIS time you are so sure you'd like medicine better than pharmacy. After all, we have similar issues - many patients don't follow physician recommendations any better than pharmacist recommendations.

Everyone has the choice to say they might have made a mistake in what they've chosen as a career. But, its hard to evaluate a whole career path while you're still a student.

I'd rather you think hard about the differences between the two careers. Personally, I think there are many differences between the kinds of people who seek out the individual jobs. My daughter is 18 months from getting her MD & she & I are completely different in how we view patients. She is far more interested (& good at!), diagnosis, treatment & intervention than I am. I have no interest in diagnosis at all. Likewise, although she is learning her drugs (& has a long way to go), she is less interested in educating about them, making the systems run smoothly to provide them, etc...than me.

Now - anesthesia is a rare mix of the two. I don't think my daughter will go this route, but....I work with lots of anesthesiologists since I work OR/ICU. Altho anthesiologists know their drugs inside & out....they also know their medicine & physiology inside & out. I may be wrong, but I still see them primarily as diagnosticians & delivering medical treatment. We can banter back & forth about drugs we use, but the patients will never hear nor know that we all know them well.

Do you WANT to be a physician because you WANT medicine? You will indeed help people make their surgery the most comfortable & safe it can possibly be as an anesthesiologist. But, I'm not sure you will get what you are seeking. No matter what, don't go into one career because you are running from another - particularly medicine. Its a long road & one not to be taken lightly, particularly after finishing pharmacy school.

I'm not even sure you've given yourself enough time to find out if what you are seeking is even possible in the career you've already chosen. You've not given it enough time, IMO. As a student in pharmacy school, you've barely touched on what pharmacists do to make a difference. At the end of MY day, I make a very large difference!

No matter what path you choose, I wish you well!

 

[johankriek]

Hey everyone,

I am a currently a pharmacy student. I am pretty seriously looking to get into med school after i graduate, and the reason is not that i dont like pharmacy, but simply all the great and very extensive knowledge that you gain in school, you never get to use in most cases. I enjoy being able to help people, but at the end of the day, in the world of pharmacy you just DO NOT make a difference, and that is sad. All you do is try to counsel some patients who dont even listen to you, and just want to get out of there. it can be very frustrating.

I am seriously interested in anesthesiology, and i must ask some questions, since i believe there is plenty of experts on the topic.

Will pharmD benefit me as a anesthesiologist? can it do any good? Maybe help in getting that residecy?

whats going on on the competitivness these years? I read that it is kinda in the middle compared to others...how can check this myself, are there charts or something...(i know this has been asked x times, but please try to emphatise)

are the residency hours crazy, like 80-100 per week? i have a little family so i have to mind them....

does being an international student, with a green card (permanent residency) can hinder me in getting into certain residencies?

what would be your general advice for me, as a graduate PharmD? would it be smart to go back to school instead of making 100k+ a year?

I sincerely apreciate any posts, and every comment is welcome

for whatever it is worth, stay where you are. make 100k a year plus nothing wrong with it. You wont have to deal with call, working nights, working weekends partners screwing you. crnas and nurses who think they can do your job better than you can , midlevels, rising cost of malpractice insurance, rising educational debt, 8 years of pure pure torture, exam after exam. decreasing reimbursement. all for what? love of taking care of patients.. gimme a break.. all that torture and the pharmacist per hour is making more money and doesnt work nights and doesnt take call.. stay where you are..

and pharmacists make much more than 100k..

 

[tussionex]

for whatever it is worth, stay where you are. make 100k a year plus nothing wrong with it. You wont have to deal with call, working nights, working weekends partners screwing you. crnas and nurses who think they can do your job better than you can , midlevels, rising cost of malpractice insurance, rising educational debt, 8 years of pure pure torture, exam after exam. decreasing reimbursement. all for what? love of taking care of patients.. gimme a break.. all that torture and the pharmacist per hour is making more money and doesnt work nights and doesnt take call.. stay where you are..

and pharmacists make much more than 100k..

we actually have our fair share of the above crap...miserable coworkers, unfair conditions, nights, weekends, long shifts [my longest thus far has been 17 hours]; we are lucky in that we don't have to deal with midlevels, or the pure torture of school/residency, malpractive liability etc...
what i've learned by reading sdn forums is that every profession is miserable, such is the state of healthcare!

so, to the OP...as a pharmacist, i would advise you to give it time; you are still in school. take the opportunity to explore your options. i agree with the above post...it's gotta be more than "love of taking care of patients" to drive you through pharmacy school OR med school...you have got to WANT it.

i lurk in the gasforums alot...i find that these guys know their drugs as much and frequently more than i do. so, getting your pharmD would certainly be an advantage to you. read some of the current posts here by the forum's "heavyweights" and you will see intimate knowledge of how the drugs do what they do. knowing your pharmacology will certainly give you an edge.

whatever you decide, i wish you the best of luck!

 

[OHMAN0125]

for whatever it is worth, stay where you are. make 100k a year plus nothing wrong with it. You wont have to deal with call, working nights, working weekends partners screwing you. crnas and nurses who think they can do your job better than you can , midlevels, rising cost of malpractice insurance, rising educational debt, 8 years of pure pure torture, exam after exam. decreasing reimbursement. all for what? love of taking care of patients.. gimme a break.. all that torture and the pharmacist per hour is making more money and doesnt work nights and doesnt take call.. stay where you are..

and pharmacists make much more than 100k..

Wow...

 

[gas87]

Have you considered doing more clinical work as a pharmacist? Pharmacists I know say that there are lots of 1 year "residencies" for pharmacists in things like ICU pharmacy, NICU pharmacy, and other types of inpatient services. We've had pharmacists that have completed this training round with us on a regular basis, and they are enormously helpful. They see patients at the bedside with us and are right there to recommend alternative meds for a given patient's condition when the current regimen isn't working well.
Yes, it is more of a "consultant" role, but unless you are in primary care, physicians are usually "consultants" anyway.
These pharmacists also give the residents lectures which have been very useful for clinical practice.

 

[Lonestar]

just stay and work with being a pharmacist. i am finishing my last year of residency and there is no way i would repeat any of the last 8 years of my training. On top of everything, you will have to deal with some garbage personalities while going though all of this. Private practice might be easier, but do you really want to spend years in debt and slavery to get somewhere. Here is a thought, shadow an anesthesiologist for a day or two.

 

[maldini99]

Have you considered doing more clinical work as a pharmacist? Pharmacists I know say that there are lots of 1 year "residencies" for pharmacists in things like ICU pharmacy, NICU pharmacy, and other types of inpatient services. We've had pharmacists that have completed this training round with us on a regular basis, and they are enormously helpful. They see patients at the bedside with us and are right there to recommend alternative meds for a given patient's condition when the current regimen isn't working well.
Yes, it is more of a "consultant" role, but unless you are in primary care, physicians are usually "consultants" anyway.
These pharmacists also give the residents lectures which have been very useful for clinical practice.

Actually I am weighing all my options and the possibilities after i graduate, and I have thought about residency and getting specialized in a certain field of pharmacy. I dont know which kind of specialization yet, but it is certainly one of available choices. I think that my problem is that i will not be satisfied being just another regular pharmacist doing his 40h/per week and filling scripts, dealing with impatient people and pleasing doctors. Many people in my school are there just for the money, (the pay makes it a very attractive profession), but i need more than that.

 

[Swaydaa]

One of our best attendings at OSU is former pharmacist. He Brings so much more to the table after Pharmacy school, med school, and an anesthesiology residency.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

OP give us an update? It appears you're in med school now?

 

[deleted500612]

Will pharmD benefit me as a anesthesiologist? can it do any good? Maybe help in getting that residecy?

Yes

whats going on on the competitivness these years? I read that it is kinda in the middle compared to others...how can check this myself, are there charts or something...(i know this has been asked x times, but please try to emphatise)

Pretty much. You can check NRMP match statistics "charting outcomes in the match"
http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Charting-Outcomes-in-the-Match-2018-Seniors.pdf

are the residency hours crazy, like 80-100 per week? i have a little family so i have to mind them....

No. Intern year can be intense 80+ hr weeks if you do a surgical prelim, but most categorical or medicine prelim years are ~50-70hrs/wk dependent on residency program and rotation, with possibly up to 80hr weeks during select rotations only (ICU). Anesthesia years is mostly 55-65hrs/wk average dependent on program with more hours during select rotations (ICU)

does being an international student, with a green card (permanent residency) can hinder me in getting into certain residencies?

If you go to a US medical school and have a green card you will be treated the same as any other American who graduates from a US medical school. If you go to an international medical school then yes you will be treated differently. If you did your undergraduate/pharm degree overseas that is irrelevant for residency, only the medical school really matters

what would be your general advice for me, as a graduate PharmD? would it be smart to go back to school instead of making 100k+ a year?

As a current resident, if I knew what I know now about medicine and already had a good 6-figure job lined up before medical school I definitely would not go to medical school, wouldn't even think twice about it. Save yourself the time, debt, hassle, and delay on enjoying life. To each their own though. The grass is always greener on the other side so they say.

edit: lol spent all that time responding then realized OP post is a 2007 necrobump. Derp.

 

[pgg]

OP give us an update? It appears you're in med school now?

Looks like the OP's last login to SDN was 2+ years ago.