Which is a better choice for having a better social life? Pharmacy takes 8 years a doctor takes only 3 more
I think pharmacy allows you to have a better social life for multiple reasons.
#1 When applying to schools, all med schools require an MCAT or GRE score which take a lot of time to prepare for. For pharmacy not all schools require an entrance exam (PCAT) so you don’t have to spend all that time preparing.
#2 In med school you have to do a residency after the four years it takes you to get through school. From what I understand the residencies can be up to 80 hours/week of work for 2-6 years. In pharmacy you don’t have to do a residency to get a job after school.
#3 You don’t have to be on call as a pharmacist (like ever if you don’t want) and as a doctor odds are good you’ll have to be on call at some point in your career.
#4 There are accelerated PharmD programs that can get you in and out in 3 years. Although, those accelerated programs don’t allow for summer breaks and require a lot of work, that is still only three years.
For me getting my PharmD is going to take 8 years. I’ve completed 4 years of undergrad and 4 years in my program left, however, I have seen people get accepted into pharmacy school with only 2 years of undergraduate work completed. That would make it 6 years to get your PharmD. If you were to do an accelerated program it could potentially only take you 5 years.