Pharmacy or MD/DO?

[preprof556]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I have struggled with what I should do with my life. I had always wanted to be a physician but I really think what lies in the back of my mind is not getting in to medical schools that I apply to. I have definitely decided on mainly applying to DO schools if I choose med school.

I got a job recently at CVS pharmacy as a clerk but working my way back into the pharmacy as a technician. I really like that environment and feel like I belong. But I also like the feeling of being in a hospital and helping people and providing them with medical care. Both fields have patients although docs probably will have more patient contact than pharmacists. I have shadowed both a doc and pharmacist and like both. I just need help figuring out what I really should do. I have a 3.5 GPA right now and still in the pre-req stage (plan is to apply to professional school by 2015). Thank you!

 

[RxConfused]

You could also consider becoming a clinical pharmacist if you like working in the hospital. Although I agree that you won't get as much contact with patients as a doctor would. So you should think of whether that is something that is important to you. Also you would probably have more patient contact as a retail pharmacist than as a clinical pharmacist.

 

[preprof556]

You could also consider becoming a clinical pharmacist if you like working in the hospital. Although I agree that you won't get as much contact with patients as a doctor would. So you should think of whether that is something that is important to you. Also you would probably have more patient contact as a retail pharmacist than as a clinical pharmacist.

What year are you in pharmacy school?

 

[RxConfused]

What year are you in pharmacy school?

I'm going into my 3rd year

 

[Sofa]

I got a job recently at CVS pharmacy as a clerk but working my way back into the pharmacy as a technician. I really like that environment and feel like I belong. But I also like the feeling of being in a hospital and helping people and providing them with medical care. Both fields have patients although docs probably will have more patient contact than pharmacists. I have shadowed both a doc and pharmacist and like both. I just need help figuring out what I really should do. I have a 3.5 GPA right now and still in the pre-req stage (plan is to apply to professional school by 2015). Thank you!

You may not think of this as patient contact, but imagine this scenario:

A guy walks into CVS with a big headache. Head pounding, he is not sure what OTC medicine to take. Instead of paying a copay to go to the doctor and get advice, he just walks over to the pharmacist and describes the situation. Said pharmacist then talks about what good recommendations are.

That happens on a daily basis VERY frequently at the pharmacy I work at. Sometimes multiple times in an hour.

No, the pharmacist is not performing surgery. No he is not diagnosing severe conditions. But he is essentially "writing a prescription" for a patient without the "office visit".

The pharmacy I work in is probably a lot slower than any CVS, so you might not see/experience what I do, but depending on your retail job placement, you do have the potential to have LOTS of patient contact and do "diagnosis".

All about how you look at it 🙂

 

[RxConfused]

The pharmacy I work in is probably a lot slower than any CVS, so you might not see/experience what I do, but depending on your retail job placement, you do have the potential to have LOTS of patient contact and do "diagnosis".

All about how you look at it 🙂

Which pharmacy do you work at? I feel like Walgreens has a bit more of a clinical focus than CVS. Maybe not so much in the busier stores though. But they are going in the direction of having pharmacists focus more on counseling, which is really what our jobs are supposed to be about, and a lot less filling and cashing people out.

 

[Catria]

If I'm not mistaken, a first-line (or retail, if you will) pharmacist stocks less medicines than a hospital one...

 

[Sofa]

Which pharmacy do you work at? I feel like Walgreens has a bit more of a clinical focus than CVS. Maybe not so much in the busier stores though. But they are going in the direction of having pharmacists focus more on counseling, which is really what our jobs are supposed to be about, and a lot less filling and cashing people out.

For the sake of privacy, I am not very comfortable revealing where I work/intern at. But I will say this: the pharmacies I have the most experience in are usually the ones that are just "departments" of a much bigger store. As a result, they are usually much slower than drugstore-based pharmacies. The slower pace leads to much more regular "diagnoses".

And walgreens stores are usually just as busy as CVS. They are likely the two busiest chains in the US. The general consensus is that they are one and the same when it comes to work environment and culture. I may be wrong, as i have not experienced either yet.

If I'm not mistaken, a first-line (or retail, if you will) pharmacist stocks less medicines than a hospital one...

I'm not 100% sure on this but I think hospital pharms usually carry a much smaller range of medicines than retail stores. The actually dosing medicines are usually just the very commonly used drugs. The majority of a hospital pharmacy is IV mixtures for inpatient use. Again, not completely sure, just going by my own experience on this.

 

[DrYoda]

I have struggled with what I should do with my life. I had always wanted to be a physicianbut I really think what lies in the back of my mind is not getting in to medical schools that I apply to . I have definitely decided on mainly applying to DO schools if I choose med school.

I got a job recently at CVS pharmacy as a clerk but working my way back into the pharmacy as a technician. I really like that environment and feel like I belong. But I also like the feeling of being in a hospital and helping people and providing them with medical care. Both fields have patients although docs probably will have more patient contact than pharmacists. I have shadowed both a doc and pharmacist and like both. I just need help figuring out what I really should do. I have a 3.5 GPA right now and still in the pre-req stage (plan is to apply to professional school by 2015). Thank you!

I'm not sure if you're still following this thread but in case you are (or if anyone with a similar dilemma is interested): I'm a recent med school graduate and I thought I'd add my opinion to the mix.

I encourage you to not write of med school due to the reasoning bolded in the quoted paragraph above. Everyone is to some degree afraid of failure, but you shouldn't let it control your life and actions. If you really have always wanted to be a physician I encourage you to examine our profession closely to get an idea if it's a good fit for you and if you feel it is, apply. Also, there are many people who don't get into med school at first, get in on second or even third attempts and end up being great doctors. So I wouldn't even let one failure discourage you if you do decided to go the med school route. The caveat to all this is that there are many people who like the idea of being a physician much more than actually being one (it's not nearly as cool as on TV) and with costs of tuition there comes a point where financially it's very hard to veer off the path if you find out you hate it.

I'm not going to try and sell my profession to you since one's career is a personal decision, but I will recommend that you think on what you see as the pros and cons of each field and make a decision that is based on the actual careers and not your perceived chance of success/failure (a 3.5 isn't going to keep you out of med school by the way).

I'll try and keep an eye on this thread for awhile, you are also free to PM me with questions if you like.

 

[VictorAlpha]

Everyone is to some degree afraid of failure, but you shouldn't let it control your life and actions..... Also, there are many people who don't get into med school at first, get in on second or even third attempts and end up being great doctors. So I wouldn't even let one failure discourage you if you do decided to go the med school route.

I agree with this. As for the bolded, we'll see... but things look good 🙂🙂

 

[IrishEyes13]

I have been struggling with the same thing, but for different reasons. I am afraid of residency/working long hours, the stress of being a doctor and not having time for life outside the hospital or for family. I also shadowed different hospital pharmacists, and many of them seemed frustrated with treatments prescribed by doctors, but could do nothing about it. Their lack of say in patient care really bothered me. It often seems like pharmacists have such a great knowledge base and expertise, but doctors do not use it or think they are above pharmacists. I was set on applying to pharm school this cycle, but now I am not sure and don't know what to do... Advice anyone?

 

[DrYoda]

I have been struggling with the same thing, but for different reasons. I am afraid of residency/working long hours, the stress of being a doctor and not having time for life outside the hospital or for family. I also shadowed different hospital pharmacists, and many of them seemed frustrated with treatments prescribed by doctors, but could do nothing about it. Their lack of say in patient care really bothered me. It often seems like pharmacists have such a great knowledge base and expertise, but doctors do not use it or think they are above pharmacists. I was set on applying to pharm school this cycle, but now I am not sure and don't know what to do... Advice anyone?

For the hours: to be completely straight with you, there really is no way around it you are going to make significant personal life sacrifices to be a physician no matter the specialty. Even the better hour specialties (I'm an ER resident, we have pretty good although irregular hours) you'll work a lot during training, and probably at certain points be tethered by a pager. the good news is, despite the hours, most people manage to make it work. I know a general surgery resident (female) who had a kid during residency. Several of my coworkers have multiple kids (one has three, another has two and several more have one) it does take a spouse who's willing to accept that you'll spend a lot of time away from home, but it can be done and frequently is. You get good at time management when your time is crunched.

For physician-pharmacist interactions: I like to think that my generation of physicians are more of team players than our predecessors and more apt to listen to the input of pharmacists non-physicians. I don't know what everyone heres experience is with us. From my personal experience (and outsiders view) there seems to be a pretty wide range of how involved/uninvolved pharmacists are in patient care between different institutions (this is for hospital-based pharmacists, I obviously don't know much about retail).

Good luck with your decision.

 

[owlegrad]

For physician-pharmacist interactions: I like to think that my generation of physicians are more of team players than our predecessors and more apt to listen to the input of pharmacists non-physicians. I don't know what everyone heres experience is with us. From my personal experience (and outsiders view) there seems to be a pretty wide range of how involved/uninvolved pharmacists are in patient care between different institutions (this is for hospital-based pharmacists, I obviously don't know much about retail).

Good luck with your decision.

Oh goodness yes, no question about it!

 

[DrYoda]

Oh goodness yes, no question about it!

lol. Yeah, that's basically my viewpoint of it but i didn't want to assume.

 

[pharmd718]

I have been struggling with the same thing, but for different reasons. I am afraid of residency/working long hours, the stress of being a doctor and not having time for life outside the hospital or for family. I also shadowed different hospital pharmacists, and many of them seemed frustrated with treatments prescribed by doctors, but could do nothing about it. Their lack of say in patient care really bothered me. It often seems like pharmacists have such a great knowledge base and expertise, but doctors do not use it or think they are above pharmacists. I was set on applying to pharm school this cycle, but now I am not sure and don't know what to do... Advice anyone?

I am a hospital pharmacist. If a doctor prescribes something that I believe is a mistake, I will not validate the order. Without a pharmacist validating the order, the patient can't get the Rx. I will also put a note in the computer in regards to the order and why I put it on hold. In addition, I would page the doctor and tell him that his order has been put on hold because of x-y-z.

If the doctor still insists on giving a dose that's wrong, I will ask him for documented proof that this dose was given without incident previously. He would have to provide a study or a journal that justifies his decision. If he does produce the study, I will validate the Rx, put a note in the system that I spoke with the doctor who presented me with a study proving the dose is fine and then file the document.

I don't understand why the pharmacists you worked with got frustrated. They are not forced to go against their better judgment.