Pharmacy school or Med school?

[603pharmacy]

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Hello all,

I am a senior in high school and thought of becoming either a Pharmacist or Doctor for the past few years. Money isn't a problem and neither is time. I was just wondering the goods/bads of each?
Advantages/Disadvantages?

Thanks in advanced for the help!

 

[603pharmacy]

Hello all,

I am a senior in high school and thought of becoming either a Pharmacist or Doctor for the past few years. Money isn't a problem and neither is time. I was just wondering the goods/bads of each?
Advantages/Disadvantages?

Thanks in advanced for the help!

 

[pathologyDO]

This is a pretty broad question that would be best answered by searching the forums or google.

Being a physician will allow you to have full autonomy as you will have the highest education on health in the hospital. You will also be able to use critical thinking skills on a daily basis to diagnose and treat illness. There are many fields in medicine that are available after completing medical school (i.e. surgery, psychiatry, FM, IM, pediatrics, etc) so you can choose the type of patients you want to see and the type of activities you will be engaging in.

As a doctor you will also have a good deal of job security. Although there are lots of positives, the amount of debt (in many cases $200K+) you accrue by attending a medical school can be seen as a big negative. You will also have to be in college 4 years, medical school 4 years, then residency for at least 3 years after that, so you will not be working as an attending physician until you're nearly 30 years old.

If you say time/money isn't a factor and you REALLY love helping people and enjoy the sciences, then being a doctor may fit you.

As for pharmacy, I really have no clue.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Hello all,

I am a senior in high school and thought of becoming either a Pharmacist or Doctor for the past few years. Money isn't a problem and neither is time. I was just wondering the goods/bads of each?
Advantages/Disadvantages?

Thanks in advanced for the help!

I would suggest seeing if you can job shadow both a doctor and a pharmacist. What is "good" and "bad" about each job is going to depend on your personality and what you enjoy.

 

[yehhhboiii]

money is a huge issue. so is time. you don't want to go through the trouble of getting a degree after four years and being unable to find a job which is the whole point. for example, if you want to be in the northeast, don't bother with pharmacy. you can say what you want about a doctor's job security but tell that to pathology or cardiothoracic grads

 

[circulus vitios]

Uh you might want to do some reading into what these careers entail. I can understand 'cross shopping' medicine vs dentistry/nursing/podiatry, but medicine vs pharmacy are two entirely different fields.

 

[ksun91]

I was a pharmacy major that switched and will be a first year medical student this fall.

It depends on want you want to do. Doctors are more involved with diagnosing and determining the treatment plan for patients. Pharmacists mainly deal with the medication side which can be in a retail pharmacy (CVS, Walgreens) or in a hospital setting.

Many people think all retail pharmacists do is count pills, but this is far from the truth. Techs do most of the counting and the pharmacist verifies this and advises the patient about their medications. In hospitals, pharmacists will advise doctors on treatment plans for patients, but I have heard that they are ignored many times by the MD.

I wanted to be more involved with patient care and is the main reason why I switched. However, pharmacist have a very comfortable lifestyle, making 110k+ for only 6 years of schooling and strictly 40hrs a week. Physician may make more and have a more interesting line of work but have longer hours, a longer and harder training period, and much more stress.

I am super happy I switched and excited to start medical school this fall!

 

[Rattlergirl53]

Most people will say medicine due to the pharmacy job market which is not good. As far as medicine being a physician is not peaches and roses if you don't have the passion for it. My father is a physician and I grew up a nice middle class life but but weren't living like Oprah. With his work schedule he didn't have a lot of time for family and was often stressed out. He also told me a story during his residency of a co-resident who in his words "cracked and mentally lost it" because he couldn't handle the stress. Pharmacy can also be very stressful.

Like the other poster said see if you can shadow one and don't go into pharmacy for quick money OR medicine for status. Pick one you can see yourself doing for years.

 

[Alejandro]

603Pharmacy,

If you really want to know, don't ask sdn'ers about the fields. Why? Because you're already in a medical thread, and there will be bias will be towards medicine. I guess you could post the same thing in pharm, but you really aren't getting a real answer that can guide you in the path that you want to pursue.

What you should do, is begin shadowing. Not sure why you denoted yourself as a pharmacy student...nonetheless, start to shadow both doctors and pharmacists (both impatient and outpatient) and see if what they do is appealing to you. And if you have questions about their path, THEY would be the best people to ask. Besides, most of us responding to you on these forums are contributing with whatever limited knowledge of medicine/pharmacy we have. And another point, should you choose either of these fields, you'll be EXPECTED (PLACE EMPHASIS) to have shadowed your respective field anyway, so why not just start now, kill two birds with one stone? And it can be useful to say that you have shadowed other fields as well to demonstrate that you have given other routes a fair consideration. (definitely helped in my interviews, can attest that.) Plus, shadowing is you observing for yourself, not hearing the "highlights" of what people have to say. And one final tip: Don't judge the experience based on how "boring it was" for you to shadow. Shadows aren't supposed to do anything by definition. Think of yourself as a scout for a sports team making a visit to training camp or a game: You're not judging the player on how comfy the stadium is, how the team was so welcoming/accommodating to your arrival, or what the weather was on that day. You're judging the performance of the player and how he/she may complement your team best.

To me, asking on SDN aspects of each profession to make a decision of what path to take is like choosing between nursing school or medical school by comparing Hawthorne versus Grey's Anatomy TV shows. Go out and do your own research in the field. You'll be much more satisfied having done that.

 

[owlegrad]

Merging related threads and moving to the appropriate place. 🙂

 

[PapaGuava]

Hello all,

I am a senior in high school and thought of becoming either a Pharmacist or Doctor for the past few years. Money isn't a problem and neither is time. I was just wondering the goods/bads of each?
Advantages/Disadvantages?

Thanks in advanced for the help!

As other OP's have said. You should shadow these types of positions you may consider doing and more research on both. At my medical program in highschool we were able to do these things and it was very helpful.

 

[nysegop]

Get experience in both fields, then decide.