Pharmacy school reached out to me after rejection from PA school is this a red flag?

[curlygirl1738]

So to keep it brief I’m 23 and originally this past cycle applied to PA school and didn’t get in anywhere. So about 1-2 weeks ago a pharmacy school from where I got my undergrad reached out to me to see if I want to apply to their program and I did. Now I have an interview may 18th and this all happened so fast. I really want to get started and pursue a higher profession and I’m not opposed to pharmacy. I used to consider it when I was younger but the appeal to PA stood out because shorter school, flexibility with jobs, etc. Is this a red flag? They are looking to fill 20 seats from previous PA applicants. I’m excited to see what this can bring, but in better terms how can I prepare? Thank you.

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[lord999]

Huge red flag. Don’t go before you try the work out as a pharmacy tech. You’ll save yourself a lot of heartbreak that way.

 

[curlygirl1738]

Huge red flag. Don’t go before you try the work out as a pharmacy tech. You’ll save yourself a lot of heartbreak that way.

I’ve worked with patients in direct patient care jobs. I have an idea of how demanding patients can be and how you have to stay calm in stressful situations. I’m currently an MA so I’m speaking to the pharmacy all the time or coordinating medication refills. Is it that bad of a job?

 

[projektreverb]

Huge red flag. Unsolicited offer. Don’t do it. 70% chance you’ll end up in retail. Imagine the worst retail job you’ve ever had, now make it 10 times worse and you’ll never get a raise. Ever.

Don’t do it. Just enjoy the gap year, improve your PA application if needed and reapply next year to PA. You’ll thank me later.

 

[lord999]

I’ve worked with patients in direct patient care jobs. I have an idea of how demanding patients can be and how you have to stay calm in stressful situations. I’m currently an MA so I’m speaking to the pharmacy all the time or coordinating medication refills. Is it that bad of a job?

Only one way to find out. If you are currently a MA, you've got good and respectable street credentials to handle high pressure, and that would satisfy an interviewing panel for PA on professional handling.. The difference is from an MA, try doing that with dealing with the billing and handing a bunch of patient samples out. It's not worse per se, but different. I really encourage you to try before you commit to buy.

There's a difference between what one of my favorite parody channels describes as nursing (being an actual nurse herself), and experiencing for yourself what it's like. You know as an MA that it's cry laughing:

 

[PharmtoCS]

Huge red flag. Pharmacy schools are like car dealers now. You get sold a PharmD that will land you $200k+ in debt with stagnant wages, poor job prospects, and terrible work conditions.

 

[BC_89]

So about 1-2 weeks ago a pharmacy school from where I got my undergrad reached out to me to see if I want to apply to their program and I did. Now I have an interview may 18th and this all happened so fast... Is this a red flag?

The flag is more red than blood.

Job Saturation: Is Pharmacy Worth it? Here's What You Need to Know

Never run to a career without any experience, especially those that act as business salesman approaching you for what seems like a fast-pace tunnel to an interview. There is a reason many students become high in debt with little satisfaction for simply chasing a professional title with no experience. Pharmacy is one of the few occupations of which you can actually get job experience working right there with a pharmacist and you're strongly encouraged to do just that - get experience.

I would 100% support the idea to gain additional hours for your healthcare experience by working as a pharmacy technician up until the next cycle of interviews. Think of the long-term goals as well. Can your income keep up with inflation? Does the amount of student debt balance out? Does job placement and location seem restricted? Most importantly, why are recruiters seeking people out who never had any intention of applying? Do you know of any PA or med schools that offer a fast-pace interview date by simply applying?

Simply put:
1) Work on your application for next cycle
2) Work as a pharmacy technician
3) Re-visit this thread 6 months from now

 

[Splenda88]

Do a 1-yr accelerated BS to BSN program and then do psych NP. Thank me later when you are making 175k-200k with less than <100k student debt.

 

[RXDOC1986]

Have to agree with the above, you are looking at advice from, mostly, Pharmacist, telling you NOT to pursue Pharmacy. I have been a Pharmacist for 37+ years. I love my profession, but still telling people not to go to pharmacy school.
Hopefully, this is enough RED FLAG warnings, not to go in the water. If you look at your situation, you were denied admission to all PA programs, but received admission from a pharmacy school, you hadn't applied at. If that isn't enough of a Red Flag warning, I don't know what is!

 

[curlygirl1738]

Have to agree with the above, you are looking at advice from, mostly, Pharmacist, telling you NOT to pursue Pharmacy. I have been a Pharmacist for 37+ years. I love my profession, but still telling people not to go to pharmacy school.
Hopefully, this is enough RED FLAG warnings, not to go in the water. If you look at your situation, you were denied admission to all PA programs, but received admission from a pharmacy school, you hadn't applied at. If that isn't enough of a Red Flag warning, I don't know what is!

If you love your profession why do you advise against it?

 

[deleted727644]

The working conditions suck. Pharmacists could easily sit down and do their work or at-least have the option to instead they are required to be on feet 12 hours straight in one spot with very little break

 

[RXDOC1986]

If you love your profession why do you advise against it?

You must be really young and naive! You must have missed the hundreds of threads on this forum that delve into the state of our profession in the last decade. I love what I do, I love the profession, but given the state of our profession, it would be delusional, nay, criminal to advise a young graduate to take up pharmacy. If you can't see the difference between what I am saying and what I do, good luck!

 

[PharmtoCS]

If you love your profession why do you advise against it?

Because we don't want more people to suffer crushing student debt and having to choose between unemployment and terrible work conditions being fodder for the big pharmacy chains. There are far more students graduating from pharmacy schools than there are jobs available.

 

[mentos]

So to keep it brief I’m 23 and originally this past cycle applied to PA school and didn’t get in anywhere. So about 1-2 weeks ago a pharmacy school from where I got my undergrad reached out to me to see if I want to apply to their program and I did. Now I have an interview may 18th and this all happened so fast. I really want to get started and pursue a higher profession and I’m not opposed to pharmacy. I used to consider it when I was younger but the appeal to PA stood out because shorter school, flexibility with jobs, etc. Is this a red flag? They are looking to fill 20 seats from previous PA applicants. I’m excited to see what this can bring, but in better terms how can I prepare? Thank you.

You already know the answer. Pharmacy schools cannot fill their seats. They now pursue rejects from PA school, medical school, dental school, optometry school, and I think a physical therapist reject even posted here before too. What does that tell you about the profession of pharmacy if the schools are desperate to fill their seats? Are any of the above schools reaching out to pharmacy school rejects? I don't know if there's a such thing as a pharmacy school reject anymore.

 

[mustang sally]

The biggest issue I see here is that these are two very different professions. If you want a more direct role in patient care, you may end up unhappy as a pharmacist. Personally, I like my job just fine but it seems difficult for pharmacists to find jobs that they are happy at overall.

 

[gyngyn]

This thread can be followed here: How to prepare for pharmacy school interview in 2ish weeks when the only reason I got an interview is due to being a PA reject?