Pharmacy student thinking about applying to med school

[Techy413]

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Hello all,

I am currently going through my first semester of pharmacy school and I am having some serious doubts about where the profession is headed. With that being said, I am thinking about dropping out of pharmacy school and working my way to applying to med school. My undergrad GPA is a 3.7 with a science GPA close to 4.0. I have worked 2000ish hours as a pharmacy technician and intern and have done plenty of volunteering and a small amount of research with a professor. Aside from the things that I have already accomplished, what other things should I do (aside from taking the MCAT) if I go this route to make my self look like a better applicant? Would it be problematic that I have already attended a professional school and changed my mind? Does this look bad on a med school application? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[kfcchikin]

Did you finish 4 years of undergrad and are now doing 4 years of pharmacy? Or is this part of a 6 year program?

 

[Techy413]

I did not, but I would be able to finish my degree in the matter of one semester. I would do this before I apply to med school.

 

[kfcchikin]

I did not, but I would be able to finish my degree in the matter of one semester. I would do this before I apply to med school.

I'm a bit confused considering your original post -- so you would or wouldn't drop out of pharmacy school? Regardless, if it's semester 1 of 7 remaining semesters, I'd consider dropping it if medicine's what you want to do. If you're any further than that, I'd finish the degree while working on getting into med school (which, with a GPA like yours, shouldn't take too much). A close friend of mine is applying the same cycle as me (next summer) and is a final year pharm student in a 6 year program. It really is a full-time job and quite rigorous so as long as you start MCAT studying early, use summer/winter breaks wisely, etc you should be good to apply to matriculate right after finishing your degree.

You've done research and volunteering - just make sure some of that volunteering is clinical too. Honestly, aside from any other ECs or hobbies you may enjoy personally, getting a doctorate is nothing to dismiss in terms of how you spent your time and it is obviously a demanding program that doesn't leave you the same free time that an undergrad graduate in their gap year has. I think you're in a good spot...also make sure you have the proper letter of rec writers (may require contacting undergrad profs)

 

[Techy413]

Sorry I may have not been clear. I am in my first year of pharmacy school now but moved onto pharmacy school without finishing my undergraduate degree (I did 4 years undergraduate but just did not finish the degree after getting accepted into pharmacy school). So yes I would be dropping out of pharm school, going back to my undergraduate institution to finish my degree, then apply. Regardless, I appreciate your comments and advice.

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

It’s really early to have these doubts toward your future profession. That being said, not all of us determine how we want to spend our life at the same exact time. I think if it’s what you really want to do then pursue it. Just understand that you are throwing away a guaranteed 6 figure salary in a couple of years, for the change of getting admitted into medical school. It’s a big decision to think about but if you won’t be happy with your career the rest of your life then that’s a big determining factor because money isn’t everything.

 

[allantois]

It’s really early to have these doubts toward your future profession. That being said, not all of us determine how we want to spend our life at the same exact time. I think if it’s what you really want to do then pursue it. Just understand that you are throwing away a guaranteed 6 figure salary in a couple of years, for the change of getting admitted into medical school. It’s a big decision to think about but if you won’t be happy with your career the rest of your life then that’s a big determining factor because money isn’t everything.

pharmacy has a 0% job growth rate in the next 10 years per BLS

 

[Sleepingdoc]

You are better off with Pharmacy interms of financially and time..
Pharmacist make 120k-180k$.. Imagine you need time for prep work for MCAT, application which will take 1-2 years. You will be taking loans for next 4 years in med schook,if you wanna do med school with minimum of 3 more years for residency.

 

[deleted804295]

You are better off with Pharmacy interms of financially and time..
Pharmacist make 120k-180k$.. Imagine you need time for prep work for MCAT, application which will take 1-2 years. You will be taking loans for next 4 years in med schook,if you wanna do med school with minimum of 3 more years for residency.

The pharmacy market is garbage. No new grads make 6 figures anymore. They are barely guaranteed jobs and often times sign their lives away to contracts guaranteeing only $20.

Go to the pre-pharm forum in SDN. It's literally the most depressing sub-forum I have ever happened across.

 

[Techy413]

The pharmacy market is garbage. No new grads make 6 figures anymore. They are barely guaranteed jobs and often times sign their lives away to contracts guaranteeing only $20.

Go to the pre-pharm forum in SDN. It's literally the most depressing sub-forum I have ever happened across.

It is very depressing, but at the same time it makes me wonder how many of the people posting made a legitimate effort to network, graduate towards the top of their class, and get a residency for good clinical jobs. I am referring more to the actual pharmacy forum, not pre-pharm forum, where people are complaining of saturated job market and recent grads with no jobs.

 

[kfcchikin]

It is very depressing, but at the same time it makes me wonder how many of the people posting made a legitimate effort to network, graduate towards the top of their class, and get a residency for good clinical jobs.

I'd say because pharmacy is absolutely a difficult profession but standards have dropped tremendously, plenty of people are able to do it who aren't exactly cut out for something so extremely science and memorization-heavy. That being said, plenty did have good grades in UG and are cut out for it but still don't get jobs.

Residency is an option, but even that has limited slots. Before, no residency and 120k salary wasn't difficult to get, but unfortunately it's the case now and will be for a while.

Actually, one pharmacist I knew as a pharmacy student was one of the smartest and most sociable guys I'd met. Way smarter than any med student I've talked to. Didn't get into a residency when he tried but went and got a PhD after and is a young professor now at a top 5 university. No one's safe, it seems like it's largely a crap shoot....

 

[Kardio]

The financial aspects aside, I think you should get some shadowing and clinical experiences before you ultimately decide to leave your program or pursue medical school. It’s worth it to make sure that medicine is the career for you.