pharmacy vs optometry vs podiatry competitiveness

[biggs]

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How competitive is entry to the schools for each of these professions? and how stressful are the professions themselves? Im a current college student who is interested in the health field, but doesnt want to dedicate their life to their work the way my MD sister and father have. Also, im a good student, but not exceptional (3.2ish gpa at a top 25 college), and i sometimes struggle mightily with classes like physics, so i want to work towards a goal that is achievable for. are any of these professions achievable for someone with my current stats

 

[Elisaveth]

Maybe you should contact people who are in these fields by email. Ask them what their jobs are like and what made them go into the field. I would talk to people who have been in the field for a number of years, though. I once made the mistake of asking someone who recently entered a profession and said wonderful things about how perfect it was, and then quit six months later without telling me the downsides. I found out from a friend of a friend that this person felt very pressured to speak positively about her new field.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

I can handle a lot. I've seen and worn some gross stuff, but I couldn't be a podiatrist. Have you seen some of the feet these people deal with? I have seen some nasties between EMS and law enforcement. That's not such a big deal in and of itself. However, getting a close up view, i.e. having that near my face with my hands on it.... Even a whole, hot, dead rotting person doesn't seem to compare to it with me. I don't know what it is.

 

[rxlove]

How competitive is entry to the schools for each of these professions? and how stressful are the professions themselves? Im a current college student who is interested in the health field, but doesnt want to dedicate their life to their work the way my MD sister and father have. Also, im a good student, but not exceptional (3.2ish gpa at a top 25 college), and i sometimes struggle mightily with classes like physics, so i want to work towards a goal that is achievable for. are any of these professions achievable for someone with my current stats

I may be wrong, but I doubt people on the pre-pharmacy forum really know enough about podiatry and optometry to really answer your question. I suggest searching each forum separately to get a feel for it.

As for pharmacy, I suggest that the rest of your application be stellar...high PCAT scores, good LOR, pharmacy experience, etc. to offset your GPA. Your GPA isn't terrible, but it's not something that adcoms are going to pick you out of a crowd of applicants either. And I wouldn't worry too much about physics...physics isn't a prereq at many of the schools I looked at.

 

[UNMorBUST]

As mentioned in podiatry and optometry forum. Please research first. Shadow to even see if you like a field. Plus don't triple post in different forums.

 

[PharmTech8241]

I can only speak for pharmacy but I got into UF with decent grades...my cum was a 3.3...I transferred from a CC to a university and graduated cum laude with a B.S in Biology...mind u I scored in the 90th percentile on the PCAT, had five years experience, I am a co-author of two research articles, had a lot of volunteer hrs, great letters of Rec and had a great personal statement and supplemental essay