PharmD the right choice?

[Sallust]

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Hi all,

A rather detailed backstory, then questions...

For the past year and a half, I have been working as a laboratory supervisor at a small municipial wastewater plant. Last semester, I began taking distance ed courses through the local state university as a way to get back into the academic mindset. I also saw them as a way to move into a different field, as I no longer enjoy government work or the environmental field in general. I did very well in a fairly difficult grad-level chemical engineering course so I figured that it would be best to start looking at possible options for further education before my faculties start to fade...

I am only interested in working within the pharmaceutical industry, specifically in medical writing -- I started out as world literature major, then switched to biochemistry during my sophomore year. I do not have any real interest in other areas of pharmacy. I do have experience with community pharmacy, as I obtained my pharmacy tech certification during my sophomore year of college and worked at Rite Aid for eight months.

My questions:

Would it be 'worth it' to go for a PharmD if my sole intention was to go into medical writing?

If I were to go for a PharmD, would it look better on my application to:

re-take any pre-reqs I did poorly in (after looking at the required pre-reqs for several schools, it appears that for me this would only be one course, my second semester of Organic Chem, where I recieved a C+)
or
continue to take the graduate-level chemical engineering courses?

As far as how my transcript looks now, I graduated with a 3.38 GPA, although there are a few withdrawals.

Of course, if I decide to go for it, I will re-certify as a pharm tech and try to find a position doing night/weekend work at retail pharmacy as well as ramp up the volunteering &c.

As a final note...I just turned 24, and the earliest I could realistically see applying would be September of next year. Is this too late? Would I be much older than my classmates? Fortunately, I am currently debt-free, so I won't have to sweat paying off any undergraduate loans on top of whatever I take out for pharmacy school.

Thanks all for your input.

 

[WhiteSnows]

I find it very difficult to answer your question since you know yourself much better than anyone else. One thing you must consider is that you must be willing to work with people such as patients. Pharm.D is a 4 years programs after completion of req. classes and it requires dedication. You also need to take the Pcat which is composed of verbal, reading, maths, chem, bio, writing. The process of applying is complicated. After done all of this, you need to wait to be called for the interview. If you are accepted, you will have to wait for the following year to start the school.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I don't know what a "medical writer" does in his day to day, but it sure seems like something more suited to a PhD than a Pharm.D. That said, maybe a combination Pharm.D/MBA would be a more cogent degree? Maybe you could describe for us what you would like to do as a medical writer?

No, 25 is not "too late", and you definitely won't be older than a great deal of your classmates I'm sure. I've been assured time and time again by people from Creighton, UCSF, UoP, Touro and UCSD that I have spoken to specifically about age that even at 28 (When I matriculate) I will not be that much of an exception. Pharmacy's pretty heavy on non-traditionals, so put that concern out of your mind.

 

[themulya]

Okay, so I did some searching online and from what I can tell, I don't think it would be worth it. Getting a PharmD takes some time and can get pretty expensive. Some of what I read mentions that most employers only look for a BA in language or journalism or a BS in chemistry, biology, or physics. Some require a PhD in one of these areas but not many. I don't think getting a PharmD would be worth it if you already qualify for the job with just a bachelors.

However if you still want to do PharmD, I would continue on your graduate-level chemical engineering courses. Your GPA seems competitive enough.

24 isn't old. In fact I think a good portion of people applying to pharmacy are in their mid 20s. A good portion are also above 30 when they start their prereq course work so don't feel out of the norm. I actually feel a little out of the loop being 21. Not enough life lived yet.

If you want to read some of what I found I'll post it below. But heres a warning. I did a quick search that took about 5 minutes. DON'T trust everything that you read. Do some more research till you find something that you think is trustworthy.
http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-become-a-medical-writer.htm
Heres a job posting where the requirements are a bachelors and experience
http://www.writejobs.com/cgi-bin/job.pl?job=2428
Heres an article I thought was really helpful until I noticed it was written for people in the UK. Not sure if its valid but i'll still post it.
www.emwa.org/Mum/Career.pdf

 

[diastole]

You are worried about your fading faculties at 24? I was going to respond to that but I find that words are failing me. Clearly, it must be dementia setting in as I'm quite a bit older than 24.

 

[RaginCajun]

Just to add on to 5minutes the application process in SoCal becomes more competitive every cycle. Usually 180 out of 1000-1800 applicants gain acceptance.

There may be an easier route to medical writing. I would recommend contacting a medical writer.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

So, I'm about to get a PhD in biology, and for awhile, I was thinking of doing science writing, until I switched to pharmacy.

I'd go ahead and either do a specific science/medical writing grad program (there are several in science writing) or get a PhD. You can get one in pharmacology, which might work really well to work at a pharmaceutical company.

If you get your PhD, you actually get paid to go to school, enough to live on, even if it's not very much. Some schools even offer science writing classes for grad students. I know UW Seattle does.