PharmD vs Nursing?

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meowjessica

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I just graduated with a BS in biological sciences and have applied to pharmacy schools for the Fall 2015 term. However, I'm definitely starting to have second thoughts on the field and really don't want to regret going into pharmacy in a few years when jobs become harder and harder to come by. I've done my fair share of research and everyone seems to agree that pharmacy isn't a great field to go into anymore. Because of all the new pharm schools, there will be more students than jobs available and the salaries will definitely be going down due to desperate graduates wanting to pay off their student loans.

Now, I was wondering if I should go into an accelerated-BSN program or entry-level MSN program, then another program to become a nurse practitioner. It'd take about the same amount of time (4 years) and be much more stable than the route pharmacy seems to be headed. The salary of nurse practitioners is pretty good too, nearing $100k. Google says pharmacists median salaries are about $119k, but that is definitely bound to go down by the time I graduate in 4 years.. I don't want to be done with pharmacy school worrying about finding a job after all the work I've put in.. To change towards the NP route, I'd have to take off some time and take a few extra classes and gain some hospital experience. But I definitely would rather be doing that than worry about finding a job when I'm done..

Dentistry is also something of interest to me, but I haven't done as much research into this field.

Opinions anyone? :/ I'm so lost!

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Pharmacy, nursing, and dentistry while may all fall into the "healthcare" category of careers are very different from each other. I won't waste my time or yours explaining the difference in those fields as you must already know a lot about what each career entails. You must first ask yourself what it is that you want to do. If it's just the money then any of the careers you mentioned will suffice.

If it is job security, I see your argument regarding nursing and dentistry being more secure, however nursing schools (especially ones with accelerated programs) are pumping out thousands of nurses every year so saturation is bound to occur there as well.

At the end of the day it's all about what you make of it -- if you go to any of the above programs and do the bare minimum then you will not have much of an advantage over the next guy and will have issues finding and maintaining a job. If you go into a program and work hard at every opportunity (and I'm not talking about just getting straight A's -- anyone can study for 10 hours a day) but participate in volunteer opportunities, research, and network heavily then I don't care if the number of pharmacy schools double every year you will stand out and you will have good job security after you are done with school.
 
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I'd recommend against nursing if you were already set on pharmacy and then went so far as to finish applying. I'm an RN with a few years experience now and you can take every complaint that you had regarding the future of pharmacy and simply transplant them to the current field of nursing. Then, for greater saturation and decreasing pay, add in the fact that you get yelled at, spit at, and **** at while simply performing your RN job duties. I can't even begin to describe how much risk is involved in day to day staff RN duties, and the institutions that hire you would rather sacrifice your safety than spend money to ensure it... unless there's a direct threat of mass litigation. MSN/NP curriculum is terrible at most academic institutions (degree mills), and that field is quickly becoming saturated as well. Just do what you want to do because, regardless of economic factors, you definitely will not be successful if you hate your job.
 
I'll also say that if you're worried about finding a job as a new grad, nursing is most definitely NOT the way to go. If I didn't have a single hospital hire me by pure luck 4 months after I graduated, I would never have found a job within the first year and a half. I applied to well over 200 jobs in the state of California during my first year and only received a single interview offer during that time. That was with previous healthcare experience, two bio/health college degrees, and letters of recommendation. I was paid lower wage than my own mom got paid to be an RN in 1990. Then after 1.5 year of RN experience, it STILL took me another 4 months to get hired for another staff RN position that ended up being worse than the first, for still lower pay than RN's received as a median in 1990. I've had classmates that took 13 months to find their first nursing job and when they finally got it, it was half a country away in BFE.
 
I just graduated with a BS in biological sciences and have applied to pharmacy schools for the Fall 2015 term. However, I'm definitely starting to have second thoughts on the field and really don't want to regret going into pharmacy in a few years when jobs become harder and harder to come by. I've done my fair share of research and everyone seems to agree that pharmacy isn't a great field to go into anymore. Because of all the new pharm schools, there will be more students than jobs available and the salaries will definitely be going down due to desperate graduates wanting to pay off their student loans.

Now, I was wondering if I should go into an accelerated-BSN program or entry-level MSN program, then another program to become a nurse practitioner. It'd take about the same amount of time (4 years) and be much more stable than the route pharmacy seems to be headed. The salary of nurse practitioners is pretty good too, nearing $100k. Google says pharmacists median salaries are about $119k, but that is definitely bound to go down by the time I graduate in 4 years.. I don't want to be done with pharmacy school worrying about finding a job after all the work I've put in.. To change towards the NP route, I'd have to take off some time and take a few extra classes and gain some hospital experience. But I definitely would rather be doing that than worry about finding a job when I'm done..

Dentistry is also something of interest to me, but I haven't done as much research into this field.

Opinions anyone? :/ I'm so lost!

I'd recommend against nursing if you were already set on pharmacy and then went so far as to finish applying. I'm an RN with a few years experience now and you can take every complaint that you had regarding the future of pharmacy and simply transplant them to the current field of nursing. Then, for greater saturation and decreasing pay, add in the fact that you get yelled at, spit at, and **** at while simply performing your RN job duties. I can't even begin to describe how much risk is involved in day to day staff RN duties, and the institutions that hire you would rather sacrifice your safety than spend money to ensure it... unless there's a direct threat of mass litigation. MSN/NP curriculum is terrible at most academic institutions (degree mills), and that field is quickly becoming saturated as well. Just do what you want to do because, regardless of economic factors, you definitely will not be successful if you hate your job.
I'll also say that if you're worried about finding a job as a new grad, nursing is most definitely NOT the way to go. If I didn't have a single hospital hire me by pure luck 4 months after I graduated, I would never have found a job within the first year and a half. I applied to well over 200 jobs in the state of California during my first year and only received a single interview offer during that time. That was with previous healthcare experience, two bio/health college degrees, and letters of recommendation. I was paid lower wage than my own mom got paid to be an RN in 1990. Then after 1.5 year of RN experience, it STILL took me another 4 months to get hired for another staff RN position that ended up being worse than the first, for still lower pay than RN's received as a median in 1990. I've had classmates that took 13 months to find their first nursing job and when they finally got it, it was half a country away in BFE.


pharmacy is def NOT something I would recommend. You are right about all the new schools. More still are in the process of opening.

nursing might be bad. But at least it does not take you a min of 150K+ in tuition (+ interests), 6-8 yrs in schools (+ residency).


choose the less evil if you will. If you have to choose btw pharmacy and BSN/NP, my vote is for BSN/NP.
 
pharmacy is def NOT something I would recommend. You are right about all the new schools. More still are in the process of opening.

nursing might be bad. But at least it does not take you a min of 150K+ in tuition (+ interests), 6-8 yrs in schools (+ residency).


choose the less evil if you will. If you have to choose btw pharmacy and BSN/NP, my vote is for BSN/NP.

Not arguing with the comment on pharm. However, you would be surprised at the timeline and price of a BSN to MSN+FP pathway. Many private schools do charge up to 100k to attain a BSN. Even the accelerated BSN programs require a previous bachelors (with possible previous debt) before paying 50k total in-state tuition for a state school. Then you need an MSN which is generally 40k-60k at minimum, not including living costs. Total time for a regular BSN is 4-5 years + 2-3 years for MSN+FP (don't forget 1-2 years required minimum experience as an RN to enter an MSN+FP program unless you do direct entry MSN, which is not advised if you want to find a job as an FP right after school). At minimum you're looking at 6 years of schooling and 90-100k tuition costs alone for another saturated field where you get treated like dog doodie.
 
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Not arguing with the comment on pharm. However, you would be surprised at the timeline and price of a BSN to MSN+FP pathway. Many private schools do charge up to 100k to attain a BSN. Even the accelerated BSN programs require a previous bachelors (with possible previous debt) before paying 50k total in-state tuition for a state school. Then you need an MSN which is generally 40k-60k at minimum, not including living costs. Total time for a regular BSN is 4-5 years + 2-3 years for MSN+FP (don't forget 1-2 years required minimum experience as an RN to enter an MSN+FP program unless you do direct entry MSN, which is not advised if you want to find a job as an FP right after school). At minimum you're looking at 6 years of schooling and 90-100k tuition costs alone for another saturated field where you get treated like dog doodie.


I appreciate your real experience and perspective on BSN.

however, from my experience and knowledge (so that I can say that with 100% certainty), I know at least a state university's accelerated BSN program which requires only a min of 2 yrs of college/prereq and only takes 1 yrs (4 semester: summer, fall, spring, summer) to complete @ undegrad tuition (which at this school = ~ 7-8K a yr). If you did this program, you only spend ~ 3yrs + 24K max in tuition.

There are many programs like that around the nation. Google and you will see.

even if you had to spend 40-60K in tuition for MSN, that would be ~ 60-80K max for the whole thing from nothing to NP.

I agree with the timeline ~ 5-6 yrs for MSN+FP.



On the other hand, 150K+ in tuition is the avg for pharmacy students these days. In pharmacy, you can open your own pharmacy but it is a struggle to compete against big boxes. In nursing, I guess a NP can also open their own practice and your success is also dependent on your work and reputation but at least you do not have to go against giant corporation (please correct me if I am wrong here).

another thing, I think nurses are hard to take out bc of unions. Because of real patient interaction, nurses are also hard to be replaced by technology. Most of pharmacy jobs are repetitive tasks thus are more in danger to be replace by technology.

Again, choose the lesser of evil if you have to. But there might be other career fields you wanna explore too. Pharmacy and nursing are not the only career choices :)
 
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If I had to choose between nursing and pharmacy, I would still choose computer science, engineering, or finance.

Salaries and demand in the health professions will most likely continue to face downward pressure in the next decade due to 1) a surplus of workers, 2) public pressure to control healthcare costs, and 3) large amounts of student loans that will wipe out the benefits of a "high" salary. Autonomy and job satisfaction also are on the decline.
 
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Most states do not have nursing unions.

Pharm D is a terminal degree.

With NP, it's not the terminal degree.

Having been a nurse, I would do pharmacy in a heart beat over nursing if I had to do it all over again.
 
There's also a lot of uncertainty with the nursing boards potentially transitioning to a required doctorate.
 
On the other hand, 150K+ in tuition is the avg for pharmacy students these days. In pharmacy, you can open your own pharmacy but it is a struggle to compete against big boxes. In nursing, I guess a NP can also open their own practice and your success is also dependent on your work and reputation but at least you do not have to go against giant corporation (please correct me if I am wrong here).

another thing, I think nurses are hard to take out bc of unions. Because of real patient interaction, nurses are also hard to be replaced by technology. Most of pharmacy jobs are repetitive tasks thus are more in danger to be replace by technology.

Most states do not have nursing unions.

Pharm D is a terminal degree.

With NP, it's not the terminal degree.

Having been a nurse, I would do pharmacy in a heart beat over nursing if I had to do it all over again.

Correct, there are a number of states without nursing unions. If a state does have nursing unions, then it also depends if your place of business has one. If your place of business has one, be prepared to play union politics and pay the union fees from your paycheck.

The nursing unions are also only for staff RN's. You wont find them for case managers or nurse practitioners. An NP is a separate entity.

24k max tuition is damn cheap for a BSN, there's not a single state school in my state that will give a BSN for that cost. Definitely more power to whoever can capitalize on that.

Having been a nurse is exactly why I'm switching to pharmacy.
 
Correct, there are a number of states without nursing unions. If a state does have nursing unions, then it also depends if your place of business has one. If your place of business has one, be prepared to play union politics and pay the union fees from your paycheck.

The nursing unions are also only for staff RN's. You wont find them for case managers or nurse practitioners. An NP is a separate entity.

24k max tuition is damn cheap for a BSN, there's not a single state school in my state that will give a BSN for that cost. Definitely more power to whoever can capitalize on that.

Having been a nurse is exactly why I'm switching to pharmacy
.

But pharmacy is def NOT where you should look imho. Do more research and you will see.

If you do not like nursing, do something else but not pharmacy. Do not have 2 bad things on your back, one on top of the other. One bad thing is prob enough :)
 
But pharmacy is def NOT where you should look imho. Do more research and you will see.

If you do not like nursing, do something else but not pharmacy. Do not have 2 bad things on your back, one on top of the other. One bad thing is prob enough :)

Thanks for the concern, I do appreciate it =)

I'm aware of what I am getting into and not going in blind. After much (6+ years) of deliberation, research, and seeing the field(s) first-hand... I have decided that this is the best and most appropriate choice for my specific interests and circumstances.
 
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I don't know where everyone is from but in my state bsn programs can and sometimes are fully funded by scholarships if that's a point to consider as well.

Youd be hard pressed to find even 2k scholarship for pharmacy.
 
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I just graduated with a BS in biological sciences and have applied to pharmacy schools for the Fall 2015 term. However, I'm definitely starting to have second thoughts on the field and really don't want to regret going into pharmacy in a few years when jobs become harder and harder to come by. I've done my fair share of research and everyone seems to agree that pharmacy isn't a great field to go into anymore. Because of all the new pharm schools, there will be more students than jobs available and the salaries will definitely be going down due to desperate graduates wanting to pay off their student loans.

Now, I was wondering if I should go into an accelerated-BSN program or entry-level MSN program, then another program to become a nurse practitioner. It'd take about the same amount of time (4 years) and be much more stable than the route pharmacy seems to be headed. The salary of nurse practitioners is pretty good too, nearing $100k. Google says pharmacists median salaries are about $119k, but that is definitely bound to go down by the time I graduate in 4 years.. I don't want to be done with pharmacy school worrying about finding a job after all the work I've put in.. To change towards the NP route, I'd have to take off some time and take a few extra classes and gain some hospital experience. But I definitely would rather be doing that than worry about finding a job when I'm done..

Dentistry is also something of interest to me, but I haven't done as much research into this field.

Opinions anyone? :/ I'm so lost!

First off, do what you think you will love (or hate the least).
In some cases, being an RN is a bigger financial pay off. I went to nursing school at a community college for a tuition of 5k, all of which was paid by scholarships. I moved to northern california, and as a level 2 rn, I make 64.99/hr, working a 40 hour week. My yearly gross comes out to about 135k a year. If I work overtime or holiday, i get the time and a half diffrential (92.50/hr), and there is plenty of opporutnity for that. I know nurses who work 80+ hrs a week making over 300k/year. It takes sacrifice, but if money is the goal, these nurses have it. NOTE: The pay for NorCal is the exception in nursing; other parts of the US pay an average of half of what we bay area nurses make (and it costs a bit more to live up here too). Also, because of the pay, it is one of the most competitive markets to get into for nursing.
Pharmacist make about the same working an average of 43hrs/week (some sources quote less, some quote more), and rack up a debt of over 100k and 3 additional years of school over taking the RN path.
This is not to say that being a pharmacist means that you will be short changed for doing so.
But this is just something to think about.
 
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