Physical therapy or pharmacy?

[puppypaws]

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Hey,
I was just accepted into pharmacy school but I'm having second thoughts. I've been thinking of switching and becoming a physical therapist. I've shadowed both fields and like them both, so I'm having trouble deciding what to do.
After some thinking and reading about pharmacy saturation and possible salary cuts for physical therapists due to the health care reform, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on which field is more stable to go into.
I'm just hesitant to build up on student loans for either field. I don't want to be stuck not being able to pay them off.
thanks

 

[fauxden]

Hey,
I was just accepted into pharmacy school but I'm having second thoughts. I've been thinking of switching and becoming a physical therapist. I've shadowed both fields and like them both, so I'm having trouble deciding what to do.
After some thinking and reading about pharmacy saturation and possible salary cuts for physical therapists due to the health care reform, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on which field is more stable to go into.
I'm just hesitant to build up on student loans for either field. I don't want to be stuck not being able to pay them off.
thanks

I'm a p2, my buddy is a p3- and we are shatting ourselves worrying we will not find a job. My buddies bro is graduating PT school this semester. He has been to 3 different dinners with different people wanting him to work for them in the past month. Yeah... right now....maybe PT. But who knows.

 

[BavarianMWE46]

Right now PT is more stable and there are a ton of jobs around here starting around $75K per year. But, in the 90s there was also a surplus in the PT field. Everything goes in cycles of boom and bust, pharmacy is in the bust phase, and it could be 15-20 years before the market can catch up with the fact that pharmacy schools have doubled in a single decade. PT is in a boom, but could also bust again in a decade or so if it gets too hot and everyone starts going into it.

My answer, do what you love, just be ok with making $60K in either field, because it is entirely possible in either one. Do you believe in manual therapy? Helping the person through exercise, motion, stretching, swimming, etc.? Shoving tons of pills in bottles in a high stress environment? Evening and weekend hours as a corporate slave like pharmacy, or a more professional setting 9-5 clinic set-up like PT? Lol, you decide.

 

[puppypaws]

Yeah, I see your point. If either of the fields goes down, then even if the salary decreases, at least I'd still be doing what I enjoy. Then it wouldn't matter as much. There's no way to really know which one will be more stable later on.
Where are you,BavarianMWE46? I hadn't heard of PTs starting at 75k, I thought it would be closer to 60k.
Thanks 🙂