Question about alternatives similar to pharmacy

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[DrVader]

Hi,

So would anyone please share what they were going to do if they were not attending pharmacy school? Please leave out the attendance of another professional program (MD, PA, etc.) Would anyone have become a bio-statistician? Pharmaceutical sales? In other words, where would it make sense to work at given the pre-pharm background?

After pharmacy school, how likely is it for someone who is not doing research to work in a pharmaceutical company? Are the jobs more complicated than retail? Do you get opportunities to work in different countries?

My alternative career is IT/ business. I completed my P3 but not P4. I have always had a talent for IT. If you're smart enough to do pharmacy, you can do anything. Business is a attractive alternative for many people. My biggest regret is that I never asked myself what I actually like. What do you like? You can easily use pre pharmacy courses to get a degree in chemistry or biology. Both degrees can lead you to a variety of different career paths.

 

[lord999]

Actuary:
Actuary Salary by State - DW Simpson

I did the biostatistician/actuary/informatics pathway (and I do have FSA status in SoA and Enrolled Actuary) after pharmacy through graduate training and paid for by being in the one field in pharmacy that has to pay for retraining as the government took a policy to reduce us (this is why I know how a RIF works). Actuaries are paid comparably more than pharmacy (on par with IM without the 55 hours workweek), job security is better, you don't deal with jerks and everyone likes to have you around. For government, I get all the policy and analytics work I can stand. It's a different preparation pathway than pharmacy though, but it makes you look real sexy to industry (which was where I thought I wanted to work at first, but then the Mrs. found me). =

In the civil service, Enrolled Actuaries are salaried at least on the GS-13 level (and immediately set at Step 10) or under Excepted Appointments which means more $. A corporate actuary starts around $95k for the qualifying certification and an average around $140k-160k for the EA's and the highest certifications for CAS and and SoA.


Network Engineer at the CCIE level:
Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Salary, Average Salaries | PayScale

Cisco's CCIE is no longer the biggest cash cow of IT certification
(And PMP's are now a dime a dozen, but CCIE's have actually gone up and stayed up, and I also don't think TechRepublic did a passable survey as the current contract rates even in those days was higher.)

Programmers are a dime a dozen, and salary is as much a geographic consideration as the fact that you're putting in 60-80 hours and you're <40 as age discrimination in tech is alive and well. These guys, the network engineers that have a provable certification in the CCIE or higher (so, this exam requires a practical demonstration that is notoriously exacting), are fat, mouthy, and disgusting, and you're going to pay them $150k when they're senile at 60 (and we have some of those guys) because they're just that damn good and it's so hard to find that sort of talent. This takes about 3-5 years of practice before you can perform at this level, but you're magical when you can. They are in high demand and will be so for the indeterminate future, immune to the programming fads because they make things work.

Civil service immediately places a CCIE on the SL/ST salary band (as in higher than GS), but all of them are Tier 5 TS/SCI or Q sorts of background investigations as those jobs are playing with real power. Most are contractors who make 1/3 more than the civil service but don't have the power.

Antirecommendation: Physician
If I wanted be a physician or had that sort of inclination, I would have never attended pharmacy school to begin with as the mentality is too different. I did know what I was about (I didn't like people enough back then or now, and I like my downtime and hobbies) such that pharmacy was a great career prospect even now for me. If I only made $60k in the present day, I'd still be happy with it considering that I was always a basement hospital sort of pharmacist to begin with (and happiest in the IV room). It's just that since that time, there aren't many pharmacists who enjoy the dispensing aspect of the job, and that's a shame. If you want to be a physician, go to medical school and don't waste your time here. If you're looking for an undergraduate degree, this isn't the right one.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Engineering or software development offer some of the best returns on investment for your education. You can earn about as much as a pharmacist after a few years of experience and enjoy far better job prospects than pharmacy without having to take out $200k+ in loans and spend another 4 years of your life in school.

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[jjkz]

Before you jump on the IT bandwagon be forewarned...IT jobs are outsourced and if not outsourced they will 100% be. If not outsourced then there’s the problem of corporations hiring tons and I mean TONS of H1bs. Don’t look at companies like Facebook, google who hire directly from Harvard or Stanford. The majority of companies outsource their IT needs, use consultant companies employed by H1Bs, or just hire H1bs. Also the salary of IT is nowhere near pharmacist salary. IT jobs average 60K-80K. The higher paying jobs 90k+ are in software engineering however bear in mind that that salary is mainly offered in big cities (SanFran, NY, BayArea) where the cost of living would make your salary of 90K very dismal. I personally passed up on Pharmacy and am looking into becoming a Nurse Practitioner. Salaries easily start at 90K+, and you have the autonomy to diagnose and prescribe. You can also operate your own practice and work under a physicians license. Furthermore you can apply your prepharm courses which would speedy up your academic journey. Good luck!

 

[BidingMyTime]

If I hadn't been a pharmacist, I would have went into teaching.

What you need to ask yourself, what is the main thing that you like about being a pharmacist, and then what other jobs would use that skill?

 

[Dalteparin]

Marijuana farmer.


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[Amphetamine Salts]

would do something in finance or marketing. under no circumstances i would go to college for more than 4 years. i'd be content with 30-35k/year after taxes. i'd use my free time to invest some of my money into building a business and letting that be my career in the long term. you don't need to go to school to achieve the amount of wealth you want

 

[spacecowgirl]

Trophy wife.

 

[Rouelle]

Not healthcare related, but I still think accounting would have been fun.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Please leave out the attendance of another professional program (MD, PA, etc.)

Is Quiznos hiring?
Why would you even bother making this thread on this forum if you don't want advice about professional programs?

Here's my advice: just tell your overly involved parents to stop pressuring you into stuff you aren't capable of doing

 

[PharmD.girl]

I was adopted as an infant and have always been fascinated with genetics. So maybe a I would be a geneticist with a focus on the ethics of certain genetic testing.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Not a pharmacist, but have a friend who was set to go to pharmacy school, did some thinking and calculations and read about the saturation, and instead went back to school to become a registered Dietician. Its kind of like a pharmacist, but with food instead of pills.

 

[Robin-jay]

Not a pharmacist, but have a friend who was set to go to pharmacy school, did some thinking and calculations and read about the saturation, and instead went back to school to become a registered Dietician. Its kind of like a pharmacist, but with food instead of pills.

Don't you hate when you have to choose between the two?