Question For Pre-Meds.

[Espadaleader]

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A friend of mine told me that it was 10 times harder to enter pharm school than medical school. I didn't believe her until I looked at their requirements. Their prerequisites almost fulfill a major by itself. Just something to think about. Also, would it be a bad thing if our medical school requirements where this stiff? would it make better docs, kill comp, or kill us? lol.
http://pharmacy.buffalo.edu/files/uploads/admissions/PharmD_Pre-Pharmacy_PharmCAS.pdf

 

[DrYoda]

I'll answer in case you're not a troll and just clueless.

The number of pre-reqs has nothing to do with how hard it is to get into any professional degree program. It has to do with # of spots and quality and number of the other candidates.

and no those few extra classes would not make better doctors, considering you take the same classes in med school in a much more detailed and focused manner.

 

[sylvanthus]

Are you serious? How in the world is this more difficult?

​

Prerequisite Courses for Fall 2011 Admission​

1. General or Inorganic Chemistry I with Laboratory

1. 1 (CHE 101 or 105)
   [*]General or Inorganic Chemistry II with Laboratory1 (CHE 102 or 106)
   [*]Organic Chemistry I with Laboratory1 (CHE 201 or 251)
   [*]Organic Chemistry II with Laboratory1 (CHE 202 or 252)
   [*]Introductory Biology I with Laboratory2 (BIO 200)
   [*]Introductory Biology II with Laboratory2 (BIO 201)
   [*]Anatomy & Physiology [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐ ..6[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐..10 hours, any combination (ANA 113 and PGY 300) OR (ANA 113 and PGY 451 and PGY 452)
   [*]Physics I (PHY 101 or 107 [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐ ..lab optional)
   [*]Microbiology (MIC 301 [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐ ..lab optional)
   [*]Calculus I (MTH 121 or 141)
   [*]Calculus II (MTH 122 or 142)
   [*]Statistics (STA 119 or PSY 207)
   [*]Social Behavioral Science3
   [*]English Composition I (ENG 101 or 102 [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐ ..based on placement)
   [*]English Composition II (ENG 201 or humanities [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐ ..based on placement)

1. [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]NOTE: English Composition must be completed in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, or New Zealand ..

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Ill break it down, you need the first 4 for medical school as you cannot take organic chem without basic chemistry. 5 and 6 are required for medical school. There is more physics required for medical school. Statistics is an easy grade boosting course. Micro is often required for most biology majors as well as calculus. And english composition is a generic class required merely to graduate. ..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]So, no pharmacy school does not have more requirements. ..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Also, for medical school you "need" these additional requirements. ..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]1) shadowing..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]2) volunteering..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]3) clubs..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]4) healthcare experience ..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]5) research ..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]etc etc etc. ..
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]
..

 

[runawayclock]

Their prerequisites almost fulfill a major by itself. Just something to think about.

lol are you an arts major? 15 courses do not a major make... at least at my school, the science majors are at least ~50 credits of the core courses PLUS certain number of departmental electives you need to fill, with honors programs being 70+ credits for the core courses and ~20 for departmental electives.

Plus, most of those classes are a requirement in any biological sciences major at my school, and I'd imagine it is similar for other unis as well. On top of that these pre-reqs are not that different from a lot of med school pre reqs.

Required for Med School:
General or Inorganic Chemistry I with Laboratory1 (CHE 101 or 105)
General or Inorganic Chemistry II with Laboratory1 (CHE 102 or 106)
Organic Chemistry I with Laboratory1 (CHE 201 or 251)
Organic Chemistry II with Laboratory1 (CHE 202 or 252)
Introductory Biology I with Laboratory2 (BIO 200)
Introductory Biology II with Laboratory2 (BIO 201)
Physics I (PHY 101 or 107 ‐ lab optional)


Usually required, or recommended by med schools:
Calculus I (MTH 121 or 141)
Calculus II (MTH 122 or 142)
Statistics (STA 119 or PSY 207)
English Composition I (ENG 101 or 102 ‐ based on placement)
English Composition II (ENG 201 or humanities ‐ based on placement)

Recommended by med schools (or similar to other upper level physio, anatomy, cell bio, psych, or genetics courses recommended by med schools):
Anatomy & Physiology ‐ 6‐10 hours, any combination (ANA 113 and PGY 300) OR (ANA 113 and PGY 451 and PGY 452)
Microbiology (MIC 301 ‐ lab optional)
Social Behavioral Science3

 

[loveoforganic]

Requirements vary by school, iirc (just like med school).

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

A friend of mine told me that it was 10 times harder to enter pharm school than medical school. I didn't believe her until I looked at their requirements.

try looking at average GPA and test scores (by percentile) for accepted students at med and pharm schools. you'll see it's the other way around.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Pharmacy is a lot easier to get into. Not to mention many people can get into pharmacy school with just 2 or 3 years done ( 2-4 programs only require pre-reqs be done and I know many pre-pharm's who go to the CC next to my house and get into pharmacy program).

I'm actually curious how the stats will change over the next few years as the job market for pharmacists continues to get worse.

 

[image187]

I don't think it's fair to say that either med school or pharm school is harder to get into. If I had to choose one I would say med school based solely on my own personal experience with the whole process and the fact that medical school has traditionally been known for it's intense amount of work/academic rigor, but i'm biased and frankly know nothing about pharmacy school. You should ask your friend how they "know"

 

[georgearms]

lol

no...just no.

Also, I believe the PCAT is discrete questions only except for the verbal section. And there's no physics.

 

[Elpenor]

OP, if this were the case, then why would anyone ever become a pharmacist?

Hint: you are wrong.

 

[eablackwell]

Our Florida ccs are chock full of students taking classes to get into pharm school. You don't need a bachelors to get in, in many cases you need ONLY those basic classes, in some instances, less. Nothing against pharm students. One of my good friends is a pharmacist that did her undergrad at Cal Tech, but at least in Florida, it's way less competitive than med school.

 

[Frazier]

This is simple [assuming you know a reasonable amount of people].

Simply compare the study habits and personalities of the people you know that went to pharm to the people you know that went to med school.

vs.

/thread


PS: what's next? dentistry is hardest of all?

 

[orthomyxo]

It's not harder at all. It's actually much easier. I was in a 6 year PharmD program and withdrew because (a) pharmacy is extremely boring, and (b) because the job market for pharmacists is awful. All of my classmates were a bunch of annoying derps.

I'm not saying that pharmacists are stupid by any means. I'm a tech and my boss is ridiculously smart.

 

[Bernoull]

Anytime someone says something's 10 times bla bla bla, don't believe it!

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

Anytime someone says something's 10 times bla bla bla, don't believe it!

the population of the US is over 10 times the population of peru.

 

[RadTec2MedDoc]

In kno way is med school easier to get into than pharm... theres a lot of extra commitments you must make as premed such as volunteer work, experience, mcat, and etc. Pharm is harder to get into in the sense that a prospective student can have pre rqs up to 60 credits, or AA/AS, or BA/BS... this equals a large group of students applying to only a few schools... where at least med school draws from a more selective group of high acheiving BA/BS students with a lot more schools... i guess thats what your friend is tlkng bout

 

[wristbandMD]

/thread


PS: what's next? dentistry is hardest of all?

Nope, chiropractic 😉

 

[wolverinepwns]

DAMN, I guess if I can't make it into Pharm School, I'll go to Med School instead!

 

[getright]

It's not harder at all. It's actually much easier. I was in a 6 year PharmD program and withdrew because (a) pharmacy is extremely boring, and (b) because the job market for pharmacists is awful. All of my classmates were a bunch of annoying derps.

I'm not saying that pharmacists are stupid by any means. I'm a tech and my boss is ridiculously smart.

That market is almost as saturated as the amount of lawyers in this country. Don't really need anymore.

 

[Frazier]

nope, chiropractic 😉

 

[Isoprop]

It's hard to fulfill the prereqs at a good portion of pharm schools. It's not like med school where almost every school has the same prereqs. Each pharm school has it's own: some require more biochem, some require physio with labs, etc etc.

The PCAT is also pretty difficult. There's no physics, but there's biochem and calculus.

As far as admissions, on average, pharm schools have a lower uGPA for their entering class, but the majority of pharm schools have average GPAs on par with medical schools. It might be a little easier to get into pharm schools because there are more seats per applicant (and with pharm schools opening up everywhere).

Both med schools and pharm schools expect and require very high caliber students in their entering classes. It's difficult (and petty) to really investigate which is more difficult to get into.