Questioning Career due to Unfortunate Circumstance

[SeekingAdvice2]

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Hi everyone, I am a 20 year old female and I am a sophomore at a university in the midwest majoring in Chemistry. It was always my plan to become a pharmacist. Unfortunately, a couple months ago I was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (I have the hypermobility type not the vascular one that can cause death) and "fibromyalgiac pain syndrome" after experiencing some mysterious joint pains (I put the fibromyalgia in quotes since it's debatable on what actually is Fibromyalgia and the doctors don't really know if it is that, the EDS, or something hormonal going on for me). I know that the demands of being a pharmacist and/or doctor are very demanding. I am starting to wonder if this is the right path for me. I have always been committed to medicine and improving the lives of patients (especially now, since I am one hah!) but I do not wish to be a burden on my future school and residencies. I guess I am looking for sound, straight-forward no sugar coating advice so no one has to worry about being too harsh on me. I am looking for advice basically on if anyone suggests I make a serious career change before further investing myself into this passion only to not be able to be cut out for it. Of course, I would hope that my joint pain can get better with medication or time, physical therapy etc but there is always a "what if" possibility and I want to know that I can be secure in my future and not have to worry about not being able to pursue a career in medicine. I am already thinking about pursuing the idea of optometry instead of pharmacy (since sitting down would be a factor) but it wouldn't involve much medicine yet still would improve patient's lives with vision. I have thought about becoming a general physician or internist but I know that residency alone is a very intense, demanding, 80+ hour work week job so I have been honest with myself and I realize that, physically, it could worsen symptoms and is not suited for me. My rheumatologist told me to still go for pharmacy but I feel that she could be sugar coating it. Also, my physical therapist told me that she has a patient who is a pharmacist and has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome as well and I've heard of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis who become doctors but I am looking for people who are familiar with medicine and have seen the ups and downs of it all and can be realistic. Thank you for all who reply... it is really helpful and I very much appreciate it!

 

[JP2740]

I PMed you.

No one here will give you specific medical advice about your condition, though.

 

[tco]

My school has a physician that's a geneticist that has EDS. Basically, there's no reason you can't be whatever you want.

 

[evilbooyaa]

If you have a disability, people will accomodate you within reason. You could probably still become a pharmacist. Becoming a surgeon might be something I would caution against with your symptom profile.

 

[Carboxide]

Be aware that the vast majority of pharmacists stand all day, and it is very hard to work around that. It is usually not possible to sit on a stool because you will have to move around a lot. Clinical pharmacists typically round so there is a lot of walking there as well. I don't know how that would affect you or not...but just FYI.

 

[macj1014]

You can become a pharmacist easily. If you want to work at a community pharmacy like walgreens, that will be an issue because they dont sit down at all. However, you can work as a hospital pharmacist and do order entry. Those pharmacist sit down for a majority of the time. Sometimes they get up to check meds or go into the IV room. Medicine is different where the residencies are very demanding. Pharmacy residencies require rounding in hospitals depending on what type of residency you do. As of now you do not have to do a pharmacy residency to simple be an order entry pharmacist in a hospital, but that may change. You can also do mail order prescription verification. Those pharmacist sit a lot too. Just dont get fat sitting down all day 🙂

 

[DrMom]

moving to pre-allo as this is a pre-med question