RN to Pharmacy School

[Wolfless]

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Hey guys, I'm currently a 2nd semester nursing student that is set to graduate in may 2012. After graduating with a B.S. in biology with an overall 2.8 I was considering PA school and AA school, but thought I would never be able to get in without spending a ton on graduate school to retake classes and then may not get in with all the hard work and money spend. I have always wanted to work in healthcare, but really wasn't sure of where I fit into the bigger picture. The most logical move was to get into an ADN program and then work towards becoming a crna. That way I have a career and money while working towards the bigger picture. After a semester and a half and six months working as a cna I have found that I pretty much dislike everything about nursing. I don't like the direct patient contact at work and how nurses are treated in general.

I am fascinated with pharmacology and the effects on the body which is what drew me towards becoming a crna, well plus the fact of job/financial security and it felt like I could start over and do better on my studies. ANYWAY I wanted to get some feedback/advice as to what steps to take. I plan on getting into a pharmacy asap as a tech. I wonder though if it's best for me to just stay and finish while trying to take necessary steps or if I should quit or take time off in order for me to work and take any classes over again. I live in NC and my pre-req gpa for campbell and wingate is about a 3.4, although I don't know how they view the diff gpa's. My overall is low and I need to do well on the PCAT. I am wondering how the admissions committee will view my nursing grades, maybe I could retake classes with my nursing classes???

I am really confused about everything, I just don't see myself being a nurse and do not enjoy school or work. Right now I have about $6,000 in loans from the school (about 3,000 per sem) and 3 semesters left to graduate. I could work p/t as an rn while getting into pharm school and work in pharm school (if there is enough time). There is a possibility I may not even find a job near a pharm school tho. I could also work in a lab or get another job where I could save up money and not live broke and in debt.

Sorry it's long, but ANY advice/opinions are welcome.

 

[pharmschooler]

If you really don't want to be a nurse, you can always quit now. That said, I'm sure you'd learn things in nursing school that would benefit a pharmacist. Take some time to figure out what you want in a job; what will make you happy? Then find a way to get into a pharmacy and see what the job is like. Would you really enjoy work as a pharmacist, or would you be dissatisfied without being a PA or CRNA?

It's most important to discover what's going to work for you. Your debt load is low, so you don't have a lot to worry about in the meantime.

If you discover you really want to be a pharmacist, going back and doing prerequisites over will be worth it (if necessary -- a 2.8 is quite low but a 3.4 isn't bad -- if your grades are trending up, you might be ok). If not, don't do it!

 

[tommyg313]

I think you should try to volunteer at a local hospital as a tech first. Just to get a taste on how you like being in a pharmacy surrounding. If you enjoy it, then I think you should look further into it

 

[Electrode]

@ Wolfless:

I was 2-3 weeks old in my second semester in nursing school when I decided to quit & go into pharmacy. I still have about $8k in unpaid nursing school loans that is luckily being deferred each year...as long as I'm still in school (regardless of major).

Whether or not you should quit depends on certain factors....mostly personal. But ultimately, if you can really cope or tolerate it to the extent of finishing the program, I'd advice you to hang in there & finish it first (in good standing). It will serve as a very good back-up or building base, career wise/financially speaking. Even better if you're in the BSN program. It will give you a lot of other valuable edges as well.

Personally, I had a near zero tolerance for that career. And I still commend myself for making it that far. Anything beyond that point...well, I'd rather not say lol. But feel free to inbox me a message if you have questions I am able to answer.

Nonetheless, I do recommend what the two previous posters have suggested you do; find some time to at least shadow a pharmacist in any pharmacy setting. It will potentially place you in a better position to make better decisions.

Welcome to SDN 😀

 

[Lubeckd]

👍👍👍👍👍👍
omg everyone was like me LOL. But I didnt like nursing semester 1, my parents forced me into it. I manage to fail the class, and get a A in ochem 2 and A- in child psychology that semester... I loved Ochem more, and all my rivals were going into pharmacy. I figure since my ochem and ap scores were so good I would major in pharmacy. I suggest you volunteer in pharmacy to see if you like it. I dont like --direct-- patient interaction. But I can help them in another way. I didnt volunteer in nursing, so when I got in, I hated it.

 

[rn2pharm]

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[veyep]

make sure pharmacy school is the right choice for you first, volunteer and work as a tech and see if you like the job. There are a lot of new pharmacy schools opening up and you will be able to get in with a lower gpa, however there are a lot of things that comes a long with a new school. You don't know if it will get accredited, there are constant changes to the program and a lot of frustrations and it won't be easy! But ultimately it will be your decision of how much pain you can handle!

 

[quimicosoy]

agree with the others...you need to find out if you really like the pharmacist interaction with the patients. It is not only about learning pharmacology from the book, there are other skills that you might need to apply as a pharmacist. However, if you are sure that you hate nursing school, then, you should quit as soon as you can. My girlfriend is a nurse, and she is about to graduate, and it gets really ugly with ob and stuff. More patient interaction than you could have ever imagine. Also remember pharmacy school is harder and longer, so while people graduates from your RN program and get good jobs, you will be getting more in debt and eating books like crazy....

So make sure that it is the path that you want to take. 👍

 

[UES Girl]

Do you mean you don't enjoy nursing school or just school in general ? If you don't enjoy school or schooling, think hard before getting in - p school is anything but trying to actually learn the material or figure out how things work. It's pretty much having a bunch of random stuff thrown at you that will never show up in your practice and having to memorize it ( who needs to know the structure of tacrolimus or having to draw methotrexate). Thus it is pretty much nothing but constant studying, grinding or cramming pages of nonsensical material of which half are useless ( at least in my school we take classes that are obsolete) and add volunteering and community service on top of that. It's pretty depressing, hence why so many people especially in their second or third year ( first year was pretty easy ) are burnt out - just read a pharmacy forum, so many people are miserable in p school.

Can you tell nearly two years into pharm school I am burnt out ?

 

[veyep]

Do you mean you don't enjoy nursing school or just school in general ? If you don't enjoy school or schooling, think hard before getting in - p school is anything but trying to actually learn the material or figure out how things work. It's pretty much having a bunch of random stuff thrown at you that will never show up in your practice and having to memorize it ( who needs to know the structure of tacrolimus or having to draw methotrexate). Thus it is pretty much nothing but constant studying, grinding or cramming pages of nonsensical material of which half are useless ( at least in my school we take classes that are obsolete) and add volunteering and community service on top of that. It's pretty depressing, hence why so many people especially in their second or third year ( first year was pretty easy ) are burnt out - just read a pharmacy forum, so many people are miserable in p school.

Can you tell nearly two years into pharm school I am burnt out ?

👍

 

[Namishin]

There's at least one RN in my class. She didn't like how nurses were treated, although I'm not sure how much more she loves pharmacy. In any case, as someone pointed out, if you dislike schooling, it's worse than nursing.