Save me from the children!!!!!!!!

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brandon1791

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I am currently teaching high school chemistry. I left med school to pursue what I thought would be a more fulfilling career in education; however this has not been the case. I LOVE teaching and I’m pretty good at it, the problem is the students. They have an apathetic disposition on education and from talking to other faculty members, this trend is getting worse every year. So combine apathetic students with the penance of a pay that I receive and education at the high school level is not for me.
So what I would like to do is to go to pharmacy school, with the ultimate goal of return as a teacher, preferable biochemistry. I know that students in professional school are far from apathetic. I want to teach students who want to learn. Now I’m aware that the best route to take would probably be grad school, but I loathe research and refuse to leap into the abysmal world of thesis writing and the uncertainty of grad school (5 to 7 years!). First, is this reasonable? I do like pharmacology and would like being a pharmacist, but I don’t think I would be completely fulfilled unless I was also teaching. Second, would I need to get a master’s in biochemistry, or would I be able to teach solely with my Pharm. D.? Let me know what you think.
P.S. Med school is not an option, I don’t want to be a doctor.

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brandon1791 said:
I am currently teaching high school chemistry. I left med school to pursue what I thought would be a more fulfilling career in education; however this has not been the case. I LOVE teaching and I’m pretty good at it, the problem is the students. They have an apathetic disposition on education and from talking to other faculty members, this trend is getting worse every year. So combine apathetic students with the penance of a pay that I receive and education at the high school level is not for me.
So what I would like to do is to go to pharmacy school, with the ultimate goal of return as a teacher, preferable biochemistry. I know that students in professional school are far from apathetic. I want to teach students who want to learn. Now I’m aware that the best route to take would probably be grad school, but I loathe research and refuse to leap into the abysmal world of thesis writing and the uncertainty of grad school (5 to 7 years!). First, is this reasonable? I do like pharmacology and would like being a pharmacist, but I don’t think I would be completely fulfilled unless I was also teaching. Second, would I need to get a master’s in biochemistry, or would I be able to teach solely with my Pharm. D.? Let me know what you think.
P.S. Med school is not an option, I don’t want to be a doctor.
Well, whats great about pharmacy is that we are totally different than any other profession when it comes to teaching. Pharmacy in fact encourages students to consider academia as a career, so yes you can teach with a PharmD. Becoming a biochem teacher for a pharmacy school will be a bit of a stretch, but not impossible. At this point, I would not worry about attaining the masters degree for biochem. If you are serious about that route, I would consider applying to schools that are research oriented. When you are done with your degree, you will need to do a residency. For you though, I would not go the typical residency route thru American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (ASHP) as most residents do, I would go through American College of Clinical Pharmacy (AACP). ACCP offers unaccredited residencies with more scientific backing, which is what appears that you want to do. I know the word "unaccredited" is a scary word, but in this case, it is well accepted. I too desire a career in academia when I am done in about 2 years. However, I will go thru ASHP to do my residency. The reason being is that I want to venture into Pharmacy Practice and not Pharmaceutical science. I hope this helps you

P.S. Don't ever say you don't want to become a doctor. It is exactly what you will be when you are done with pharmacy school. Instead, say you do not want to become a physician ;)
 
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We have two types of professors at our school: 1. Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and 2. Professor of Pharmacy Practice

If your goal was to become a "professor of pharmacy practice", then a Pharm.D. with 1-2 years of postgraduate work as a resident or fellow will suffice. These individuals teach pharmacotherapeutics, disease state management...clinical use of drugs. But to teach pharmacy school biochemistry would require, to my knowledge, further postgraduate study to obtain at least a masters degree in biochemistry. Everyone of our "professors of pharmaceutical science" hold graduate degrees (PhD's) in biochemistry, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, or medicinal chemistry. The president and former dean of our school holds both a Pharm.D. and a PhD in Biochemistry (he taught our biochemisty courses), but one does not need to go to pharmacy school and get a Pharm.D. to teach "pharmaceutical science" to pharmacy students. That's only required for "pharmacy practice" positions on the faculty. Caveat: different schools may have different requirements, and I'm only speaking from my perspective.
 
I disagree with Caverject, you will not learn enough biochemistry in pharmacy school to be able to master and teach the subject to other grad students. If you want to teach biochem, go with the master's degree route. Most (if not all) biochemistry professors in pharmacy school aren't even RPhs, they're PhDs (or PhDs plus RPh).

By the way, the D.O.'s at Midwestern get 7 credit hours of biochem, compared to our 3 credit hours.
 
I should clarify...get the PharmD done. If you are serious after that point, go on further in your education and get the pharmaceutical science residency/fellowship. Some even offer master degree's by doing them. I generally find many schools do not have a pharmacist teach biochem, but I wouldn't say it is impossible. But after the master degree is attained, then go further if you still want the PhD in biochem.
 
we have a PhD in biochem/ Rph teach biochem
 
I will probably be going to Ferris State next year.
When I asked around about the professors, I was told that the biochem
teacher is not an RPh, and that he only has a masters degree.
FYI
 
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