Should I not pursue pharmacy anymore?

[PharmacyCat]

27F in 90k federal loans, I dropped out of P1 year, went back to undergrad and finished my bachelor’s in biology. I’m aware of the pharmacy job market declining at -3%. My gpa isn’t good enough for PA, MD, DO etc. Feeling down with nothing to show for, my pharmacy peers seem fine and sometimes I go back and forth on whether to pursue pharmacy again or go for software engineering through a bootcamp or nursing (low risk, high reward) instead. Please advise.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BC_89]

27F in 90k federal loans, I dropped out of P1 year, went back to undergrad and finished my bachelor’s in biology. I’m aware of the pharmacy job market declining at -3%. My gpa isn’t good enough for PA, MD, DO etc. Feeling down with nothing to show for, my pharmacy peers seem fine and sometimes I go back and forth on whether to pursue pharmacy again or go for software engineering or nursing (low risk, high reward) instead. Please advise.

Job Saturation: Is Pharmacy Worth It? Here's What You Need to Know | Student Doctor Network

You shouldn't run to something because you're simply stuck. What is it about pharmacy that intrigues you? Also, what was it that made you drop out the first time? Available use of the degree has gotten worse since your initial acceptance in school.

I would encourage you look at the link I posted and use an excel sheet of everything I have listed. Look up what inflation rate is and compare it to a salary with no raise. Next, see what that looks like with 20-30 hour work weeks. Figure out the total cost and then look up what tax bracket you would be in and subtract that difference. When you do that, look at the school you attended, calculate what your student debt would be at graduation plus the loans you have now (don't forget rent and other living expenses during school). Look up what the average interest rate is on student loans and see how much you'd pay each month by stretching it out as long as you can and subtract that from your already calculated take home salary. You know the declination of the market so I wont even go into that.

My advice: Do something you have the slightest interest in and see if it can support your hobbies. This is a big thing I see is that people look at the final steps of a career with rose-colored glasses but ignore the ability to save for retirement + support and invest in the things you enjoy outside of working.

At this rate, if you need an absolute answer from your list, consider nursing. After some experience, you can have the ability to become a nurse practitioner. If you really insist on something such as PA, collect your Healthcare Experience hours ( 1000 - 2000 hours) for a year and remediate some classes part time to raise up your GPA. If the burden of more debt for a healthcare job doesn't seem determining enough for you, then pivot over to engineering, wipe the dust off and start fresh.

You have a plethora of opportunity ahead of you. Age is just a number, but so is student loans.

 

[PharmtoCS]

The best time to drop out was before starting pharmacy school. The next best time to drop out is midway through.

Software engineers are in very high demand right now. They are paid very well, enjoy a far better quality of life compared to most healthcare professionals, and do not need to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years of their lives in school.

 

[PharmacyCat]

Job Saturation: Is Pharmacy Worth It? Here's What You Need to Know | Student Doctor Network

You shouldn't run to something because you're simply stuck. What is it about pharmacy that intrigues you? Also, what was it that made you drop out the first time? Available use of the degree has gotten worse since your initial acceptance in school.

I would encourage you look at the link I posted and use an excel sheet of everything I have listed. Look up what inflation rate is and compare it to a salary with no raise. Next, see what that looks like with 20-30 hour work weeks. Figure out the total cost and then look up what tax bracket you would be in and subtract that difference. When you do that, look at the school you attended, calculate what your student debt would be at graduation plus the loans you have now (don't forget rent and other living expenses during school). Look up what the average interest rate is on student loans and see how much you'd pay each month by stretching it out as long as you can and subtract that from your already calculated take home salary. You know the declination of the market so I wont even go into that.

My advice: Do something you have the slightest interest in and see if it can support your hobbies. This is a big thing I see is that people look at the final steps of a career with rose-colored glasses but ignore the ability to save for retirement + support and invest in the things you enjoy outside of working.

At this rate, if you need an absolute answer from your list, consider nursing. After some experience, you can have the ability to become a nurse practitioner. If you really insist on something such as PA, collect your Healthcare Experience hours ( 1000 - 2000 hours) for a year and remediate some classes part time to raise up your GPA. If the burden of more debt for a healthcare job doesn't seem determining enough for you, then pivot over to engineering, wipe the dust off and start fresh.

You have a plethora of opportunity ahead of you. Age is just a number, but so is student loans.

I've wanted to pursue pharmacy since I was young since it was the only healthcare profession that interested me for reasons being you don't get to touch people, bring work home, pretty straight forward and clean not to mention being a glorified drug dealer. I've worked as a pharm tech in retail so I have some experience in what to expect. Money was part of the reasons too but I am now unsure since many pharmacists on here are saying it is no longer stable since new grads aren't getting the full 40 hours etc, and 200k loans is heavy. I dropped out of school during my P1 year in 2018 because I got expelled for academic misconduct but have learned from it now. Is it really a blessing in disguise for me? As interest comes, I was stuck on programming and nursing because these seem like less desirable careers regarding coding for hours, or dealing with body fluids, blood, and urine as an RN as compared to the duties of a pharmacist. Thank you for the advice. I understand what you mean because I do value financial freedom and it seems with the debt in pharmacy won't be worth it. I just want to be able to live a life where I can sustain financial stability while being able to support my hobbies with some kind of interest in my career. I really don't think I can consider PA because I have taken many classes and not having grade forgiveness kind of screws me over.

 

[PharmacyCat]

The best time to drop out was before starting pharmacy school. The next best time to drop out is midway through.

Software engineers are in very high demand right now. They are paid very well, enjoy a far better quality of life compared to most healthcare professionals, and do not need to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years of their lives in school.

Posts like this make me feel better that I left pharmacy school. Do you think software engineer/web development has less of a burn out compared to nursing?

 

[PharmtoCS]

Posts like this make me feel better that I left pharmacy school. Do you think software engineer/web development has less of a burn out compared to nursing?

Software engineers are treated like royalty. You get to work from home and even pre-pandemic you would get lavish perks, i.e. catered gourmet meals, on-site laundry and gym, employee shuttles, stock options, etc.

Nursing is probably even worse than pharmacy in terms of quality of life - understaffing, no lunch breaks, literally have to deal with others' bodily fluids, combative patients, etc.

 

[BidingMyTime]

There is a big difference in skillset between a nurse, a pharmacist, and a software engineer. When you school counselor told you to pursue a job you "love", they were lying.

1) you need to know what your skill sets are. Picking a job because you think it sounds good is a terrible way to pick a job (which is probably why you dropped out of pharmacy school the first time.) You need to figure out what you are actually good at, then you will know if you should pursue nursing, pharmacy, or software engineeering (or possibly none of those.)

2) once you know what you like, look at the geographical area you want to live in. Don't say "oh, I would live anywhere," because 99% of people who say that don't really mean it. Even if you are open to moving, do you want to live in a rural area, a small big city, a metropolitan area, etc. Once you know where you want to live, then look at the jobs that area available in that area, and see which of those jobs will fit your skill set.

After you've figured out #1 and #2, then you will want to pick a major/course of study that will help you get a job in your intended field. If there are alternate career paths that you both have the skills for, and that are available where you want to live, then and only then can you pick the job that you think sounds the best.

 

[Medicine-Man]

The best time to drop out was before starting pharmacy school. The next best time to drop out is midway through.

Software engineers are in very high demand right now. They are paid very well, enjoy a far better quality of life compared to most healthcare professionals, and do not need to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years of their lives in school.

I agree with all except the quality of life. It's horrible. Not as bad as something like residency, but 60 hours a week on average. the days of $150k/40h weeks are over, lol.

 

[Medicine-Man]

Software engineers are treated like royalty. You get to work from home and even pre-pandemic you would get lavish perks, i.e. catered gourmet meals, on-site laundry and gym, employee shuttles, stock options, etc.

Nursing is probably even worse than pharmacy in terms of quality of life - understaffing, no lunch breaks, literally have to deal with others' bodily fluids, combative patients, etc.

Not even close to true. Why do you think places have all of that? To attract employees despite their 60h work weeks and horribly malignant practices. Software engineering is a constant crunch in big companies. Incredibly stressful.

It's certainly a good path to take with lots of growth, but people need to stop portraying it as some golden ticket to an easy life and happiness. That doesn't exist. Hell, even people in Investment Banking are forced to work 100+ hours a week their first few years.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Not even close to true. Why do you think places have all of that? To attract employees despite their 60h work weeks and horribly malignant practices. Software engineering is a constant crunch in big companies. Incredibly stressful.

CVS is all that plus being on your feet all day with no lunch or even bathroom break, getting verbally abused all the time by patients and customers, and getting ordered around by those with a GED when you have a doctorate.

CVS doesn’t even need to offer a lunch break or chair, let alone catered gourmet meals to keep you in the pharmacy for 60+ hours a week. They know they can easily replace you with a desperate new grad with $200k+ in loans.

 

[Medicine-Man]

CVS is all that plus being on your feet all day with no lunch or even bathroom break, getting verbally abused all the time by patients and customers, and getting ordered around by those with a GED when you have a doctorate.

CVS doesn’t even need to offer a lunch break or chair, let alone catered gourmet meals to keep you in the pharmacy for 60+ hours a week. They know they can easily replace you with a desperate new grad with $200k+ in loans.

And that's incredibly unfortunate, but CS also has a lot of its own challenges. ROI is higher, yes. My only point is that you shouldn't mislead people into thinking that the **** in CS smells like roses. **** smells like ****, doesn't matter who it belongs to.

 

[Hels2007]

When you school counselor told you to pursue a job you "love", they were lying.

This.

Plus, no high school student actually knows what they will 'love'. They have zero life experience to draw on to make such decisions, so they go off third-hand impressions... Make a rational choice with your head, and then learn to love what you've got. If you can't - switch. But 'searching for one's true calling' BS is what leads one to being a worthless loser well into one's 30s/40s/whatever.