Thinking about getting into pharmacy

[NervousGuy1986]

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Hello. I have seriously been thinking about getting into Pharmacy. I wanted to bounce ideas off of you guys and see if I could get some help, advice, or mentoring.

After high school, I went and got my Bachelor of Business Administration and have been stuck at a $50k yearly job with growth prospects, but it's not something I enjoy doing. I'm 28 years old and feel like I wasted my chance at college by getting a stupid degree and not really being able to help people. I had always been interested in Pharmacy, but went the business route because I had grand ideas of opening a restaurant when I was a kid. I'm older now and I know better now. I've looked over many school websites and I've gathered that I've already completed all of the electives, as well as all of the math. So I would need to do all of the science stuff. What is the best way of going about this? Do I sign up at a four year school and get another Bachelor, but this time in science, and then apply to a pharmacy school, or do I just sign up for a 6 year school right out of the gate? What do you guys think would be my best option? And I haven't found an answer to this anywhere, but is it possible to do pharmacy school on a PART TIME basis, so I can still keep my job and not get into a crazy insane amount of debt and be able to still buy food and pay my rent? Are there any resources out there that really get into the meat and bones of pharmacy that I can study and practice on my own to see if I even have the intellect to go ahead with this? I imagine the undergrad stuff will come fairly easy as I am much more intelligent at 28 than I was as an immature 18 year old fresh out of high school. I don't know if it matters, but I live in Illinois, so do you guys know of any respectable schools around here? I got my BBA from Loyola University, so I was thinking about going back there for my Bachelor of Science, and then transferring to a Pharmacy school. I don't know what the heck I'm doing, or if I'm just stupid for wanting to pursue this dream at an older age.

Most of the articles I've read up to this point are a couple of years old and talk about how saturated the job market is for pharmacists, but is there any current data or analysis? If I go through with this, I would probably graduate around 2021 or later if I go part time. I don't really care about getting paid $120k, honestly I would be fine with the $50k I'm getting now, because like who the freak needs 120k a year (yeah I know the student debt is crazy - and I know the extra mulah would help pay that debt off quickly), but I would at least like to know that I will find a job after I'm done.

Any ideas or help? Thanks a bunch!

 

[PharmtoCS]

There are currently no part-time entry-level PharmD programs that I know of.

Since you already have your degree, you can complete your prerequisites at a community college or 4-year university without necessarily signing up for a specific major. The CC route would be much cheaper, although I would make sure that the pharmacy school accepts the CC courses.

Is it that you really want to do pharmacy, or is it that you just don't like your current field and want out? Pharmacy is a risky field to go into due to declining job prospects and increasing student debt load. There are fields out there that are less saturated and require far less debt, some of them being software engineering, physician assistant, and other engineering fields.

 

[NervousGuy1986]

Oh wow, that sounds like a great idea. I live right next to Harper community college. Yeah, I may go ahead and do that then. I'll check with some pharmacy schools about what classes would transfer over.

Do you think it's possible to work part time while going to pharmacy school? Or is that too crazy to even think of? I know the last couple years of pharmacy school can be very intense.

Well it's something that I really want to do. I'm not interested in software engineering, or being a PA. If I don't do Pharmacy I may get my MBA in international business, because I've always wanted to travel the world and my current employer would be willing to do that for me. The MBA would be very easy and quick to obtain, but Pharmacy is something that's always been in the back of my mind and something I've always wanted to do. IDK maybe I'm stupid for thinking about giving up what I currently have. 🙁

 

[Gombrich12]

You need to work in a retail pharmacy first to see if you like it. The problem is you already have a full time job so I don't know how you can do it.

 

[KARM12]

It will take you at least 1-2 yrs to complete all the rest of you pre-reqs...so the earliest you would be able to start is 2017, plus another 3-4yrs of pharm school...so you'd be about 34 when you were done. Factor in the debt and the unpredicatable job market then...doesn't seem worth it. There are no part time pharmacy schools.

Agree with the above poster about actually working in a pharmacy to see if you like it.

 

[PharmtoCS]

^Agree with the posters above.

If you're doing pharmacy to help people, then the grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side since it's likely that the retail store or hospital will still demand loyalty to the corporation / health system over your patients, hence the recommendation to work in a pharmacy before applying. You will still be expected to meet metrics and other demands by your employer.

 

[Lucky One]

Age shouldn't be too much of a factor there are definitely classmates of mine in their 30s.

I would agree with others to gain some pharmacy experience first to know if that is what you want ultimately because Pharmacy isn't what it used to be in terms of job prospects/salaries/workload. But I can see how your business degree could be applicable in pharmacy in terms of networking/working with others/multi-tasking.

 

[SanMateoRph]

the pharmacy school bubble is about to burst seriously.