What made you choose pharmacy over medical school?

[ponies2015]

I've been interested in pharmacy for quite some time but I would also love to be a doctor. I've worked at a pharmacy for 2 years and I have shadowed doctors and volunteered at hospitals so I have experience in both fields.
The problem is I like them both equally..
This is the summer where I start applying and I still haven't chosen...so my question is, what things about pharmacy school appealed to you over medicine?

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[lesi7556]

If you have the grades, go to med school

 

[vasoolraja]

I've been interested in pharmacy for quite some time but I would also love to be a doctor. I've worked at a pharmacy for 2 years and I have shadowed doctors and volunteered at hospitals so I have experience in both fields.
The problem is I like them both equally..
This is the summer where I start applying and I still haven't chosen...so my question is, what things about pharmacy school appealed to you over medicine?

Some of the things I considered were: I am interested in studying chemistry and human biology, especially about drugs, toxicology, etc. I would love to provide consultations, but I don't like direct physical contact of patients. Further, I think being a doctor would be extremely stressful because of the tremendous responsibilities. I would like to have a life besides my profession. I would like to enjoy spending time with my family and friends, enjoy spending time on my favorite pastimes and hobbies such as reading, arts, etc. Pharmacy would fulfill my desire to study about medicines, human physiology, etc and at the same time I can have life outside work.
By the way, my overall GPA is 3.97 and science GPA is 4 and my PCAT score is 92 percentile (modesty aside), so grades were not a deterrent to pursue medicine.

 

[oldstock]

I've been interested in pharmacy for quite some time but I would also love to be a doctor. I've worked at a pharmacy for 2 years and I have shadowed doctors and volunteered at hospitals so I have experience in both fields.
The problem is I like them both equally..
This is the summer where I start applying and I still haven't chosen...so my question is, what things about pharmacy school appealed to you over medicine?

you should ask yourself that question. This is going to be about you. GL

 

[radio frequency]

I hope to never have to touch a patient's rectum. That's why I chose pharmacy instead of any of the other health professions.

And yes...I'm serious. Anything beyond checking blood pressure, blood glucose/cholesterol, or taking a pulse and I'd prefer not to do it. Pharmacist it is!
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I forgot: I also considered dentistry (strongly; I wanted to be a dentist when I was really little!), but heard that dentists end up with really bad backs from bending over all the time.

 

[DruggieDoRight]

There's only so many times a day I can touch a patients ding-dong before I start to contemplate why I became a doctor in the first place. Plus NPs and RNs are starting to encroach on the physicians scope of practice. It's also 4+3+specialty worth of years before you really begin being a doctor.

No matter which path you choose you can always find complaints/regrets though.

 

[Doctorman45342]

I wanted to go into pharmacy but I keep hearing about how saturated it is and I do not want to be jobless. I am now perusing dentistry mostly because I don't like the whole "butts and guts" aspect of med.

 

[sunshao]

I am a gamer and rather not have to give it up entirely lol. Also from what I have gathered from club meetings of both med and pharm school; med school is still the mentality of "every man for himself and try to screw everyone over" . The vibe I get from pharmacy club and presentations is a more of a community approach.

 

[Jibby321]

I wanted to go into pharmacy but I keep hearing about how saturated it is and I do not want to be jobless. I am now perusing dentistry mostly because I don't like the whole "butts and guts" aspect of med.

Lol. Dentistry is saturated too but good luck.

 

[womp]

What's with the "butts and guts" stereotype of medicine? Don't go into general surgery and you will be okay. I did like 2 DREs during my entire medical school career and didn't wipe a single ass. Did do quite a bit of Foley's, but that's not bad at all. Medicine is a pretty diverse field. How many rectal exams do you think an ophthalmologist, a psychiatrist, a pulmonologist, a radiologist or a hand surgeon is going to do in his career?

Anything beyond checking blood pressure, blood glucose/cholesterol, or taking a pulse and I'd prefer not to do it. Pharmacist it is!

A CNA making $7.50 an hour can do that too. Congrats!

 

[Doctorman45342]

Why do pharmacists get paid so much?

 

[radio frequency]

A CNA making $7.50 an hour can do that too. Congrats!

True. So what? That's not what I expect to be doing upon graduation as it was a very minute portion of what I studied.

Typically when I see a doctor, they don't do any of those procedures themselves, so I'm not sure what your point is.

It's not just the DREs, either -- I have a weak stomach and specialties like surgery are really unappealing to me. That doesn't mean I'm not interested in patients or patient care.

 

[radio frequency]

Why do pharmacists get paid so much?

What, you never took Economics 101?

 

[Doctorman45342]

What, you never took Economics 101?

Yea. Anyone can count pills

 

[radio frequency]

Yea. Anyone can count pills

I'd never deny that. Funny though, we never covered counting pills in pharmacy school.

 

[Jibby321]

Yea. Anyone can count pills

Lulz

 

[Doctorman45342]

I'd never deny that. Funny though, we never covered counting pills in pharmacy school.

Lulz

Haha I'm obviously kidding