Which major can land me a job if I decide not to continue with Doctor of Pharmacy degree later? Pharmaceutical Eng? Chemical Eng? What else?

[Jose Phan]

My daughter will graduate HS next year. She would like to be a Pharmacist. Being a 17 years-old, I don’t think she knows which type of job she really wants until she actually does it or at least starts studying about it. I won’t pay for 6 years (about $300K) because she maybe later finds out that she doesn’t like the job or even earlier, when she starts entering graduate school. Both my husband and I are engineers and we do make good $ and love our jobs. I advise my daughter to go for an Engineering Degree first to see if she likes it. If she won’t and still wants to pursue the Doctor of Pharmacy degree, then she can continue. If not, she will be able to find a decent job with the Engineering Degree.
We are thinking about Pharmaceutical Engineering, Chemical Engineering. BS in Pharmaceutical, as far as I know is harder to find job, if she ends up not wanting to continue with Doctor degree. What else there? (not necessarily has to be Engineering)
Thanks

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[lord999]

Too early to say. If you are an engineer, you know that you don't know until you have the weedout class (usually Thermo for ChemE, Dynamics for Civil, SigProc for Comp/EE). Pharmaceutical Engineering is a subdiscipline of ChemE but diverge heavily in the sophomore year, so I don't think it's a match. The closest BS degrees are Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology, but very rarely are there direct majors due to pharmacy.

Course Requirements: Applied Mathematics | Department of Mathematics

math.berkeley.edu

Also, coming from an extended family of pharmacists who are rather successful, we do not advise any of our children to go into the major. My own niece, I advised her that for $, the actuary in either CAS or SOA is a stable, well-paying, clean job. It also prepares the person for graduate work in theoretical statistics, symbolic systems (which my niece is taking as a graduate major while going for CAS membership), and mathematical finance. The job market is grim if you do not already have some sort of in. The ones who are insistent on pharmacy are taking the degree to do graduate work in pharmaceutics or biotechnology as a graduate program.

She should work as a cashier or something to get the retail side, which is the most common outcome for pharmacists. That may tell her something about herself.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Engineering = far better job prospects, better work life balance, less debt and schooling, pays as well as pharmacy if not better

 

[BC_89]

My daughter will graduate HS next year. She would like to be a Pharmacist. Being a 17 years-old, I don’t think she knows which type of job she really wants until she actually does it or at least starts studying about it. I won’t pay for 6 years (about $300K) because she maybe later finds out that she doesn’t like the job or even earlier, when she starts entering graduate school. Both my husband and I are engineers and we do make good $ and love our jobs. I advise my daughter to go for an Engineering Degree first to see if she likes it. If she won’t and still wants to pursue the Doctor of Pharmacy degree, then she can continue. If not, she will be able to find a decent job with the Engineering Degree.
We are thinking about Pharmaceutical Engineering, Chemical Engineering. BS in Pharmaceutical, as far as I know is harder to find job, if she ends up not wanting to continue with Doctor degree. What else there? (not necessarily has to be Engineering)
Thanks

I won't try to play career-match-maker for someone in HS, but I can say with confidence that if she was to pursue undergraduate work, it's a great idea to obtain a bachelors rather than do the two years of pharmacy prerequisites or jump right in to a 0-6 year pharmacy program (of which high school seniors are recruited straight from graduation, do two years worth of science prerequisites, then continue toward a PharmD starting year 3 -- If she doesn't know about this I wouldn't bring it up).

If the mindset is toward the sciences (and fulfilling a majority of prerequisites), Chemical Engineering can definitely tackle the pre-courses required for pharmacy and then some. Of course, in my deep past back in '06 when taking courses I had the goal of being a petroleum engineer and working off a plant off the coast of North Padre in Southern Texas while an old friend of mine in undergrad pursued chemical engineering so I'm slightly biased in those categories (and I digress). Other than what you mentioned, I can't think of any viable undergrad degrees in the sciences for immediate job placement unless a teaching certificate is attached with it (certificate + Biology or Chemistry for example).

I do strongly suggest that to help her front the idea of pharmacy early on in school, she has the opportunity upon graduation ( 18 yrs ) to work as a pharmacy technician in the retail setting. For many, this early exposure makes or breaks the idea of pursuing pharmacy depending on her tempo and customer communication skills (as many young students in pharmacy school never actually stepped foot in a pharmacy).

I'd recommend as well looking at the following links:

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

Job Market | Student Doctor Network

 

[Sleepingdoc]

Engineering = far better job prospects, better work life balance, less debt and schooling, pays as well as pharmacy if not better

Working for 50-70 k a year after a 4 year degree and competing with international students for jobs??? no thanks... I heard minimum wage is now 15$ an hour.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Working for 50-70 k a year after a 4 year degree and competing with international students for jobs??? no thanks... I heard minimum wage is now 15$ an hour.

If you don’t like that then you’re welcome to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years of your life in school to make $50-70k...if you even find a job as a pharmacist.

 

[confettiflyer]

Math, computer science, computer engineering, anything engineering. Just take the basic prerequisites over the summer.

But the presupposes that said student actually enjoys this stuff.

Several engineering students committed suicide by jumping off the engineering tower over the course of my college career. Rumors flew that it was parental/family pressure that was underlying some of it.

 

[Jose Phan]

Math, computer science, computer engineering, anything engineering. Just take the basic prerequisites over the summer.

But the presupposes that said student actually enjoys this stuff.

Several engineering students committed suicide by jumping off the engineering tower over the course of my college career. Rumors flew that it was parental/family pressure that was underlying some of it.

Thanks. Have no worry, I care more about my child’s happiness than the degree or what she is going to be. From our observation, my husband and I think my daughter will be really good at Engineering.
On the note about students committed suicide, I never heard that about engineering students. I am an Engineer myself and I never thought Engineering School was hard. I have always admired healthcare professionals. When I heard my daughter wanted to be a Pharmacist, I was really happy.

 

[Jose Phan]

If you don’t like that then you’re welcome to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years of your life in school to make $50-70k...if you even find a job as a pharmacist.

@Sleepingdoc & @PharmtoCS
Thanks for your responses. I’d like to hear more of your opinions on this because they what I am debating myself right now.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

@Sleepingdoc & @PharmtoCS
Thanks for your responses. I’d like to hear more of your opinions on this because they what I am debating myself right now.

Every job has pro's and con's.. you will never find a perfect job, just like a finding a perfect spouse in your marriage, where they pay high salary with no risk..

Pharmacists.... well you see the responses here eventhough some of it seems like they go overboard with job situation... I have yet to find any of my friends who are in pharmacy without a job- eventhough some of the things like pay was not what it once was 10-15 years ago.
Engineers- you better be the best (top 1% of all universities of the world to even get an interview) to work for Google and Intel. Everyone in the world thinks once you become an engineer- you work for google... unfortunately thats not the case/reality...
Doctors- well they have issues as well... tons of loans and years of school... lawsuits and potential to lose your license after years of hard work after one lawsuit, losing credentialing etc.
Grass is always greener on the other side.
My opinion is do what you like and passionate about- and what you will like for the rest of your life... if you like pharmacy- do it... if you like engineering do it... if you want to be a doctor do it... please keep in mind that you will be doing it for the rest of your life.

 

[Hels2007]

please keep in mind that you will be doing it for the rest of your life.

I disagree. No decision made at 18 needs to be a lifetime commitment. I know plenty of people who changed careers entirely (sometimes more than once) and even more people who have shifted gears in a pretty big way within their broader field.

Definitely don't go for a major that's not at all interesting (I didn't know what I wanted to be, so my parents said math and physics, just like them; after a year and a half I decided it wasn't my cup of tea and that actually I would prefer healthcare. Not what I would have done had I been independently wealthy, but still pretty interesting. My actual job ended up being something that combines my education and my personal interests in terms of skills - but is pretty far from both in terms of job title. And I have switched between three adjacent fields - and I think I have another couple changes in me yet. Maybe more. I love what I do today, but life is long, and world is full of possibilities.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

I disagree. No decision made at 18 needs to be a lifetime commitment. I know plenty of people who changed careers entirely (sometimes more than once) and even more people who have shifted gears in a pretty big way within their broader field.

Definitely don't go for a major that's not at all interesting (I didn't know what I wanted to be, so my parents said math and physics, just like them; after a year and a half I decided it wasn't my cup of tea and that actually I would prefer healthcare. Not what I would have done had I been independently wealthy, but still pretty interesting. My actual job ended up being something that combines my education and my personal interests in terms of skills - but is pretty far from both in terms of job title. And I have switched between three adjacent fields - and I think I have another couple changes in me yet. Maybe more. I love what I do today, but life is long, and world is full of possibilities.

let me rephrase it, Its much harder to switch careers, where a lot of work is needed, you will be older, multiple commitments, family, bills, and most importantly student loans- I know Doctors who dont switch careers because they have 400k in loans, cant even imagine doing a different things because they need to pay off the loans etc.... People do it but its not easy.

 

[Hels2007]

People do it but its not easy.

No one said it will be easy... but it's better than being miserable. There are two kinds of people: people who want to solve their problems, and people who just want to whine about them.

 

[rph3664]

Your daughter should get a job in a pharmacy, and she'll find out very quickly if she wishes to pursue it further.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

No one said it will be easy... but it's better than being miserable. There are two kinds of people: people who want to solve their problems, and people who just want to whine about them.

Easy meaning- going through school again with tons of loans again, time wasted while you have to pay for your family, life- which is not smart rather than if you do it right the first time and doing what you enjoy... thinking that there is no perfect job out there.

I agree, Most pharmacist in this board whine too much about not having a job and having low pay.

 

[Jose Phan]

Your daughter should get a job in a pharmacy, and she'll find out very quickly if she wishes to pursue it further.

Yes, she will volunteer at a pharmacy this Summer. Thanks