Which one is harder?

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daysinnnc

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Is pharmacy school harder than Medical school?
I've talked to few pharmacy students and they said it is lots more information and pathways to memorize..much more than medical school

Is it true

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Probably not. Even if it were, I'd say no anyway because 50,000 MD/DO students would show up on this thread and begin belittling the profession because a great deal of them have issues with superiority/inferiority.
 
I've talked to few pharmacy students and they said it is lots more information and pathways to memorize..much more than medical school

Is it true

How would they know unless they've done both? I'd say med school is more intensive than pharm school is, but maybe someone whos done both will chime in and agree med school is more intense.
 
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Programs could be difficult for reasons having to deal with the institution's own idiosyncrasies and shortcomings- whether it's a pharmacy school or a medical school. Pharmacy school (or a Medical school)could be hell on wheels for non academic reasons, or reasons having to deal with institutional problems. So the question is really: "which field is more difficult to study?". I'd say it depends on how far you really want to go with pharmacy, medicine, or any other profession. With regards to medical licensing, versus pharmacist licensing, I'd say medical licensing is more difficult.
 
I've seen the curricula of medical school, and hands down it's more.
 
There is no legitimate answers to a question like that. Someone who's been through both could give you their personal opinion but that wouldn't settle anything. As far as the material goes, they're both on the same level but it's not like either one requires any sort of skill. You just spend enough time to cram information into your head and pass exams.

It's the equivalent of MMO's in the gaming world. Not actually skilled? Don't worry, just spend more hours per day than anyone else cares to and you'll come out on top!

If you were truly smart, creative, and had people skills you'd be involved in some entrepreneurial venture doing something you love while helping others or on the leading edge of innovation in whatever industry.

People in the medical field deserve much respect but let's not kid ourselves into thinking it's where the brightest end up. Creativity is a huge part of genius and in medicine there is none. So, unless you're Gregory House I would think twice before thinking of yourself as anything other than a drone just because you're a doctor of some sort.

Now, I don't mean to imply that none of you are anything more than drones. Most of you reading this are much much more. But that would be true regardless of your profession.

I've gone a bit off topic so let's bring this back. The person who usually asks this is wondering if one will be significantly easier than the other and if so, they might as well choose this as their career. To them, I would say that both paths are very difficult and before beginning their journey to make sure to shadow people in the profession to be absolutely sure this is what they want. Once there is little to no hesitation about whether or not you want to become a doctor, pharmacist, orthodontist, optometrist, the rest is relatively simple. Just make sure to stay focused and spend enough time every day to be able to retain all the information. There is nothing difficult about reading what others have discovered and improved upon. There's just a lot of it. All you need to do is read, take notes, use patterns or whatever techniques that help you understand and remember the information.

Spend enough time studying, and after 4-6 years of the grind, you'll find yourself with a degree. Is that hard? I suppose it depends on who you ask. And whatever opinion you receive, I'd say I wouldn't disagree with that.
 
I'm sure those that are pharmacists will agree, you have to want to be a pharmacist to do the job. The money earned will only keep you for so long before you become miserable and this holds true for any profession. You need to figure out for yourself if pharmacy is where you want to go or if you want to be a doctor. You should have passion for what you do. If it's anything I've learned throughout my life, I've learned that life is too short to be doing something you hate. If you can't do what you love and make money, do what you can at least live with and have what you love as a hobby to make your life more enjoyable.
 
Ummm, isn't this rather like comparing apples and oranges? I think so.
 
They are really separate issues and cannot really be compared. I would think that in Pharmacy school, you gotta learn about A LOT of drugs in a short time, while in medical school, you learn about the human body, which is not that much, but you're learning down to the molecular level, which makes it tough.
 
Ummm, isn't this rather like comparing apples and oranges? I think so.

ok there are certain types of Doctors without a shadow of doubt that are much more complex that pharmacy hands down such as neurosurgery, heart surgery, surgeons in general. Doctors do generally make more than pharmacist and have to take more classes but comparing one field to another is difficult bc NONE ARE EASY. They are all health professionals, each field has its ups and downs such as higher pay (MD), being on call alot (MD), tied down to your job (MD), more freedom (pharmacist), ability to retire early (MD) and it goes on and on.
 
yes, med school is more difficult, and more time consuming. but yes, pharmacy students obviously know more about meds than MDs or DOs ever will...
 
I agree with several of the prior posts; two different fields/apples and oranges. Just saying med school is so general. THOUGH, every general practioner I have had the pleasure of visiting has known far less than my pharmacist.... I can say I have saved a lot of money on copays by visiting my pharmacist instead of going to the doctor. Like I said, med school is so broad, I dont even know 25 percent of the different fields available for med students. plus they have longer schooling and internships, etc. Just do what you want and will make you happy. Dont choose a career path based on school and how much you will have to learn. I mean unless you are in a time crunch...:idea:
 
The majority of my family is trying to push me into Pharmacy with some who tell me I'd hate it.

The people who are pushing Pharmacy for me, tell me that Pharmacy school is 4 years. They say that once you graduate and pass the NAPLEX, you're set and you are immediately making six digits.

But the thing that a lot of them fail to see is that, there aren't many advancement opportunities in Pharmacy.

Personally, I already know that I will not be doing retail. The only challenge I feel when I'm working at Pharmacy is when there is a rejection that every over-ride I enter doesn't work, or when a customer asks for some obscure front-store item.
 
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You definately need to research pharmacy. check out this thread. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-208135.html

There are a lot of opportunites for pharmacists. Sitting behind the counter at walgreens is not your only option. Many pharmacists end up getting more schooling after they have been working for a while. I read that I think in 2001, the average private pharmacist was making $190k a year. The majority of those that own their own pharmacy are over the age of 50. Those people will be wanting to sell their pharmacy in the future. And those numbers were from like 6 or 7 years ago. So there are a ton of growth opportunites for pharmacists.
 
Not only are there independent pharmacists that will be looking to sell in the future, the field of pharmacy is expanding and opportunities will be opening up. Geriatric pharmacy is going to be huge b/c of the massive aging baby boomers and this is an area of pharmacy that is seriously under-served. There's a whole host of specialties you can go into and some even carry a board certification. The more schooling and certifications you get, the more money you can make. Just because everyone sees doctors making a lot of money now doesn't mean that pharmacists don't have opportunities for advancement. There are plenty of doctors that never leave the practice they are at or hospital they work at.
 
Well, I know that I definitely like nuclear pharmacy, but I'm having trouble finding one. There are over 5000 retail/independent pharmacies on Long Island (Queens/Brooklyn included), but when I do a search for nuclear pharmacies, there are only like 3-4.
 
Both schools are competitive and challenging in their own perspective ways.....
 
Well, I know that I definitely like nuclear pharmacy, but I'm having trouble finding one. There are over 5000 retail/independent pharmacies on Long Island (Queens/Brooklyn included), but when I do a search for nuclear pharmacies, there are only like 3-4.

Cardinal Health, a huge pharmacy company, has nuclear pharmacy opportunities. Once you get into pharmacy school, ask your profs about nuclear pharmacy. I know at my school we have forums where people from different areas of industry come and talk to us, sometimes giving us free lunch and shwag. Cardinal Health was one we had this last semester and it's amazing how much that company does. They have their fingers in many different pots in the pharmacy field. They are only one company, there are more companies like them out there as well.
 
Yeah, I see spots for people after they get in. I want a job in nuclear pharmacy, but I want to start it ASAP. I'm trying badly to get out of CVS.

Sorry about the misinterpretation Sparda, I thought you were looking post-grad. From what I've heard a lot of people don't like working for the big chains much.
 
Is pharmacy school harder than Medical school?
I've talked to few pharmacy students and they said it is lots more information and pathways to memorize..much more than medical school

Is it true

Art school would be more difficult for me than either pharmacy or med school. I have no artistic ability whatsoever making projects and portfolios an arduous exercise.;) Point is, there are always variations among individuals as others have said.

In my opinion based on my experience with both fields, I would say that med school is more demanding than pharmacy school overall. Do note that it varies, but that's how I feel in general. It's common for med students to live in the anatomy lab days before the exam studying all the relevant body parts. That's crazy. Of course, there are the med school-caliber courses in pharmacy school like pharmacology. Yet, the courseload and out-of-class demands for med school are a little more demanding.
 
What really makes medical school more challenging is that they throw everything at them in more condensed time period whereas pharmacy schools take all of three years to get the didactic stuff out of the way. Honestly, if you compressed pharmacy school into 2 years it would actually be rather similar in pace and needed Starbucks consumption. Of course pharmacy people also need to complete 1500 or so intern hours outside of school to get licensed, too. By the time students from each school graduate, they have roughly the same amount of real life experience. But because the pharmacy world has the opportunity to pawn of needed experience to the free market, it affords them another year to teach the crap at a less break neck pace.
 
Of course pharmacy people also need to complete 1500 or so intern hours outside of school to get licensed, too. By the time students from each school graduate, they have roughly the same amount of real life experience. But because the pharmacy world has the opportunity to pawn of needed experience to the free market, it affords them another year to teach the crap at a less break neck pace.

Eloquently put. ;)
 
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