Why are you doing it?

[DRdelgado]

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Im richey and Im an college freshman about to do my pharmacy prereqs. and I love this profession so much that i cant even begin to explain. My father has epilepsy and he takes phenobarbital and carbamazepine. He has taken this ever since he was little, and hes also deaf. Ive interpreted for him my whole life and tried to help as much as possible. And i have to say he goes to the pharmacy like once a month and there have been times where we get an amazing pharmacist. But there are times we get a horrible one that doesnt treat him with the respect he deserves and seems like they dont care. Ive seen pharmacists screw up his perscription and give him the wrong medicine because they dont think he'll notice because hes deaf. But believe it or not he reads the bottle and looks at the pills every time before he takes it to make sure. My parents are both deaf and most people are awesome and treat them like everyone else but there are people that just dont care and think that they shouldnt get treated like everyone else. I hate it soo much! I love the drugs! I love learning about what they do and why they do it. I want to be the pharmacist that will not only be the customers pharmacist and handle things professionally. Treat everyone with respect, and get the job done, but i want to also be the pharmacist that can be there for you and i guess you could say be your best friend. Because whether or not people are jerks......everyone deserves some kind of respect. So This is why i love it and want to do it. But Im very interested in why other people wanna do it. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE PHARMACY? WHAT DRIVES YOU TO DO PHARMACY?

Thank you,
Richey d.

 

[shooter33]

Great story bro. You're gonna be an awesome pharmacist someday.

 

[jackal head]

I just wanted to reach the "pinnalce of my potential". All I wanted was a comfortable and secure profession and one I wouldn't mind.

Once your a pharmacist, although your not really at the top of the food chain, you still play an important role and you won't constantly be dealing with some annoying boss.

However I recognize you will be dealing with annoying patients. I know pharmacy isn't the greatest job since it is very similar to working a fast food job (ie always on your feet, intense work, annoying customers, etc) but no job is perfect.

I do embrace a challenge and getting into pharmacy school is just that, all that competition, all those applicants, the odds are stacked up pretty high against me and that fact runs through my mind at least twice everyday and thats what drives me.

 

[CrazyFox]

Because it's a constant challenge.

 

[DRdelgado]

Thank you for the posts. I know why I want to do it. I just want to hear why everyone else wants to. My aunt is a retail pharmacist as well and she loves it.

 

[DRdelgado]

No more posts?

 

[SexyPlexi]

I am very interested in chemistry and medicine - how and why they work...I am fascinated by it all!! I like to help people too...those two things combined just makes pharmacy a perfect fit for me. The more I learn about pharmacy, the more I realize it is my calling.

It is stable and professional.

 

[Nottingham]

I love chemistry, I'm good at it too. I'm excited by the potential research opportunities that a pharm D could open the door to (at least start the process). I work retail at a local pharmacy, and I love knowing and helping my customers.

This is now. What got me started on the road to pharmacy? Horses. I live, breathe, and die for my horses. I'm not good enough to go pro, so I wanted a career that made enough money to have horses and a flexible enough schedule so that I could ride them.

Horses are still my number one passion (always will be) but pharmacy has turned out to be something I really enjoy. Neat, huh?

 

[YiYaoYue]

I love chemistry, I'm good at it too. I'm excited by the potential research opportunities that a pharm D could open the door to (at least start the process). I work retail at a local pharmacy, and I love knowing and helping my customers.

This is now. What got me started on the road to pharmacy? Horses. I live, breathe, and die for my horses. I'm not good enough to go pro, so I wanted a career that made enough money to have horses and a flexible enough schedule so that I could ride them.

Horses are still my number one passion (always will be) but pharmacy has turned out to be something I really enjoy. Neat, huh?

I'm interested to know why pharmacy over veterinary? Seems like pharmacy is secondary to horses, if your veterinarian then it becomes part of what you love if you go into the large animal specialty.

 

[sashagrl259]

I'm also a huge fan of chemistry. The subject is just so fascinating to me. For example, you can't literally see an atom or little carbon Cs and hydrogen Hs when you look at any thing through any microscope. The fact that we know so much about how "invisible" things work like, it's possible to PROVE that when you mix these two chemicals, THIS precise thing will happen is just amazing.

It's also thrilling to know that these chemicals and compounds can help ease pain for those who suffer and treat diseases makes it even better! I like the fact that as a pharmacist you aren't the person delivering the diagnosis, but you're there to help treat the patient. It's as if you're on the more optimistic side of things.

 

[koercive]

to OP: something similar to your first post would make an awesome Personal Statement when you apply



for me, I want to get into Pharm/Business to get involved on the management side to take companies back to the roots of research and development rather than pouring much more money into marketing.

 

[DRdelgado]

wow. thanks for the posts. everyone that posted really gave me an insight on why pharmacy is so competitive and why its such a great profession. thank you. just by these posts I can tell that we have some amazing and dedicated pharmacists in our future. that's awesome. once again thanks for the posts. any more posts?

 

[DRdelgado]

more??????????

 

[ALLNuclear]

Total limb here, but does the D stand for Delgado?

 

[seminolefish]

Everyone on here talks about loving chemistry for one of their reasons into going into pharm school; YES I love chemistry also but I don't want to do pharmacy; maybe I've watched the wrong pharmacists but they stand around talking to insurance companies, giving pills out and yes helping customers every once in awhile. I guess it's a cool job but I see them standing behind the counter all day and that just turns me off. I also talked to a guy who was in pharmacy school and was a pharm tech at Publix and he said "you get burned out in retail in about 5 years". He realizes this now after being in pharm school for a year. I used to want to do pharmacy in fact but changed to optometry because of the idea of a private practice and being able to have conversations and help patients more openly. I also like the idea of being a doctor and deciding what new technology I can be specialized in, such as Paragon CRT if I own a private practice.

 

[mrblah]

Everyone on here talks about loving chemistry for one of their reasons into going into pharm school; YES I love chemistry also but I don't want to do pharmacy; maybe I've watched the wrong pharmacists but they stand around talking to insurance companies, giving pills out and yes helping customers every once in awhile. I guess it's a cool job but I see them standing behind the counter all day and that just turns me off. I also talked to a guy who was in pharmacy school and was a pharm tech at Publix and he said "you get burned out in retail in about 5 years". He realizes this now after being in pharm school for a year. I used to want to do pharmacy in fact but changed to optometry because of the idea of a private practice and being able to have conversations and help patients more openly. I also like the idea of being a doctor and deciding what new technology I can be specialized in, such as Paragon CRT if I own a private practice.

You crack me up, what you said can also be said about optometry. By the way, you may want to look up what a PharmD. title means.

 

[YiYaoYue]

Everyone on here talks about loving chemistry for one of their reasons into going into pharm school; YES I love chemistry also but I don't want to do pharmacy; maybe I've watched the wrong pharmacists but they stand around talking to insurance companies, giving pills out and yes helping customers every once in awhile. I guess it's a cool job but I see them standing behind the counter all day and that just turns me off. I also talked to a guy who was in pharmacy school and was a pharm tech at Publix and he said "you get burned out in retail in about 5 years". He realizes this now after being in pharm school for a year. I used to want to do pharmacy in fact but changed to optometry because of the idea of a private practice and being able to have conversations and help patients more openly. I also like the idea of being a doctor and deciding what new technology I can be specialized in, such as Paragon CRT if I own a private practice.

1.) Your perception of pharmacist is limited to retail. There are more to pharmacy then working for a big chain. In clinical pharmacy, pharmacist do about as much if not more sitting than standing.

2.) You're basing your argument on a pharm student friend who's only experience is being a tech? Ever think that the rigors of pharmacy school is what's making him spew negativity? I personally know about 7 actual pharmacists who aren't burned out after working 10+ years.

3.) Well good luck running your own private practice, it is a lot harder than it sounds (unless your parents are rich and pay for everything).

 

[^=^]

Well said

 

[SexyPlexi]

Well I thought I wanted to go into optometry for a little bit too...the I read a million posts on SDN and some other optometry forum where they were all burned out from retail optometry (Lens Crafters, Walmart, etc) and they wanted to do more disease diagnoses for eyes...they were all sick of "selling frames" - this is similar to retail pharmacy in that way (corporate pushing high number of scripts). But both professions have other sides that are more clinical. You can't pick one field of a profession and base the entire career off of it. The more information I got about pharmacy, the more I became interested in the career.

Do your research and try to shadow or volunteer in different types of pharmacies (and/or optometrists/nursing/doctors offices/hospitals...etc) You will know which is right for you.

 

[Nottingham]

I'm interested to know why pharmacy over veterinary? Seems like pharmacy is secondary to horses, if your veterinarian then it becomes part of what you love if you go into the large animal specialty.

Because I'm a complete ninny. I had to hold one of my babies to be gelded (castration, whee fun!) and nearly passed out. I can and do give shots, change bandages etc all the normal care stuff that is part of well-rounded horsemanship. But throw something major in my direction a la stitches, major major colic and the like and I get queasy to my stomach. Plus having witnessed several euthanasias (both old age related and severe trauma) I know I wouldn't be able to leave my work behind when I go home at the end of the day.

Going into pharmacy allows me to have time and money for my passion and keeps the 'fun' separate from the 'work.'

 

[GatorGirl87]

To the above poster, I am in the same shoes as you! I was pre-vet for the first 2 1/2 years of college. After being a vet-tech for about 6months, the job got to be terribly. I love animals too much to see them suffer. And I know that if I were a vet, I would be there until 9:00 p.m every night taking in every emergency that called. It would just take over my life and I would have no time for anything else. Its great to see someone else who has been in a similar situation!

And as to why I want to do pharmacy? It is such a noble profession where you get to make a huge difference without being the bad guy. You can give people advice on their medications and how to better their conditions, but you are not the one that has to tell them they are going to die. It's the best of both worlds.

 

[seminolefish]

I see what everyone is saying. I didn't come on here to ridicule you guys or get butchered myself. I really do feel optometry is for me over pharmacy. I guess I really don't have many arguments to knock one or the other as a career in whole; maybe it's personal preference. i do want to run a private practice and no I don't need my parents to pay for it. wow that was lame of whoever said that, pretty immature. and by the way i do have the credentials to get into pharm school for those who may think im doing optometry because its easier to get into the schools. i guess the being "burned out" argument could apply to any career in all reality. sorry guys didn't mean to stir the pot. 🙂 i do need to do more research on pharmacy.

 

[YiYaoYue]

I see what everyone is saying. I didn't come on here to ridicule you guys or get butchered myself. I really do feel optometry is for me over pharmacy. I guess I really don't have many arguments to knock one or the other as a career in whole; maybe it's personal preference. i do want to run a private practice and no I don't need my parents to pay for it. wow that was lame of whoever said that, pretty immature. and by the way i do have the credentials to get into pharm school for those who may think im doing optometry because its easier to get into the schools. i guess the being "burned out" argument could apply to any career in all reality. sorry guys didn't mean to stir the pot. 🙂 i do need to do more research on pharmacy.

My bad, there are just so many people who come on to these forums to bash pharmacy for ridiculous reasons and completely uninformed that I get kind of defensive. Running private practice and your desire in optometry are great reasons for going into optometry, it just seemed like from your previous post that you chose optometry, because of what your friend said. However, I'm sure your post doesn't explain the entire reason for your career change. As long as you know your making the right decision that is all that matters. I know I would be miserable if I did what others think I should do.

 

[mrblah]

...

 

[DRdelgado]

wow. everyones amazing! I didn't think that people had so much passion for this profession but yall proved me wrong! anyone else wanna tell everyone what drives you to be a pharmacist? what makes u tick? how did you get the passion, guts, determination, and desire to do this?

 

[sakigt]

1. Personal goals: Im a pretty clever chick and wanted to learn something not everyone knows and be able to communicate with people on their level and help them out. I like to know why something happens and be able to explain it to a patient, so they can understand whats important and what isnt.

2. My childhood pharmacist almost killed my little brother by switching our drugs. Hes deathly allergic and if my mom hadnt caugh the mistake.... Im a Type A careful type, so I feel like I could be good at preventing stupid mistakes like that.

 

[FreshOffTheBoat]

I'm also a huge fan of chemistry. The subject is just so fascinating to me. For example, you can't literally see an atom or little carbon Cs and hydrogen Hs when you look at any thing through any microscope. The fact that we know so much about how "invisible" things work like, it's possible to PROVE that when you mix these two chemicals, THIS precise thing will happen is just amazing.

It's also thrilling to know that these chemicals and compounds can help ease pain for those who suffer and treat diseases makes it even better! I like the fact that as a pharmacist you aren't the person delivering the diagnosis, but you're there to help treat the patient. It's as if you're on the more optimistic side of things.

Nice. I like what you're saying in the bolded above.

Actually, I am not pre-pharm. But, it is gaining my interest. About a year ago we had some guest lectures on pharmacology/pharmacy. VERY INTERESTING. Learning about the different kind of drugs and the mixes etc etc. I know many of you say there is more to pharmacy than meets the average eye but I must say the retail industry (walmart, cvs, etc) is not eye-pleasing (for me). It seems like most pharmacist are likely to get that kind of job (but i know there are other kinds of places/fields pharmacists can work at). Correct me if I am wrong though. That's the only part that kind of turns me off about it. I'm still, learning more about pharmacy/pharmacology.

But, yea, much respect to all you pre-pharms! 👍

 

[inquirer89]

Nice. I like what you're saying in the bolded above.

Actually, I am not pre-pharm. But, it is gaining my interest. About a year ago we had some guest lectures on pharmacology/pharmacy. VERY INTERESTING. Learning about the different kind of drugs and the mixes etc etc. I know many of you say there is more to pharmacy than meets the average eye but I must say the retail industry (walmart, cvs, etc) is not eye-pleasing (for me). It seems like most pharmacist are likely to get that kind of job (but i know there are other kinds of places/fields pharmacists can work at). Correct me if I am wrong though. That's the only part that kind of turns me off about it. I'm still, learning more about pharmacy/pharmacology.

But, yeah, much respect to all you pre-pharms! 👍

A large reason retail is attractive is because of the higher pay, but there is a high enough demand in other areas like clinical (that's where I see myself).

So yea...go to pharmacy!

 

[FreshOffTheBoat]

A large reason retail is attractive is because of the higher pay, but there is a high enough demand in other areas like clinical (that's where I see myself).

So yea...go to pharmacy!

Lol. honestly...i dont know what i want to do anymore. i'm torn. *sigh* 🙁



on a lighter note: rock on pre-pharmers! hahahaha

 

[rxlynn]

Once I got some exposure to the whole subject of drugs, I realized that it was more interesting to me than anything else I had done in my life. I also really like that fact that just a little interaction with a patient can be something that really helps that person at that particular time - I go home at the end of the day and feel like I've done some good. I was also attracted to the fact that there are many pharmacy jobs that allow you to go and do your job, and pretty much leave the job at the pharmacy. Folks, there aren't very many professional jobs making 100K that will allow you to do that.

 

[DRdelgado]

Wow thanks for the posts. I was enlightened on why everyone chooses this career and why its so competitive! Thanks. Anymore?