Why did you choose Pharm??

Started by andagrkel
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
A

andagrkel

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I'm wondering why you guys chose pharmacy as a career path. Give me your best reasons. You see, I'm applying to med school and slowly realizing that it scares the crap out of me. I really want to be a doctor, but it's a long hard road, and I'm not sure I'm up for it. I really, really value free time to spend with the people I love. It's really important to me, and I'm not sure med school, residency, and the doctor lifestyle are going to allow that. So I've been considering backing up and trying Pharm, but I'm afraid I'd get bored. I have a bit of ADD when it comes to jobs/work. Once again, I think the science is interesting, but the day to day job seems like it may be monotonous. Give me your thoughts! I really appreciate any input. I'm kind of having a crisis, and I really need to decide where my life is going. 😕
 
andagrkel said:
I really want to be a doctor, but it's a long hard road, and I'm not sure I'm up for it. I really, really value free time to spend with the people I love.
Click to expand...

You really should not follow in the medical doctor field at all if thats what you really value. In the field of pharmacy, while it does take up some time, it does not nearly take up the same amount of time as medicine does. It is still a very satisfying career choice IMHO. As far as getting repetitive, your pharmacy career is what you make of it. If you choose to become a mediocore pharmacist, work for the highest retail bidder and not give a crap about keeping up with the profession that is your choice. You can also choose to get involved in some different interesting things. Retail can be interesting but it is what you make of it. There are many other avenues you can pursue as well. There is always hosptial pharmacy, consulting, nuclear, academia, etc... and all of them are very interesting. (or at least to me anyway) Again, take home point is that you have the power to choose what you want to be in the pharmacy profession. Only YOU can make it boring or interesting.

best of luck
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I noticed your similar post in the med forum and thought my experience might shed some light for you. But first a disclaimer, everyone has their own opinions, own experiences that may or may not apply to your situation. So more than anything you need to formulate your own ideas about your future and take other's input with a grain of salt.

That being said, here's what I can offer you. I"m an MD, completed 1.5 years of a Family Medicine residency (half of it) and then decided I could not see myself enjoying a career in medicine. After a few months of self reflection, I decided to apply to Pharm school to pursue a career in clincial pharmacy (currently applying this fall).

As others who are MDs will tell you, the training process is a grueling one and with residency lasts a minimum of 7 years. Check out a thread in the General Residency forum called "Would you do it over again?" for a lot of quality insights into medicine.

For me, I went into med school straight from undergrad with what I consider in retrospect to be naivety about medicine. I was good at and enjoyed science and wanted a decent paying career where I could help people so I applied to med school and got in. I was willing to work hard and put up with the rigor with the thought that the career on the other end of the training was worth it. As physician recruiters began contacting me and I started considering practice opportunities post-residency, I realized I didn't like the fundamental tasks of my job. Basically I disliked the uncertainty and subjectivity in elucidating meaninful patient complaints, trying to make diagnoses, managing unpredictable patient courses, etc. There is a lot less basic science to clinical medicine than I expected and I missed doing calculations and using tenets of basic science to solve medical problems. This is root of why I am changing to a career in pharmacy.

In addition to just the job aspect of career change, I now have a much better appreciation for the importance of lifestyle. I am married (met my wife in undergrad, married while both in med school, she is now a PGY-3 in family med and loves it, and we have 1 yr old daughter). Med school and residency is grueling. After residency, most docs still work a lot (60ish hrs/wk) but a lot of it does depend on your priorities. Some competitve specialties have lighter schedules. But some in primary care job share or work part time and have a great quality of life. My wife will start out full time which is 4 days/wk with 2-3 call days/mo, and 4 weekends/year with 6 wks vacation which will work out great most of the time. But part of the lifestyle of most docs is that you can never really leave your work at work. My wife will do OB and unless arranging for a night off will be on her pager 24/7 for her 25-35/yr OB deliveries. Her clinic days will be scheduled to end around 5 pm but occasionally a medically complex patient of hers will be admitted to the hospital during the day and she'll need to take care of that after clinic before coming home. So you see some the wrinkles in MDs days.

That being said, there are many options for practice. ER docs strictly do shift work. Many interists become hospitalists and do essentially shiftwork.

Others with yrs of experience in pharmacy can tell you what their lifestyle is like better than I but my general sense is that is can be pretty flexible and part time is an option. But pharmacist can and do work weekends and holidays too.

Ultimately, you need to chose what you think is best for yourself. And while in med school or pharm school, you can make priorities of what is important to you. Just know that it can be hard at times and that at least in medicine, residents really do work 60-80 hrs/wk with routinely working 30 hr shifts.

Anyway, good luck in finding your path.
 
SobeGekko said:
I noticed your similar post in the med forum and thought my experience might shed some light for you. But first a disclaimer, everyone has their own opinions, own experiences that may or may not apply to your situation. So more than anything you need to formulate your own ideas about your future and take other's input with a grain of salt.

That being said, here's what I can offer you. I"m an MD, completed 1.5 years of a Family Medicine residency (half of it) and then decided I could not see myself enjoying a career in medicine. After a few months of self reflection, I decided to apply to Pharm school to pursue a career in clincial pharmacy (currently applying this fall).

As others who are MDs will tell you, the training process is a grueling one and with residency lasts a minimum of 7 years. Check out a thread in the General Residency forum called "Would you do it over again?" for a lot of quality insights into medicine.

For me, I went into med school straight from undergrad with what I consider in retrospect to be naivety about medicine. I was good at and enjoyed science and wanted a decent paying career where I could help people so I applied to med school and got in. I was willing to work hard and put up with the rigor with the thought that the career on the other end of the training was worth it. As physician recruiters began contacting me and I started considering practice opportunities post-residency, I realized I didn't like the fundamental tasks of my job. Basically I disliked the uncertainty and subjectivity in elucidating meaninful patient complaints, trying to make diagnoses, managing unpredictable patient courses, etc. There is a lot less basic science to clinical medicine than I expected and I missed doing calculations and using tenets of basic science to solve medical problems. This is root of why I am changing to a career in pharmacy.

In addition to just the job aspect of career change, I now have a much better appreciation for the importance of lifestyle. I am married (met my wife in undergrad, married while both in med school, she is now a PGY-3 in family med and loves it, and we have 1 yr old daughter). Med school and residency is grueling. After residency, most docs still work a lot (60ish hrs/wk) but a lot of it does depend on your priorities. Some competitve specialties have lighter schedules. But some in primary care job share or work part time and have a great quality of life. My wife will start out full time which is 4 days/wk with 2-3 call days/mo, and 4 weekends/year with 6 wks vacation which will work out great most of the time. But part of the lifestyle of most docs is that you can never really leave your work at work. My wife will do OB and unless arranging for a night off will be on her pager 24/7 for her 25-35/yr OB deliveries. Her clinic days will be scheduled to end around 5 pm but occasionally a medically complex patient of hers will be admitted to the hospital during the day and she'll need to take care of that after clinic before coming home. So you see some the wrinkles in MDs days.

That being said, there are many options for practice. ER docs strictly do shift work. Many interists become hospitalists and do essentially shiftwork.

Others with yrs of experience in pharmacy can tell you what their lifestyle is like better than I but my general sense is that is can be pretty flexible and part time is an option. But pharmacist can and do work weekends and holidays too.

Ultimately, you need to chose what you think is best for yourself. And while in med school or pharm school, you can make priorities of what is important to you. Just know that it can be hard at times and that at least in medicine, residents really do work 60-80 hrs/wk with routinely working 30 hr shifts.

Anyway, good luck in finding your path.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insightful post...seriously!

I have considered med school and some days I am sorry I did not. This solidifies my decision as to why I enjoy phamracy so much. (been doing it for 7+ years) Thanks again!
 
Great post Sobe.

**edited after seeing all of the trolls looking for PS content. Form your own opinions and thoughts into coherent statements.

Maybe I just need my morning coffee, but I just got irked.
 
great post sobe.

at times i also wonder if i should have went for the big MD route, but I don't think so now. I thought pharm school was tough at choosing treatment strategies for all these different situations of heart problems, etc, but at we mostly follow guidelines and common sense. I couldn't imagine having to poke and hunt in the dark at times to figure out what is wrong with someone---glad I picked pharmacy. But hunting for needles in haystacks is delighful to some.
 
Don't do medicine unless you are 100% about it.

I wasn't 100% and figured "oh well, I'm young" and went to med school. I graduated last June and am not sure if I am going to do a residency and am debating whether or not to become a pharmacist (I wish I had gone to pharm school 4 years ago instead of med school).

medicine is a great field, but you have to be 100% committed and absolutely love it. Don't do it if you're not.
 
I think the same goes for any field requiring advanced studies. You need to figure out what you want out of life before you begin preparation. It costs too much in terms of time and money to make a wrong decision.

I always wonder about people with "backup" professions. Getting it right is so much more important than getting it done now. If someone is truly committed to a profession they'd be thinking about reapplication plans instead of backup professions during their first application cycle. That's nothing to do with this specific case - just a general comment.
 
Interesting posts from Sobe & Gekko.....as I'm here with my daughter this weekend & her "white coat" ceremony which is a med school thing....

She's an MSII & has had 3 folks drop out in the 15 months she's been in school. One went to become a dietician & one left to enter business. One other fell behind & was retained to repeat the first year. There are other stories...but...she & I have talked about how difficult it was to make her decision & mine. And she hasn't even finished yet! The previous md posters have already finished - I hate to think of what they went through!

I think we have pressures - we put some on ourselves (to be a dr or lawyer or ceo...) & we have pressures others put on us (we want our children to be drs, lawyers or ceos...). But...it takes real maturity to be able to say to yourself...I'm not yet ready to make that decision....or I don't want to pressure my child to make a decision he/she might regret..And that is a hard decision to make when you are smart, do well in school, score high on admissions tests, etc.

I think interviewers try to weed this out in the application/interview process - thus all the same questions on the applications/supplementals & interviews.. But, I think the hardest question is that we have to ask ourselves - "am I doing what is right for me?" And...the answer is sometimes a difficult one as the previous md posters have said. Their responses were amazing & heartfelt, and...they came to them over months/years of uncertainty & anguish.

I wish you all the very best in your future career choices!
 
I think you have to remember the versatiliy of the pharmacy profession. There are so many areas you can be involved with and so many different types of jobs. It doesnt have to be "boring" in somewhere like staff pharmacy in hospitals, mail order, or retail (although the money is good, and you can always be a "floater" for "fun money" as some pharmacists call it).

I am doing a dual degree in clinical research and pharmacy. Here you can be involved in drug development at a pharmaceutical company or FDA.

Also If you think those are boring, you can always do a residency and then be a clinical pharmacist. In some hospitals, you do the rounds with the doctor and it is done how I believe it should be: doctors make the diagnosis (what the know the most about) and then the pharmacist decides the treatment or at least has a large say so (what we know more about), this is more of a team approach with I think is the best. So here, you do the rounds and get to work with the healthcare team with more direct patient care where you decide or help decide the treatments which I do not think is boring at all and gets you away from just counting pills which some people find boring. There are places where you more or less have your "own patients" and handle the treatment management of a patient.

Pharmacy has a lot to offer and is often overlooked by some and looked down upon as just a lick-stick-and pour profession, those people have not done their research in this carrer. I hope we move away from this stereotype and can let people know just how much pharmacists can offer.
 
PharmaCgirl said:
I think you have to remember the versatiliy of the pharmacy profession. There are so many areas you can be involved with and so many different types of jobs. It doesnt have to be "boring" in somewhere like staff pharmacy in hospitals, mail order, or retail (although the money is good, and you can always be a "floater" for "fun money" as some pharmacists call it).

I am doing a dual degree in clinical research and pharmacy. Here you can be involved in drug development at a pharmaceutical company or FDA.

Also If you think those are boring, you can always do a residency and then be a clinical pharmacist. In some hospitals, you do the rounds with the doctor and it is done how I believe it should be: doctors make the diagnosis (what the know the most about) and then the pharmacist decides the treatment or at least has a large say so (what we know more about), this is more of a team approach with I think is the best. So here, you do the rounds and get to work with the healthcare team with more direct patient care where you decide or help decide the treatments which I do not think is boring at all and gets you away from just counting pills which some people find boring. There are places where you more or less have your "own patients" and handle the treatment management of a patient.

Pharmacy has a lot to offer and is often overlooked by some and looked down upon as just a lick-stick-and pour profession, those people have not done their research in this carrer. I hope we move away from this stereotype and can let people know just how much pharmacists can offer.
Click to expand...


Exactly why I went to pharmacy school before med school. I want to be able to diagnosis patients as the MD and treat them with the appropriate pharmaceutical therapy as the PharmD. I truly do not feel there is enough pharm training for med school. There is too much polypharmacy and drug interactions because many docs are not that aware of all the consequences. (Such a sitaution caused the eventual death of my grandfather).

Plus if something goes wrong and I can not finish my MD/residency, I will have a very nice, well respected professional life as a pharmacist.

Only drawback I see is the extra money and time and I have plenty of room for both. Life is what you make it. I say at least do something you enjoy for a career. In the end, that is all you have in addtion to your family and friends. So, chose wisely.
 
90% of my posts are sarcastic and filled with smirks. The other 9% is questionable and the 1% probably doesn't apply to you.

But why did I choose pharmacy.. or did pharmacy find me.

My older brother dropped out of med school. He said.."man you gotta be kidding me.. I'll work myself to death as a physician while not making whole lotta money." He then started a nightclub and ran it for a few years..got it out of his system, then received a PhD in Bioengineering from Berkeley..now owns a Firewall Security System company..along with other businesses.

But that had nothing to do with my decision. I just like to go off on a tangent.

I was always intrigued by successful people and what they did. While in college, I realized financially successful people weren't always doctors and lawyers rather business owners who hired others to do the work.

I understand myself better than anyone else. I've always known that I'm allergic to hard work...especially working for others. I also knew that I enjoy playing and value my time.

Fortunately, I realized a goal to attain "Money, Time, & Youth." I knew that the 3 combination of MTY was the key to my life.. Think about it. What good is money and youth if you have no time to enjoy it. What good is money and time if you no longer have health and youth to enjoy it. What good is all the time and youth..if you have no money to enjoy.

I realized the common wisdom of "Go to School..get a good job and you'll be fine" was nothing more than a commoner's dream.

Get a Job.. what does a job reall mean? It meant I would trade my time for money.. it's just that I only have 24 hours a day..and I need my 8 hours of sleep. I could possibly work 10 hours...but that would just leave me 6 hours to play. This wasn't going to work. So my financial status would be defined by 8 to 10 hours of work which couldn't afford my desired life style.

Law.. no way. Didn't want to work that hard. Medicine.. no way. Didn't want to work that hard. And if I didn't work, I wouldn't get paid.

Then one day my dad said, you should own a pharmacy. I'll fund you. :idea:

Immedialtely I started to think I would own 25 pharmacies. I think I even mentioned that in my Personal Statement to USC..."I will own a chain of pharmacies and contribute back to USC blah blah..."

Then while in pharmacy school, I realized owning and employing pharmacists will be a difficult task. But by then, I also realized I could take chances with non-pharmacy businesses while working as a pharmacist..

I've been a pharmacist for 11 years... and worked 9 years as a pharmacist. But I've been a business owner for 11 years... and currently own 2 businesses which I do not work at. I do check up on it...make management decisions. The company has steadily grown with multiple locations.

But I still work at a hospital which I enjoy.... but I rather play.

I want to have an option to walk away from the hospital next June.. when I turn 40. It could be June of 2008.

What am I trying to say?

I chose pharmacy because of the possibility of being a business owner. The goals materialized. Not quite the way I envisioned. But it worked out.
I'm forever grateful that Pharmacy allowed me to pursue my dreams and goals. Yes, I could have done the same with an MBA and a business degree.

But being a pharmacist gave me the insurance plan that if my business failed, being a pharmacist would suit me just fine.

I chose Pharmacy for the lifestyle. Along the way, I'm making contributions through my work..by creating jobs..and helping others realize their goals and dreams.
 
That was a great post Zpack, I liked your 3-thing with money, time, and youth. Do you have any other posts where you went into more detail about your career path? I always enjoy reading success stories.

One more thing: did you originally go into pharmacy because you wanted to use that job as a way to fund your businesses, or did you also go into it because you wanted to be a pharmacist for the sake of being a pharmacist?
 
Wow guys... thanks for the meaningful replies. SobeGekko... I really appreciate what you had to say. It is my greatest fear to go into medicine and be miserable. My life outside of work is so much more important to me than my career (Zpack... you sound just like me), but it is also important for me to enjoy what I do. I work in a Pharmacology lab right now, and while I thought it was really interesting when I started as an undergrad, it has gotten quite drab 3 yrs later. I perform the same experiments over and over again, and with little understanding of what it all means in the end. I guess you could say I am just a pair of hands (skilled hands) in the lab. It makes me worried that pharmacy (although I realize it is completely different) might bore me as well, simply bc of the repedity. I have taken a year off after graduating to try to figure out what I want to do with my life... and I really find myself no closer to the answer. It is really frustrating. Medicine seems so fascinating, and I think I would enjoy it, but like I said... my life outside of my career is what's important to me. As Zpack said, I like to play. I am very interested in pharmacy as well, especially working in a hospital... but I can't get rid of this hesitation to commit to either field. I have also come across a few pharmacists that seem very stressed and make negative remarks about their profession, much like many doctors I have met. I don't know... I have a lot to think about... too bad I've already been working on it for 3 years now...
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Gauden,

I'm going to one day write a book on 'Money, Time, and Youth.'

I chose Pharmacy to to get into business, not because I wanted to work as a pharmacist.

Don't get me wrong. I worked as an evening staff pharmacist for years while working every morning and weekend at my business. I did this while paying myself $7.69 per hour from my business along with my pharmacist salary because that's all my wife and I needed.

Another important aspect is that my wife supported me through my goofy decisions to leave sunny Southern Cal to a small town Arkansas to start our business. She's an accountant who quit her job to work and run our businesses.

She's been a stay home mom for the past 4 years.

Still, I enjoy healthcare system pharmacy management. So far it suits my life.
 
Darkangel,

Unless you're a Trustfund child, you're going to have to earn your rights to "Play."

You'll need to figure out what kind of financial status will afford you the 'Playstyle' you want to live. Then you'll have to figure out how to do it.. either as a pharmacist or a physician.

But if you become a pharmacist or a physician and stop there, then you probably won't realize the goal of "play whenever I want to" because you'll be working a lot.

Watch the masses.. and go the other way. Get out of your comfort zone and pursue more than others do.

Only you are responsible for where you go in life.

And no...I don't sound just like you... you probably like what I have to say.
 
I was always intrigued by successful people and what they did. While in college, I realized financially successful people weren't always doctors and lawyers rather business owners who hired others to do the work.
Click to expand...


AHHHH, STOP READING MY THOUGHTS!!!! I came to realize the lazy-man-paying-people-to-make-him-rich thing not too long ago, myself. I'm gonna open a Tudor's Biscuit World or soemthing. Mmmm..biscuits n' gravy
 
ZpackSux said:
Only you are responsible for where you go in life.
Click to expand...
Though it certainly helps when your dad says "wanna open a pharmacy? I'll fund you."

Only you (and your dad) are responsible where you go in life? :meanie:








I hope you have a sense of humor 😀
 
DHG said:
Though it certainly helps when your dad says "wanna open a pharmacy? I'll fund you."

Only you (and your dad) are responsible where you go in life? :meanie:



I hope you have a sense of humor 😀
Click to expand...

Heck...You're right...😳

Though, my mom had more influence on my business decisions and they did write a check when I decided to open a business. It was easier than getting an SBA loan..which I have done once...

Still, I would have gotten into business with or without the loan from my parents. 👍
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
AHHHH, STOP READING MY THOUGHTS!!!! I came to realize the lazy-man-paying-people-to-make-him-rich thing not too long ago, myself. I'm gonna open a Tudor's Biscuit World or soemthing. Mmmm..biscuits n' gravy
Click to expand...

Many people are aware of this. But only select few will get out of the comfort zone and start a business. I'm not sure you're up to the task. I have not known a single pharmacist couple who work beyond their jobs...

They're just way too comfortable making $200,000 to $250,000 a year.. and none of them are willing to take a pay cut nor risk losing money...

But all of them constantly talk to me about needing to get into a business.. It's comical really.

Mikey, if you actually start a business in next 5 years, I'll pay your D&B tab for an entire month.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Ok, after she graduates, or after I graduate? I'm bookmarking this thread. Getting seed money before age 30 to make more money is the main reason I got into this profession. You're going to owe me, like, $300.
Click to expand...

You would only spend $300 in a week at D&B?

Lightweight..
 
I was having a chat with one of the pharmacists that I work with and he blew me away - in addition to working over 40 hours/week between two pharmacies in the same chain, he owns FOUR other businesses. The guy graduated a few years ago and is maybe 2 years older than me. He didn't go into huge details, but one of them is a used car lot - he doesn't actually sell the cars himself, but he oversees which ones are coming in & out of the lot and he pockets a good chunk of the profits. I asked him why he was interested in the other businesses and he said "I always like to have my hand in a bunch of pots."

This, plus his wife is an architect - they must be doing OK for themselves. Good for him, but I'm not sure that I could handle all of that!

P.S. WVUPharm - I soooo hope that you're able to take ZpackSux up on his offer. 😀
 
Moxxie said:
I was having a chat with one of the pharmacists that I work with and he blew me away - in addition to working over 40 hours/week between two pharmacies in the same chain, he owns FOUR other businesses. The guy graduated a few years ago and is maybe 2 years older than me. He didn't go into huge details, but one of them is a used car lot - he doesn't actually sell the cars himself, but he oversees which ones are coming in & out of the lot and he pockets a good chunk of the profits. I asked him why he was interested in the other businesses and he said "I always like to have my hand in a bunch of pots."

This, plus his wife is an architect - they must be doing OK for themselves. Good for him, but I'm not sure that I could handle all of that!

P.S. WVUPharm - I soooo hope that you're able to take ZpackSux up on his offer. 😀
Click to expand...

Awwwww...c'mon..

Hey...just using some reverse psychology to get WVU motivated. I love to see people get out of the box.
 
Moxxie said:
I was having a chat with one of the pharmacists that I work with and he blew me away - in addition to working over 40 hours/week between two pharmacies in the same chain, he owns FOUR other businesses. The guy graduated a few years ago and is maybe 2 years older than me. He didn't go into huge details, but one of them is a used car lot - he doesn't actually sell the cars himself, but he oversees which ones are coming in & out of the lot and he pockets a good chunk of the profits. I asked him why he was interested in the other businesses and he said "I always like to have my hand in a bunch of pots."

This, plus his wife is an architect - they must be doing OK for themselves. Good for him, but I'm not sure that I could handle all of that!

P.S. WVUPharm - I soooo hope that you're able to take ZpackSux up on his offer. 😀
Click to expand...

Oh...great.. not only is he one of the most trustworthy professional as a pharmacist, he is also least trusted as a used car lot owner.
 
ZpackSux said:
Oh...great.. not only is he one of the most trustworthy professional as a pharmacist, he is also least trusted as a used car lot owner.
Click to expand...

I pointed that out to him - a pharmacist selling cars? And he said that that's why he isn't actually involved in the selling process. He said that he's "too honest." He lets other people handle the dirty work. 🙄 But I overheard him negotiating prices with another dealer that day (we were slow, and he was buying a new car for his wife), and wow, he knew how to talk.
 
Moxxie said:
I pointed that out to him - a pharmacist selling cars? And he said that that's why he isn't actually involved in the selling process. He said that he's "too honest." He lets other people handle the dirty work. 🙄 But I overheard him negotiating prices with another dealer that day (we were slow, and he was buying a new car for his wife), and wow, he knew how to talk.
Click to expand...

I like him already.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Zpack, I'm confused. You say you worked a regular staff job for years while working at your business every morining and weekends. So you got the money part, and I assume the time now that you're turning 40, but how did the youth work out.

If you're inclined, I'd be curious as to what you did before pharm. school.

Personally I went into pharmacy for flexibility reasons the profession affords which you won't see in most other professions. So much more flexibility when you're in demand: I can practice anywhere, there are multiple scheduals one could work, I could work part-time and make ends meet, have enough money to try my hand at business, and could quit on the spot and have another job waiting if I needed to, and a few other things that I'm probly not thinking of right now. You could also go back to school for an MBA or JD or something.
 
PhatPharm said:
Zpack, I'm confused. You say you worked a regular staff job for years while working at your business every morining and weekends. So you got the money part, and I assume the time now that you're turning 40, but how did the youth work out.

If you're inclined, I'd be curious as to what you did before pharm. school.

Personally I went into pharmacy for flexibility reasons the profession affords which you won't see in most other professions. So much more flexibility when you're in demand: I can practice anywhere, there are multiple scheduals one could work, I could work part-time and make ends meet, have enough money to try my hand at business, and could quit on the spot and have another job waiting if I needed to, and a few other things that I'm probly not thinking of right now. You could also go back to school for an MBA or JD or something.
Click to expand...


I was in undergrad before pharmacy school...

Fresh out of RX school, I worked as an evening staff pharmacist.. so in the morning, I would go work at my business..then go to work at the hospital in the afternoon. And on weekends, I was back at my business.

When I say youth, I don't mean being 25. It's perhaps better defined by saying lack of youth, energy and strength to play at age 75. At 39, I'm healthier and have more energy than I did in my 20's and early 30's.

Out of 3 (money, time, and youth) I feel that I still have the youth...and I'm still working on both money and time... Since I'm still working full time at a hospital, I can't technically say I have the time.

So, if I had to give myself a score, I am at 2.... Still holding on to youth..while getting there with Money and Time.
 
ZpackSux said:
I was in undergrad before pharmacy school...

Fresh out of RX school, I worked as an evening staff pharmacist.. so in the morning, I would go work at my business..then go to work at the hospital in the afternoon. And on weekends, I was back at my business.

When I say youth, I don't mean being 25. It's perhaps better defined by saying lack of youth, energy and strength to play at age 75. At 39, I'm healthier and have more energy than I did in my 20's and early 30's.

Out of 3 (money, time, and youth) I feel that I still have the youth...and I'm still working on both money and time... Since I'm still working full time at a hospital, I can't technically say I have the time.

So, if I had to give myself a score, I am at 2.... Still holding on to youth..while getting there with Money and Time.
Click to expand...

Oh my gosh (nice word for what I was thinking....)!

You definitely have youth!!!!!! I'm 53 & I have youth.

I also have more energy at 53 than I did at 33 (oooh - toddlers take it out of you for sure!).

By the time they are both off to college....you also get time & if you've planned a bit...just a bit of money to spend on what you want.😀

Phat...pharmacy will give you tremendous flexibility so it can change as your life circumstances change. When you want to work a lot, you can. When you want to work less, you can do that too.

In CA, anyway

Hang in - a great job, but only if you really like the job! (I don't think Zpack will retire - he'll be too tormented with the new stuff coming out....he won't be able to help himself - my predicition😛 )
 
Zpac,

What is your business? I was thinking about starting a hair salon. My wife is a cosmetologist. Any pointers?
 
Im a little older starting on the pharmacy track. But I still hope to own a business or two before I hit 35. A couple pharmacies, a spa, some rental houses, maybe a strip mall. Dont know about the used car thing although I have family in the business.
 
jaypea65 said:
Zpac,

What is your business? I was thinking about starting a hair salon. My wife is a cosmetologist. Any pointers?
Click to expand...

I own a DME (durable medical equiment) company specializing in medical nutrtion and O2.

Your wife can do it 3 different ways..work her butt off making money... or set up a larger upscale salon/spa and hire stylists, or setup a larger upscale salon and booth rent.

I've owend a salon before... booth rent only.
 
DownonthePharm said:
Im a little older starting on the pharmacy track. But I still hope to own a business or two before I hit 35. A couple pharmacies, a spa, some rental houses, maybe a strip mall. Dont know about the used car thing although I have family in the business.
Click to expand...


You hope?

If you want to own a business or 2, then set a goal to do so. Then write it down where you can see it every day....

"I'm 35 and I own 3 rental houses, strip mall, and a couple of pharmacies."

Present tense... and more detailed your goals mo better it is.

If you write it down, I promise you it will happen.

Make a dreamboard...and post the pictures of what you want...if it's a baby you want, put up a pic of a baby..then once you have the baby..take it down..otherwisde you'll end up with another baby.

These things are the power of subconcious... the 90% of your brain you don't tap into.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Where did all of the OG pharmacy members go?
Replies
45
Views
9K
baronzb
B
Dred Pirate
why did we lock the unfair preceptor thread?
Replies
11
Views
3K
nampa
N
B
Who is the most successful pharmacist you personally know?
Replies
23
Views
6K
RogerWilco
R
L
WSJ: Why Your Neighborhood Pharmacy Isn’t So Friendly Anymore
Replies
0
Views
2K
libra08
L
F
  • Locked
Which would you choose??
Replies
14
Views
2K
mentos
mentos