Why Pharmacy?

[freshbeatschris]

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I'm just curious as to why all of you have chosen pharmacy. 🙄 I have a very bizarre twist of fate that landed me here and was wondering if most you just always knew you wanted to be a pharmacist or if something happened to turn you on to this career.

Chris

 

[DScheveningen]

The pay is great. I realized how important money is to live life comfortably. 🙂

 

[faradayampere]

because of the chemistry ... I really love ochem =)

 

[JD_USD]

because of the chemistry ... I really love ochem =)

Same here...it's all about the chemistry!

Chemistry was by far my worst subject in high school. But I love doing things w/ my hands...alot more fun than being an accountant 🙄
So I chose to major in chemistry in undergrad.

I decided on pharmacy because I'll get to compound ointments, cherry flavored lollipops, etc. while at the same time helping people. Aside from pay and career stability, pharmacy sounds like the perfect fit for me.

I do realize that pharmacists probably do end up crunching numbers as often as accountants....but I plan on getting alot of that hands on experience along the way to picking up my certification and licensure as a pharmacy technician (independent studying for March 05 test in CA!!).

 

[dgroulx]

After 20+ years in the computer industry, with jobs being outsourced and salaries plunging, I decided on a career change. I love science and thought that healthcare could not be outsourced. I wanted to be a pathologist when I was younger, but I got married young and had to go to work. So, I toyed with the idea of fulfulling my early dream, but decided against it because of my age. At this point in my life, I just want to sock away money for retirement. Pharmacy has the right salary and benefits, plus regular hours.

I loved my biology undergrad, with all the fun labs. I was thinking about that laying in bed this morning, how I gave all my dissected animals anal probes, took pictures of them with cigarettes in their mouths, etc. Pharmacy school is boring. I'd rather cut up dead things.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

I loved my biology undergrad, with all the fun labs. I was thinking about that laying in bed this morning, how I gave all my dissected animals anal probes, took pictures of them with cigarettes in their mouths, etc. Pharmacy school is boring. I'd rather cut up dead things.

Why exactly did you give dissected animals anal probes? And why is that enjoyable for you?

 

[dgroulx]

Why exactly did you give dissected animals anal probes? And why is that enjoyable for you?

I don't do it to live animals. Dead things are fun to play with.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

I don't do it to live animals. Dead things are fun to play with.

I was able to infer that you didn't give anal probes to live animals since you said dissected animals. Is your husband aware of your fondness for dead things? 🙂

 

[Bob_Barker27]

After working as a mechanical engineer for 4 years, I decided to pursue a degree in pharmacy. Engineering has a very up and down job market, and I was laid off from my first job after just a year, and they were starting to lay off people at my second job when I decided to resign. Pharmacy offers great job security in contrast, and you also have more options where you live while engineers usually have to relocate to where the work is, and it's not always a desirable place to live. Also, the 80K or more starting salaries attacted me to pharmacy. Engineers usually work 15 years just to reach 75K, and their jobs are very stressful. Pharmacists also have a lot more independence than engineers do....it seemed like i had to get ten other engineers or managers to sign off on any thing I did. I think learning how drugs work in the body will be cool because I have a mild form of epilepsy that is controlled by a drug. I wouldn't be able to drive if not for this drug, so I have a great appreciation for them. I think a pharmacy degree in combination with my engineering degree will help me get a job with a pharmaceutical company if for some reason I can't stand retail, hospital, or the other fields.

 

[b*rizzle]

I'm just curious as to why all of you have chosen pharmacy. 🙄 I have a very bizarre twist of fate that landed me here and was wondering if most you just always knew you wanted to be a pharmacist or if something happened to turn you on to this career.

Chris

Pharmacy for me started out as a curiosity. I'm a very indecisive individual, at least when it came to deciding what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. 😛 While I was still in high school, I considered it but turned away from it because I was afraid of the math/science at the college level. When I got to college and had sifted through many other majors and found that the science wasn't that bad after all, I returned to the idea of pharmacy and began learning all I could about it. I got a volunteer job in a hospital pharmacy and I'm currently studying to be certified as a pharmacy technician.

The bottom line is that I love it and I can't see myself doing anything else. I think it's fascinating how, as Paracelsus said, everything is inherently a poison but in the right amount, it can become a cure. One other thing that has solidified my decision to become a pharmacist is that there is a lot of flexibility in the field. With a PharmD, you can do more than just count tray at the local CVS...if you don't like retail, there's many other things you can do with the training and education you already have. Plus, there's job security (at least over the next several years) and the pay is good.

This just scratches the surface; I can go on and on about the "why pharmacy" topic, but I hope this gives you a better idea of why I want to become a pharmacist. 😀

 

[CuRy]

I was a chemical engineer! I agree with Bob. We are worried about job security and relocate. We usually encourage each other to be married with a wife in healthcare field even a nurse 🙂 . I chose pharmacy after I was developed with Schizophrenia symptoms, which is common to professionals working under stress. Like war veterans, I felt boring to do everything and thought everything joking about you but just like to analyze the things I did in the past. I was admitted to hospital twice in 6 months to diagnose and adjust the medications. I got better after starting the treatment and a year later, I reduced the medication at the mininum to keep the disease return. I felt blessed! I now want to pursue a career in pharmacy or dentistry. In my pharmacy path, I could do business and later get involved in academic or research by taking a PhD in Pharmacology.

 

[twester]

I've wanted to be a pharmacist since high school (I graduated in the 80s of the last century). I was a strange child and read the PDR for fun (still do, in fact). 🙂 I got sidetracked by a lucrative career in telecommunications. After a decade, I grew dissatifisfied with that and blew it up so I could never return again.

I returned to school with the intention of going into nursing. I was attracted by the shortage and the idea of having a recession-proof job. I didn't plan on, like previous posters, loving o-chem and every biology course I encountered. I realized that I had the brains and the drive to pursue my original, if 20 years old, dream of being a pharmacist. I'm going to be really good at it, I think. 😉

Troy

 

[dgroulx]

I was able to infer that you didn't give anal probes to live animals since you said dissected animals. Is your husband aware of your fondness for dead things? 🙂

No, but he is aware of my fondness for anal probes.

 

[ultracet]

my mom made me do it

 

[bananaface]

No, but he is aware of my fondness for anal probes.

You tell him where to stick it, Dana! 😉

 

[freshbeatschris]

That was a lot of stuff I wanted to hear, and a lot more that is going to give me nightmares tonight. I never would've thought a "why pharmacy" inquiry would bring up dead animal anal probes.

...serves me right.

Other than the anal probes, I hear in all of you a lot of what is going on in my head. I'm coming from a career in Photography of all things and really, really want my American Dream of HEALTH INSURANCE to become a reality. I'm attracted to the money... and shockingly enough ended up enjoying my o-chem this last semester. I don't really dig the biology, but I'm finding myself to be a true chemistry geek.

...thinking back a ways, I always loved being in the darkroom with all of those chemical bottles and mixing ratios... not too much of a jump from art to science.

Thanks for your honest inputs. I appreciate it.

Chris

 

[OoShimmeroO]

I've always wanted a career in the healthcare field + I don't like touching sick people + money = WHY I LIKE PHARMACY 🙂

 

[jemc2000]

I've always wanted a career in the healthcare field + I don't like touching sick people + money = WHY I LIKE PHARMACY 🙂

Yeah, that.

 

[dgroulx]

I've always wanted a career in the healthcare field + I don't like touching sick people + money = WHY I LIKE PHARMACY 🙂

I totally agree with that.

That's why I originally wanted to be a pathologist - all of my patients would be dead. Pharmacy is a good option if you don't want to touch sick people. Over Christmas, my sister asked me to feel a lump on her neck to see if it was a tumor. I was grossed out and didn't want to touch her neck at all. There's no way I could touch people every day and not want to throw up.

 

[WVURxGal]

I'm coming from a career in Photography of all things and really, really want my American Dream of HEALTH INSURANCE to become a reality.

AMEN!

*currently $1000 in immediate debt from a minor throat infection*

Freakin' $450 for a needle aspiration of my tonsil... $141 just for the ENT office visit... $272 in lab fees when I told them I didn't have health insurance, and last time I called they didn't have the results (as in, tests were done and over with, but they couldn't find them so I can't treat this on my own if it comes back)... about $150 worth of medication (antibiotics + Tylenol 3s), excluding OTCs.

Sorry, that was a month and a half ago, but considering that I'm on payment plans for the next year, I'm still bitter 😉

So, why pharmacy? Well, I tell myself that I'm going to open my own pharmacy and start a diabetes clinic with focuses on prevention (I'd go ahead and become a certified dietician or whatever you call them so I can officially talk about weight loss, etc) and treatment, of course.

However, if I know myself, I'm going to get stuck in academia. Honestly, I'll probably enter WVUSOP and never leave. I'll wind up teaching any biology-based class and doing research. Either the research will be infectious disease or... something with cellular biology. And if not that, cancer research. There's a professor at WVU working on cancer research and apoptosis, and I've never really wanted to go into cancer (mainly because everyone in my family has gotten it, I'm sure I'm going to get it, and it's depressing) but I have a feeling I'm going to get caught up in what he's doing because I'm fascinated after just hearing a little bit. Damn, my mother was right when I was 6, no matter what I do I'm going to wind up teaching and in school forever. I hate it when she's right!

 

[freshbeatschris]

AMEN!

*currently $1000 in immediate debt from a minor throat infection*

Freakin' $450 for a needle aspiration of my tonsil... $141 just for the ENT office visit... $272 in lab fees when I told them I didn't have health insurance, and last time I called they didn't have the results (as in, tests were done and over with, but they couldn't find them so I can't treat this on my own if it comes back)... about $150 worth of medication (antibiotics + Tylenol 3s), excluding OTCs.

I hear you there! I had a relatively severe skydiving accident and racked up about $50,000 in medical bills. I couldn't walk for 2 years and needed 4 surgeries. I almost lost my lower right leg to amputation.

Fortunately (bizarre way of thinking about this), I was hurt so bad that I qualified for disability. So, the state took everything aside from $2,000 that I got to keep and paid for all of my medical bills. You'll get yours paid off in due time. I understand why you are frustrated. I guess we can't put a price on our health, right?

P.S. - I was working 6 days a week but my employer did not offer health insurance and I couldn't afford to get it on my own.

I can't wait til I am no longer poor!!!

Chris

P.P.S. - It sounds like you really know what you want out of life and you know what you are passionate about. Good for you! I think a lot of people go through their entire lives never really finding what they were looking for. Best of luck to you.

 

[GravyRPH]

I totally agree with that.

That's why I originally wanted to be a pathologist - all of my patients would be dead.

With your attraction to dead animal orifices, it may be fortunate you chose pharmacy.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

With your attraction to dead animal orifices, it may be fortunate you chose pharmacy.

I'm just glad she's isn't a male with that fondness for probing dead animal orifices.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

AMEN!

*currently $1000 in immediate debt from a minor throat infection*

Freakin' $450 for a needle aspiration of my tonsil... $141 just for the ENT office visit... $272 in lab fees when I told them I didn't have health insurance, and last time I called they didn't have the results (as in, tests were done and over with, but they couldn't find them so I can't treat this on my own if it comes back)... about $150 worth of medication (antibiotics + Tylenol 3s), excluding OTCs.

I hear you there! I had a relatively severe skydiving accident and racked up about $50,000 in medical bills. I couldn't walk for 2 years and needed 4 surgeries. I almost lost my lower right leg to amputation.

Fortunately (bizarre way of thinking about this), I was hurt so bad that I qualified for disability. So, the state took everything aside from $2,000 that I got to keep and paid for all of my medical bills. You'll get yours paid off in due time. I understand why you are frustrated. I guess we can't put a price on our health, right?

P.S. - I was working 6 days a week but my employer did not offer health insurance and I couldn't afford to get it on my own.

I can't wait til I am no longer poor!!!

Chris

P.P.S. - It sounds like you really know what you want out of life and you know what you are passionate about. Good for you! I think a lot of people go through their entire lives never really finding what they were looking for. Best of luck to you.

That's what you get from jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

 

[freshbeatschris]

That's what you get from jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

True. True. However, it is a running joke at the dropzone I jumped at that with the way the pilots there fly those airplanes, you're probably safer pitching yourself out the side of the plane rather than taking your chances with their landings. 😱

Aside from that, I feel so blessed that my accident happened. It really woke me up to a lot of things in life regarding true friends, real pain, inner strength, gratitude, finding peace, and a plethora of others. If it hadn't been for my accident, I wouldn't be pursuing pharmacy right now. I'm so lucky.

I wear my scars with pride. 🙂

Chris

 

[vafcarrot]

Did you write about that in your personal statement?

 

[GravyRPH]

I think I'd have to kick him a few times, if he didn't.

 

[lynzee]

No doubt! What a story!

 

[freshbeatschris]

Did you write about that in your personal statement?

I haven't written a personal statement yet. I don't want to use it as a crutch (no pun intended 😀 ). I'll be doing all of the applying this summer for 2006.

Chris

 

[freshbeatschris]

I think I'd have to kick him a few times, if he didn't.

P.S. - I'm a girl. 😉

Christina

 

[b*rizzle]

P.S. - I'm a girl. 😉

Christina

LOL! You go girl! 😀

 

[GravyRPH]

😳

uhhhh....


😳


ooops

 

[WVURxGal]

I hear you there! I had a relatively severe skydiving accident and racked up about $50,000 in medical bills. I couldn't walk for 2 years and needed 4 surgeries. I almost lost my lower right leg to amputation.

Oh goodness... I had an ex that was a skydiver. There was one death at his dropzone a few years ago... I think the person had packed their own reserve, and something or other happened with tangeled lines and it only partially opened. The worst he ever had was a broken ankle (just kinda landed the wrong way.) I never tried skydiving myself... I'm way too much of a wuss for it.

Yeah, we can't, but an ENT sure can! Hooray for social services! I wasn't in debt enough for any state health benefits, but I was able to keep feeding myself while I was out of work due to food stamps! Aaah, lovely welfare. Can't say I'm going to miss it.

P.S. - I was working 6 days a week but my employer did not offer health insurance and I couldn't afford to get it on my own.

I can't wait til I am no longer poor!!!

Another amen to that! My employer offers health insurance... but only after you've been with the company for 18 months. I'm a cashier at Kroger at the moment. The fun part is, by the time I switch over to the pharmacy as an intern, I'll have been there 13 months. Interns are considered "management", so I lose all of my seniority because it's a different job. Damn jobs.

P.P.S. - It sounds like you really know what you want out of life and you know what you are passionate about. Good for you! I think a lot of people go through their entire lives never really finding what they were looking for. Best of luck to you.

Thanks! 😀 Best of luck to you, also.