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[Sloth]

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Okay guys I don't mean to

But, I really wanted to become a pharmacist... Like A LOT. After extensive research I don't find the field to be stable enough to promote a good work environment. (the fact that even If i find a job I'll be canned for ANYTHING just because of the amount of other applicants banging at the door)

I've reluctently had to find a new setting/career path. I'm thinking about physical therapy. Though, to me, even though people say there is a need, it's such a popular field, I fear oversaturation.

If anyone could share with me there opinions on pharmacy, physical therapy, etc I'd be very appreciative.

And lastly, are you guys worried about getting tired of your work setting? As a pharmacist your usually in a sort of crappy big "room" with shelves of pills and a computer and ugly carpet on the floors. Or as a PT you're in a big building with excersize equipment and not much else. Wouldn't you get tired of living 8-10 hours a day feeling like your at the gym, every, day?

 

[xtsukiyox]

Reality check time: you are going to be doing the same thing, more or less, for the next... 30+ years. This is an issue with any career, not just pharmacy vs PT.

Pharmacy is more than retail. You can work in a whole host of different settings, different companies, etc. until you find one that interests you (or that you can tolerate) - but this is true for nearly every field. Perhaps you should go sample life a little more instead of deciding on a career before you know what you want?

While it would be fantastic to find your passion, I hope you are blessed enough to find a career you like (most days) with a work environment you can tolerate for the long haul.

 

[Sloth]

I see that you are pre-pharmacy, you are not scared about your future?

I just feel like if I go PT I'll always wish I went Pharmacy.

GR.

 

[phathead]

Sigh, lots of illogical fallacies in your OP.

First, the job market may suck now, but it won't suck forever. Things will normalize in time and if you make a decision based off of current conditions... well that's just not very wise.

Second, your research must be pretty poor if "As a pharmacist your usually in a sort of crappy big "room" with shelves of pills and a computer and ugly carpet on the floors." is what you think pharmacy is like. Yes, there are some people who are more than content to be a drone and work in conditions like that.

But what about the pharmacists who run warfarin clinics? Or the pharmacists running MTM practices? Or nuclear pharmacists? Or pharmacists who do rounds with physicians? Clearly you're only looking at one, albeit large, type of pharmacist.

Lastly, if you're more concerned on whether your work environment has pretty floors or nice music, don't go into the profession. Go into it because you love it, not because you think you'll make good money or that it will be a comfortable work environment.

Otherwise you'll just hate your career.

I worked in one store for 6 years and I loved every minute of it. In fact, I greatly miss it on a regular basis. I miss the patients, watching them get married and have kids, helping them through difficult medical conditions, etc.

Sometimes being 'stuck' in one place isn't all that bad.

 

[Sloth]

I agree with everything you said. Thank you for the kind words of encoragment. Maybe I should just plow on and forget about the doom and gloom. Attend a residency and do everything I can do to be the best and not worry about the future so much.

Pharmacy here I come!

 

[DrDrugs2012]

I disagree. I was in a job in the pharmaceutical industry for many years and never once did I do the same project twice. Nothing was remotely the same except for the end product. Every project required new on the job training and presented unique challenges. Its not impossible to find a job with endless possibilities.

 

[xtsukiyox]

I see that you are pre-pharmacy, you are not scared about your future?

Having survived 3 rounds of layoffs & working "up" for 7 years in one company, I think I can confidently say... nope. Not any more scared should I have a professional degree than if I'm just trying to schlep on the streets to get a job with my associates degree.

The job market sucks everywhere right now. My opinion, right or wrong, is that everything is cyclical, and any oversaturation will sort itself out (although that may be in a decade) just like the economic mess will sort itself out in time (although it may be painful).

As I've said elsewhere on SDN... If I can't get a job as a pharmacist, perhaps I'll "double down" & go to law school.

Any time you work for someone else, there's a game to be played with very real rules. Nearly all pharmacists work for someone else. I don't expect a job to be handed to me. I do expect to work crud hours / drive a lot further / fewer benefits / have to move when I first get out of pharmacy school. If I don't have to do those things, like I had to do some of them when I first started in the field I'm in now, it'd be a bonus. Reality is, you're starting at the bottom of a different heap.

I just feel like if I go PT I'll always wish I went Pharmacy.

Sounds like it's time to do some soul searching, and probably some more research, before you make a decision.