Would like some thoughts on my situation.

[iphetamine]

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First off, I have NOTHING against pharmacy or the practice in general. This is not a troll, rant or fight.
Second, I know the forum and members are mostly US based, I'm in Canada, just to put things in perspective.

I have a BScPhm and a Masters in health informatics, and I'm 32 years old. I'm not fond of retail, but enjoy hospital/clinical settings. However, I want to further my career, so I'm considering doing a PharmD, which is 2 years. By the end of it I'll be 34, but hoping to continue into oncology/hematology. But, there's the option of an MD, and that's 4 years down the road, will be 36. Then comes residency and all the good stuff.

I know people will yell and troll to state the obvious, I should decide for myself. I'm just looking for experience and thoughts on both routes.

 

[BMBiology]

Honestly, I don't think anyone here is bothered or cared about your career choice.

It is just about putting food on the table

 

[Digsbe]

First off, I have NOTHING against pharmacy or the practice in general. This is not a troll, rant or fight.
Second, I know the forum and members are mostly US based, I'm in Canada, just to put things in perspective.

I have a BScPhm and a Masters in health informatics, and I'm 32 years old. I'm not fond of retail, but enjoy hospital/clinical settings. However, I want to further my career, so I'm considering doing a PharmD, which is 2 years. By the end of it I'll be 34, but hoping to continue into oncology/hematology. But, there's the option of an MD, and that's 4 years down the road, will be 36. Then comes residency and all the good stuff.

I know people will yell and troll to state the obvious, I should decide for myself. I'm just looking for experience and thoughts on both routes.

Minus being in Canada and being a P4 PharmD student, I'm in a near identical spot. I've strongly considered going MD/DO after pharmacy school and going for oncology, either that or doing a residency in oncology as a pharmacist. The difference would be 4 more years of grad school + 6 or so years of residency/fellowship. It really depends on what you want to do, at 32 you probably wouldn't be able to practice as an oncologist until you're roughly 42 which is something to consider. Have you considered clinical pharmacy specializing in oncology?

 

[deleted480308]

have you thought about going PA? little less autonomy, but you are out and practicing in 2.5 years...

 

[strawberry606]

First off, I have NOTHING against pharmacy or the practice in general. This is not a troll, rant or fight.
Second, I know the forum and members are mostly US based, I'm in Canada, just to put things in perspective.

I have a BScPhm and a Masters in health informatics, and I'm 32 years old. I'm not fond of retail, but enjoy hospital/clinical settings. However, I want to further my career, so I'm considering doing a PharmD, which is 2 years. By the end of it I'll be 34, but hoping to continue into oncology/hematology. But, there's the option of an MD, and that's 4 years down the road, will be 36. Then comes residency and all the good stuff.

I know people will yell and troll to state the obvious, I should decide for myself. I'm just looking for experience and thoughts on both routes.

Do you work in retail??? It sounds to me that you work in retail and just want to do something else.

If you are already practicing and have two respectable degrees, I don't see why you you would need to go back to school (especially since you sound concerned about starting over at your current age).

Just figure out what you want and apply for a new job. I think you should have the experience and the education to find a pretty good one. As for the oncology route, I agree with the previous post. You can seek a job as an oncology pharmacist. You can even become board certified if you work as one for 4 years and pass an exam (well, at least in the US). Good luck. 🙂

 

[gwarm01]

Working in oncology as a pharmacist can be fun. You won't be examining the patients, but you still must review their charts to make sure they meet counts. You spend a lot of time reviewing protocols. It's very methodical. You could also spend some time in the IV room, which I've always enjoyed. You'll be rounding with the team and probably attending weekly meetings, depending on how involved your pharmacy is. The only problem is that, in my experience, the pharmacist is always on the periphery of practice. You're not as involved as everyone else, since what we do tends to be separate from everyone else. This can be good or bad depending on your opinion.

As was said before, you could become a PA much quicker and work in hem/onc if you are concerned with time. It's a salary cut, but you won't have to spend the next decade in school/training. I've also worked with nurse practitioners in chemo, so that's another path.

You say you have a masters in health informatics? Have you had any luck getting a job in pharmacy informatics? That's a path I've considered, but if the masters degree doesn't help I might not bother.

 

[Lnsean]

You want to pursue a pharmD? Really? You have to think here. What is your end game? I don't think you will be happy with anything other than an MD.

 

[mikejones123]

quit working and make medicaid babies

 

[pillpharmer14]

quit working and make medicaid babies

Winner

 

[BidingMyTime]

Do you have a spouse and/or children? If so, you strongly need to consider how they will be affected by the diminished income and time of your attending school.

Honestly, why did you get a degree in health informatics, if you aren't working to use that degree? I would suggest you only get further schooling IF you can lay out a reasonable and probably career path that would require that further schooling. Otherwise, it sounds like you are just getting degrees because you want to do something different, but you really don't know what you want to do.

There was a guy in my pharmacy class (I'm old, this was a BSpharm class)....this was his 4th degree (he already had a BS, a masters, and a PhD.) I thought at the time he was the classic example of a "professional" student. He swore it would be his last degree. Maybe it was.....but I saw he died about 15 years later (he would have been in his late 40's/early 50's.)

I guess my feeling is life is short. Yes, education is important, but at some point you need to stop being a professional student, and just work and design your own career path. Have and family and spend time with them (and if you don't want a family, then have some good friends to spend time with.)

 

[rxlea]

Medicaid babies are always the answer