I am a licensed pharmacist in Texas. I work in retail and on the hospital side as well, so I can probably answer most of your questions. There is a lot of confusion from the public over what exactly the pharmacist does and also what is needed to be a pharmacist. Be very careful about whoever gives you advice because when I was going through this myself, I found that very few people were knowledgable about the field of pharmacy. Someone in this thread mentioned "pharmacology", but you need to have a Pharm.D. aka Doctor of Pharmacy, and not a degree in pharmacology. For most schools this requires at least 90 hours of pre-reqs or a BA/BS and then 4 years of pharmacy school. Pre-pharm curriculum usually involves many science based courses, so if she chooses another field in healthcare, it won't hold her back. As far as saturation, it is very difficult to predict what will happen after Obamacare starts. I mean, what field isn't saturated in healthcare? It is difficult to find a cush job in Houston and Dallas for pharmacist, but it's definitely possible. My company had 10-20 interns in the Houston area and I know of at least 15 new hires in San Antonio, so it is definitely possible to get a job. The problem is that it's not like the way it used to be. 10-15 years ago, pharmacist were getting BMWs or $30,000 signing bonuses, but those days are basically over. To get a job, you actually now have to interview well, have a good resume, etc...like a normal person. It's still very possible, but just a bit harder. This is the same for almost every healthcare position.
its just those pchem and inorganic chem courses that scares a lot of people, but i agree that it looks better than bio alone. a biochemistry degree might be the best marriage for the two subjects.
Thanks for the info. My daughter is shying away from all the Pharm schools in California because they require a BA/ BS. 90 hrs of pre-reqs still mean 3 years. She had hoped to get the Pre-Pharm requirements out of the way quicker by taking AP exams but that is not possible. Even though she qualifies to take the credits, the counselors are telling her she shouldn't. She has taken 7 AP exams with score of all 5s. She is taking 5 more AP classes this year but probably won't take all the exams because they will be wasted. She is already feeling bad about having to spend 2 yrs in Pre-Pharm. Sorry if it sounded like I was bragging but it's the reason why she wants to plan this out very carefully. This is good to hear. Pharmacists had it so good, a little rough going just takes it down to normal level, I guess.
I got my Mech Engr deg in the mid 80s, couldn't find a job. I switched to Comp Sci. and for many years we thought we could have our jobs forever. These past few years, that has been proven wrong. That is why I suggest my daughter to switch to Health care but we are not sure any more.
I thought pre-med/pharm always had to double major or at least have a minor that they could turn into a major if they decide not to do it anymore
All I can say is, for any "in demand" job field, the market changes greatly by the time you get out of school. Just make sure she is interested in studying that field instead of just looking at where the money is. Personal story: I got into MIS during the dot com (IT) boom and got out in time to see the bubble burst and a crappy market after 911. Fortunately I love technology, so other than a tough time finding a job out of college, I'm still happy with my choice of study.
What are some other fields in Healthcare that is close to Pharmacy? I tried to research but "close" means different things to different people. My daughter just hates to lose any credits at all once she starts on the Pre-Pharm path. I am an Engr/ CS guy so I don't know a lot about Health care field. I didn't even know about some of the things that others mentioned in this thread about Med school. I just thought you guys spend most of your time in class and then a little time in the hospitals. That's what we did in Engr/ CS, mostly classroom.
Your daughter needs to chill. Expecting to complete college without making any mistakes, wasting any time, or paying more money than the bare minimum is an unrealistic expectation. As far as a backup plan, engineering and business are probably out because of too many lower division pre-reqs. So, you're looking at a BS in whatever her preferred science is, with your standard career choices for that major. If she decides she needs more money, law firms are always looking for patent attorneys with a hard science background.
I was hoping she can plan better and not waste time or money. I imagine there are people who can do that. I don't quite understand this. Are you talking about getting a BS then go into law school? I thought law is another field that is even more saturated then Pharm?
if she is completing classes at her high school towards a college degree it gets tricky, degrees have become very specific about the courses required to complete the degree especially in technical based degrees, in engineering the math and science courses are very specific, while in pre-pharm they would share many of the science courses the math could be a different requirement, core curriculum can change for each degree humanities credit, communication, social sciences, visual performing arts can all be very specific as to what the degree actually requires, generally speaking the first year of any degree has some commonalities, but once a student gets into there third semester they should be taking classes towards their major if the student is entering college with with credits towards a degree then the student could be taking classes for their degree their first semester, if they are teetering between a degree in chem eng and pre-pharm the courses for the degree will be vastly different and more than likely will not apply to another degree as far as career wise goes, i tell every student studying to earn a degree is different than working towards a career, you should always study in an area you have interest in because after you have been up for 36 hrs straight there will be no question as to why you are doing it, once you are finished you can look for a job you want or get a professional degree, chemical engineering is a very general degree which would allow her to have versatility in the engineering industry
I've been on the same path - started as a pre-pharm major and then chem engineering. All I have to say is pre-pharm is very competitive. I got denied 3 years in a row when all my friends with lower grades got in. I tried chem engineering for a year and I just could not get the physics down. I ended up in nursing school (first semester this year). If she is doing pre-pharm, I would highly recommend taking anatomy/physiology as well. Take a&p so she can apply to nursing school as well if pharmacy doesn't work out. Pre-pharm and nursing prereqs are almost the same. Good luck on whatever she decides to do.
This is what I am afraid of. My research told me Chem Engr is close to Pre-Pharm and then I looked at the curriculum and they are not quite that close. ie, for UT: http://www.utexas.edu/pharmacy/admissions/curriculum.html http://www.engr.utexas.edu/attachmens/CHE 12_14 Degree Plan.pdf They have a few common classes, Chemistry II, Intro to Bio, Math, Soc Science .. but then Org Chem are diff courses, Physics for Engr is different, Pre-Pharm requires many more Bio. Good advice.
Do you mind telling me why they denied your app into Pharm school? Some requirements you lack? Work exp, volunteer? I keep in mind the requirements for Nursing.
not really sure why I got denied. If anything, maybe my PCAT scores. I got an 83 overall which really isn't bad. My gpa at the time of applying was 3.8ish if I'm not mistaken. I volunteered close to 240 hours and I was actually a pharm tech for 6 years and I got great recommendation letters from my professors and the directors where I work. I will tell you this - those "requirements" they have are all subjective. They will choose who they want, regardless of those "requirements." I knew someone who got in with a 2.75 gpa and a 72 PCAT score.
Recently just graduated pharmacy school myself and will tell you that it's probably best for her to become a pharmacy technician and work while doing her prerequisites. This will allow her to get a sense of what it's really like to work in a pharmacy, it's fast paced, demanding, and the customers/patients are unrelenting in the retail setting. The hospital setting is a little more relaxed with less customer/patient interaction but you have deal with nagging nurses all the time. The field itself can be very rewarding but it isn't for everyone, she really needs to figure out if she can tolerate for the rest of her life. It just recently got saturated as some others have noted above and will continue to become even more saturated in the near future. By the time she gets into pharmacy school there will be yet another PharmD program opened up in the Dallas area, further education requirements (moving towards required residency), more recently graduated pharmacists (~600/year in Texas), and those that have been in the field for years just looking for a switch or trying to move to a better location. Finding a job probably won't be difficult, but finding the "dream" job will, more specifically the perfect setting, company, and city. Also, I'd recommend that SHE do more research into at SDN, student doctor network. There's a vast amount of knowledge that can be obtained there and it also plays host to thousands of other students contemplating the same path. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=121
She had planned to get the Pharm Tech training the last 2 yrs but could not fit it into her schedule. Will definitely do it in college. She has also volunteered in hospital and worked under some nurses so she knows what it's like a little bit. SHE has done a lot of research and planning herself. Just not on this forum. I know there are people with a wealth of knowledge here but there are also guys who thought a joke about making sandwich was funny! If she asked a sincere question and got one of those, she probably won't come back.
