<p>how much different is the difficulty in workload between med school and pharmacy school?? how about the lifestyle?? How about the stress between residencies for pharmacy and medical school? I heard med students basically have no time to have social life unless they really manage their time...is this the same for pharmacy school? I want to become a doctor but is starting to get overwhelmed with the gloomy posts med students post about med school stress in the medicine section of this site...I want to know if there is not that much a big difference between pharmacy and med school...</p>
<p>My friends in med school appeared as tired and cranky as me. That's as subjective of a measure I can offer. Very few can actually answer the question from experience, but I CAN guarantee you that they are both way harder than anything you've done in any of your undergraduate courses. Yeah, it's stressful. </p>
<p>You still have to learn all of the pathophysiology, all of the therapeutics, all of everything except for the stuff physicians specialize in - learning to diagnose, WAY more anatomy, way more pathophysiology from an etiological standpoint, etc. But in exchange pharmacy students have to take way more medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, pharmacoeconomics, etc.. Which, in retrospect, actually seem worthless to me in the real world. I actually had to memorize the molecular structure of every single non biological drug on the US market for my year long med chem course.....and take a comprehensive final. Hell...I can still draw the structure of a freakin' beta blocker from memory. It will never help me in my professional career or anything, but I guess someone has to memorize it. </p>
<p>The reason I chose pharmacy is the lifestyle, though. I'm 24 with a doctorate (nobody calls you Dr.suchandsuch though...not that I care...), pulling in $115k a year, my company covers my liability insurance... so that $115 is all mine, it's less stressful, and I work 40 hours a week, period. No pager, no residency, just me and my couch. A career in medicine couldn't have given me what I want - early retirement.</p>
<p>well i first wanted to become a clinical pharmacist and taking residency after pharmacy school because i wanted more patient interaction and to make my job description as close to a physicians'...will taking this path satisfy my goal or should I just go to medical school since the stress and education is not that different...</p>
<p>WVUPharm, I like having you around.</p>
<p>That post pretty much summed it up. Both are difficult but there are differences in what each program has to do. At my school the M2s and P2's combined to take the same basic pharmacology class. But there's no doubt that Pharm students have some very different demands placed on them then medical students do. </p>
<p>I think one key difference is that physicians have to have a broader knowledge base in general. MD's must be able to converse with pharmacists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, lab techs, insurance companies, nutritionists, social workers, and so on. MD's have a responsibility to be able know the basics of all these disciplines for their patients, but also so the MD knows when they are in over their head in some field and should be referring their patient to one of the experts. In turn all those members of the medical team have a responsibility to be experts in their chosen field. Pharmacists in particular have a very key, very important, position of physician oversight in making sure that the MD really wanted that particular drug for their patient. </p>
<p>In the end, only you are going to be able to determine if being a PharmD or an MD is going to be satisfy your goals...</p>
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well i first wanted to become a clinical pharmacist and taking residency after pharmacy school because i wanted more patient interaction and to make my job description as close to a physicians'...will taking this path satisfy my goal or should I just go to medical school since the stress and education is not that different...
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<p>I would only recommend going pharmacy if the most interesting part of the entire medical picture to you is specifically drug therapy - which is the case for me personally. The only thing that is "close" to being a physician is being a PA or NP. Going into the profession trying to be physician-lite probably isn't a good idea because you will be disappointed. </p>
<p>I'm not sure that it's possible to make your job description "close" to a physician as a pharmacist... though I might not quite get what you are asking. </p>
<p>Sure, pharmacists in hospitals do recommend therapy and are frequently given limited prescriptive authority over some things. For instance, AFTER the diagnosis of infection, a physician may just write "consult pharmacy abx tx" and the pharmacist takes over therapy. He/She would decide the dose, frequency, monitoring frequency, etc. This happens frequently with vancomycin, gentamicin, or any other antibiotic that is tough to dose correctly (pharmacists take EXTENSIVE drug kinetics courses in school...learning that stuff made me want to pull my hair out.) If that's the type of thing you want, then that is widely available. However, hospital pharmacists don't get as much patient contact as I think you desire.</p>
<p>If you just want patient contact, become a retail pharmacist. How many patients does the average physician see an hour - 6? 8? A pharmacist will see up to 40 an hour in busier stores. You'll get more patient contact than you can shake a stick at - no residency required.</p>
<p>I have a quick question.....i'm only in high school, but thinking about being a pharmacist someday. do I go for the 6 year pharmacy program that some colleges have which they admit students right out of high school. or should I major in chem/bio....in any college, then after getting my BS, apply for pharmacy school???</p>
<p>MY MOM IS A PHARMACIST. some pharmacy schools don't even require physics. you get out of school quicker, only 2 years of a graduate education... no residency required. definetly lots of chemistry. besides i know ppl who couldn't become doctors until after their kids got into college, but my mom was able to become a pharmacist while raising 4 kids.... so apparently w/ pharmacy... u have more free + flexible time.</p>
<p>major in pre-pharmacy if you can, definetly not bio. any school that admits students into a graduate program straight out of highschool, might not be too good.... they aren't even testing you enough 4 qualification.</p>
<p>thanks GAclassof2008, but why are those programs so competitive and so hard to get into???
anyone else??!!!!</p>
<p>is it possible to major in pre-pharm? and what's wrong with majoring in bio?</p>
<p>some schools have pre-pharmacy like uga--- it is a really good program... i think there is also a good one in florida/texas. biology-- is a typical major for doctors.... i guess you could if you want, but w/ pharmacy you are dealing w/ tons of chemistry.....formulas,names of compounds , and reactions is mainly what you learn about.... my mom was a pre-pharm major. i am going to be a bio major.... after taking ap bio and honors chem... i'd say bio is not very helpful w/ pharmarcy.</p>
<p>it's soo competitive cause it is a fast program.... 6 years.... and starting off w/ 90,000-100,000 dollars makes it so competitive..... everyone i hear talks about the speed in which you could earn a top salary..... that's the reason lots of ppl enter it. compared to a doctor.... which is 8 years of school plus 4 years of residency= 12 years..... and they usually stary off with 150-300,000 depending on what type of doctor.......</p>
<p>so i should major in chem or biochem? i heard that bio is easier and that i'll be able to get a better gpa by majoring in bio and that major doesnt matter as long as i have the pre-req done</p>
<p>that goes for med school ... ppl get in as lit majors by taking minimal science requirements....but i don't kno if pharmacy school is looking for that kind of thing as well. my brother thinks chem is easier than biochem, i myself like bio... it is easier to comprehend.... but a ton more memorization. major in w/e u like....i just talked to my mom.,she came home from work... she said just as long as u enter the college of arts and sciences... you'll be fine... major in w/e science you like... or u don't have to major.. just as long as u are in there.</p>
<p>You can major in anything you want to major in. None of them particularly care. Get your pre-reqs done, take you PCAT, and if you do good enough, they'll interview you.</p>
<p>does physics have anything to do with pharmacy?? becuz of my schedule conflict I won't be able to take AP physics next year, only regular physics. so should I maybe drop regular physics and take AP chemistry?? I already signed up for AP bio. it's either AP bio with regular physics, or AP bio with AP chem. and I want to be a pharmacist. I'm looking for some 6 year program, could anyone tell me which college/university in the states of PA, NJ, or NC have a descent program? so far I've heard Rutgers U in NJ, U of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne. thank u very much!</p>
<p>As far as NC goes, there are 3 Pharmacy Schools: UNC, Campbell University, and Wingate University. UNC is known to have a very good Pharmacy program.</p>
<p>But, when you say 6 years, do you mean 0+6, meaning you are automatically admitted into the Pharmacy school? If so, none of the NC schools have that option - they are all 2+4.</p>
<p>ummmm what's the difference between 0+6 and 2+4?? could u maybe explain it a little bit?? I'm looking for the program where they admit students right out of high school, and after 6 years, u'll be a pharmacist! is that 0-6 or 2-4 ?????</p>
<p>ummm the 3 pharmacy schools u mentioned, are they like graduate schools????</p>
<p>0+6 i guess is right out of highschool, but normall it's 4 + 2, 4 years undergrad 2 years of pharmacy school.
achang1990- look at the website of the school you wish to attend to see if physics is necessary for pharmacy..... it depends on schools... now adays though... there is "doctor of pharmacy" which makes you go in for 3 years of pharmacy school, not just 2..it doesn't raise your salary but it is an additional year. i don't know if it applies for everywehere. or if physics is needed for doctor of pharmacy</p>