<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I graduated about a year and a half ago from an engineering school with a bachelors of engineering in chemical engineering. Now, I am considering going to pharmacy school. Would I have to start from 0 to become a pharmacist? Is there a better option how I can grow into the pharmacy field using my chemical engineering degree? Is there a master's degree or PhD program in pharmacy that would allow me to become a pharmacist ?</p>
<p>Can anyone shed some light on this topic?? Thanks. I appreciate your help.</p>
<p>Best Regards,
Stephanie</p>
<p>I’m not pre-pharm, but I do have a friend in pharmacy school so I know some info on this topic. No, you don’t have to start from 0. Because there is no pharmacy major, pharmacy school takes people from all majors. Some schools even take people who only have an AA degree. You will however have to take the required pre-req courses for pharmacy school. These can vary by school so you need to look at each schools website and see what you need. Because you have a degree in a science major, you may not need too many extra classes. However, you likely don’t have every class you need at this point. I suggest finishing these prereqs at a community college. You also will need to take the PCAT. I also suggest getting some familiarity with being a pharmacist by either shadowing one or working as a pharmacy tech. Pharmacy schools love experience. Good luck</p>
<p>There are some 4+3 programs (3 years of pharmacy school after a BS degree), such as in Washington. 2+4 programs may admit you to the 4 years of pharmacy program. The only PharmD programs that will be off the table will be the pharmacy schools that only admit students from their own undergraduates such as Toledo or UCONN, and possibly the 0-6 PharmD programs. I say “possibly,” since you might be considered as a transfer student by a 0-6 program. All pharmacist programs are PharmD (doctoral) programs, but you could certainly explore a MS or PhD program in pharmaceutical sciences depending on your interests. You will be looking at 3-4 years of pharmacy school to earn a PharmD. The PharmD curriculum is fairly rigid, and I suspect that you will not be able to shave classes from the upper level programs because of your B.S. </p>
<p>PharmD programs seem to vary from school to school, based on my kid’s research. You’ll have to research each of the schools that you are interested in, to see if you have met the prereqs for admission. As already mentioned, you are probably going to have to take the PCAT. It is likely that you will find some additional prereqs such as anatomy that you may not have taken in your undergrad program. Applications to PharmD programs are competitive, but you can obviously schedule interviews to talk about your interest and find out if they will give you any credits.</p>
<p>I suggest paying a lot of attention to the cost of the 3 or 4 years of additional school, plus lost-opportunity costs of 3-4 years of work as a chemical engineer. Depending on your ultimate goals, you should also take a look at forecasts for jobs…PharmD prospects certainly aren’t as rosy as they were when my kid started pharmacy school, and his graduating class (one of the US News highly regarded schools) is struggling with job and residency hunting. There are many new schools that have been pumping graduates into the marketplace. At a recent conference in Orlando, P6 students were told that only about 50% of students who wanted residencies were placed last year. Many of my kid’s friends who graduated last year went into retail so they could make student loan payments, and aren’t particularly happy. Good luck with your research.</p>
<p>I don’t know what the job outlook for Chem E is, but please take seriously Neonzeus’ last paragraph. I’m in retail in a geographic area that usually has a shortage of Rphs, but not any more. In fact, we are being asked if we want to take time off so that people who really need 40 hours can get them. Historically, PharmD’s would have 4 to 5 job offers without even trying, but this year’s class is definitely struggling. Too many schools have opened up recently, and I think I read that by 2017 there will be a fairly large surplus of grads to jobs.</p>
<p>illinoismom4, it isn’t just your area. My hospital system in the SouthWest has laid off some pharmacists and replaced them with pharmacy tech for the low level work. They used algorithms to determine what inventory to keep for their patient load, how many pharmacists to hire, and the required techs. It is bare bones and this has been in process for at least 4 - 5 years.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the help. I appreciate everyone’s input. </p>