<p>After doing a ton of research about this topic, I decided that it might be better to just make a thread regarding this issue.</p>
<p>Some background: I'm currently a sophomore at Northeastern University's 6 year PharmD program. I ended freshman year with ~3.8 GPA (not sure if my GPA is even relevant yet).</p>
<p>My ultimate goal is to get into medical school. It is my dream and most definitely where my passions lie (it also might be relevant that I want to go to medical school in California). I definitely do not want to become a pharmacist (it is not a back up, as of now I'm planning on transferring at the end of next year, although I've convinced myself that going the clinical/hospital pharmacy route wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.) What are my best options? Here is what I think my options are: Staying through Pharmacy School, and then applying to Medical school. Applying to transfer to a slightly more prestigious school as premed/biology major and then applying to medical school. or staying at Northeastern and transferring out of the Pharm program. </p>
<p>TLDR? Can I get into a top medical school (preferably a California School) after going through a PharmD program?/ Should I transfer out and get my BS in Biology?</p>
<p>I really appreciate all responses in advanced.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to be a pharmacist, transfer. Simple as that. </p>
<p>You gain nothing, and in an overwhelming majority of cases significantly diminish your chances of getting into med school (any med school really, let alone a “top” one) by getting your pharmD first.</p>
<p>Do not know anything about Pharm / MD situation.<br>
One thing I know based on D’s (3rd year med. student) experience that prestige of your UG is not important when applying to Med. School. So, transferring for “prestige” reason is definitely waste of effort and might hurt more than help. If you do not feel comfortable at your school to the point that it affects your well being/grades, then transfer to another UG (not needed to be more prestigious). If you feel comfy at the place, stay.<br>
Another thing that I am aware of is that it is extremely hard to get into California Med. Schools. No, D. did not apply there. However, she met so many from CA during her interviews at several Med. Schools (she applied only in Midwest) and in addition her current medical school class has disproportionate number of Californians who have hard time driving in a snow but still happy to attend there.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t see a reason to leave Northeastern but you should switch into bio.</p>
<p>To concur:</p>
<p>(1) Yes, do switch majors;
(2) Transferring universities entirely is optional, and not recommended unless you have independent grounds to do so;
(3) Bear in mind that getting into a California medical school as an out-of-state student is nearly impossible, no matter what major or university you come from. Of course, if you’re in-state then it’s difficult but not as hard as if you were OOS.</p>
<p>I am well aware of how difficult it is to go to medical school in California. I think if I can keep my GPA exactly where it is and have a decent MCAT that it is definitely a possibility for me. I have a position in a research lab and I have a few other things going for me. I am not going into this blindly.
I realize it is somewhat unethical to stay through the Pharmacy program if I do not intend to utilize the degree. But will this actually lower my chances? I just don’t think it makes sense because Pharmacology courses are one of the hardest for Medical school students and having already had experience with these classes I’d sort of guarantee doing well. I just don’t see how I would be at a disadvantage. (also, undergrad at Northeastern is usually done on a 5 year track, the pharmacy program is six years so it would only be one extra year.) I am just weighing my options.</p>
<p>i would assume it would disadvantage you because it’s a vocational major and not an academic one. Like how studying nursing is not as good as studying bio.</p>
<p>Most majors are admitted to medical school at the same rate – physical sciences, life sciences, humanities, social sciences, none of it seems to matter. The only exception is “specialized health science” majors, who are the ONLY group to receive a lower admissions rate.</p>
<p>So, a 3.8 35 MCAT with a BS in PharmSci and a PharmD has less of a chance than a 3.8 35 MCAT with a BS in Biology?</p>
<p>Those students would probably both get into medical school.</p>
<p>is pharm not a specialized health science?</p>
<p>I assume it is. But a 3.8/35 is probably getting in somewhere no matter what he majors in, provided he’s got the minimum EC’s.</p>
<p>I agree, but I do think the biology degree “looks better” than the pharm BS. </p>
<p>Isn’t a pharm D a graduate degree? I think a BS in bio and MS in bio looks better than a BS in pharm and a pharmD.</p>
<p>Now a BS in pharmacology would be fine, but that’s not what a PharmSci degree is.</p>
<p>I’m just extrapolating what we see with BSn degrees.</p>
<p>If OP would rather study pharm, I don’t see a reason to switch. Odds are you’d do better there if that’s what you really want than if you’re forcing yourself into bio. If you’re doing the pharmacy program because you think it will give you a leg up in medical school I don’t think that’s true. In the few interactions I’ve had with pharmacists talking about drugs they definitely don’t know any more than I do.</p>
<p>I’d modify. If OP would rather study pharmacy and have a career as a pharmacist, then I think that’s a very reasonable decision to make. I think a vocational major harms chances of getting into medical school.</p>
<p>Its a fact that PharmD’s have more knowledge of drugs and how they work than MDs (it makes no sense otherwise). I’m interested in medicine but as of now I think I still want to go to medical school. I am just worried about how competitive it is to get into a medical school so I am considering pharmacy solely because of how inconsistent and difficult it is to predict getting into medical schools. And I don’t think I consider a PharmD a “vocational degree” either. Dropping a spot in a really good pharmacy program seems like a waste of time if in the end I don’t get into medical school.</p>
<p>sounds like you got it all figured out then, what did you need us for?</p>
<p>With regard to the inconsistency of medical school, I disagree. What is hard to predict is how you will perform in college - but that’s on you and no one else. It is hard to predict any one particular school but if one applies to a bunch of schools it becomes pretty predictable (for example I calculated on a thread a while ago that if one applied to something like the 15 most selective schools the probability of being rejected by all of them was like only 1/3). If you look at the stats, you will see that kids with high stats do very well.</p>
<p>Whether or not you consider PharmD a vocational degree is not what we are discussing. What we are discussing is whether medical schools will consider it an allied health sciences degree such as nursing or medical laboratory sciences and those types of degrees are looked down upon - justified or not.</p>
<p>With regard to pharmacists and what they do and don’t know, this 3rd year MD/PhD will simply have to agree to disagree with the college freshman, but I will concede that my medical school has an exceptional pharmacology department and a class (run by pharmacologists) that teaches and tests us well beyond the step 1 level so it is possible that my knowledge of pharm may not be representative of the typical med student. My general point still stands - a pharmD does not grant an advantage in medical school coursework worth the sacrifice in admissions chance.</p>
<p>I agree with the others. Northeastern is a decent University but PharmD will not help you.
Pick a liberal arts major. Just for kicks I looked over 4 classes of students in my medical school while I was a student. There was 1 PharmD out of about 600 students. Surprising number of students with degrees in somewhat odd majors as nutrition from UCB, History and Science from Harvard and Natural sciences from Johns Hopkins. I should add that my medical school is one of those you are targeting.
Pharmacology is also different as a practicing physician as you need to know the basics of many medications but in practice you use a limited number of drugs that you need to know extremely well. There are many subtle aspects of medication use that escape pharmacists as they do not practice medicine.</p>
<p>Im a PharmD in my 3rd year of medical school, so I have a huge amount of insight on this topic.
I got into 3 medical schools (with a 29 MCAT, 3.8 GPA (after pharmD classes which was hard). A person with a GPA above 3.5 after years of intensive pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, genomics, etc, says a lot more than a 3.5 GPA of a bio major whose hardest classes were cell bio and some enzyme kinetics)
I work 2 days a month as pharmacist to pay my living expenses and save $30,000 in loans each year (plus compounded interest) because of it.
Also, in most programs, 2nd year pharmacology is the hardest course. 15 people failed in my class and I barely had to study at all. It was easy compared to pharmacy school.
I’m also able to answer questions on rounds that the residents and fellows can’t answer.</p>
<p>Just finish your pharmD then apply. If you drop out with no undergrad degree, you will have to take 1-2years to finish up a bio/chem degree and take the MCAT. Why do that when you could finish pharmD in 2 years and have way more clinical knowledge than your class mates, ace the hardest class of medical school, and make $400 a month working 1 DAY?
I didn’t apply in California, but my understanding is that is next to impossible to get in there with less than super human scores unless you are a resident.</p>
<p>For the other comments on here, a pharmacist is applying to med school is quite a bit different than a phlebotomist, nurse, or other vocational health person trying to. PharmD is NOT a vocational major (this is a pretty big insult considering a few courses in medical school (pharmacology, microbiology/ID) have significant numbers of lectures taught by pharm.Ds. the Bs Pharm degree was done away with around 2001, now PharmD is the only degree to practice as a pharmacist, its pretty competitive to get into (PCAT tests, GPA, interviews, etc), is 4 years (like medical school), and now requires a 4 year UG degree first at the most prestigious schools (Although not all of them).</p>