Pre-Pharmacy vs. Pre-Med vs. Pre-Dental

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hi, I am a current undergraduate student and I just finished my first year at UCLA. I am sure that I want to pursue one of the three routes: Pharmacy, Medical, Dental. I know many are in the same predicament and this is a huge decision to make and I really need some advice.</p>

<p>My Primary Concerns:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>[SOCIAL LIFE] I do want a social life outside of my job. Assuming I take the medical route, is being a doctor that consuming of a lifestyle? I read that 75% of doctors wouldn't recommend this route to their children. That's daunting because these are the people that have stuck with it until the end! They must be the most driven/passionate! How's the life of dentists and pharmacists? </p></li>
<li><p>[JOB OPPORTUNITIES] I know Medical->Doctor, Dental->Dentist. Can Pharmacy school land you jobs in pharmaceutical companies and whatnot? Or are you forever destined to be a pharmacist? </p></li>
<li><p>[FINANCIAL SECURITY] Money is important to me because I am very family oriented. Don't mistake me for being materialistic. Once I start working, I want to secure myself and my family (parents) and perhaps wife and children (when that time comes). It is widely believed that the salary goes doctor>dentist>pharmacist. Is this even true today with all the malpractice insurance and whatnot for doctors? And I know dentist have to invest a LOT into new equipment, secretaries, hygienists, assistants, etc. After all of that, which profession is most "worth it?" </p></li>
<li><p>[MY CHANCES]
I've only finished my first year and I currently have a 3.8 GPA. I know it's not the best but I feel it is the best I can do. I am fairly confident that I can maintain that throughout the rest of my time here at UCLA but I don't see it rising much. Competition here is fierce! I consider myself lucky to have such a GPA. Assuming I maintain this GPA, and score well on whichever test I take (PCAT, DAT, MCAT) and do research/volunteer, would I be on track? What's easier to get accepted to? How hard is it to get into pharmacy and dental school? </p></li>
</ul>

<p>If anyone could answer or just comment on anything that I've written, I would be forever grateful. Thanks in advance :)</p>

2

<p>RE: social life-- Most full time physicians work anywhere from 45-80 hours per week, but it’s highly specialty dependent. Surgical specialties typically have the longest and most irregular hours. Some specialties (emergency medicine, for example) require rotating shift work. All or nearly all specialties require you to be on call at times.</p>

<p>RE: job opportunities. Are you asking if pharmacists ever go to work for drug companies? Yes, sometimes. Are you asking if pharmacists ever go into basic pharmaceutical research? My guess would be rarely.</p>

<p>RE: financial security. I would say doctor salaries cover a wide range from <$100K for primary care docs to >$350+K for mid-career surgical specialties. My general practice dentist makes more than my kids’ pediatrician --and always has. One of trends in both medicine and dentistry is towards salaried positions in large group practices–and this too will affect your costs and income.</p>

<p>RE: Competitiveness</p>

<p>Pharmacy programs–I couldn’t find any consolidated data that included all pharm programs.</p>

<p>Dental schools had 12,001 applicants for 5,170 seats in 2011 (latest data I could find)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ada.org/sections/professionalResources/pdfs/survey_ed_vol1.pdf[/url]”>Internal Server Error | American Dental Association;

<p>Medical schools (MD) had 45,266 applicants for 19,517 seats in 2012</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/321494/data/2012factstable17.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/321494/data/2012factstable17.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Medical schools (DO) had 14,796 applicants for 5,986 seats</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.aacom.org/data/studentenrollment/Documents/2008-2013_AppEnrollGrad.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aacom.org/data/studentenrollment/Documents/2008-2013_AppEnrollGrad.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.aacom.org/data/applicantsmatriculants/Documents/2012-Applicants.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aacom.org/data/applicantsmatriculants/Documents/2012-Applicants.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;