Pharmacy allows you to work retail, hospital, consultant work, part time. Pretty flexible for family life. With good pay.
If she wants to teach science she’ll certainly be qualified for the subject. Many stem teachers are hired for their expertise and get teaching qualifications and certification afterwards (often times paid for by the school).
I had similar situation, but was able to address it much earlier. So, I am not sure if my advice will help you as your D. is much older than mine was when I started talking to her about her future career.
I believe that our D’s have very similar backgrounds. Top caliber students with the passion for chemistry and mine also liked writing a lot, not so much English classes though, she never was an avid reader. My D. also had many other outside of school interests and one of them happened to be swimming. With lots of snorkeling vacations, she decided at some point in 7-8 grade that career of Marine Biologist was very attractive for her. Well, as you mentioned, we all wants our kids to be financially independent as well as being satisfied with their future jobs. So, naturally, I researched the job prospects for Marine Biologists and found out from internet and “word of mouth” information that the jobs prospects are horrible. I also have experienced being forced myself to change many jobs in my life (not related to science). So, I combined these two facts and started talking to my kid very seriously about the situation for her “dream” job as a Marine Biologist. It took awhile, you do not want to press too hard, it needs to be subtle. Unfortunately, you do not have a luxury of many years ahead that I had. So, as my D. discovered in HS, the Bio classes were extremely interesting for her, while being very challenging and Chemistry was definitely one of her easy classes, eventually, I was able to convince her that Medical School was very possible for her as she continued to be a straight A student in HS. When this idea settled down in her head, she was also concerned about the certain life style that MD needs to “endure”, but eventually realized that not all specialties of medicine require such a strenuous schedule as some others. She actually developed a great interest in one specialty. It was way too early for a HS kid, but somehow mysteriously that shining star has helped her all thru the long and torturous academic way that she decided to pursue.
Well, going forward, D. has graduated from Med. School this year and was able to match to her dream specialty. She is a first year resident and despite of horrendous schedule of the intern, actually is very satisfied with what she is doing and feeling herself at the right place. Her schedule will be normal as all other working adults outside of medicine, starting with next year. Helping people and seeing that when they follow her orders, they get better, is an awesome feeling that may not be possible to achieve in any other profession.
I would say taking subtly but convincingly, using many real life examples and asking her to picture herself going thru challenges like deep frustrations (that you mention) may help. There is no guarantee at this point as you are dealing with a young adult who has certain ideas and has pictured her future in a certain way. Medical School is something that one need to be committed wholeheartedly. it is much harder than any outsider can imagine and there are a lot of doubts that students have to overcome.
MiamiDAP- I do not understand at all how your post relates or helps. This student is NOT premed. Even if she were your many posts show a lack of broad based knowledge- your experience of one average physician child is not adequate to tell people what it is like. As a physician I have learned from my and many others’ experiences. Please figure out the question asked- your D’s path is not an answer. btw- not all physicians stay committed to it, some quit years into their practice and others continue for reasons including all of the time and money invested or not wanting to start over in something else- just like other professions.
Remember folks that licensure in teaching is the only way to assure options in the future. Now is the time for her to address that issue so ten years from now, when it is likely more difficult to take the required courses, she is not limited. Perhaps being a teacher is not her path. The example above of food chemistry shows how she may want to check on what is available to BA/BS (no difference necessarily for chem majors- I met both reqs and liked the white tassel better) degreed chemistry majors. There are many jobs out there that do not require an advanced degree. She needs to decide her path.
A trip to the student career advising center is the best advice I can offer. Aptitude and interest testing may reveal options she hasn’t considered. Friends and I did it sophomore year- interesting to find out other options than those we had chosen. Also testing showed how similar we were to others in given occupations- a barometer perhaps of how happy we would be years later in a field.
Another difficulty lies in having more than one interest and being good in more than one field. More options and path broader. Need to choose instead of clearly defined route.
btw- being an average physician means being highly competent- required in the profession.
@sseamom Thanks for sharing your niece’s story! That is very encouraging. Would love to hear more about the Seattle foundation but I don’t know how to PM 
@powercropper yes, one of my D’s professors is strongly encouraging her to look into some kind of industry work after graduation (instead of rushing straight into grad school or further education) just for the life experience. She’s would definitely consider food science or a similar field. Thanks!
@MiamiDAP thanks for sharing your perspective. I’m not sure that I would adopt your approach of talking my D into a particular career path. She is very independent and I wouldn’t want to pressure her into a stable/high-pay job that she ends up hating. I would prefer to be the supportive cheerleader who offers tips from the sidelines 
That said, it sounds like medicine has worked out well for your D so far so good for her!
OP, I don’t think you have enough posts yet to reply, but you should be able to read a PM. You can find them up on the op right hand corner, where there is a little blue envelope icon. If you have a message, there will be a red box with the number of messages on it up by the envelope. I’ll PM you the information on the foundation. I can’t say enough about it or the people who work there.
Be open minded, encourage exploration of all types of fields. Be interested in her explorations and if you can, financially support summer opportunities. Both D’s were bright in a lot of areas. D1 choose her field 4th year college for grad school, D2 choose after one year of graduation then grad school after trying out different jobs and night classes and lots of summer explorations. Both choose fields not their undergrad but I do feel their undergrad education was very valuable.
I feel that the smarter they are, the more interests they have, and the more talented they are, the harder it is to choose. Give her breathing room.
There are other places to combine science and education outside of teaching at a school. For example, there are science and natural science museums across the country, and they often have an education director who plans regular educational programs and special events for visitors, tour groups and summer camps. Similar places that may hire an educational director and deal with science topics include aquariums, planetariums, zoos and botanical gardens. These are just a few of the many possibilities if she enjoys teaching science, but wants to avoid the teacher burnout that some of your relatives have experienced working in schools.
MY DD wanted to be a Math Teacher…So I told her, major in Math, and get a Masters in Secondary Math Education. If you don’t end up liking teaching, you can do anything with the math degree.
your DD should talk to professors in her field to get ideas for careers.
Look at the website if the department…they often have a career section.
Go to the career center at college and ask for input.
Agree she can head for her college career services office. If she loves chem, there are many ways to use that in the corporate or non-profit worlds. She needs a little help to learn what sorts of opportunities there are. Some nice summer internship (and the opportunity to work with/brainstorm with professionals) can be more fruitful than shadowing. Plus it can go on that first resume. And btw, I do know someone who quit being a doctor to go back into chem/pharma research, his real love.
As for teaching, yes, you do need to keep an eye on licensing requirements, but there are several ways to get there. My state, eg, has a roughly 15 month certification program, I don’t think it’s full-time. You don’t necessarily need a masters degree, per se, though that may be a later requirement to keep the job.
Another btw: there’s talk Physicians Assistant will trend toward more independence.
But my real bottom line advice is this: kids who want certain sorts of careers (as opposed to jobs) should keep an eye on how they do build that first resume. If she takes on something responsible this summer, it might later offer her more to show future interviewers. Good luck.
Sometimes when I think of life choices that young people must make, it brings to mind the line from Robert Burns’ “To A Mouse”:
“The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!”
I’m not trying to be pessimistic but rather realistic. We can plan and scheme, and hope and dream, but stuff happens over which we have little control. Opportunities arise, inspiration comes, but so do roadblocks and dead-ends.
As I have watched my kids’ careers evolve, I couldn’t have predicted either one of them, no matter that the kids were thoughtful and resourceful. But being thoughtful (planful) and resourceful is critical. Very few career lines these days are strictly linear, starting with a college degree and moving into a specific occupation and life career.
Instead careers tend to be broken into segments. I’ve given this metaphor before on this discussion board, but it bears repeating, I think. It comes from a commencement address that I witnessed a few years ago, in which the speaker came to his summation and said. “It is customary in ceremonies like this for the commencement speaker to offer advice on how to proceed up the career ladder after graduation. But I’m not sure the idea of a “ladder” really fits any more – if it ever really did. Instead, in today’s economy careers are more like “climbing walls.” You have goals, objectives you’re trying to attain. But you don’t move straight up. Instead sometimes you go upward, sometimes sideways, sometimes even downward for a while, and sometimes you may need to get off the wall. The important thing is to have an objective and to be flexible and resourceful in finding your way toward it.”
For the OP’s daughter, it’s important to define goals but also to do a constant “resource assessment.” What are her skills and talents, what experiences can she draw on, what interests would she like to follow? She may start out on one path but learn along the way that it’s not what really interests her or it’s a dead-end. What then? Assess where she is then, decide on another move, which could even be getting off the wall to obtain another degree. But she should always be enterprising, use contacts and experiences, and keep open to new paths that fit her evolving interests and talents.
I think my kids’ career lines are very unusual, but they followed this kind of path. Careers develop in segments, and the economy is moving in often unpredictable ways to offer new opportunities. The really important thing for young kids in college and recently out of college is to be able to assess where they are – even if they don’t like their current job, what skill or experience can they draw from it that’s useful for the next move? One skill and resource is networking. There’s no college course in networking. But remaining flexible and taking new opportunities is important.
@powercropper my daughter is interested in studying food science as undergrad. Any advice from your daughter’s perspective after working in the field? what school offer best programs? whether getting degree from IFT accredited school is necessary? whether my daughter would do well do also get minor in another area? I find it difficult to figure out what undergraduate programs are considered strong for food science.
One of my kids is in a job which has pretty much existed since the middle ages (although clearly changed quite a bit since then). One of my kids is in a job/field/profession which did not even exist during Freshman/Sophomore year of undergrad. A kid with a degree in a much maligned humanities/liberal arts discipline now managing a team of techies- and most decidedly NOT living in my basement.
It is too hard to anticipate where and how technology will transform different professions and fields. But agree that some vocational testing right now might help point out a couple of options that are not currently on the table.