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I cannot offer advice, however I am interested in this as well! I am seriously contemplating a career in pharmacy and would be interested in any feedback anyone has to give about this. The closest schools for me to attend would be UCSD or UCSF.
I was considering going into pharmacy, I went through all the pre-pharm classes, took the test and applied to schools and then realized that I couldn't deal with the chemistry classes for 4 more years. We had to go through pre-pharm classes (I went to Ferris State University), general chem, organic chem, general biology, anatomy and physiology, medical microbiology, physics, calculus, statistics, plus some other classes that I can't remember. You need to take the PCAT (It's a 4 hour test), all the schools I looked at would not accept any score under 400. A 400 and above is considered competitive. All the pharmacy schools that I looked at were also between 3 and 4 years of schooling with between 15 and 17 credits a semester. I can't say what the actual pharmacy classes are like, but I hope this was somewhat helpful.
I have a PharmD and graduated from Creighton 10 years ago. One of my interns over the summer is actually a student in the online program at Creighton right now. I know that she is required to spend time (week or two) each summer in Omaha to do her lab work. I believe she watches the classes when she has time and then has arrangements at a testing center for exams. I don't know anything about the other schools. Pharmacy school has become more and more competitive, with many schools giving preference to people with a 4 year degree.
Pharmacy school is a 4 year commitment, 3 of them in class and 1 doing rotations, which would be similar to on the job experience in a variety of pharmacy settings. Up until recently, getting a job wasn't that hard, but the economy has had an impact on health care. I work with students and most of them so far have expressed concerns about finding a job. If you are in an area saturated with pharmacists (pharmacy school in the area & not a huge city) jobs will be fewer, but that is right now. Who knows what will happen down the road. Send me a PM if you have any specific questions you want answered.
My brother is in his 2nd year of a 4 year program. He always did well in school and is really good at math and science, but this program is still kicking his butt! I haven't done it myself, but I think that like law school (which I have done), it's certainly something to be taken seriously. It's a hardcore program.
My brother had a college degree, but still had to go back to undergrad for more science classes before he could begin the PharmD program. I don't know which degree you already have, but it's something to keep in mind.
On the other hand, the pay off is supposed to be great. Pharmacists tend to like their jobs (more than lawyers as a group) and the hours are usually pretty good.
Good luck with your decision!
I started working on my bachelors with the intention of applying to pharmacy school. Its still in the back of my mind but I think I've ralized it might not be for me anymore.
I don't know what your education background is, but the pre-reqs alone are a ton of work. In general you need 2 semesters Gen Chem + Labs, 2 semesters organic chem + Labs, 2 semesters bio + Labs, 2 semesters physics + Labs,2 semesters anatamo/physiology + Labs, Microbio + Lab, Statistics, 2 semseters calculus, 2 semesters english, a public speaking course, and a few gen ed type courses depending on what school you are looking at.
On top of that it is a necessity to have some type of pharmacy work/volunteer experience. The PCAT is actually becoming pretty optional and a lot of schools I was looking at don't even want the scores sent any longer.
I've been told from day one that you should be realistic about your chances of getting into pharmacy school. Most schools accept a maximum of 90 students (most less) a year and hundreds upon hundreds apply. First there is the written application, and if you make it past that you have to go in for an oral interview.
Don't want to sound discouraging, just realistic! I would suggest volunteering at a pharmacy to see if its really what you want because it is a ton of work. Also it is a lot of money (public schools minimum $20,000 a year, private minimum $50,000). On a more positive note, most schools graduate 99% of the class so once you are in they make sure you graduate!
I did 2 years of pre-pharm at the University of British Columbia... the last 2 years are the pharmD program in Canada. Then I had a flipout moment. I'm not the type who can imagine doing one career for the rest of my life, regardless of the fabulous pay. I like variety! haha so naturally, I went into finance. lol geez.
Also, being a pharmacist now adays has a lot of newly added pressures. A lot of people can't afford to see their doctors & they're turning to pharmacists for medical advice. This has driven up the cost of insurance for pharmacists...
Another option would be to go the sales route. Pharmacists in sales make major $$$. The only downside to that there is major traveling & its time away from your family and husband.
There are pros and cons to every career! It wasn't for me... but it sounds like now is a good time for you to go back to school!
Because of the city my FI lives in (and I'll move to next summer) my options for my degree are pretty limited. I mean, my only option looks like sales. I'm considering going to school to become a teacher because there is a huge need there + I'm amazing with kids. Education is always a good idea- it can never be taken away from you :)
Thanks for all the input!
I have my undergraduate degree in Biology so most of the prereqs are classes I've already taken. I would need to take Organic 2 and a few other classes, I figure taking them will be a good test for myself to see if I'm really ready to go back to school! I've been working in Biotech for the past 4 years, mostly testing drug compounds and recently I've been working on developing those tests. I figure this has to be beneficial on my application!
I think I've just reached the realization that I don't want to spend the rest of my life stuck in a lab!
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I'm considering a career change. I've been tossing around the idea of becoming a pharmacist for a while now and now it is looking like it could be a possibility. We are closing in on paying off our second mortgage which frees up some major $$ every month and now that we are married, I can take advantage of hubby's health insurance.
I was wondering if anyone has done the PharmD program and if they have any advice. There are 2 programs in my city but I'm also thinking of applying to some online programs as backups. The <span class="TextNormalSchool">Duquesne University has a weekend program and I'm also looking at <span class="TextNormalSchool">Creighton University's online program.
<span class="TextNormalSchool"><span class="TextNormalSchool">Any advice/input is welcome!