[miss_pinkii]

hey

so im thinking of studying pharmacy next year.

is anyone studying it now or also thinking of studying it in the future? or maybe is even a pharmacist now?

i'd like to hear your thoughts on pharmacy

thaanks ^^

[a c e e]

my boyfriend is headed for pharmacy school (or HOPING)
so all i really know about it is that getting into pharm school is extremely competitive.
i think the #1 pharmacy college in the nation is the UCSF college of pharmacy o_o i think...
pharmacy college admission test (pcat?) is pretty competitive/difficult......
aaaaaannndd once you're a pharmacist everything's a breeze and you rack up some big money lol

[miss_pinkii]

ooh. im actually in sydney, australia.

im not sure, but i think it may be relatively easier to get into pharm in aus than say in the US ?

[tungywungy]

Pharmacy school is not fun. No telling how it is in Australia, but I'm going to guess it sucks too. If you haven't already, go work at a pharmacy or shadow a pharmacist and see if you enjoy it or think you can bear with it as a future job. It could be a rewarding profession if you go into counseling diabetic or geriatric patients where you can actually help people. As opposed to retail where you just stand there verifying what the tech has done and taking prescriptions from doctor's offices all day long.

[miss_pinkii]

surprisingly, i actually don't mind the idea of working in a chemist.

but is the pharmacy course itself crazy hard?

[ZiGeNX77]

I hear there is a lot of memorization required, but I know 2 people personally and 2 online that majored in pharmacy and they all enjoy it. Very good pay and the job isn't too stressful. A very secure job now and into the future.

[dann]

it's a great job and worth the schooling if youre looking for a high paying, stress free, secure, mobile occupation.

if you want something you'd really enjoy, i dont know if pharmacy is the right career path for you...unless you enjoy science and all that junk.

and oh yeah, if you decide to go into pharmacy school, just be prepared to sacrafice a lot of your 'college experience' and the majority of your youth studing in a library all day.

[miss_pinkii]

also, does anyone know what they mean when they talk about 'dispensing'? what exactly does that involve?

because i hear that they have 3 hour dispensing exams .. o____o

[xsarangforeverx]

I'm going into pharmacy & going to be a pharmacist in the future...
and I heard its really tough...like theres heckaaa studying???


HOW TOUGH is pharmacy school & the material needed to be studyed? (for people in it already)
Im WILLING to study hard, but i heard its really difficult?

i need more feedback about it~
please give me some info thanks

[J_ShiNeLL]

My cousin is a pharmacy major and no joke, its hard work as for every other major.

if you think you'd enjoy it, go for it =] hard work pays off in the future.

and medicine is something that will be needed throughout everyone's lives so you got a good future ahead of ya if you succeed =]

good luck~

-J

[tungywungy]

I'm going into pharmacy & going to be a pharmacist in the future...
and I heard its really tough...like theres heckaaa studying???
HOW TOUGH is pharmacy school & the material needed to be studyed? (for people in it already)
Im WILLING to study hard, but i heard its really difficult?

i need more feedback about it~
please give me some info thanks

It's not too hard if you try just a bit. A typical day for me is wake up at 10, eat breakfast, think about going to class, skip, and then watch the lectures online a week before the test. Sometimes I make it to the last class. The classes my spring semester went from 8-12. And if I do go to class, I pay attention for the first 5 minutes and then poof I'm asleep. It's very unproductive... But anyways, Studying usually happens 3 or so days before the test.

Toughness is based on how well the professors teach, some just read of their powerpoints or some are funny and keep you awake. The thing is like in my biochemistry class, there were like 9 or so professors just for that one subject and they specialize in each particular field that they lecture over. Which sucks because we get different type of questions each time.

I cut it close everytime because my memorization and attention span really sucks but somehow I'm making it through so far. If you studied say one to three hours a day, then you should be very well off. Just don't fall behind too much because finals are like a kick in the balls. Oh yeah, and social life is pretty good, it's not like med school or anything. I can work out whenever I want, go drink with my pharmacy friends or just sleep a lot (which I do).

Remember, C=Pharmd!

[yeah]

a buddy of mine is in pharmacy and all he does is eat, sleep and study during the semester
but once he's done school, he's gonna be baaaallin

[precious4e]

also, does anyone know what they mean when they talk about 'dispensing'? what exactly does that involve?

because i hear that they have 3 hour dispensing exams .. o____o

For us "dispensing" means to give out the medication to the patient lol. Basically you look at the prescription, check that the drug, strength, dose, and directions are correct and then you give it to the patient and make sure they understand how to take it and answer any questions they have about it. Though I don't know how they test you for 3 hours on that...I'm not too sure about there in Australia, but maybe it might also be the equivalent to the "wet labs" here where they test you on the actual mixing and making of a drug (like ointments, suspensions, capsules, suppositories, etc...) I had compounding lab last year where I had to make all kinds of stuff. It was fun but sometimes annoying.

my two cents on pharmacy:
I think pharmacy school has a pretty heavy atmosphere (especially since I go to a college which is almost exclusively for pharmacy). Most of the students are very serious and they study most of the day. It has gotten to a point where if i'm not studying I feel as if something is wrong and that I should be studying for something. There are chances to go out and get social, but I don't ever think that a pharmacy student is going to get a "typical" college experience or be able to slack off for a week and party without much guilt or care. But then again I know some people who are happy with barely passing and they study last minute and go out every day. They live by the motto "Cs gets degrees." I guess it depends on the type of student you are. But at least you can feel better that even if you do do poorly, getting a C is perfectly acceptable for getting a PharmD degree lol.


but here's the pharmacy students thread if you want to read more about the program
http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=41657

[HienSTAR]

I was a pre-pharm major.. couldn't hack it. Even as an undergrad, all I ever did was live and breathe chemistry. And I was working in retail pharmacy.. it's pretty stress free if you can get past all the customers blaming you for what their INSURANCE COMPANY charges them for copays. Oh, and if the pharmacist that you work under is a total ;woiehf;skdfhn;aoweihf;weoihf.. it's gonna be hell. I've worked with so many floaters, floaters who became full time at my store, and other pharmacists.. but the HPIC is a complete and utterly.. a;dfa;hi;ei. u_u; So every day I worked with her, I had heart attacks.. almost.

But yeah, studying was too much for me.. retail is okay.

[precious4e]

^ LOL yea retail is easy once you learn to ignore the mean customers. I got yelled at by one customer for not bagging her stupid items "correctly." Another guy was arguing with us for an hour over a $4 copay....seriously 4 freakin dollars.

Floaters....we're getting one tomorrow....thank gosh i'm not working lol. Good thing my store has two really good regular pharmacists. I personally wouldn't choose retail as my #1 career option though.

[jussbeingme]

I actually really enjoy it~
Its a lot of fun if you have an interest in it~ So far I have completed my first and second year and will be going into my third year this semester, and I think it is great~
It's very competitive and stuff and its a lot of work, but after you finished a year you feel like you've learned so much.
But it is extremely hard to balance out social outings and studying because you really want to hang out with your friends a lot but the workload sometimes is waaaaaaay too much.

I mean as long as a person can prioritize it isn't that bad

Oh I don't think its dispensing? do you mean compounding? I believe the compounding test only applies to NY but I'm not 100% sure T.T
If you have any questions just ask me

- Jeanie

[misskorea012]

Hey everyone.
It's my first post in this thread.
I just thought I'd give you a perspective as a recent pharmacy school grad (graduated in May).

I think one of the biggest misunderstandings right now is the pharmacy job outlook.
I don't know who keeps telling high school students that pharmacy has a great job outlook.
As of right now, the pharmacy field is saturated (especially East Coast and all the metropolitan areas).
I just graduated and I'm still jobless and most of my friends are jobless. (Hopefully that will change soon.)
The only places that are hiring or even looking for pharmacists are very small rural towns.
The pay is still good, I'll give you that.
Don't know when the job outlook is going to get any better but I don't see it happening very soon.
There's pharmacy school opening left and right.
If anyone tells you that pharmacy has lots of jobs - either they are not in the pharmacy field or they are lying.

Regarding the difficulty level of pharmacy school.
From my experience, unless you're up for some hardcore studying, I would not recommend it.
Before pharmacy school, I heard about how hard it was etc etc but I thought it would be do-able.
Do-able is an understatement.
You have to be willing to do all-nighters during exams.
Actually, I think all-nighters is almost a requirement to get through pharmacy school.
Trust me. It's hard work.

I don't mean to scare anybody off though.
Just thought a little input from a recent grad would help those applying for pharmacy school.

[Kasumi]

misskorea012, on 11 July 2011 - 04:49 PM, said:

Hey everyone.
It's my first post in this thread.
I just thought I'd give you a perspective as a recent pharmacy school grad (graduated in May).

I think one of the biggest misunderstandings right now is the pharmacy job outlook.
I don't know who keeps telling high school students that pharmacy has a great job outlook.
As of right now, the pharmacy field is saturated (especially East Coast and all the metropolitan areas).
I just graduated and I'm still jobless and most of my friends are jobless. (Hopefully that will change soon.)
The only places that are hiring or even looking for pharmacists are very small rural towns.
The pay is still good, I'll give you that.
Don't know when the job outlook is going to get any better but I don't see it happening very soon.
There's pharmacy school opening left and right.
If anyone tells you that pharmacy has lots of jobs - either they are not in the pharmacy field or they are lying.

Regarding the difficulty level of pharmacy school.
From my experience, unless you're up for some hardcore studying, I would not recommend it.
Before pharmacy school, I heard about how hard it was etc etc but I thought it would be do-able.
Do-able is an understatement.
You have to be willing to do all-nighters during exams.
Actually, I think all-nighters is almost a requirement to get through pharmacy school.
Trust me. It's hard work.

I don't mean to scare anybody off though.
Just thought a little input from a recent grad would help those applying for pharmacy school.

Its probably because everyone wants to live in the metro area, metro areas are more fun.