anyone here a pharmacist?

accordmaniac · 07-09-05, 06:48

Hey everybody, I'm just wondering if there are a few pharmacists in this big pool of people. I'm in my senior year of high school and I want to be a pharmacist but I'm not 100% sure about it. So I was hoping someone can tell me about themselves and why they chose to become a pharmacist and the highs and lows of being a pharmacist. I would be te first person in my entire family to ever go to to college and I don't want to pick something that will cause me to be a screw up for the rest of my life. Thanks. And if there aren't any I hope someone can delete my post.

Corey Bit Spank · 07-09-05, 07:22

If you really want to figure it out then try to get a job in a pharmacy. If you are in it simply for the money then I'd try to find something you really want to do. It's good pay but nothing is worth being unhappy for a third of your day.

Be warned the prereq's are difficult. Two semesters: calc, bio, chem, organic chem, physics and at the University of Buffalo economics, stats, world civ (two semesters), 1 american history, writing (2 semesters), intro to psychology, and an art. It's a lot to handle in 4 semesters. GPA requirements are usually set high. If you like these types of courses then you shouldn't have a huge problem.

accordmaniac · 07-09-05, 07:37

I'm not exactly in it for the money. I just want a job that I can support a family with and don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. And I want to be in the medical field but after volunteering at a local hospital I don't want to be a doctor since its a lot of schooling first of all and seeing all those sick patients really brings my mood down. The prereqs that you listed don't sound too bad besides calculus. Of course I'm going to attempt AP Calc this year so maybe that will help me out when I' taking Calc in college. Also, are you a pharmacist or want to be a pharmacist? Cause if you are I'm curious about why you want to be a pharmacist. Thanks for your reply.

JohnnyDaJackal · 07-09-05, 07:45

Sorry not a pharmacist, but close enought, i'm a pharmacy tech in a hospital. I can give you a couple words of advice from what I see from the pharmacist I work with. I actually kinda like it and was slightly considering a career in it if it weren't for the 5 or 6 years of sciences

Pros that I can see are its very rewarding, pay is pretty good, and I *believe* it's in demand so finding a job won't be that hard

Cons are the schooling (I know my uncle who is a pharmacist and everyone else I work with don't even like to talk about their past schoolings) and its a very demanding job. Your dealing with peoples lifes at stake. The pharmacists I work with usually pick up mistakes from doctors quite often

, but unfortunately sometimes mistakes get made in the pharmacy too and you just gotta hope we can catch the mistake before it gets to the patients.

Sorry that I really can't answer your question since i'm not a pharmacist, but thats what I see from my experience in the pharmacy. My advice is try to get a job as a pharmacy tech or if its to late ask a couple pharmacys if you can sit in and watch. I know we had a high school senior who would just watch and "shadow" us once in a while to get an idea of the job before devoting a lot of time for pharmacy school.

Intel486 · 07-09-05, 08:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by accordmaniac

The prereqs that you listed don't sound too bad besides calculus.

Calc is nothing to be scared of thought. College classes are different than high school. In two weeks we pretty much covered all the chem I took in high school in my basic chem class. Same goes for my physics class in HS vs. College. You move quick and need to keep up. Get behind and you're screwed. Sitting here now I'm looking back on HS thinking, "I could have made straight A's if I actually did some work"

It's pretty simple stuff especially if you only have to take calc I and since you're going to try AP calc. I don't know much about the pharmacy prereqs or pharmacy school. A guy in my Organic study group is pre-pharmacy though but his dad was one so he knows what he's getting into. He said Organic and Microbiology were his two super hard classes last semester.

Do know it's a tough field and pharmacy school is difficult to get into so you have to compete with everyone else wanting to get in.

Also, the medical field isn't the only place you can go to get jobs to support your family and not have to live pay check by pay check.

Find something you're truly interested in because you're going to be spending a lot of time studying the information and the rest of your life working in the field. Not worth getting into something you don't like.

But, if you don't have to work for it, then it's probably not worth it. Pick a hard major

atticdog · 07-10-05, 04:21

My fathers been a pharmacists for over 30 years, 10 years at CVS and over 20 at a local hostpital.
After you get through school most people start out working in a drug store,while they pay very good they do own you for tons of hours, get ready for long days with customers yelling at you when their insurance doesnt cover sometingor they have to wait for thier prescription,or they have no refills left.My father switched to a hostpital because of this and also it gets very boring just filling prescriptions all day. In the hostpital it is much more interesting, working in the IV room making Iv's and chemo's and but some days you still have to fill prescriptions for all the patients. Like JohnnyDaJackal said the parmacists do have to catch all the doctors mistakes, they prescibe medications to their patients that react with other medications thier on and the parmacist has to catch this it happens all the time. All in all I think he liked the job but it does take its toll on you being very stress full and he is really looking foward to retireing early, I hope he does soon

Corey Bit Spank · 07-10-05, 03:39

I would hate to work in a retail pharmacy for the weird-customer factor.

I was going to go for pharmacy, but it's just not very interesting. I like being on the hospital floors/more involved with patient care.

I know the prereq's don't seem difficult, and yeah Calc I, Chem I, Physics I are all easy. But having to take Calc II, Chem II and Stats in one semester was really taxing. Chem II was....well a trip. I did get a B, B-, and an A respectively, but I went into the semester with a 4.0 thinking I would just be able to grasp everything like I had before. It's a lot to do in 4 semesters, so figure out if you want to really do it first. Luckily these courses can fill other prereq's for other courses. Plan on taking some summer courses, but plan on them being courses you won't need to remember things for

accordmaniac · 07-10-05, 04:11

Thanks guys, at least I know what the pre-reqs are. I know, I'm that clueless. At least I'll be interested in the chemistry and physics if it's a lot of hands on stuff.

Intel486 · 07-10-05, 05:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corey Bit Spank

I know the prereq's don't seem difficult, and yeah Calc I, Chem I, Physics I are all easy. But having to take Calc II, Chem II and Stats in one semester was really taxing. Chem II was....well a trip. I did get a B, B-, and an A respectively, but I went into the semester with a 4.0 thinking I would just be able to grasp everything like I had before. It's a lot to do in 4 semesters, so figure out if you want to really do it first. Luckily these courses can fill other prereq's for other courses. Plan on taking some summer courses, but plan on them being courses you won't need to remember things for

Did better than I did in Chem II... I went into the final w/ a low A and well... ugh, didn't come out with that good of a grade. Not going to talk about that...

You taking Organic this semester?

Corey Bit Spank · 07-10-05, 06:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intel486

Did better than I did in Chem II... I went into the final w/ a low A and well... ugh, didn't come out with that good of a grade. Not going to talk about that...

You taking Organic this semester?

Not unless I decide at the last minute to become a PA instead of an NP. And I like the ability to specialize more with an NP degree. And the ability to get in the field after two years.

I know that whatever I do I'm going to go "Maybe I should have." Oh well, such is life.

Chem I at my school was mainly like high school chem. Without those horrible NYS reference tables.

Corey Bit Spank · 07-10-05, 06:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by accordmaniac

Thanks guys, at least I know what the pre-reqs are. I know, I'm that clueless. At least I'll be interested in the chemistry and physics if it's a lot of hands on stuff.

And math.

Anyway, check with the school you want to go to what they are specifically.

Intel486 · 07-10-05, 06:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corey Bit Spank

Not unless I decide at the last minute to become a PA instead of an NP. And I like the ability to specialize more with an NP degree. And the ability to get in the field after two years.

I know that whatever I do I'm going to go "Maybe I should have." Oh well, such is life.

Chem I at my school was mainly like high school chem. Without those horrible NYS reference tables.

Ah, lucky with no organic. lol

I'm planning on taking organic I and II both this semester. lol... Ohh noes