About going into med school for grad studies

WayOutWestMom
Sun, 10 Aug 2014 23:52:33 +0000

Do med/pharmacy schools care so much about prestige of the undergrad schools students are from?



The general consensus is no, medical and pharmacy schools do not care where you went to undergrad. It’s about ten thousand times more important what you’ve accomplished at your undergrad than where you went.



Would something like pharmacology or toxicology or epidemiology also be pursued in med schools?



You could do a fellowship or a PhD in any of those fields after completing a MD; however most individuals working in pharmacology, epidemiology or toxicology pursue their field thru a PhD rather than a MD.

Pharmacology is graduate program (PhD, or a Pharm D+ post grad fellowship). Individual interested in pursuing pharmacology as a career are recommended to major in chemistry, biochemistry, neuroscience (if you want to do neuropharmacology), chemical engineering, microbiology or something similar.

http://education.seattlepi.com/difference-phd-degree-vs-pharmd-degree-3338.html

Toxicology is either a graduate degree program (MS or PhD), or a post-doctoral fellowship area of specialization (which means you do 1-2 years additional study after completing a MD, DVM, or PharmD). I actually work at a biomedical research lab that specializes in toxicology. There are all sorts of subfields of toxicology that are highly specialized.

To become a toxicologist, individuals typically major in biology, microbiology, chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics or something similar.

Epidemiology is a graduate degree (MS, MPH or PhD). Epidemiology uses statistical methods to track the heatlh and disease patterns in large groups of people. It’s very analytical and requires a excellent math background. Applied math, computer or information science, and statistics are often recommended majors for those interested in pursuing epidemiology.



I found that there are a lot less schools that offers pharmacology/toxicology/epidemiology compared to pharmacy, and I was wondering if these majors were new or really intense courses, or whether not many students decide to major in them for what ever reasons.



That’s because if you really want to work in any of these areas you really need a graduate degree. An undergrad degree in any of these fields will get you a job as low level lab tech without much/any chance for advancement. You can get the same sort of job with a plain vanilla bio, chem, biochem degree. (We hire toxicology lab techs with bio degrees all the time.)

You’ll have many more options regarding your future if you major in something less specialized. That way as you get to be junior/senior in college, then you can decide what you want to do and whether or not you whether or not you want to pursue a higher degree.



If the school that I happen to go for undergrad has pharmacy (or epidemiology or toxicology or pharmacology), then I could just continue on at that school?



Sure, but your advisors at the university will often advise you to go elsewhere for your graduate training. (Academic institutions in general like to see their grads go elsewhere to prevent academic inbreeding. Every school, every dept has its strengths and weaknesses and they want their students to get a fuller, more rounded exposure/training in the field.)



Can pharmacy only be pursued in grad schools?



Yes. To get a license to practice as a pharmacist, you must complete a PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy). There are some combined BA/PharmD programs that will allow you to complete both degrees in 6 or 7 years.



And have pre-pharmacy intention in undergrad?



Just like med school, pharm school has a strict set of pre-reqs, a standardized entrance exam (PCAT) and expectations for EC activities like shadowing a pharmacist and volunteering at a pharmacy.

You don’t need to have a pre-pharm intention, but you do need to fulfill admission requirements.



If someone didn’t have pre-pharmacy intention in undergrad and decide that they want to go in to pharmacy, are they just going to take all the required cores for med school from there?



Yes and no.

Yes, you just need to complete the pre-reqs and take the PCAT to apply for pharmacy school.

And no, the pre-reqs for pharmacy school are not the same as pre-reqs for medical school. They’re slightly different.