<p>I’ve been a physician for 25 years and I agree with poster # 14, only a few specialties in medicine make the really big money. In the future, physicians will increasingly be working indirectly for either an insurance company or the government. It is also true that pharmacists need a lot of schooling because traditionally pharmacists compounded drugs from a recipe (prescription) that a physician wrote. They still do some of that but not as much as before. You may want to check out a career either as a physician assistant or nurse practitioner. They involve less school but can be equally rewarding.</p>
<p>“I’m still torn between the two mainly because the path to becoming a doctor is SO much longer than being a pharmacist (12+ years for doctor as opposed to 6-8 yrs for pharmacist).”</p>
<p>If you think of it this way, then I doubt that either path is right for you. People who are going to be successful, happy doctors enjoy what they do along the way. Yes, they hate missing sleep, being broke, being at the bottom of the totem pole, etc. But it’s hard for me to believe that someone who isn’t also having fun in medical school, or at least in residency, will enjoy being a doctor. Maybe a future psychiatrist would hate all the procedures, or a future pathologist would hate the clinical years. The successful, happy doctors I know didn’t view college, med school, and residency as some miserable slog with a reward at the end.</p>
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<p>Will a physician scientist be a viable alternative (basic science, computer science, etc)?</p>
<p>I have a kid who chose pharmacy school instead of premed, and is very happily studying pharmacy (although it’s a very tough program). My kid attended a selective summer residential pharmacy camp at the University of Toledo for high school juniors. They did experiments, attended lectures, shadowed pharmacists in different jobs, etc. My kid shadowed a hospital pharmacist who consulted in the hospital ICU. At the end of the week some of the attendees decided to pursue other careers. My kid was absolutely certain that he wanted to earn a PharmD. Based on this experience, I’d say that shadowing and research are very important. </p>
<p>It’s especially important to research possible pharmacy schools and the requirements for programs at the schools you’re considering. Some schools now only accept candidates from their own undergraduate programs. Some schools require B.S. degrees. The list of prerequisites for pharmacy programs can change signficantly from school to school. If you want to apply to several programs, it will require careful course planning to meet their prerequisites. Taking the necessary prerequisites will narrow your options for electives. Some schools waive the PCAT for early admission guaranteed admissions. Many of the pharmacy schools now have 10 applicants for every spot, so it’s definitely competitive. The application committees expect to see interest in pharmacy, such as work as a pharmacy technician or hospital volunteering. Interviews are mandatory to get into a pharmacy program. Not everyone who gets an interview is admitted, like medical school. Once admitted, you’ll be taking 19 credits a semester in a very structured program. This is a program where you can save yourself a lot of aggravation by careful planning.</p>
<p>@lak42ks - what do you mean by physician scientist? MD/PhD?</p>
<p>^^^ Someone has an MD but does his/her PhD work (in whatever field, e.g., medical engineering [I don’t know that field and am not sure if an MD even helps a PhD there, in obtaining grant money or access to medical records perhaps]).</p>