Any pharmacists in the forum? (Dealing cocaine does not count)

[JackTheRipper]

So yeah, my lifelong goal was to become a lawyer and then eventually a politician. However, it seems like the legal field is oversaturated and ****** right now. It seems like that there are no guarantees of a nice job after graduating from a good law school anymore (unless you are extremely smart in a T14) and I am not confident in my abilities to both A) get into a T14 law school and B)achieve cream of the crop status to be recruited by biglaw. I am also not sure if I'd like to work 70-80 hours a week (as some members have shared).

So now, I look into a different career choice. Pharmacy. Drug dealing. Legal drug dealing*

It seems like this job has a stable and decent income along with good hours and less stress. The only down side to this job is that I will never be able to make as much as a top attorney makes and that going through Pharm school will be hellish.

Any SF pharmacists want to chime in on this particular career choice?

 

[GQgeek]

So you've probably taken little to no science because you wanted to do law, and now, having shown no previous interest, you want to undertake something that's heavy in chemistry? Have fun with that. I'm not sure what's required to get in to pharm school, but I'm guessing it's a little more than a passing grade in organic and other higher level chem classes. Having done my share of university chem, i'll tell you right now that it's quite a bit harder to get an A in those classes than it is in history or other social science classes, even if you are good at it. Good luck though.

 

[JackTheRipper]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

So you've probably taken little to no science because you wanted to do law, and now, having shown no previous interest, you want to undertake something that's heavy in chemistry? Have fun with that. I'm not sure what's required to get in to pharm school, but I'm guessing it's a little more than a passing grade in organic and other higher level chem classes. Having done my share of university chem, i'll tell you right now that it's quite a bit harder to get an A in those classes than it is in history or other social science classes, even if you are good at it. Good luck though.

Good thing about my career change is that I'm only a freshman right now. I don't think it's too late to hange and it was my fault for not adding that in the op.

 

[texas_jack]

You can do it but he's right. Science is hard and you'll have to compete with all the premed kids for grades.

 

[Prada_Ferragamo]

I am a med student but I have a few Pharm.D friends. Each school is different. At my school, you have to have taken a lot of chemistry courses ranging from gen. chem to medicinal chemistry. I would suggest you to get a hold of toxicology book or medicinal chem book and just flip them through to see if you find any of the topics interesting. Retail pharmacy appears easy, but the training is extremely difficult and to a degree boring and dry. One reason I chose med school instead of pharm school.

 

[rjakapeanut]

i mean if you only wanted to become a lawyer for the status and big $$$ then you probably would've hated it anyway, so good thing you don't think you have the guts to get there.

 

[DNW]

There are a couple of threaks on this topic. Do a search.

 

[JackTheRipper]

Well I wanted to become a lawyer because I liked what the job entails and it was a way for me to do what I like while making six figures. In 2000, lawyers were making more and more money and now, 10 years later, it seems like the economy is horrible for them. I've read horror stories of lawyers who are fresh out of law school with either no jobs or having "temp" jobs where they mindlessly reviewing boring documents.

As much as I enjoy making big $ and dealing with the law, I don't really want to risk not being able to pay my bills and satisfy my material needs. I've accepted the fact that being a retail pharmacist isn't neccessarily exciting, but the way I see it is that it's a low stress job with good pay and good hours.

And yeah, I'll do some searching.

 

[Fa123]

I was that same boat as you. Although I quit pharmacy school. I think your mind will change after you actually work at one, well I dont know if you want to work in retail or industry but retail is terrible. Hours suck, and even thought your a "doctor" you get treated like **** by people. Yes, I know you get paid 100k+ out of school but all the Pharmacists I work with either like it or hate it.

 

[inq89]

I'm currently a first year in pharm school. Make a search, there have been a few pharmacy threads in the past. There are lots of fields you can go into, but the two main ones are Retail and Clinical. Like many have said before, retail is the most stressful out of the two since you have to deal with people and crap. You get paid less in hospital, but it's a better choice IMO. Helpful links: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=54 http://www.roadtopharmacyschool.com/ (The last one is my website. I talk about how I got into pharmacy school and advice. I'm updating soon with more articles) Also, there are opportunities for PharmD/JD dual degrees if you still want to stick with law. A pharmacist I know is applying to law school and wants to go into industry. Lots of money to be made there if you can get into the competitive field.

 

[JackTheRipper]

I'm guessing if I have a dual degree, I could probably make it big with patent law (in terms of new drugs?) or something of that sort.

For retail, I have a rather nice goal. Azn pharmacies are springing up in my neighborhood and I guess retail places vary. I've read threads and people say it sucks to work in retail, but the pharmacies that I know have rather laidback and easy going environment (though there's a degree of "fast-food"ness). I wouldn't mind working in one of the asian pharmacies.

However, I'm hoping to become a clinical pharmacist instead. I guess a lot of this has to do with prestige and the work description because it feels a lot better to be actively helping the ill than to just stand behind a counter. I read through all the past threads, and it seems like (as with other careers) that I'll love it or hate it and that the job will either be monotonous or exciting (clinical).

I'm a freshman in Fordham and after a long night of thinking, I worked out a plan to catch up on my pre-reqs (freshies take bio I+II/Chem I+II which I will miss out on) with summer classes. Then I'll aim for a B.S. in Biology and then apply to a four year pharmacy school. If I haven't gone insane by then, I'll aim to either work in retail to make some money first or to apply for a year of residency.

Question now is....does the pharmacy school prestige affect your chances of residency? I know for retail, the school doesn't matter so long as you get a license. But do hospitals care if you graduated from LIU or St Johns as opposed to UMinn or USC?

 

[apropos]

Let me guess... you're Asian?

 

[merkur]

..

 

[ama]

Originally Posted by JackTheRipper

I'm guessing if I have a dual degree, I could probably make it big with patent law (in terms of new drugs?) or something of that sort.

See, you didn't need us, you figured it out all on your own.

 

[JackTheRipper]

Originally Posted by apropos

Let me guess... you're Asian?

You'd make a fine detective!