posted
My wife is thinking of going back to school, with the goal of becoming a pharmacist. Right now this is just the tiniest germ of an idea; she has yet to really explore it much--it's just something that she's always thought sounded like a good career, and she's pretty dissatisfied with what she's doing these days. Right now we haven't even researched to see how long it would take her to get the necessary degree (she's got lots of degrees, both BA and MA, but they're all in liberal arts type stuff, and given that she's 35, what few classes she had that would have probably applied toward this type of degree were taken so long ago that they probably don't count anymore). We'll be doing some research on the subject, but I wondered if you had any "behind the scenes" type input.
What kind of demand is projected for pharmacists down the road, either in the US or abroad? She's completely bilingual; probably as good in Spanish as Kama is in English. How much of an asset will that be for her in finding a job once she's got her degree?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
That's great. Pharmacy really is a good profession. I mean, there's pros and cons just like anything else, but it is a nice way to be able to support a family. There's a huge demand right now, so it's pretty easy to find a job pretty much anywhere you live or want to live. It's hard to predict, but with the population becoming older and the skyrocketing numbers of drugs being developed and taken, the demand doesn't seem like it'll be dying off anytime soon. Oh, and most pharmacist's positions are such that you can leave your job at work and you rarely have to carry a pager or a cell phone or be worried about the job when you're not clocked in.
That being said, it's kind of tough to get in. Not impossible, but it takes a bit of commitment, and isn't for the faint of heart. Pre-pharmacy classes generally take at least two fairly intense years of things like general/organic chemistry, calculus, anatomy, physiology, writing, calculus-based physics and the like. The specific prerequisites vary widely from school to school, so covering all your bases if she wants to apply to several schools could take longer. Then once you get done with the prereqs and get accepted into a professional program, it's usually another four years. Some schools offer 3 year programs, but those are year round and very intense. So assuming she gets all her pre-pharmacy done in the minimum time and gets accepted the first time she applies, you're probably looking at 6 years of solid study.
Tuition also varies widely, but the average cost of a full 3-4 year professional pharmacy education is usually somewhere around $50,000 to $100,000. Some pharmacies will help you with that if you agree to work for them after you graduate, but even so, prepare to take out some loans.
Now this is all off the top of my head. I'll try to get you some more specific resources so that you can see the details for yourself. If she does decide to go for it, I'll be here to offer advice and moral support. Like I said, it's a great field and well worth it once you've graduated. But it's not something to be done casually.
Good luck.
[edit: Being bilingual is certainly a boon. As I said, it's not hard to find a job without a second language, but if she goes into retail pharmacy I'm sure she'll be able to use her Spanish constantly. And it'll look very good on a college application. In this field applying for college is much harder than applying for a job, and if you spin it right, a second language can make you look very good to an admissions board.]
[ September 16, 2004, 10:10 AM: Message edited by: Speed 2: Cruise Control ]
Posts: 127 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Thanks for the input Speed! That was exactly what I was hoping for. The classes you described are actually right up her intellectual alley--I think that if she decides to go this route she'll have a blast with them. She's been kind of wishing for an excuse to take physics classes, so she'll be glad to hear that that's a requirement.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Here's something a little more concrete. Look at this website. It'll give you links to all the pharmacy schools in the country so you can see exactly what they require for admission, and what their coursework and tuition look like.
Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind me asking, where do you live? I'm just wondering if I know anything about your local pharmacy schools.
Posts: 127 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Noemon, Speed gave you some very insightful info. I would only add a few things:
I currently have an intern who is 45 and worked for an animal hospital previously. She went back to pharmacy school and is finishing her pharmacy degree in 3 years at LECOM in Erie, PA.
Speed is not kidding about the rigors of pharmacy schools. Once she has met the criteria for undergraduate classes, (which she most likely has most of) she will be faced with many classes that med students also take. The 3-year program I mentioned above is available once the prepharmacy classes have been taken, classes are taken YEAR ROUND, and many pharmacy schools are requiring or encouraging the taking of the PCAT exam, similar to the MCATs that prospective med students have to take.
I can only encourage your wife, if she is willing to make the commitment of 3-4 more more years of school at least! Speed is also correct in implying that the acceptance rate of pharmacy schools is getting harder and harder. What was once 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 students is becoming more like 1 in 10 students accepted due to the sheer volume of applicants. Hence, the PCAT exam to make the selection process more streamlined.
I worked the inner-city pharmacies of Chicago, and the 2 years of Spanish I studied in HS were very useful. I wish I had more linguistic ability. Depending where you live, this could make your wife even more desirable to employers.
As for the future of pharmacy, the number of prescriptions filled PER YEAR is being projected to DOUBLE by the year 2010. And for the record, the number of pharmacies is NOT going to double. Therefore, pharmacy has been and will be a very safe and stable profession. Right now, I could find a job and start within 2 weeks. I would expect extra vacation time and a signing bonus upwards of $10,000.
Also worth noting, my wife worked part-time in Chicago in the late 90s working about 3-4 days a week and about 28-32 hours, making about $45,000 a year.
With the exception of being an Emergency Room Doctor, part-time pharmacy is hard to beat. So your wife would have a lot of flexibility in where she practices, when she does, and for how much and how long.
This is truly an employees market right now, but the pendulum does swing...
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Pharmacy school is not for the faint of heart. Typically the first 2 years are didactic in nature. The second 2 years are spent on more clinical training and "on the job" type education.
You can work through most of pharmacy school, in fact you are required to get a number of hours as an intern. Depending on the state anywhere from 800 to 2000 hours may be required. With the new PharmD requirments these hours may be met without working as an intern. I highly recommend working as an intern anyway. It is great expeirence and helps in the understanding of how a pharmacy works, and how to treat the technicians who you are in charge of.
In my pharmacy class (at the University of Montana, Go Grizzlies!!), I bet half my class were over 30 and working on second career's.
Pharmacy is an excellent job for women especially (at least women who tend to want families and stay home). Part time work is very easy to come by. Often, you can name your hours.
Not all pharmacy jobs are in your typical retail establishment. About 40 to 45% are hospital pharmacists and 5-10% are involved in industry or other areas or pharmacy. Industry includes drug companies and the like. (BTW, most drug rep's are not pharmacists these days.)
There are obsure pharmacy jobs like nuclear pharmacy, where you prepare nuclear contrast media used in chemotherapy and imaging procedures.
You can work for the state, insurance companies or pharmaceutical buying managing companies etc., etc., etc..
One other thing to keep in mind with pharmacy. When you enter the job market you will be making about the same amount of money as you will in ten years. In other words, there is not a lot of upward progression or promotion unless you move into managment (and thats's not pharmacy in my opinion).
Posts: 98 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I have doubled my salary in the last 9 years. Your aspirations can happen if you are diligent enough. But what Tullaan says is generally true in pharmacy: 2% raises or 1 dollar raises per year or some other very boring scale...
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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