Should I pursue pharmacy or try for medicine?

[peppermint5039]

I just finished my first year of university and recently received an offer from UofT for pharmacy. Before I started university, I believed pharmacy would be a career I'd enjoy, but after finishing first year I find myself leaning towards medicine.

I feel I would have a better shot at medicine if I continued my undergrad education, but having an offer for pharmacy already on the table is also extremely alluring. I could accept my offer to pharmacy, but the tuition would be almost double and it would probably be more difficult to obtain a solid GPA.

In addition, I'm worried that the future of pharmacy in Ontario is up in the air due to the cuts and changes in generic drug prices.

What should I do?:confused:

[Zakaqel]

Do you want to spend the rest of your life at Shoppers Drug Mart?

A career in medicine is much more exciting and engaging than a career in pharmacy IMO

Also, can't you complete your bachelors in pharmacy and then decide what you are going to do?

[hailey_medschool]

didn;t know you can get into pharmacy after 1st year undergrad. may have to check it out


my goals
-med school
-dental
-pharmacy

[hailey_medschool]

how did you fill your requirements + PCAT
-o chem
-bio chem
-physical chem
-stats

^those are all 2nd year courses...

btw for those wondering what 1st year university pre reqs are it is
-intro to bio
-intro to chem
-calculus
-1 credit in humanities/social science

[FMX]

pharmacy. The one and only drawback of pharmacy that I can really say is that it can hurt your GPA a little bit .. but the rewards are fantastic. Hospital practice is definately not the same run of the mill - shoppers drug mart - by any means. If you manage to finish the pharmacy degree before med school you will still almost be garanteed a job that pays around 45-50$/hr for a couple years while you re-apply to medicine

[Rext]

First of all, congrats on your pharmacy offer :D Its incredibly difficult to get in after 1st year :). Contrary to popular belief, I've been told (from students in pharmacy at UofT) that its easier to get higher grades in pharmacy (in comparison to Arts/Science at UTSG anyway). This is mainly due to the lack of necessary mark adjustment and the fact that profs aren't trying to screw you over and don't have to adhere to mark distributions. I was contemplating applying for pharmacy in October but then I asked myself "do I really want to be a pharmacist? Would I be happy being a pharmacist for the rest of my life?" The answer came out to be no. Of course, you can apply to medicine after pharmacy but then you have to take at least one extra year (you still need at least 3 years of pharm; its 15 credits towards a degree - so basically your first year doesn't count unless you have transferable credits to pharmacy). So my advice is that if you want to be a doctor, stay in your current program :)

@Hailey: No offense but I think it would be nice to stay on topic in a thread where the OP is genuinely asking for advice. This is the last year that UofT pharmacy accepted 1st year applicants. Starting next cycle, at least 2 years of university is required. Also, please don't double post :) The edit button is your friend

[Dongzhuo]

I'm entering 3rd year med, and if I did it all over again, I would do pharmacy as an undergrad first. Strongly recommend it. It just doesn't get any better than this........

[shannn]

First of all, congrats on your pharmacy offer :D Its incredibly difficult to get in after 1st year :). Contrary to popular belief, I've been told (from students in pharmacy at UofT) that its easier to get higher grades in pharmacy (in comparison to Arts/Science at UTSG anyway). This is mainly due to the lack of necessary mark adjustment and the fact that profs aren't trying to screw you over and don't have to adhere to mark distributions. I was contemplating applying for pharmacy in October but then I asked myself "do I really want to be a pharmacist? Would I be happy being a pharmacist for the rest of my life?" The answer came out to be no. Of course, you can apply to medicine after pharmacy but then you have to take at least one extra year (you still need at least 3 years of pharm; its 15 credits towards a degree - so basically your first year doesn't count unless you have transferable credits to pharmacy). So my advice is that if you want to be a doctor, stay in your current program :)


I disagree

If you enter after 1st year, it is difficult to get good grades in phamarcy because of the sheer courseload you'll be taking (upwards to 8 or 9 FCE's in a year)

A lot of my friends in pharmacy went a little crazy come midterm / final time because of the number of exams they had

[future_doc]

If I were you, I would accept and jump into pharmacy, work as hard as possible and consider my options later. A family member of mine studied pharmacy and then went into medicine and he was happy he chose that route. Applying to med schook, there are no guarantees, and you already have a bird in the hand. I don't think that doing well in terms of GPA will be as hard as you think (altho I hsve no empirical evidence to back this up).

[peef]

I disagree

If you enter after 1st year, it is difficult to get good grades in phamarcy because of the sheer courseload you'll be taking (upwards to 8 or 9 FCE's in a year)

A lot of my friends in pharmacy went a little crazy come midterm / final time because of the number of exams they had

what do you know, you haven't even studied in university yet.

[panda__eyes]

You may also want to consider the potential differences in lifestyle that a pharmacist and physician may lead.

[peppermint5039]

Thank you for the responses so far guys!

I think my main dilemma is that I've really enjoyed my undergrad so far (health sci @ mac) and feel a little reluctant to leave so early.

On the other hand, pharmacy will provide me with a solid backup if I find that medicine isn't suited for me or if I fail to gain admission; it would also allow me to work in the health care field - which I aim to do no matter what - and lead to a financially stable job with good hours.

Looking back I probably should have spent more time job shadowing and talking to physicians/pharmacists, but I have only a week to decide. I don't know if I want to spend more time exploring other healthcare professions through my undergrad or grab this golden opportunity and have a safety net just in case.

[tmosby]

Thank you for the responses so far guys!

I think my main dilemma is that I've really enjoyed my undergrad so far (health sci @ mac) and feel a little reluctant to leave so early.

On the other hand, pharmacy will provide me with a solid backup if I find that medicine isn't suited for me or if I fail to gain admission; it would also allow me to work in the health care field - which I aim to do no matter what - and lead to a financially stable job with good hours.

Looking back I probably should have spent more time job shadowing and talking to physicians/pharmacists, but I have only a week to decide. I don't know if I want to spend more time exploring other healthcare professions through my undergrad or grab this golden opportunity and have a safety net just in case.

Like you, I actually considered applying for pharmacy in my first year of undergrad as well. After thinking it through, I decided it was not something I found appealing, and I would not be able to do this for the rest of my life.

Assuming that you actually wanted to do medicine, what you need to ask yourself is if you would have any regrets if you went into pharmacy. If its only something you wanted to do as a backup, and not something you can settle with for the rest of your life, it's wise to not do it.

Why not complete your undergrad (at least 2 more years) and then decide? Professional school mentality must be very different, and you've barely gotten your undergrad experience yet.

However, congratz on the acceptance! Good luck to you no matter what you choose to do!

[bluekazoo]

You haven't commented on what your grades are like, but I assume they are high if you got into a professional program out of first year. Given that you could be turning down a pretty solid opportunity, I'd think carefully about how confident you are of your ability to a) maintain a 3.9+ GPA b) find the time for enriching extracurriculars c) present yourself as a mature, empathetic, and accomplished person when the time comes (i.e. have reasonable social skills!). If you think there is a good chance of this, then medicine is a worthwhile pursuit.

Also, although it's good to be practical when thinking about a job, I wouldn't worry too much about pharmacy's recent run-ins with the Ontario government. Sure they might hurt financially a bit in the short term, but I think it's highly unlikely that pharmacy will suddenly be populated with paupers. Both medicine and pharmacy will leave you with enough money to be comfortable, so I'd focus on what actually interests you.

[Karma]

I agree with what alot of people said, take the offer and switch to medicine from pharmacy!

You'll have an excellent back-up and will be learning relevant things to medicine.

[iwh333]

what do you know, you haven't even studied in university yet.

peef aren't you in first year? i don't think you should be doing any talking.

and i think shann is in first year medicine. if you are going to troll, please get off the boards.

[Roxanna89]

I think you should stay in hth sci. You have a very good shot at getting into med school in 2 years, provided that you keep up your marks and do well on your mcat. Most people in your program are headed down the same path and going into a pharmacy program when your are having doubts is probably not the best idea. From what I understand, getting a spot at mac hth sci is harder than getting into pharmacy. Why leave so soon?

I know that you can apply to med after pharmacy, but you are putting yourself through more school and a different kind of environment.

[xylem29]

Thank you for the responses so far guys!

I think my main dilemma is that I've really enjoyed my undergrad so far (health sci @ mac) and feel a little reluctant to leave so early.

On the other hand, pharmacy will provide me with a solid backup if I find that medicine isn't suited for me or if I fail to gain admission; it would also allow me to work in the health care field - which I aim to do no matter what - and lead to a financially stable job with good hours.

Looking back I probably should have spent more time job shadowing and talking to physicians/pharmacists, but I have only a week to decide. I don't know if I want to spend more time exploring other healthcare professions through my undergrad or grab this golden opportunity and have a safety net just in case.

You're in health-sci at mac?? That changes everything - DO NOT go to UT pharmacy if you really want medicine.

Pharmacy isn't easier than undergrad - mind you some people do manage to excel but I'm telling you now as someone who went through it, unless you consider yourself to be a genius and in the top 1-5% of the class, don't do it.

You're already in a very good position as is...

I recommend you shadow a pharmacist first before you decide.

[kanakari]

I realize this is really old, but how did you fill the prereqs for UoT pharmacy with only one year of health sci?

I'm currently in high school and one of my only setbacks about Mac health sci is that it will be difficult to get pharmacy prereqs in 2 years time.

[dumbadum]

The UT pharmacy prereqs used to only require one year of undergrad. For what I know so far, currently you'd need at least 2 years to get into UT

[The Journey Man]

I just finished my first year of university and recently received an offer from UofT for pharmacy. Before I started university, I believed pharmacy would be a career I'd enjoy, but after finishing first year I find myself leaning towards medicine.

I feel I would have a better shot at medicine if I continued my undergrad education, but having an offer for pharmacy already on the table is also extremely alluring. I could accept my offer to pharmacy, but the tuition would be almost double and it would probably be more difficult to obtain a solid GPA.

In addition, I'm worried that the future of pharmacy in Ontario is up in the air due to the cuts and changes in generic drug prices.

What should I do?:confused:

Please do not go into Pharmacy thinking of going into medicine. Its a waste of a spot for someone who really wants to become a pharmacist because they enjoy that profession.

Also, professional programs like Pharmacy are subsidized by the government, and it would a waste of money and time for someone to take the spot knowing in advance that they would RATHER do medicine.

You are in first year - please take the time to evaluate whats out there. I don't think you can as a first year know if medicine is right for you and it seems you don't know if pharmacy is for you.

Spend the time to figure out what you enjoy in life. just talking this out of experience. Spent a lot of time figuring out different professions, now I'm a 3rd year medical student and love it. There are many drawbacks to a career in medicine and many rewards in other professions. It can be tough because everyone around premeds tend to be narrow minded as in applying to medicine, pharmacy and dentistry and not really considering anything else.

A friend of mine at UT Pharm told me some years ago that they took a poll of the Pharmacy class and more than 1/2 admitted that Pharmacy was a "backup" and they would do medicine if given the choice. I think thats terrible - and I think there are plenty of people out there who would be Pharmacist as their 1st choice. Please don't take the position, and lets hope someone with a passion for Pharmacy take it instead.

[preppy038]

I don't think mac health sci is a guarantee into med school. If you're meant to go into medicine, you will go into medicine wherever you are. It just turns out that a lot of kids at mac health sci are smart and meant to go into medicine.

I don't think its bad for the OP to go into pharmacy. Its a good program that gives you good experiences in the health care field. If you work hard, you will get a good GPA wherever you go. A pharmacist can still work in similar health care settings as physicians do (in hospitals, and clinics), which is a good thing.

[dumbadum]

Having graduated from pharmacy, I hope my two cents will be kind of helpful=]

1 pharmacy is not just "spending the rest of your life at shoppers drugmart". IMO, this perception of pharmacists is worse than not knowing what we do. Yes, a great majority of pharmacists work in the community. This includes shoppers, loblaws, what ever chain store and independent shops you see. Even the pharmacist there no longer only provides you with pills and tell you to take them twIce a day or whatever. They are doing more to help manage chronic conditions and educate patients. It's not hard to find a pharmacist who have additional certifications and a diabetes educator, asthma educator, or nutrition specialist. Other pharmacies provide compounding, which is a service to make up medicines that are not on the market, of the marketed medication does not meet the patients needs (allergy, religious reasons, etc).
Pharmacists in the hospital aid doctors in managing patients. There, you play a part in medicine safety initiatives, medical directives, and in phArmaceutical research. Hospital is also where you can specialize in a particular hoar area of interest. Doctors say they can't live without pharmacist, it's not really an exaggeration. I was on my program-end rotation, and we caught tons of errors everyday!
Other places pharmacists can work includes the drug industry, government health agencies, the ministry of health... Some pharmacists will become vp of hospitals because of their problem solving skills.
So no, you will not just spend your whole life in shoppers drugmart.

You should make several considerations when switching to pharmacy, then go to med. In my class of 240 people, it is possible that half started out with the intention of going to me. But guess how many pekoe actually went to med in the 4 years I was there?
50?
40?
20?
10?
4!

Pharmacy is hard to get good grades. No, they won't let you fail, but to get that 3.9 GPA, you'd better work your butt off!

We take 7 credits a year, and the class average is usually around 70-75. Of course, this is really good for undergrad, but consider that the whole class was accepted based on GPA! the classes after us aren't much better, and they were accepted based on PCAT, GPA, and MMI.
being in pharmacy definitely gives you the exposure to patient care that will be difficult to get in other undergrad programs. You have a better understanding of the healthcare system, and how everyone fits in. Both UW and UT are very big on interprofession education, and that is very beneficial.
Think wisely before trying to use pharmacy as a stepping stone to medicine! You could either end up being a stellar candidate for med (which you can be if you try in an undergrad program) and lose out on earning big bucks, or getting stuck in pharmacy. There is a big danger if you are not happy with being "just" a pharmacist. If you aren't happy about yOur job, and that reflects in your patient care, the patient will be the one getting hurt.

So bottom line: if you are willing to risk bad grades and being "no more than a pharmacist" to trade for ECs and some communication skills, go for it!
Last but not least: choose your pharmacy school wisely!