Is Pharmacy worth it?

[BillyBaggins]

Now, you probably get many posts like this but I would appreciate a detailed response on some of my concerns. I've been working as a medical scribe at a Pulmonologist's office since 2017. I became a scribe because I wasn't sure if medicine was for me. I graduated from a top 30 school with a cGPA of 2.65, prior to this job, I volunteered in patient care at a local hospital. My time as a scribe has exposed me to a lot of asthma pumps and biologics which is where my interest in pharmacy originated. I applied to the UCI Pharmacy Post-Baccalaureate and was recently accepted. With all that I've been reading about the field of pharmacy, I'm not sure if it's worth doing the program at all or going to pharmacy school as a whole. Should I just go for PA or MD. What are your thoughts?

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[AM77]

If my pharmacist friends and I were to do it all over again, we would have gone to PA school. Better not wait too long. Eventually, all healthcare professions will be oversaturated except for medical doctors.
As for UCI, I'm surprised why they would open up a pharmacy school. That's where I did my undergrad. FYI Oranges County has been oversaturated with pharmacists over a decade ago. It's not easy to find a job there unless you're okay with being a floater for the rest of your like or take a major pay cut. Not to mention that the OC had the highest cost of living.

 

[BigBoss]

Pharmacy is saturated and not worth the investment, unless you want a ton of debt with less than stellar job options. You're not competitive for MD or PA school with that cGPA. You need to sit down and have a conversation with yourself on what you really want to do in life that's realistic and pursue that.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Short answer: definitely no

It doesn’t matter how skilled, intelligent, hardworking, or charismatic you are. Your odds of surviving the Hunger Games are still very poor.

 

[Weirdy]

A 2.65 gpa is not competitive enough for PA, MD, or any other health profession program.

You would need to ace your post-bac and standardized testing. Even then, please re-evaluate your file and how competitive it is.

 

[BC_89]

I graduated from a top 30 school with a cGPA of 2.65, prior to this job.....I'm not sure if it's worth doing the program at all or going to pharmacy school as a whole. Should I just go for PA or MD.

If you plan to pursue PA or MD you need to reevaluate your studies and figure out why your GPA is vastly below par for either path. I agree with others concerning loan debt to job saturation ratio when it comes to pharmacy. Also keep in mind, presuming you were to get an acceptance to pharmacy school (if you ever did I would request to know what school did it) your chances of making it to graduation don't look good. Pharmacy school is a rigorous course for most students that did subpar (let alone anyone scoring below a 3.0 GPA).

I strongly suggest you figure out what really makes you happy (hobby wise). Then figure out if any of your hobbies correlate to any specific job department. If you still wish to pursue healthcare, you need to clean up that GPA with a DIY postbac and get nothing short of an A in all your science courses. Take a small break from school if you wish and build a game plan. Good luck

 

[Gilakend]

GPA is most likely lethal for any US med school MD or DO. I also don't see PA as a viable option.

I think if you did well on the MCAT podiatry could be a great option, but still, I don't know if a 2.65 is too low. There is a subforum for podiatry though I would recommend looking at, great career and I only see the demand increasing.

 

[Weirdy]

GPA is most likely lethal for any US med school MD or DO. I also don't see PA as a viable option.

I think if you did well on the MCAT podiatry could be a great option, but still, I don't know if a 2.65 is too low. There is a subforum for podiatry though I would recommend looking at, great career and I only see the demand increasing.

Am in podiatry.

2.65 wouldn't cut it. No offense.

Any podiatry program accepting you with a 2.65 would be doing you a disservice.

 

[Xenophylia]

How many "Is Pharmacy Worth It" threads are needed until people get the point?

 

[GypsyHummus]

OP could get into one of the larger and less picky podiatry schools with a killer MCAT at 2.65 GPA. A 510 would forgive a lot, but id be worried for OPs ability to pass the DPM program.

The lowest GPA ive seen in offical podiatry school reports was a 2.3 GPA. The lowest GPA person I have actually met was around the 2.8 area, so it is possible.

GPA is most likely lethal for any US med school MD or DO. I also don't see PA as a viable option.

I think if you did well on the MCAT podiatry could be a great option, but still, I don't know if a 2.65 is too low. There is a subforum for podiatry though I would recommend looking at, great career and I only see the demand increasing.

 

[GypsyHummus]

There are scores like this in a couple of the schools. The Podiatry school handbook had someone with a 2.3 GPA a year ago, so it is possible for the OP to get into a pod school. IDK if this 2.3 was accepted due to a high MCAT, upward trend, or both.

Am in podiatry.

2.65 wouldn't cut it. No offense.

Any podiatry program accepting you with a 2.65 would be doing you a disservice.

 

[Weirdy]

There are scores like this in a couple of the schools. The Podiatry school handbook had someone with a 2.3 GPA a year ago, so it is possible for the OP to get into a pod school. IDK if this 2.3 was accepted due to a high MCAT, upward trend, or both.

Getting in does not mean finishing.

Let's have some standards.

 

[zona2016]

My first questions is why do a Post-Bacc for Pharmacy? Talk to the schools you are the most interested in and they will tell you what should be your next step. If they want to see repeat courses or more courses they will directly tell you. Some even do grade forgiveness. Other than that, do well on your PCAT and apply.

Truthfully, you would need to decide whats worthwhile for you. You are NOT going to be a quasi-PA/MD if you go to pharmacy school, you will be a pharmacist with limited patient contact and no real prescribing ability other than if you work in very specific clinical settings. You will be more of a trusted advisor and QC person with regards to medications and in the healthcare system. However, for me that is great for my work style and I would be happy to work in everything from retail (yes, the ugly side) to working in the pharmaceutical industry (which has a lot of areas to go into), PBMs, HEOR among others, However, its not for everyone and it does have its risks.

The other suggestion is to become a pharmacy tech or a pharmacy related job and see if you can see yourself in that career.

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

Dont do it. You wont have a job when you get out. You would only flood the already over saturated market. We dont need more pharmacists.