Would doing a fellowship or doing a residency at a hospital further secure one's profession in pharmacy? Currently doing my first year in pre-reqs for pharmacy school, and i'm also quite skeptical and worried on the future of pharmacy :/
Hi... What is your overall and science gpa. Do you have any pharmacy experience/extracirricular activities.As long as you have above a 3.2 in both science and overall gpas, you don't have any severe red flags and you could take out the loans, you have decent PCATs and prereq grades (B preferred), you'll get in. Pharmacy school literally accept almost everyone, but the Pharm D just is a key to a door of a world of tough work.
Honestly I don't think fellowships/residency is worth it unless you want to do hospital pharmacy. But i strongly advise you Not to do clinical/hospital pharmacy, just not too many jobs. If you are a good enough candidate for a hospital pharm position, you won't need a "residency."
Residencies are not the norm and probably will never be in 20 years.
I have some interest in pharmacy, but given I am alrdy an RN and have only 2 years left to become an NP I have to question my decision. Maybe If I am bored after being an NP and I want an antisocial repetitive job I'll go into pharmacy... I'm kinda an antisocial guy so I guess that is fine for me, but I'm great at talking to people lol. I am pretty good at bsing talking.
Anyway, Look, if you enjoy pharmacy I say go for it. You should do anything you have a passion for, but make sure you have an idea of what it is before you do it. Don't just "listen" to what people say, if your just out of high school, you'll have to learn not everyone's opinion: ex: your teachers your parents' words are not the words of God. Regardless of what anyone says, you are accountable for your own actions and ultimately you'll learn that you'll blame yourself for your failure and reward Yourself for your successes.
As for the future of pharmacy, honestly Idk. I wouldn't do it as a beginning job IMO. Im an RN becoming an NP, so I already have a primary in demand job as an NP. I don't think pharmacy is in that demand as it use to be sadly. Too many pharm grads, easy admissions that make it an uncompetitive degree. Not to say you won't enjoy it or you won't get a job.
You just won't easily get and keep your job. You'll need to Work HARD. If you want an easy 100k job go into NP/PA where you're wanted as "cheap labor" in the eyes of doctors, its sad but its true, but I love what NPs do.
Honestly I am doing pharmacy in the future just for fun, and for a relatively good paying job. I doubt I will work my ass off there unless I truly enjoy the adrenaline.
But look, if you are ready to compete for jobs, Go to work early leave late, accept any position regardless of how ****ty the pay is, how crappy the hours are, you'll succeed in pharmacy or any profession for that matter. You have to "pay your dues" as a newbie as people will want you to "suffer" a bit before you taste the freshness of the profession. But I question pharmacy because there is a lack of upward mobility in terms of career prospects and pay. The retail pay usually remains stagnant as 110-120k, not bad at all, but don't count on your 10 years of retail xp to enhance your salary from 110 to 200k without some sort of overtime work. Not going to happen.
Sadly you should have a PASSION for it, because you'll be treated like crap. And pharmacies will literally treat you like crap to see how well you cope with it. Once they see you are willing to be overworked, then you'll pick up easier jobs as you progress in your career. But its nonetheless a tough job that I don't think you should start off in right away. Its not what it use to be. I suggest you to get a general science/liberal arts degree with prerequisites and explore every profession.
You'll see how terrible the pharmacy profession is politically, but its still a great job for those that want to help others and do routine tasks that lack creativity for antisocial people such as myself lol. Thats why I would like to do it.