Why Pharmacy?

[Triangulation]

Originally posted by tweaker
what the....
since when did this have anything to do with my own personal issues? Actually, I wouldn't be so shocked, but you're not the only person that has made that assumption without knowing my parents.
I would have absolutely no interest in pharmacy if it weren't for the money, and I wouldn't have any interest in money if it weren't for my parents.

**** asians. thats why i'm never having kids

curious.

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[tweaker]

you ever feel like you'd rather die than be poor and not live up to your parents expectations?

 

[ucdbiochem]

tweaker, why do u wanna do pharmacy? are u doing that for money or something else? if u're doing it for the salary, it's totally fine. but u gotta have some other reasons on top of that. otherwise, your days in pharmacy will be very difficult coz the only thing u look forward is just a pay check. and u'll have to live up with that. if u think that's fine to you, that's fine to me also. coz u're the one who makes the decision.
whatever u do, i wish u luck.

 

[LVPharm]

Actually Tri, I've seen that kind of "motivation" in some of my asian premed friends down at UC Irvine. It's kinda sad, really...the self-loathing sets in after awhile when some of them realized that they couldn't live up to the lofty expectations (becoming a wealthy M.D.) placed upon them. My mother never placed that kind of pressure on me when I was growing up. She decided awhile back that I should pursue the path that makes me happy.

 

[drx604]

Originally posted by tweaker
I would have absolutely no interest in pharmacy if it weren't for the money, and I wouldn't have any interest in money if it weren't for my parents.

are you in pharmacy school now?? or in the process of applying?? ..... if so.... i hope your interviewers are reading this!

If you want to make some real money....... i know some guys who sell drugs (on the street) that im sure make way more than i do (and they don't pay taxes)... go into that field... you could make a $hitload of money that way....

as for me...... i may be making well over a 100k..... but really money isn't everything ... im contemplating going back to school to pursue a non-trad pharmD ... not to make more money.... (it actually pays less in Canada)... but so i could do something important/self-gratifying, challenging and respectible... and go into the more clinical aspect of pharmacy

as for choosing pharmacy...i honestley didn't know about the salary prospects of pharmacy when i applied back in 1996. I just got lucky i guess ... i knew i wanted to do something in healthcare.... i knew being an MD would take too long (after all the residencies, etc.... Dentistry was an option... but im not into looking at people's teeth... i could've entered into a variety of medical specialtys (ie. radiology, med lab, etc... ) but that would mean i would go to a polytechnical school and get a certificate/diploma.... i wanted to be 'cool' and get a degree... and nursing was a definite NO! so pharmacy it was..... not much physical labour involved... or seeing/touching/smelling things (except the occasional fungal infection ppl show me) ....... what a job.... you provide important information to people and they... for the most part... appreciate it

 

[MNnaloxone]

While the money is nice-there's a lot of other reasons that put me into pharmacy:

1. I always liked science, and did halfways decent at it. I liked English as well, but the field was too subjective, and I don't take criticism as well as I'd like to. I wanted to be a HS history teacher, but didn't want to put up with the public skools and the severe lack of cash. So, off to college I went for a science major. Like everyone else it seemed, I also tacked on Pre-Med.
2. Like almost everyone else, I dropped the pre-med addition for a few reasons: no medical school at my campus, no pre-med program, poor resources for pre-med, and a period of listlessness where I drank a lot among other things.
3. After earning above science major, I realized that I didn't want to move to the Coasts (no offense) to get a job in Biotech and make $35K a year (that's not much in the Midwest, and even less on the Coasts). My fiancee was already in Pharmacy, and I decided to give it a try. Plenty of science, opportunities to teach others, medicine, and (gasp) a decent salary.
4. While in pharmacy school, I observed a medical resident taking an occult stool sample. That was the first nail in the coffin for me. The second was tissue debridement. The third was the psycho patient who threw around a medical student, and the 4th was the patient that refused AmphoB for a fungal ball in her lung, but wanted to stay in the hospital and stink up the ward. A lot of other nails sealed it.

I'm glad I was able to go on rounds. It made me realize that it would probably be a mistake to become a physician.

I love money so much that I am applying for residency this year. That way I can make a full TWO-THIRDS less than my PharmD finacee, while working half-again the hours. No pal, its about the learning for me. A few of my classmates started with the notion that they would do it solely for the money. Either they learned to love it, or they are no longer with my program. I don't see how the drive for cash would drive you to study all weekend for a Wednesday exam, when you could do other things to get that money. Its the respect and love for the field that drove me and my study group.

My parents? A housewife with a HS Diploma, and a systems coordinator with an AA in Electronics. Just going to college made them proud. Everything else was for me and my eventual family. But I can't speak on Asians-I'm 100% honky. But I think your parents are your parents, and they can be jackasses in any race.

My fiancee is retail all the way. I'm clinical. Makes for some decent dinner conversations. Enough of the soapbox for me.

(Steps down).

 

[dgroulx]

Originally posted by tweaker
If pharmacists were paid no more than secretaries, than why on earth would anyone spend 6 years at school just to be able to do it? Clawing their ways to get into lucrative schools just so they can stand there filling bottles all day. And saying you want to get into healthcare but not touch people? thats pretty ridiculous.
That explains why there's so many Asians in the field

No, I wouldn't go to school for 8 years (I have my BS) to make what a secretary makes. I love the field of pharmacy, but if it paid 30K a year, I wouldn't do it. So, money is definately a factor for me. I'm pretty sure that I want to work retail. I like the fast pace and being able to interact with people on an everyday basis.

We have 6 asians in our class of approximately 60 students, 1 black (carribbean island descent) and no hispanics. The rest of us are white. As far as I can tell, we are all here for the same reason. I don't think you can blatantly make a general remark about all asians.

 

[drx604]

in my grad class of about 140 students........ i would say maybe there were about 60 asians... 60 caucasions (sp??) and maybe 20 east Indians ....

there were less than 30 males out of 140 total students

if you look at the demographics of Vancouver... there is a huge population of Asian/Indo-Canadians .... so i think it was fairly evenly spread... (note: i was one of two 'token' Filipinos in the class)

back when i entered pharmacy school... it was all about grades to get in....

its true re: salary.. .is a motivating factor but if you think of it this way... for a five year degree program...even if you make 30k a year... its sure a lot better than getting an artsy degree and working at starbucks....

 

[simplyanny]

Originally posted by LVPharm
Hi simplyanny! It's good that you're asking the right questions in exploring pharmacy as a career. Sometimes you'll see a lot of negativity in regards to the current state of pharmacy practice (retail in particular). If you haven't seen this before, you might want to check it out, to give you some perspective: http://www.pfizercareerguides.com/pharmacy.html

Thank you LVPharm for your encouragement and info. I've actually got a paper copy of the Pfizer Guide and it is one of the reasons I start seriously considering pharmacy. As a outsider I did think pharmacy more of the retail image, but after observing a hospital pharmacist, talking with pharmacy students, and doing research on the web, I realized a whole big array of different opportunities in pharmacy and that's why I'm here now!
For the negativity surrounding pharmacy, it is the same for every careers: they all have things one likes and things one dislikes. What matters most is whether the good sides suit one's priorities. I remembered reading a thread about this too, about md v. pharm, and people just need to realize that there's no perfect job in the world(in my humble opinion). It is still good to know the 2 sides of the story, but I will choose to stay with pharmacy regardless.

And guys, remember the pharm forum had earned the 1st place in sdn because of people's understanding and acceptance of each other? Let's keep that up!

 

[Triangulation]

There's that saying about dancing around naked: it's fine if you wanna do it in your own yard, but it becomes a problem when you do it in mine.

 

[baggywrinkle]

Originally posted by tweaker
money? Don't kid yourself. You can sit there and spout off all day long arguing about how gratifying it is to be a pharmacist, but at the end of the day driving home in your bimmer will be much more gratifying than any script you fill.

Speak for yourself kiddo, everyone has their motivation. When I drive home at the end of the day in my escort, if I am lucky I made some people smile and didn't piss anyone off. The money is part, this is a truth. It is a good feeling knowing I can feed my family when so many are wanting. My best days happen when I do the big save. Snag an error which might have brought someone to harm. Every once in a while I get the warm and fuzzies by paying for someone's medicine that would have gone unpurchased without my input. I know my regulars on sight by their names. They will miss me when I'm gone. Will yours miss you?

 

[GKK]

Originally posted by Triangulation
There are plenty of opportunitities and not just in clinical, but in industry, reg affairs, academia, consulting, but peeps aren't exploring these options, bc they entail more work. Plus, recruiters from those other facets of pharmacy aren't actively seeking students like the retail chains are. I think it's gonna take a real push from the medical industry to really start beefing up the number of pharmacy clinicians.

My point was that pharmacy schools suggest that as a future pharmacist, pharmaceutical care and direct patient care will likely be the focus of your career. This is an inaccurate picture. Studies suggest that practising pharmacists overall implement quite low levels of pharmaceutical care and specialized services. Even though some opportunities exist (as you suggest) these opportunities are not significant to allow most pharmacists to engage in such activities. Do you disagree?

I think another important question to ask is whether such an increase in the number of pharmacists implementing pharmaceutical care practices will even make a significant difference in drug-related morbidity and mortality. There is still some controversy here. While many studies suggest a benefit in a controlled hospital/community health care environments, other recent and better controlled studies conducted in community pharmacies suggested no benefit to patient health when community pharmacists implemented direct patient care services (See Weinberger et al., 2002 for example). Even if there is a benefit, do you think there is enough demand in pharmaceutical care to allow the majority of pharmacists to engage in direct patient care? Who will pay for such services especially given some uncertrainty wrt benefits? Moreover studies suggest that the majority of patients are not willing to pay for such services.

Wrt working for industry, pharmaceutical companies are primarily interested in profits. They spend billions of dollars advertsising and promoting their drugs to docs, pharmacists and consumers. Often older and cheaper and just as effective drugs already exist but are less likely to be used because of the enormous amounts of money spent promoting the newer patented drugs. There are numerous examples of this. So I don't see how working for industry, necessarily promotes better patient care.

 

[Dr_Rx2003]

1)clean cut job...until someone hands you a Rx paper smeared in blood
2)decent pay, decent benefits
3)usually 8 hours a day
4)science/biology/pharmacology related
5)trusted profession
6)ability to work part time
7)high demand(so far...)

 

[Triangulation]

Wrt working for industry, pharmaceutical companies are primarily interested in profits. They spend billions of dollars advertsising and promoting their drugs to docs, pharmacists and consumers. Often older and cheaper and just as effective drugs already exist but are less likely to be used because of the enormous amounts of money spent promoting the newer patented drugs. There are numerous examples of this. So I don't see how working for industry, necessarily promotes better patient care.

GKK,

You make interesting points. I'd let to get more details on the article you cited Weinberger et al. The study i'm most familiar was commissioned by Kaiser and demonstrated the decrease in hospitalizations and fatalities related to 'drug misadventuring'. I can find the details.

IN regards to industry, your response supports my argument. Of couse, one company wants to sell their product and will use clnical pharmacists to support w.e. product they are selling, but the other all important side of the equation is the other company trying to market its as well, and seeking to demonstrate its efficacy at all hazards. The latest greatest being played out in the study in JAMA showing that haldol taken w/anti-parkinsonians's meds was as effective as zyprexa. A decrease in expense by an order of magnitude for the patient. It also showed that QOL was not abated by the use of the two drug therapy rather than zyprexa alone.

At any rate, the point is the more smithian industry becomes, the more clinical pharmacists will be called in to defend the company's claims.

In regards to the other issues, with the new medicare bill the gov't will be doing all it can to make sure they reduce the number of deaths and DDI related to pts not being followed. They're trying to save dollars would be the motivation for increasing pharm care. It has nothing to do w/them recognizing us in some altruistic sense, but in the bottom line sense that it will save hospital costs and expensive procedures.