Hi guys well now I am only 17 but next year I am planning on attending Purdue University at West Lafayette.

I was just wondering if there are any guys or girls here that are Pharmacists or are currently studying to be pharmacists.

I hope I am making the correct choice because at first I planned on becoming an Chemical Engineer and until recently I decided to become a Pharmacists since I know 3 languages, like to help people, and I think job placement will be good as far as working near home.

Well if anyone here is a pharmacist I was wondering if you guys could comment on how you like it and whether you believe it was the right choice for you. Also where did you guys attend and if any of you double majored or minored in something particularly business.

 

I am currently a Pharmacist. Graduated about 2 1/2 years ago at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. Job is not as I expected. For me its not as glamorous as it sounds or what I thought it would be. So far all I have done is retail and hospital pharmacy, but you have a lot of options available to you. YOu just need to research. Mabe its just the area where I live, but down here in New orleans in retail the some customes treat you like crap and in the hospital you yelled at by doctors and nurses. I dont know, but I've heared that in other states pharmacist get more respect, but this was just my experience. After I graduated pharmacy school in 2004 I applied to medical school, but didn't get accepted b/c didn't prepare for anything and did everything last minute. I plan on working until the end of February as a full time pharmacist and plan on working in my family business from ther on. I dont want to discourage you b/c this was just my own experiece, but if I knew what I know now I would just skip the pharmacy and go straight to med school (its only a few more years). Sure both make great money, but doctors get more respect and better kick backs. What ever you choose good luck to you and remember to choose a job that makes you happy!

 

i hope to be in a few years...

how many years of pharmacy school did it take? i'm currently second guessing myself

 

hey hero how old are you?

 

i'm 19

edit: i'm 18

for some reason, i've convinced myself that i'm 19...LOL

people are always asking me my age and i always respond with 19

i plan on transferring to either ucsd's, ucla's, or usc's pharmacy school

 

nice what are you studying now?

 

right now, a lot of things. i'm technically a bioengineering major but i wanna do pharmcy and possibly minor in business or rhetoric

i'm so confused

 

I'm a pharmacist as well. I graduated in April of 05' from Northeastern University in Boston. The main reason I picked Northeastern was their Co-op program. For 4 months of the year you worked in the field. I did 2 rotations with Walgreens and 2 with a local hospital in Boston. I have to say that my experience was invaluable in showing me what I was in for and also for the knowledge I gained.

Like jjyellow said it's not as glamorous a job as some make it out to be, I also get my share of people that yell at me, but it's something you have to expect working in retail. (I currently work for Walgreens) If you work in a hospital and you present yourself the right way, you will get a good deal of respect from the doctors and nurses. I in no way regret my decision to become a pharmacist, it's a very challenging major and you will get great satisfaction knowing you accomplished what you did. I also would in no way discourage anyone from going into school to be a pharmacist. I'm sure jj can agree that we desperately need more of us out there. One piece of advice I have for you is that if you don't already work in a pharmacy or whatever, get yourself out there. Then you'll really know if it's what you want to do.

As an added plus, you get to be called Doctor if you want.

Best of luck to you

 

The best advice I can give you is to work as a pharmacy-tech this summer. It will give you the chance to interact with the pharmacist, and give you a glimpse at one facet' of the industry. Secondly, go attend a few classes at Purdue, and really feel out professors/ students. Lastly, look at the program. Will they offer you a year of rotations? Will they help you with job placement?

Best of luck!

 

I have quite a few friends who are Pharmacists. Like everyone is saying, it isn't very glamorous. Also, quite a few of them work on weekends as well (mostly Saturdays). Funny, whenever I think of Pharmacists, I think of that guy on Desperate Housewives: He looks geeky, couldn't get a real date if it wasn't for his money. Of course, my friends aren't like that

 

I thought about it way back when, but I knew myself too well. Being in close proximity to all that wonderful dilaudid is too much temptation. And jail just didn't sound like too much fun, so I had to pass.

 

some good advice, especially working in a pharmacy to see if your interest continues. i suspect i'm a little older than most of the respondents. i graduated u. of minnesota then went to purdue for a masters. i've worked nuclear, hospital, home health, and now government. school was challenging but if you have a good basis in science and math you won't have a problem. like many things, the hardest part of pharmacy is getting accepted. be prepared for routine work, possibly nights,weekends, on call. pay is good. you won't have the status that physicians have, but then you don't have the responsibility either. my brother is an accountant and envies pharmacy. i tell him the grass is always greener, but there are many things that i like about pharmacy. make sure that you work in a pharmacy as a technician or volunteer some time in one. too much time, money and effort to realize you've made a mistake. good luck.

 

The Grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side I was pre-med, majored in Chemistry initially. I worked in a clinic to get some hours under my belt and to see if I like the med field. Turns out, I did BUT my grades were no where near what it need to be for Med School. So, I got the Chemistry degree and then Business Economics and Accounting (phew). As of right now, I don't envy pharmacy at all. Sure, the money might be nice but I don't know how much they make but I'm in Finance and can't say the money is bad here either. Also, I think what I'm doing isn't all exciting but goodness, what pharmacist do/did when I was at the clinic would make me fall asleep! Like everyone else said, intern or do whatever it takes to get some experience and an idea of what it is you want to do.

 

my uncle is a pharmacist and does very well for the past 18 years w/ his own store. it's a good profession. a lot of my friends did the 5 year program at St John's University in Queens, NY and got jobs before they even graduated w the internship programs offered.

 

I'm a street pharmacist. Does that count? lol jk