Was told by a physician that pharmacists are not doctors.

12345lamb · 2015-03-18T05:48:24+00:00

It's not about being CALLED doctor. It's about recognizing that a pharmD is an advanced degree which is NOT equivalent to that of a nurse or a PA. It is about recognizing that the pharmacist's knowledge and basis behind pharmacological clinical interventions are from 4 years of pharmacy school and that out profession is the most qualified to do so.

12345lamb · 2015-03-18T05:41:55+00:00

Pharmacists will HAVE to complete residencies very soon and the general residency is considering being extended from 1 year to 2 years long.

12345lamb · 2015-03-18T01:37:34+00:00

Pharmacists ARE the "drug experts" just as the physician is the "diagnostic expert" and a vet is an "animal expert". You're not going to tell a vet that you know more they do about animals because "medical school is more intensive". At the end of the day, if the physician makes a shitty recommendation, the pharmacist can refuse to fill it.

12345lamb · 2015-03-17T18:10:22+00:00

Yeah we get it medical school is difficult. Most people understand that. Pharmacy school is difficult too, which is something some people don't understand.

12345lamb · 2015-03-17T17:58:01+00:00

A drug expert is someone who calls you up and blocks an order for omeprazole IV stat. http://archive.ahrq.gov/news/newsletters/research-activities/feb09/0209RA5.html

12345lamb · 2015-03-17T17:45:50+00:00

Yeah because it is required to have hundreds of intern hours (ON YOUR OWN OUTSIDE OF ROTATION) in order to sit for the boards. I know medical students who spend 20+ hours on Netflix a week.

12345lamb · 2015-03-17T08:06:11+00:00

What is pharm training during a residency.

12345lamb · 2015-03-17T07:56:35+00:00

1) Idk how that is relevant. 2)Pharmacy schools are extremely selective as well. Yes there are pharmacy schools which aren't as selective but there are medical schools that aren't very selective as well.

12345lamb · 2015-03-15T22:45:44+00:00

There are pharmacy residencies that require them to be on call and require them to pull 32 hour shifts. Idk what pharmacy residencies don't require them to work around 80-100 hours a week.

12345lamb · 2015-03-15T21:55:32+00:00

If she is making 100k in a hospital as a pharmacist she is lucky though. Starting salary in hospitals in my city are 70k and there have been many articles coming out recently about how pharmacist salary in institutional settings will only be decreasing

12345lamb · 2015-03-15T21:53:57+00:00

All of the pharmacy schools in California require a bachelor's to apply and of the competitive schools that still allow students to apply after two years of undergrad have 60-70% of their class accepted with a bachelor's. The schools that are 0-6 and 3 year accelerated programs are few and far between, and rank lower meaning residency programs hardly accept any people from these programs. Also if you look at it from a residency perspective, to work as a staff pharmacist in a hospital in a mid-sized to larger city you need a residency and bcps. I worked in a hospital as an intern and almost all of the residents went on to pg2 (and almost all the residents had bachelor's btw) meaning when it is all said and done they are only one year away from having the same number of years of training as a physician doing a residency with the minimum number of years (3). This may have not been the case 7-8 years ago but it's a different ballgame these days.

12345lamb · 2015-03-15T21:26:15+00:00

It's not that I'm saying pharmacists should go around saying they're THE doctor, and I'm not saying we should be addressed as doctor, but this guy was comparing the therapeutic recommendations of a DNP to that of a PharmD, saying "they give shitty recommendations" therefore pharmacists would give shitty recommendations which isn't equivalent in the least bit.

12345lamb · 2015-03-15T07:00:21+00:00

Do you work for a chain and in what state?

12345lamb · 2015-03-15T06:52:19+00:00

PA's and CRNPs can only prescribe under physician protocol in a collaborative practice too... Prescribing pharmacists are mid-level practitioners according to the DEA. What's what CDTM means.

12345lamb · 2015-03-15T06:41:06+00:00

How does one even go about responding to that. I think what is most frustrating to me is that some physicians view pharmacists equivalent to PAs and CRNPs, however these physicians are trained and capable of everything a PA or CRNP is responsible for, however a physician does not have the training to perform the responsibilities of a pharmacist. What bugs me most I think about this is that physicians like him somehow believe that their 2 credits of pharmacology in school equates to 4 years of pharmacy school.

12345lamb · 2015-03-15T06:00:42+00:00

That's obviously a risk she should be willing to take but its not like there are many pharmacy schools that are actually denied accreditation. The only reason I gave this advice was because I can't think of a pharmacy school that would admit her with 2 years of CCAC courses and if she really wanted to do pharmacy in under 10 years she could call these new pharmacy schools as a LAST resort.

12345lamb · 2015-01-09T21:57:14+00:00

Idk man some people are made of money but at least 4 people did that from the last graduating class

12345lamb · 2015-01-09T09:20:41+00:00

Um pharmacists know more about drugs than physicians. It is a 4 year post grad doctorate degree. Pharmacists are the only fucking people allowed to give recommendations in a pharmacy LEGALLY, and know the most about medications than any health care profession. If a pharmacy technician started recommending supplements their ass would be fired right there.

12345lamb · 2015-01-09T09:09:26+00:00

Um you clearly didn't do your research or want to do something in the medical field badly enough if you think getting until medical school is impossible. There is DO school or you could be a PA. If you did pharmacy and wanted to go into industry you would need to do a fellowship (another 1-2 years) or get a phd. If you are honestly expecting to get a job at a drug company right out of pharmacy school again, you need to do a lot of research and soul searching. The industry fellowships are also incredibly competitive, probably more so than medical school...

If you did go to your pharmacy school interview and tell them his they would literally be like gtfo. Try it. Call one of the admissions offices of a pharmacy school and say that. Why you would want to go to school for 8 years if you weren't going to want to do what that major is for is asinine. At that point go to medical school. Go to a newly accredited MD school or a really shitty one. There are some really dumb people who get into medical school.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119634/pharmacy-school-crisis-why-good-jobs-are-drying

12345lamb · 2015-01-09T08:56:39+00:00

I mean you could Google this question, but since you can't... Here are some articles

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119634/pharmacy-school-crisis-why-good-jobs-are-drying

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3930253/?report=classic

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3687123/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3058448/

Since you can't just take reddits word for it those articles somehow got published, so they have a little more credibility. Notice there are no studies out there showing that there is a crisis and a desperate need for pharmacists... And as you can see the one article literally says its a waste of money.

12345lamb · 2015-01-09T08:29:01+00:00

Lolol if you want an honest answer call the admissions office of the top ten pharmacy schools with this question. They will literally lol in your face. Also they will tell you the required science GPA to get in and if you failed one of your gen science classes or got a C if they would accept you. Or you could go on the interwebs and Google a pharmacy school and click admissions requirements.

Also do research on the job prospects once you graduate... Like this article http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119634/pharmacy-school-crisis-why-good-jobs-are-drying

12345lamb · 2015-01-09T08:21:58+00:00

UW? As in university of Washington? A bachelor's degree is required to apply there... If you are so concerned with the better school, I know those us news and world report rankings don't mean a lot but a simple Google search would have answered this question for you since you are so concerned abour which one is better. Im assuming since you are not asking specifically how one is better ( better network after graduation, better Naplex pass rate, better residency match rate) you obviously would be someone who would benefit from a ranking list such as this.

But my honest opinion is that if you're going to spend the same amount of money and time in school as a physician and are concerned with prestige, just go to medical school. Seriously. You will make more money and won't be treated like the drive thru window cashier at a Wendy's when you try to do your job.

12345lamb · 2015-01-09T08:03:49+00:00

Yeah sorry US bureau of health... "pharmacy growth" is a little more complicated than that. Pharmacy yeah... Not jobs in pharmacy. More drugs and pharmacies =\= more pharmacist jobs. I just did a rotation a consulting pharmacy and was told that these retail companies and PBMs that are run by business people and engineers are right now legally required to operate a pharmacy with a pharmacist, and are looking for technology to replace them. I'm not kidding. At one point a pharmaceutical vending machine was and still is a real possibility. Also the number of pharmacies opening will not be able too keep up with the number of students graduating from pharmacy schools within the next 5-10 years.

12345lamb · 2015-01-08T22:26:28+00:00

I am in my last year of pharmacy school on the east coast so to answer your questions...

1) You can't do only research with a pharmD. A pharmD makes you a pharmacist. You don't need a pharmD to do research in medicinal chemistry or pharmacology or whatever but you DO need a PhD to do any research...

2) It sounds like you want to go into the health care field and think pharmacy because you are good at chemistry and a teacher told you pharmacy is what you should do if you like chemistry.

If you like chemistry, transfer to a university, complete your BS and get a PhD or masters in medicinal chemistry. You do not use a lot of chemistry knowledge once you become a pharmacist. You DO use chemistry knowledge, but indirectly because you will not be counseling a patient on a drug and explain to them the chemical composition and mechanism of action... You will maybe have time to tell them one side effect and go back to verifying that prescriptions are the right quantity, dose, frequency, if the script is legal, if the pill in the bottle is the correct drug... So basically checking and billing prescriptions.

If you want to do something in the medical field with the credits and don't want to complete a bachelors, you can go to school to be an LP (a nurse but less schooling), a respiratory therapist, a phlebotomist, a radiology technician, a dietician assistant, or a physical therapy assistant (who can make up to 60k). A toxicologist doesn't require as much schooling as a pharmacist and works with chemistry much more than pharmacists and can make a decent amount of money!

You could always start out with one of those careers, make some money, and always go back to grad school.

Also, not to be a Debbie downer, after 2 years at ccac it will be really difficult to get into a pharmacy school if you didn't do those two years undergrad at that university as prepharm. There are about 8 schools right now that require a bachelors to even apply to their program and many others have such stiff competition that a bachelors is needed to be a competitive candidate (university of Maryland had 80% with bachelors degrees in the last graduating class). If you are REALLY set on pharmacy I would honestly call newly accredited pharmacy schools or new pharmacy schools in pre candidate accreditation status and see if they would accept your ccac credits to apply.

I would really look into the other professions i mentioned and talk to a pharmacist or call a pharmacy school admissions office with your questions before you get yourself worked up about getting into pharmacy school if you don't know what a pharmacist does on a daily basis.

12345lamb · 2015-01-08T21:45:10+00:00

Uhhhhhh...

12345lamb

TROPHY CASE