How can I become a pharmacist in New York State?

Question

I am unclear what type of degree is needed to become a pharmacist. I've heard of a pharmD, as a 5-6 year program, but I've also heard of just getting a Bachelor's. There don't seem to be many schools that offer programs. I have a B.A. in Psychology, so I am unsure whether any of my coursework can count towards a degree. Would I have to start over for a pharmacy program? Thanks for your help. I have tried to do some research online but have come up with very little.

Answer 1

the Psychology degree won't cover much in the way of prereqs.

While every school has different requirements, you can pretty much count on the following to even apply:

Inorganic/Organic Chemistry + labs
Physics
Calculus
Biology/Physiology/Immunology
Biochem

So in a nutshell, you will have to start over.

Contact your nearest College of Pharmacy and they can give you a good idea of what you will need to do to apply. And don't forget that you have to take the PCAT

I'm not aware of anyone that still offers a Bachelors, it's all PharmD now. Depending on which school you get into that means either a 3 or 4 year program.

One of my buddies in Pharmacy school had bachelor degree in Biology and Pscychology when he got in. His wife filed for divorce in his first week of school, because she thought he was becoming a professional student.........so keep that as a consideration.

Answer 2

pharm school works like med school- you typically need 2-4 years of prepharmacy (different schools have different requirments/preferences) and then the entrance exam (PCAT) and then if youre accepted to a Pharm.D program it is an additional 4 years on top of that. your BA in psychology might meet many of the prepharm requirments (im not sure how much biology and chmistry you had to take) so it could shorten how much time you spend in prepharm (pending on if you took a lot of chemistry and biology) but for actual pharmacy school i doubt much of it would carry over so youll be spending the full 4 years there, so id count on putting in atleast 5 years maybe 6 all in all. you should figure out some schools you want to go to with a Pharm.D program, and find out the prepharmacy requirments and see what requirments you have and havent met so you know what you need to get in.

And you need a Pharm.D now to become a newly licensed pharmacist now; they changed that in 1999 or 2000 (somewhere around there i forget) so for a new graduate a bachelors isnt good enough anymore. so most pharmacists who graduated before then have a BS in Pharmacutical sciences, where as everyone who graduated after that is a PharmD. thats why most schools dont offer a BS in pharmacy anymore, its worthless if you werent licensed before the cutoff unless you want to try to get a Ph.D in pharmacology or use it as a pre-med degree

Answer 3

First, see what pharmacy prereqs you have and which ones you need. I'm guessing you'll probably be missing some of the sciences. Also, contact the school you're interested in and see how long the credits are good for.
You'll have to take the PCAT exam.
Then you can apply. The program will last for 4 years. After graduation you can take the licensing exams.