That seems a bit excessive to me. Is this the absolute truth, or to some people advance without 7 years of schooling?
2007-01-09 17:41:35 · 9 answers · asked by Holly 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
Ok, well I've already done 60+ hours of work at a regular 4-year school. If I decide I want to be a pharmacist, does that mean I have to chuck all that credit out the door?
2007-01-09 17:55:09 · update #1
Prerequisites for pharmacy schools typically include: 1 yr general chemistry, 1 yr organic chemistry, 1 yr biology, 1 yr of physics. Biochemistry, microbiology, calculus, English are also requirements or recommended classes for some schools. The PCAT exam is required for entrance to pharmacy schools. These classes can be completed in a around two years if you take them as a full load.
Pharmacy schools admit students with 2 years of prepharmacy or a bachelor's degree so that's 6 or 8 years of school. With pharmacy your undergraduate major can be anything you want (biology, chemistry, english, drama...) as long as you complete the prerequisites of the schools. I think the trend is going to be more admits with bachelor's degrees in the future. You will graduate pharmacy school with a PharmD degree.
Your credits aren't a waste. If you already have a major there is no need to change it. Just complete the prerequisites and apply to pharmacy school after you complete your undergraduate degree. Yes it is a lot of school. But you're not just putting pills in a bottle. You'll be working with some complex drugs and mistakes can kill people. You go to school so that if a doctor writes a bad script, you can catch that mistake before it harms the patient because you have knowledge of how drugs interact with other drugs and how they work in the body. You don't want anyone off the street to just be a pharmacist or a doctor. That wouldn't be safe.
2007-01-11 13:30:05 · answer #1 · answered by 8 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, most students take between 6 and 8 years to become a pharmacist: 2 to 4 years of prereqs and 4 years of pharmacy school
However, you do not need to chuck you your 60 hours of credit. You can first get a bachelors, or you can transfer after you finish your prereqs. Depending on what you've taken, that will impact the number of missing courses. You should look up your local pharmacy schools, and see what you need.
2007-01-10 00:45:44 · answer #2 · answered by Lea 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Typical pharmacist's schooling involves around 4 years for undergrad, then 4 years in pharm school.
To save time, you can apply for the 6 year programs which only have around 2 years for undergrad, and then the 4 years for pharm school.
If you've already done time in a regular college, then just finish that degree and then apply to pharmacy school.
This is for the US where a pharmacy degree is a doctorate degree.
2007-01-09 18:33:52 · answer #3 · answered by Linkin 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
to get a Pharm.D you typically need 2-4 years of prepharmacy and then 4 years of pharmacy school (so its pretty much set up the same way as med or law school). so yes total credits wise you need 6-8 years. but since you have a ton of credits (hopefully they are biology/chemistry credits because if theyre youll probably have to do another 2 years of prepharm) already you might be able to go straight to pharmacy school if you have all the prereqs done or maybe just 1 year of prepharm, but youll have to go the full 4 years of pharm school no matter what. check the webpages of some colleges of pharmacy and see what their pre requisites/entry requirments are and see what classes you need to take yet to be eligible to apply for admission.
2007-01-11 01:36:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you CAN get a doctorate in Pharma. but most Pharmacists don't have one. The norm I believe is an RN or LPN type degree, with a heavy specialization in Pharma. I could be wrong, but i believe you do need an MD in order to write scripts for restricted classes of drugs.
If you are interested there's good money to be made and the hours are real regular. My grandfather was a pharmacist, back in the halcyon days when they still mixed up some of their own drugs and pills.
2007-01-09 17:57:47 · answer #5 · answered by WOMBAT, Manliness Expert 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes, that's how long it takes.
Remember, a pharmacist is a chemist who deals with human life.
I will guarantee you that your pharmacist knows more about the medication you take than the doctor who prescribed it.
2007-01-09 17:50:52 · answer #6 · answered by Jack 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. A pharmacy degree is a doctorate (PharmD). They aren't just retail clerks.
If that's too much trouble for you, it sounds like what you want is to be a pharmacy technician, not a pharmacist.
2007-01-09 17:48:31 · answer #7 · answered by EQ 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes
2007-01-09 17:48:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here is a good site to research careers.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/
2007-01-09 17:50:23 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋