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Spinoff thread: which is a better profession: pharmacy or MD
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:39 pm
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:39 pm
This is for preferably people with experience with either of these professions. Would you do pharmacy school or medical school if you had the choice? Pharmacy seems to be less stressful and more normal hours and really good pay while medical school seems to be more difficult and the hours, especially during residency, seem to be more and uncontrollable. If you do primary care the salaries of the two are roughly equal from what I can tell, so what would you do?
17
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:42 pm to frankreynolds
Pharmacy - six figures with less stress.
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:42 pm to frankreynolds
More normal hours if you don't work at a retail store that's open 24 hours and you work the 10pm to 8 am shift then two days later work the 8 am to 10 pm double.
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:43 pm to frankreynolds
Dentistry
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:46 pm to frankreynolds
Go work at the VA as a Pharmacist, start off at 100 and top at at 130k. Work 8 to 430 and get paid 60 bucks an hour on the weekend if you chose to do it.
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:48 pm to frankreynolds
Residency's not as bad as it's cracked up to be, especially nowadays with the duty hour limit (80 hours/week). MDs have the opportunity to make considerably more money. Not all do, but the opportunity's still there. If in private practice, they can be their own boss, set their own hours, and still make bank. Plus, depending on specialty, there are loads of bad arse procedures to make the days more entertaining (and profitable).
No personal experience with Pharmacy, but they seem more limited in their options (vs. all the different subspecialties of medicine and surgery). I think I would get too bored doing Pharmacy.
No personal experience with Pharmacy, but they seem more limited in their options (vs. all the different subspecialties of medicine and surgery). I think I would get too bored doing Pharmacy.
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:49 pm to frankreynolds
MD is probably the better profession, I'd work pharmacy at a hospital or home health probably.
There are a lot of factors that play into it, though. Am I taking out student loans? Is my significant other going to have a good paying job, too? Do I have a weak stomach (rules out a lot of MD specialties) ?
There are a lot of factors that play into it, though. Am I taking out student loans? Is my significant other going to have a good paying job, too? Do I have a weak stomach (rules out a lot of MD specialties) ?
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:50 pm to Patrick_Bateman
That's why you take a post graduate residency and get a Pharm specialty. Infectious Disease, Mental Health, etc
Posted on 3/2/15 at 9:50 pm to frankreynolds
Medicine, it's just smarter. Pharmacy looks so boring too.
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:05 pm to frankreynolds
quote:
more normal hours
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:10 pm to frankreynolds
I almost did pharmacy school but it seemed so boring. Would have been nice making 100k+ when I was 24, but didn't seem like anything I would enjoy doing for 30+ years.
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:13 pm to Patrick_Bateman
(no message)
This post was edited on 3/2/15 at 10:31 pm
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:29 pm to frankreynolds
Pharm puts you in direct contact with the opioids you will soon need to "justify this hollow, neverending void called existence"
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:34 pm to frankreynolds
Neither
Nursing critical care
Back to school for crna nurse Ananesthist boom less debt shorter time more $$$
Nursing critical care
Back to school for crna nurse Ananesthist boom less debt shorter time more $$$
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:51 pm to frankreynolds
US News placed Pharmacy at ~$120K median net with a top 10% around $150K. forbes guesses the average PCP salary to be ~$220K, so I don't know where your numbers come from. You won't control residency hours, but you'll control your hours afterwards if you want to. Do you want to:
1) explain to people how to take medicines prescribed to them and catch critical errors in patient's medicine choices
2) recommend medicines given the actual formulary and microbe coverage spectrums at your local hospital?
3) diagnose and treat patients
1+2 are pharmacist jobs. 3 is what a physician does. It's much more broad field. Surgery is vastly different from primary care. Peds and geriatrics have little in common. Vascular surgeons probably write fewer than 5 different pharmaceutical scripts. Hospitalists write well over 50 frequently, and that's probably on the low end. Fortunately, more of medicine is similar to itself than any field of medicine is to pharmacy. Do a bit more research into both fields and figure out what you want to do.
Personally, I prefer medicine to pharmacy.
1) explain to people how to take medicines prescribed to them and catch critical errors in patient's medicine choices
2) recommend medicines given the actual formulary and microbe coverage spectrums at your local hospital?
3) diagnose and treat patients
1+2 are pharmacist jobs. 3 is what a physician does. It's much more broad field. Surgery is vastly different from primary care. Peds and geriatrics have little in common. Vascular surgeons probably write fewer than 5 different pharmaceutical scripts. Hospitalists write well over 50 frequently, and that's probably on the low end. Fortunately, more of medicine is similar to itself than any field of medicine is to pharmacy. Do a bit more research into both fields and figure out what you want to do.
Personally, I prefer medicine to pharmacy.
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:55 pm to frankreynolds
Don't do primary care. Pick a well paying sub specialty like Anesthesiology or ER and also benefits from a pretty good lifestyle. I work about 40-50 hours per week with call 6 days a month including one Fri- Sun weekend per month. 10 wks vacation and good salary. Road was long but worth it.
This post was edited on 3/2/15 at 10:56 pm
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:56 pm to frankreynolds
I know pharmacists at Walgreens start at ~$120k right out of school
Posted on 3/2/15 at 10:59 pm to pleading the fifth
quote:
Don't do primary care.
Do whatever you like. The more you work, the more you make in almost any field.
Posted on 3/2/15 at 11:01 pm to yankeeundercover
quote:
I know pharmacists at Walgreens start at ~$120k right out of school
Yea, but they are working 13 hour shifts (also weekend and holidays). I'd take a hospital or home health job making ~105k and working 8 hour normal shifts over that.
This post was edited on 3/2/15 at 11:03 pm
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