Medicine vs Pharmacy?

Im better at Biology than I am with chemistry. I'm better at maths than I am with english.

I have applied and gotten a place to study pharmacy, but also have the opportunity to study medicine abroad. If I were to go into medicine, I know I would choose to become a GP. I would love one-on-one patient interaction and could do it the whole day, because it's genuinely something I enjoy and interests me. I don't mind dealing with 'disturbing' thing/topics. There are a few things holding me back however,
1. I don't like blood and as a doctor you would definitely have to be exposed to blood/needles a lot
2. Maths is not that great, my maths is okay but i don't think its at the level which would be required in medical school
3. The length of the course, its 6 years abroad and then further training. By the time I become a GP i would be at end of 20s. Can someone confirm this?

Pharmacy, I have had lots of work experience of. The jobs are decreasing however which is one of my worries. Also, a lot of people say that Pharmacy is an intense, hard course but the rewards and satisfaction is a lot less than medicine.

Can someone please say what would suit me better as a job role?

Reply 1

Kryptonian

Do you care about the salary?

Reply 2

aladdin818

Original post by Kryptonian

Do you care about the salary?

To an extent I do, however it comes after about 2-3 things I care more about e.g.
Job prospects, working hours and flexibility and how quickly I am able to start earning rather than studying

Reply 3

quasa

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by aladdin818

Id say medicine>>> pharmacy (and Im a pharmacist).
regarding your points: 1) fear of blood is something which can be overcome with time (even pharmacists have to deal with bloody patients but not physically - unless your vaccinating or allowedadministerring first aid)
2)you need to be good at maths for pharmacy as well (you need 70% minimum in maths for prereg exam just to pass)
3)In terms of age, say you enter uni at 18 and do a 5 year MBBS (or 6 with intercalation), you would be 23/24 when you graduate. add to that 5 years (2 for f1/f2 and 3 for GP training) you would be 28/29 by the time your a GP. in contrast it is 5 years from start of degree to end of prereg as a pharmacist (despite taking a year out to health reasons between my degree and pre-reg I still managed to become a registered pharmacist aged 23

Spoiler

).

salarywise, id say doctors get paid comprehensively more. the fact, like you said, pharmacy jobs are diminishing is further compounded by drastic reduction in wages (in community anyways). Tescos for example are now capping pharmacists at £19/hour and companies like lloyds / boots pay as little as £13/hour. I know people who work in pharmacies in leicester and birmingham who earn as little as £10/hour - as pharmacists. the average salary I have seen for a lot of places is between £14-19/hour (lowest I have been paid is £15/hour but now average minimum salary of mine is >£21/hour)

to top it off, a lot of community pharmacies somehow get away with not allowing pharmacists to take breaks in the day (which is horrific considering you can work up to 16 hours a day) and for some bizzare reason you are not allowed to keep chairs in dispensaries so you will have chronic back and leg pain. If you do go for pharmacy, try aiming for work in hospital or in a GP surgery as working conditions and wages are better, and you have a far more clinical role vs community (both clinical ones allows pharmacists to become prescribers and more or less sort out prescribing guidelines for your workplace, as well as counselling patients on medication, reviewing medication and conducting audits - essentially doctor work minus diagnosis). but even then, you have to spend time going up the ranks as well (for hospital 6 years to be a band 8 after pre-reg and you only get paid £45k for band 8a)

also there is far greater job prospects in medicine than pharmacy

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

Ezme39

The maths you need in medicine really isn't that advanced, so don't let that put you off.
Is your drive for medicine enough to plough you through the degree? Even if you became a GP, you would need to do some training in a hospital setting- is this something you would be comfortable doing?
When someone doubts medicine, I'd generally advise that they go for the alternative- however, no one can judge this but you :smile:

Reply 5

quasa

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by Ezme39

truth be told, if someone is in doubt of a course but has 2 firm options in mind, they should ideally take a year out and gain experience working in both environments before coming to a conclusion (or do this outside of exams during as/a2 levels)