Pharmacy vs Biochemistry?

Hello,
I'm currently in Year 12 (just taken my AS's, going into Year 13 in September) and have been told by my tutors that soon I need to start working on my UCAS and personal statement. I have already set up my UCAS and have visited various universities, and decided that I want to do either a pharmacy or a biochemistry degree; and I can't choose between them :frown:

My biology teacher has said that if I take pharmacy this may narrow my options (as this would just lead to a job in pharmacy) and that I should widen my career by taking a degree with broader career options (in my case, biochemistry). I have good GCSE's (A*A*A*AAAAAAAB) and hopefully will get AAAB next week in my AS's (here's hoping) in chemistry, biology, english lit and music, so I stand in good stead for either degree.

So, which degree would be best?
Which degree is more respected?
Which degree will more likely lead to a fufilling career and time at university?

Thankyou.

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Reply 1

HotCoco.

I agree with your teacher, hence Biochemistry.

Reply 2

pharmgirl

Your teacher is misinformed (sorry).

Anything you can do with a Biochemistry degree, i.e. research, industry, management, journalism or whatever your careers department have told you about Biochemistry, you can do with an MPharm, but not vice versa.

You are actually narrowing down your options by doing Biochemistry as you cant also become a practicing pharmacist on top of the careers I mentioned above. You'll need higher grades for pharmacy than for biochem though and work experience in a pharmacy is an advantage.

I had to make a decision between these subjects many years ago and in the end opted for pharmacy. I always wanted a career in academic research and that's what I got, only I dont have as much debt as the biochem graduates as I locumed my way through my PhD. Unless you have an aversion to certain aspects of the pharmacy course, e.g. you hate chemistry and formulation sciences and ONLY want to do biological subjects, or you really cant bear the thought of 5 years being a student, I'd always pick a professional course like pharmacy in the current economic climate. Hope this helps.

Reply 3

Navi_Fairy

pharmgirl

...

I knew that it was possible to go into research with Pharmacy, but didn't realise this opened up other careers which are similar to that of doing a degree in biochemistry. I understand that I will need high grades for pharmacy (waiting on results right now for next week) but I think that if it is possible I may as well go for it - I don't particularly mind any specific part of the Pharmacy course, I was just told that this possibly narrowed down my options. Thanks a lot :smile:

Reply 4

Fight-or-Flight

pharmacy is far more secure for a job than biochemistry. you can work in community, have your own pharmacy or work in Boots, superdrug etc, or you can work in hospital which is really good if you like to be with a wide range of patients and are interested in such environment, or you can work in industry for drug companies. And you can get the Mpharm which will basically make you to be called a doctor.

Reply 5

orca92

If you have the right grades then i would definitely apply for pharmacy. You'd just have a much better chance at being employed after you graduate, and tbh thats the point of a degree isn't it.

Reply 6

DaddyT

pharmgirl

This is not my field but from a neutral objective standpoint this is also what i would have said.

Reply 7

pharmgirl

Fight-or-Flight

And you can get the Mpharm which will basically make you to be called a doctor.

Only in the US!

Reply 8

CHILLIN-DRAGON

Navi_Fairy

um for the three questons you asked here is what i think (please make it your own decision)

i would have thouht pharmacy, much better salary and higher job security, its a degree you can stick with or choose to go onto another degree (biochemistry can do that as well, but not so easily stuck with)

for the second question i would say pharmacy, again for the points above.

in terms of a fulfilling carer, pharmacy, again salary, credentials, job securtiy and it can lead to almost anything, again you can stay a pharmacists, it a stable well paid job or choose to jump to another degree ( again biochem can be used to go to another degree(and truth be told when ever a garnd job title comes up i think of doctor lawyer architect pharmacists etc)

alot of my friends where med applicants and whenever they would pick a back up, biochem or biomed would come up, one picked pharamcy (at a uni that didnt have high grades, some pharamcy shools ask for AAA)and there reason was because if they were to stick with it and like it would be a great job, while the other only picked biochem/biomed because of the fact that at some unis it takes less time and they could get into medicine earlier.

in terms of uni life i have no idea, that has alot to do with the uni itself

hope i helped :biggrin:

Reply 9

Dnator

I didn't like pharmacy so I left to do chemistry.

Reply 10

LearningMath

orca92

If you have the right grades then i would definitely apply for pharmacy. You'd just have a much better chance at being employed after you graduate, and tbh thats the point of a degree isn't it.

Not for everyone, no.

1. There isnt a 'best', they are just slightly different. I'm hesitant to list differences as it's a fine line and they vary so much between universities... but in general pharmacy has a larger practical component, and because its a profession, you'll have non-academic units about the profession.

2. 'Respect' really depends on the institution and context, neither course is more respected than the other.

3. Thats down to you, i'm sure there are plenty of fulfilled biochemists, and plenty of fulfilled pharmacists out there!

When pharmgirl says you need higher grades for pharmacy... that depends entirely on the institution... :s-smilie:

Reply 11

rushhour72

Have fun in 4 yrs when you're struggling to find a job, after doin biochemistry

Reply 12

henna123

rushhour72

Have fun in 4 yrs when you're struggling to find a job, after doin biochemistry

how is pharmacy like at Reading? im hoiping to apply there this year :smile:

Reply 13

swift464

Seeing as you have posted this in the pharmacy group, i think subconsciously, you want to do pharmacy but was just looking for some encouragement. The opposite will happen if you post in a biochem group. Anyways to give you advice on the subject you should pick.... i cant, its entirely up to you. Both are good subjects to pick and both have great job prospective once you graduate. Personally, Biochemistry is a better degree to have and its been described as ''the degree of the 21st century''. Don't listen to people telling you that its going to be hard to find a job with a biochem degree, it wont be any harder than if you graduate with a pharmacy degree. But do you research about each subject and than make you mind up :smile:

Reply 14

innerhollow

rushhour72

Have fun in 4 yrs when you're struggling to find a job, after doin biochemistry

Despite biotech being the sector with the largest number of start-ups? I think people doing Biochemistry will be okay.

Reply 15

rushhour72

innerhollow

Despite biotech being the sector with the largest number of start-ups? I think people doing Biochemistry will be okay.

Yeah but with a 2.2 in biochemistry is worth nothing. A 3rd in pharmacy will give u a guarenteed job

Reply 16

pharmgirl

innerhollow

Despite biotech being the sector with the largest number of start-ups? I think people doing Biochemistry will be okay.

A biochemistry degree does not necessarily qualify you for a career in an area that might be broadly described as biochemistry (to be honest, beyond undergrad level the disciplines merge anyway and your expertise is described by your specific speciality, e.g. tumour biology or microRNA research). With a non-vocational pure science degree-whatever the area- it would be almost impossible to get past technical or bench level without a PhD in an industrial start up. Biochemistry graduates will be in competition with every other biological science graduate. As this is the case, pharmacy has the edge as you can always get locum work while you wait for the perfect biotech job. Choose biochemistry over pharmacy if you are interested in the subject, but if you are choosing it for job prospects, pharmacy is a no-brainer.

Reply 17

pharmgirl

When pharmgirl says you need higher grades for pharmacy... that depends entirely on the institution... :s-smilie:

Yup- you'll definitely need higher grades to do biochemistry at Cambridge than pharmacy at Sunderland. You'd actually also need higher grades to do English at Leeds than Pharmacy at LJMU too. Absolutely correct. But I think you'll find that you need higher grades to get onto an Mpharm than you would to do Biochem at the same institution, which is why we get so many applications from biological science grads to do graduate pharmacy. What you wont get is a university that gives you a lower offer for pharmacy than for biochem, so this would only ever happen in very rare cases at a uni with no school of pharmacy.

Reply 18

rushhour72

Don't think so. I do not know a single university that has lower entry requirements for biochemistrys for that of pharmacy. At my university you need 300 ucas points to do biochemistry (i know people with 240, who got let in) and for pharmacy u need 320 points (I know people with 300 points who got turned away.

And for the record, Pharmgirl is an admissions tutor, so I am pretty sure she knows more than us.

LearningMath

Reply 19

LearningMath

rushhour72

Other way round, i presume :wink:

. When did i question pharmgirls competence which you apparently feel the need to defend... I just clarified a point.

Nice posts so far by the way, both *******moronic astoundingly biased and untrue.