Leaving Pharmacy Degree for International Relations.

As someone who holds their first degree in politics, you should know that the job market is really competitive and if you want to be working in the international sector you frequently need postgraduate education in addition to your first degree. So, if you are willing to go through that much additional education then switching to politics in your studies could be worth it.

However, something else that may interest you is merging pharmacy and politics. There are a lot of job routes that could benefit from your initial pharmacy degree, including but not limited to: public health research and/or policy, getting involved in medical law, or working as a pharmacist for disadvantaged populations (either globally or at home).

Since you have completed half of your pharmacy degree, I would suggest sticking it out and then pursuing a politics/policy based Master's course. Your first degree will set you apart from other common applicants, which could work to your advantage, and again the intersection between health and politics is a sector that is quite employable. If you hate pharmacy so much that you want to cast it off completely, then this may not be the route for you. But as someone who firsthand has compared the benefits of politics and international relations as a broad degree versus specializing, you would benefit more from the latter.

Hi and thank you so much for the reply!

I find your idea of doing medical law or public health policies very interesting. I am more interested in Race Relations/Multiculturalism and how it affects socio-economic dynamics within and between countries but this could be linked to health care discrepancies. Additionally, I care more about the social side of medicine and pharmacy compared to the hardcore science.

Also, would having a Masters in Pharmacy help me apply to do a Masters in International Relations or another Politics Based Masters? I thought this would put me at a disadvantage as other applicants would have a BA in more relevant subjects?

Of course!

If you care more about the social side of medicine and pharmacy, public health could definitely be a good fit so I encourage you to look at some MA course curriculums to see if it interests you (KCL's program: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/taught-courses/global-health-and-social-justice-msc) You will find that in politics and policy, you are working in very niche areas. For example, you may be working as a public health official designing policies that specifically address POC's access to medical care, and that is your entire job. Political jobs are frequently project based, so specializing in both medicine and race relations/multiculturalism would not be uncommon. If you go into politics, you will find that it is very interdisciplinary and you will be looking at sociological, political, cultural, and economic influences in all issues, including things like healthcare, housing, and educational discrimination between races.

If you are not sold on staying in healthcare and would rather study things like multicultural wealth disparities, the impact of race/ethnicity on education, or working in community development, there are specific MA programs for those. Politics MA's get really focused, so there is bound to be a program that holds your interest. As for having a health degree, it will benefit you in any health and politics related application, and sometimes it is even a requirement. If you stray fully away from healthcare, it could still put you at an advantage because you are bringing an uncommon set of skills to the program/field and that is highly valued in politics. For example, I credit part of my Cambridge acceptance to the fact my degree was in both politics and medicine, which is a non-traditional combination.

I have attached KCL's entire list of political and international relations programs below as a starting point. Take a look at the courses they offer to see if anything resonates with you, and I highly encourage you to check out programs offered at other universities too to see what's out there!
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/subject-areas/international-affairs-and-development/index
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/subject-areas/politics-and-economics/index

Thank you so much! I felt very confused about what potential possibilities I had but your advice has been so helpful. I will definitely explore the links you sent and what pathways are available. Do you mind me asking what degree you initially studied and what you did your postgraduate qualifications in?