Pharmacy...a boring career??

So, Ive been really struggling with what course to choose for uni, (pharmacy? medicinal chemistry? biomedical science? natural science?) I had pretty much made a decision to do pharmacy.
But...
Today, i went into a pharmacy to see about doing some work experience, the pharmacist told me he hates it, its boring, and work experience will put me off.
:/ :/
So, now im thrown back to the drawing board, just when i thought id decided!
I was just wondering if someone (a pharmacist maybe) could tell me what your opinions of the job are, what is there to do, and is it really boring? :/
Thankyou

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Reply 1

ily_em

I think it depends on the person. My friend does pharmacy at uni and really enjoyed the work placements she did over the summer :smile:

Reply 2

jami74

I'm not a pharmacist (yet) but I work in a community pharmacy and find it really interesting. I've worked with lots of different pharmacists, some love it and some moan lots about it. Where ever you end up working you'll find a mix of people who really make the most of their position and people who don't like it. Everyone has bad days, I'm sure there are aspects to all jobs that people wish they could avoid but like with everything in life it will be as good as you make it.

Reply 3

TheDubs

Original post by katehelena

Hahah I had this too but with a different subject. Its horrible going back to the drawing board based on others opinions on here.

Stick with it, thats only that guys opinion, everyone has their own opinion on something based on their own experiences, personality etc.

Besides, a degree isnt always specific to its related industry. A degree shows that you're independent, and if its a BSc or science degree like your one it implies you can analyse figures and data etc. which is valuable to a help of a lot of companies. So you're not exactly stuck in to go there.

Reply 4

katehelena

Original post by jami74

Yeahh youre right about people having their own opinions etc, its just a bit disheartening when people say that. :/
This might seem like a silly question, but what do pharmacists actually do that's different to what the technicians or dispensers do?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5

Besakt

When I did work experience at the pharmacy (2 weeks) it was the most boring two weeks of my life. It was at a community pharmacy, working at a hospital pharmacy may be different though.

Reply 6

username793911

During my volunteer work at a hospital, I often have to run errands to the pharmacy department and spend a lot of time waiting there. It isn't much fun around that side, mostly because it's tucked away.

However, I do think that you should stick at the volunteering work, just to see if it picks up or not. Some days may be bad, but others may be good, but you need your own opinion on it and not use others to form your own.

Good luck!

Reply 7

Fantaisie

not if you dip into the stash.

Reply 8

AmberCD

Original post by katehelena

Different pharmacists will have different opinions but at the end of the day if you do a Pharmacy degree it is a well respected scientific degree so you can still go into branches of medicinal chemistry etc. postgrad/in research but you will still have a qualification that is valued enabling you to have some money to fund further studies or other hobbies if you decided it's not for you.

I work in a Pharmacy atm and I have a locum who comes in complaining about it because of the "lack of respect (as apposed to doctors) and less money (again compared to doctors)" he also tell me to become a doctor :facepalm:

(no thank you) but as graduate jobs go (compared to the others without a PHD) it's definitely not bad. I am personally interested in the hospital side of Pharmacy which is expanding as far as I know :smile:

Try get some work experience somewhere, anywhere to get your head straight :s-smilie:

Useful:
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/community_pharmacist_job_description.htm
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/hospital_pharmacist_job_description.htm
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/research_scientist_medical_job_description.htm
Also:
http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~norrismj/careers/index.htm

Reply 9

jami74

Original post by katehelena

They have the responsibility and they earn the money. I'm sure some dispensers and technicians like to think they do the pharmacists job and depending on where you work they might all do the same sorts of things (like labelling, dispensing etc) but at the end of the day the pharmacists has far superior knowledge about how everything works and is the one responsible for making sure everything is accurate and correct.

Reply 10

manupalace

it depends how involved a pharmacist gets in patient care imo. In hospital pharmacy pharmacists have a bigger role to play making the job more interesting.

Reply 11

petzneo

Original post by AmberCD

Try get some work experience somewhere, anywhere to get your head straight :s-smilie:

Listen to this.

It is also what you put into it. I cannot wait to start my pre-reg in hospital...hospital for me is the way forward. When I was your age I did a community placement and I was lucky enough to do a hospital placement. The hospital placement made me want to study pharmacy.

Also, the degree is well respected, it has excellent job prospects. Almost 90% of my year has got a pre-registration place.

In addition, there are so many career paths to go into: academic roles, hospital, community, industry, research and journalism etc etc

Finally, the great thing about pharmacy is that it does not really matter which school of pharmacy you go to...so you can't really go wrong!

Reply 12

username739587

Original post by katehelena

Everyone says that about their job. When I was doing work experience loads of people in mid career were going "don't do it"

Very dull.

Entirely depends on whether it's busy, whether local people in that area are inclined to come in to ask for help with minor illnesses, and whether the staff you're working with are friendly and interesting.

I'm a pre-reg pharmacist working in a completely understaffed store with a fairly but not very busy dispensary and even though it's stressful and tough at times it's so great to have an impact on people's lives through even making their day better with advice on their prescription meds that it's worth it and never ever boring.

Reply 15

member9876

Trust me look into hospital pharmacy, its really interesting and more specialised than community pharmacy. However even community pharmacy is expanding.

Secondly tell me a job which has 100% job prospects, good pay, decent working hours.

As for docotrs getting more pay, do they really get that much more for working longer hours and touching horrible patients?

Doctors rely on the pharmacists a lot in hospital as do nurses. We are well respected as opposed to a shop where the general public have their usual thick perceptions.

Reply 16

katehelena

I always thought hospital pharmacy seemed more interesting, and most people's views on here have kind of confirmed that. Thanks for the help everyone! :biggrin:

But im still stuck whether to do pharmacy or a more general degree like natural sci, chemistry or bimedical sci :s
Will i ever decide? :s :\

Reply 17

Bill_Gates

being a pharmacist = suicide!

Reply 18

manupalace

Original post by katehelena

I always thought hospital pharmacy seemed more interesting, and most people's views on here have kind of confirmed that. Thanks for the help everyone! :biggrin:

But im still stuck whether to do pharmacy or a more general degree like natural sci, chemistry or bimedical sci :s
Will i ever decide? :s :\

Depends what you want to do after. You can go into a lab after a pharmacy degree (with appropriate work experience) or industry but can't go into hospital or community pharmacy after any of the other degrees.

It should also be noted that unlike medicine and dentistry, pharmacy is not exempt from the equivalent or lower qualification (ELQ) funding issues.