Are pharmacists just failed doctors and dentists?

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Hi there, I visited a pharmacy school the other day, and the majority of students I spoke to told me they wanted to do medicine or dentistry, but couldnt get in due to not getting the grades. This really shocked me as it dawned on me, are they just failed doctors who have seen pharmacy as a means to an end? No disrespect to the profession, but I was also speaking to my pharmacist the other day who told me it was the crappiest job in the world, and he gets abuse from customers on a daily basis...

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draghm

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(Original post by lucky20)
Hi there, I visited a pharmacy school the other day, and the majority of students I spoke to told me they wanted to do medicine or dentistry, but couldnt get in due to not getting the grades. This really shocked me as it dawned on me, are they just failed doctors who have seen pharmacy as a means to an end? No disrespect to the profession, but I was also speaking to my pharmacist the other day who told me it was the crappiest job in the world, and he gets abuse from customers on a daily basis...

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At least it is a job.

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hcw

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no! I could have done medicine with my grades but i chose to do pharmacy, there are so many reasons why someone might choose not to do medicine/dentistry other than not getting the grades - like for me I don't want to stick needles in people or spend my life looking at peoples mouths! Neither medicine nor dentistry appealed to me, and I know plenty of people on my course who feel the same. And I don't know how your pharmacist can say its the crappest job in the world....he should feel glad he's not emptying bins or cleaning toilets........! Its a job you don't do it because you really want to, thats why they pay you...

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Andy_J

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Im doing Pharmacy and I have 2A* and 2A's. Believe it or not, not everybody wants to be a doctor.

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Harley

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Nope, I've never really wanted to be a doctor (apart from maybe briefly as a kid when your career ambitions vary day-to-day and are sometimes to be inanimate objects). For one thing I'm far too squeamish! I'm far happier doing the pharmacy side of things where I don't have to look at people's insides or poke at growths on feet etc

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fallenangel

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I wouldn't say that they're failed medics, but many did initially apply for medicine/dentistry - so some may view them as that.

I think pharmacy is a respected career and those passionate about it will enjoy their course. I preferred medicine and I was blessed to have got in but I don't see myself as any better than a pharmacist.

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Rebeelouise

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I have also met student pharmacists who said they are glad they ended up in pharmacy and not medicine as it suited them more.
It is still a very competitive and respective profession - and that is probably why it is medical students back up!

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NC

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Nope, all my UCAS choices (6 back in the day) were all for Pharmacy!

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paul.dirac121

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(Original post by hcw)
no! I could have done medicine with my grades but i chose to do pharmacy, there are so many reasons why someone might choose not to do medicine/dentistry other than not getting the grades - like for me I don't want to stick needles in people or spend my life looking at peoples mouths! Neither medicine nor dentistry appealed to me, and I know plenty of people on my course who feel the same. And I don't know how your pharmacist can say its the crappest job in the world....he should feel glad he's not emptying bins or cleaning toilets........! Its a job you don't do it because you really want to, thats why they pay you...

Ok I can see where you are coming from. But I think people in the healthcare profession should be motivated and enjoy their work, this will definitely have a good impact in terms of patient care. If it was just a 'job' and people did it jusf for the money I really think this would negatively impact healthcare. Im sure my GP wouldnt say 'its just a job, and I do it for the big salary'...

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concubine

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Pharmacy seems more interesting to me than dentistry or medicine.

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Rebeelouise

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(Original post by lucky20)
Ok I can see where you are coming from. But I think people in the healthcare profession should be motivated and enjoy their work, this will definitely have a good impact in terms of patient care. If it was just a 'job' and people did it jusf for the money I really think this would negatively impact healthcare. Im sure my GP wouldnt say 'its just a job, and I do it for the big salary'...

I'm pretty sure they would still enjoy it! And you can go on and to postgrads if you are not happy? Or you can retrain? It's not a dead end! And I'm pretty sure pharmacists who did want to be doctors would understand every concept to do with patient care (well I would hope so anyway) and they should in theory be caring and have all of those qualities. So...

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b4tman

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Not necessarily, ok some medicine rejects may do pharmacy for that reason, but the majority do pharmacy because they want to do pharmacy.

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Andy_J

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(Original post by lucky20)
Ok I can see where you are coming from. But I think people in the healthcare profession should be motivated and enjoy their work, this will definitely have a good impact in terms of patient care. If it was just a 'job' and people did it jusf for the money I really think this would negatively impact healthcare. Im sure my GP wouldnt say 'its just a job, and I do it for the big salary'...

A lot of GPs just be a doctor so that they can have "Dr" at the start of their name and have a big salary. If people just cared about helping others then they would have been a nurse.

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Holland.

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(Original post by lucky20)
Hi there, I visited a pharmacy school the other day, and the majority of students I spoke to told me they wanted to do medicine or dentistry, but couldnt get in due to not getting the grades. This really shocked me as it dawned on me, are they just failed doctors who have seen pharmacy as a means to an end? No disrespect to the profession, but I was also speaking to my pharmacist the other day who told me it was the crappiest job in the world, and he gets abuse from customers on a daily basis...

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Both my mother and father are pharmacists, originally my mum was training to be a surgeon but she dropped out because she didn't like it, and went into pharmacy instead. But yeah, they always tell me to never do pharmacy because it's actually a really hard job- due to the late hours and what not. They sometimes work from 9:00 am - 1:00 am straight. No joke.

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nombo

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(Original post by Andy_J)
A lot of GPs just be a doctor so that they can have "Dr" at the start of their name and have a big salary. If people just cared about helping others then they would have been a nurse.

I completely disagree. Nursing is an extremely honourable career, but being a doctor is too, and it requires more depth of knowledge, and doctors (consultants and senior doctors, not junior doctors as much) are essentially in charge of a team, of which nurses are a part. I think your comment is quite disrespectful; doctors help in a totally different way to nurses, and to say one is better than the other is quite rude and ignorant. I don't think anyone would go through 5 years minimum training just for title and a salary. They don't just lie there for their salary, you know.

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DentalLondon

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(Original post by nombo)
I completely disagree. Nursing is an extremely honourable career, but being a doctor is too, and it requires more depth of knowledge, and doctors (consultants and senior doctors, not junior doctors as much) are essentially in charge of a team, of which nurses are a part. I think your comment is quite disrespectful; doctors help in a totally different way to nurses, and to say one is better than the other is quite rude and ignorant. I don't think anyone would go through 5 years minimum training just for title and a salary. They don't just lie there for their salary, you know.

Relax, the person you quoted, said ''GPs'' and not those doctors working in the hospital

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hcw

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(Original post by lucky20)
Ok I can see where you are coming from. But I think people in the healthcare profession should be motivated and enjoy their work, this will definitely have a good impact in terms of patient care. If it was just a 'job' and people did it jusf for the money I really think this would negatively impact healthcare. Im sure my GP wouldnt say 'its just a job, and I do it for the big salary'...

Yeah that's true, I think that comes as you study as well, because the more you learn and the more you invest in the job the more important it seems to you other than just about money...I agree that any good healthcare professional should be motivated and not seem bored, I think it was actually really bad of the pharmacist you spoke to that he said those things, I guess pharmacy isn't for everyone. It also depends on where you are - there are some areas where you're likely to get a lot more aggressive patients..but then any job there's gonna be aspects of it you don't like. I don't believe anyone loves their job 100% all the time...

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nombo

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(Original post by DentalLondon)
Relax, the person you quoted, said ''GPs'' and not those doctors working in the hospital

Fair enough, but I still think it's extremely rude to dismiss how long and hard it is to become a GP, and to think they only do it for the money and a title.

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(Original post by Andy_J)
Im doing Pharmacy and I have 2A* and 2A's. Believe it or not, not everybody wants to be a doctor.

Just because you have those grades doesn't mean you didn't want to do medicine. Not saying you do, just that you need a lot more than good grades to get in.

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ThatPerson

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I'm sure that there are plenty who have gone into Pharmacy as a backup option after Medicine. However there also must be some who originally wanted to do pharmacy.

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