annoyed

[hadfield]

really what does a pharmacist do?
I work in a small pharmacist and nothing ever happens!
Does taking a box off a shelf and placing it in a bag really take 4 years at uni? I understand there may be worries with drug interactions but surely there could be a computer program designed to allow counter assistants to ask the right questions and place in the answer, warning them to not sell the product. Also theres the PIL in the box to allow the patients how best to take the medication!!
This may only be my opinion as i work in a small town but seriously 4 years for that?!?!?

[Nik]

hadfield I think I agree with you to a certain extent. I'm halfway through my pharm degree and the vast majority of what we learn wouldn't be put to great use as a community pharmacist (really all you need to know is pharmacy practice and basic pharmacology).

That said community pharmacy is a changing profession, and there are a lot more opportunities for pharmacists to become involved in public health issues. In the next few years the image of a community pharmacist won't simply be a dispenser, but I think as a knowledgeable healthcare professional providing public health services more in line with a community's needs.

Obviously there will be many pharmacists on here with their own views who are probably better qualified to properly answer any of your concerns.

[Fleegle]

really what does a pharmacist do?
I work in a small pharmacist and nothing ever happens!
Does taking a box off a shelf and placing it in a bag really take 4 years at uni? I understand there may be worries with drug interactions but surely there could be a computer program designed to allow counter assistants to ask the right questions and place in the answer, warning them to not sell the product. Also theres the PIL in the box to allow the patients how best to take the medication!!
This may only be my opinion as i work in a small town but seriously 4 years for that?!?!?

You sound a bit disillusioned to me, and you haven't even started yet. From your previous posts, assuming you achieved your four 'A's, as you anticipated, you have a world of choice...perhaps Pharmacy is not for you.

Why don't you spend your time at Uni doing something that you are happy with, and which reflects your obvious capabilities?

[hadfield]

Why is pharmacy not an " academic choice"?? I thought you had to be smart to get in!
I think i may find the course interesting im just not sure how it is used in community pharmacy, i was hoping to work in industry or a hospital. Id really like to work for cancer research but how do i get there ?!?

[Sir_Dispensalot]

Why is pharmacy not an " academic choice"?? I thought you had to be smart to get in!
I think i may find the course interesting im just not sure how it is used in community pharmacy, i was hoping to work in industry or a hospital. Id really like to work for cancer research but how do i get there ?!?

Pharmacy IS an academic choice! I'm not sure where you got that it isn't from! There are non-academic routes into the subject but the course itself is highly academic and prepares you for practice on all aspects of pharmacy. In other words a community pharmacist might underuse their clinical or research skills, but the opposite can be said of a hospital or industrial pharmacist. However the fact that you can take your qualification and apply it to a number of quite different fields is an advantage.

If your goal is to work in cancer research for a drug company then a fast-track into that sort of field would be to apply to a university with a good track record for cancer research and do a phD in a related subject (assuming you pass your 4-year degree with a 2:1 or higher) then hope somewhere is hiring researchers for that sort of project. It wouldn't be an easy road to take (or a particularly well-paid one) but it could be highly rewarding to you.

And can you seriously see a computer taking over the various counselling, checking and clinical activities a community pharmacist does on a daily basis or act as a key healthcare professional that any member of the public can access easily and without appointment? Let alone the sheer number of patients lives which get saved on a regular basis because of the training pharmacists recieve (eg spotting heart attacks, serious prescribing errors etc).

I certainly can't see a PC terminal taking over that aspect of our job anytime soon.

Sorry if that doesn't fit in with your view of us simply being label-stickers.

Oh and did i mention that we're the ones who are ultimately responsible for every medicine that leaves the door of the shop? Whether or not someone else cocked things up? The buck stops with us. We are the last ones in the chain of care of a patient and as such we don't have a soul to fall back on.

[hadfield]

However the fact that you can take your qualification and apply it to a number of quite different fields is an advantage.

what other fields can a pharmacy degree take me into?
sorry for the bluntness of my words, but UCAS applications are fast approaching and I need to make sure Im making the right choice. Pharmacy does interest me but at the same time does it?
We recently at school did work on infrared spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy and carboxlic acids etc etc is this the kind of thing i will learn whilst doing a pharmacy degree?
Also , would anyone like to quickly some up what a hospital pharmacist does?
I want to work alongside patients helping them to get better, i want to care , not be sat behind a desk playing games on the computer like the pharmacist where i work do! ( yes its true)

[Sir_Dispensalot]

these are some (not all) of the jobs you could do as a pharmacist:

Medicines information
Drug research
Formulation (designing dosage forms of drugs)
Community pharmacist
PCT pharmacist
Hospital pharmacist
Radiopharmacist
Clinical pharmacist
Supplementary prescriber
Pharmacist with special interest eg oncology pharmacist
Drug analyst
Management eg business development manager for a retail chain, ownership of a private chain etc
Pharmacist training facilitator


And yes, you will cover a LOT more organic chemistry at university, and will be involved in using IR spectra, NMR, mass spec, GC and FID techniques to name but a few. I can recall having a 2" thick book stuffed with unknown compounds IR spectra etc handed to me in my second year and being told that I would need to have all the compounds identified by the end of the year.

hmmm. How can I put this. You've seen the thin end of the wedge. If business is so slow that your pharmacist can sit about playing solitaire then whoever owns the shop might be getting a little tetchy at the loss of trade! Most of us out on the coalface have barely a spare minute to catch our breath, let alone take a break.

You work in a pharmacy and still have doubts about if it's the right career for you. I suggest you sit and have a good think about the direction you want your life to go in - and remember nothing is set in stone. If it turns out you hate your degree in the first year or two of it then it is always possible to transfer to a course in the same sort of field but it pays to know that you are selecting the right course for you for the right reasons.

[johnep]

Adding to the list, in one co I worked for.

Marketing (that was me)

Cosmetic chemist, flavorist, perfumer.

Plus others in production, quality control.

johnep

[Nik]

The very fact that one has a pharmacy degree is worth shouting about. Pharmacy is one of those subjects that is multi-disciplinary, hence it draws upon knowledge of other fields of science.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's the only degree of its kind which opens so many doors for you once you graduate.