Pharmacist Question

[LilaInc]

I was just wondering if any beyond member is thinking of becoming or is a pharmacist?? I was just wondering how schooling is like?

[Supa Dexta]

long,

[Tik-Tok]

My buddies wife is one, she took 6 years of University (i think) for it. If you can do it, and afford it, the paycheques are well the time spent IMO, she makes 6 figures and can have a job pretty much anywhere in the country she wants.

Definately tough though, if you didn't do well at bio. and chem. in high school, don't even bother (her words)

If your looking for something with less schooling and decent pay, Pharm Techs do pretty good for themselves too. (keep trying to get my wife to try for it)

[98type_r]

first you need a BSc degree, then you have to take the pharmacy course at the UofA, so yeah you're looking at 6 years.

Pay is federally regulated, so the government decides what the starting wage is and when/how often you get a raise. Once you're on with a company you may get a raise commensurate on years with the company. I think the base right now is around $60-70K

[simke]

My ex-gf graduated from pharmacy. You do not need a full BSc degree, but most of the people in pharmacy have one. You can do only one year of general sciences and if you have good grades you have a chance to get into pharmacy... then it's 4 yrs for pharmacy degree - that is how she got in. Definitely very tough degree... also they were starting at $39/hr (and this was out east 3 yrs ago).

[jtl]

Originally posted by 98type_r
first you need a BSc degree, then you have to take the pharmacy course at the UofA, so yeah you're looking at 6 years.



You dont need a full degree, just the prerequisite courses (depending on which school you are planning to complete the actual degree).

There are I believe 9 current school in Canada at the moment (Waterloo is just opening theirs, starting next year I think...) that have the pharmacy program, and each school has different requirements (for example, U BC needs to you take a full year of science including physics, write the PCAT, and have an interview, while U of A, you dont need physics or write the test . Basically all the schools require you to have first year of post-secondary sciences + some electives before you are considered for admittance...

If you're planning to get into UofA and want to take the pre-pharm classes in Calgary, youre gonna need at least two years, and year 2 is BRUTALLy hard... genetics, o-chem, and b-chem really killed me good haha. You're really gonna have to sacrifice your time for studying to get into UofA, because they base their entry standards MOSTLY on grades.... to be competitive the site says you should have a 3.5-3.7 GPA. Personally I think that's extremely hard but I never liked studying :dunno:

[G-ZUS]

IMO, for the work you do the pay is high. I worked in a smaller pharmacy (Super Drug Mart), we did like under 100 prescriptions a day, very slack, the pharmacists were making 100 bucks doin fuck all while the technician works her ass off to get 10 bucks an hour. the tech will do most of the work, al l you have to do is check prescriptions before they go back and counsel the patient if they need it. Worth it IMO, but not my cup of tea

[thinmyster]

I wouldnt become a pharmacist. Most people look at you as a glorified cashier. Schooling is hard as many have mentioned and the pay is not THAT great. Pay starts at around the 50 dollar mark and doesnt get much higher

[G]

Basically it is taking pills from a big bottle and putting it into a little bottle.

[Speedy]

There used to be huge money in Online Pharmacy's Calgary had Canada's largest pharmacy, we used to do well over 3000 prescriptions a day.

I worked in their IT department but the 3 pharmacists I started with made so much dough they will never have to work again believe me.

Before I get flamed, we were actually legit, no narcotics, no Viagra, no email spamming.

We dealt mostly with US State benefit programs and Unions saving them millions a year. You would not believe what people pay across the border for meds.

[herragge]

To confirm what most said above, U of A requires a minimum of 30 credits (1 full year) of classes, with prerequisites in biology, inorganic chem, organic chem, stats, math, english and biochem.

U of A competitive average is around 3.6. Very advisable to do better than that. AND having pharmacy experience will help your entrance. ie volunteering, shadowing.

Pharmacy isn't for everyone. They have a good income, and their job stays at the drug store, is not brought to the home, or integrated into your lifestyle. Own your own drug store and you get mad dough because prescription drugs have like 200-400% markup on drugs if not more.

Good luck!

[LilaInc]

thanks for all the info guys. well ive made up my mind to go into pharmacy but i need to upgrade first.

[Pacman]

Originally posted by herragge
Own your own drug store and you get mad dough because prescription drugs have like 200-400% markup on drugs if not more.

Good luck!

Does the pharmacy actually make profit on the drugs they are selling?

I thought the pharmacy made their money on the dispensing fees and, perhaps for some of them, writing/changing the patients prescription.

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by Pacman


Does the pharmacy actually make profit on the drugs they are selling?

I thought the pharmacy made their money on the dispensing fees and, perhaps for some of them, writing/changing the patients prescription.

They don't really make money off the pills, the pill prices @ all pharmacies are pretty much the same, but they make their money off "dispensing fees". One is about 5-10 bucks, another one is 71 cents. There is 2 or 3 fees I can't remember it's been 2 years since I worked in a pharmacy