Pharmacy Sydney Uni (2 Viewers)

jasonml

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cos many pharmacy students expect to be treated and live like mini doctors upon graduating. 9am-5pm in an inner city retail store is what people picture. pharmacy has pretty good job prospects, much better than most degrees at university. the pay is actually above average (or at least i thought so) and if you're doing a job just for the money then please kindly fuck off.
Average full-time pharmacist wage (yes, wage!) is $42/h. that works out to be just over 70,000 per year, AND no holiday bonus, NO sick pay.

HAHAHA good job prospects like what??? please, do tell me. last time i checked spending 10-12 hours a day sticking labels onto a box and selling sunscreen + bandaids wasn't a particularly good job prospect.
 

jasonml

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no hot shot gp knows more than us about drug interactions ok sunshine? we counsel patients all the time. We take blood pressures etc we recomend alternative drugs etc
Are you joking? actually? any GP has the EXACT same copy of MIMs that you do, and would easily have way way way more insight into drug interactions and contraindications, they write hundreds of rx's every day, administer hundreds of medications every week, they simply have more experience. (a GP will see 3-4 drug reps per day, a pharmacist will see 3-4 drug reps a year).

Counseling patients? what, you look at what the GP has written on the rx, and repeat it to the patient "Okay, so the doctor wants you to take these tablets 2 times a day for a week". Or "Hey I have a sore throat" "Here, have a difflam lozenge" HAHA yep pretty fuckin intense counselling.....

Taking blood pressure? a pharmacist will do this probably twice in their whole 40-year career. the 1st time will be on some fat person who wants to buy a weight-loss-chocolate bar, and the 2nd time will be on yourself because you are so bored one day.

Recommend alternative drugs hahaha! what?? "Do you want to have the generic brand?" hahahah fucking joke!
 

485h324s

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haha why dont u buy a pharmacy and make big bucks, customer base already there just need to keep it steady and REAP THE BENEFITS yayeh
 

lala2

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Hear hear to everything in this thread, yes I'm looking at both you guys, jasonml and Ben.Civiletti. Both types of pharmacy exist, unfortunately it seems anecdoctally (yes I must stress this) that there's more of the former. Perhaps because the outstanding majority of pharmacy students live (and therefore work) in western Sydney and St George area.

I think my thread's received enough coverage, but if you haven't had a look, I'm on the don't-do-retail! bandwagon and here's why:

http://community.boredofstudies.org...dent-pls-read-if-youre-considering-pharm.html

Also a very minor correction jasonml, if you've been working 38 years compared to 2 years you'll definitely get paid higher because you fall under the 5 years or more experience bracket. But yep, you read that correctly. It increases for every year you've been registered up to 5 years post-registration, and then stops, i.e. whether you've had 38 or 5 years experience your minimum pay is the same rate and it's up to you to negotiate with your boss if you think you're worth more.

Catherine, please do not do pharmacy just because there seems to be no other apparently interesting course especially if you haven't had pharmacy experience yet. That was the exact same mistake I made. I was interested in science, wanted a stable career, and it was the course with the highest cutoff that I could make with my UAI. I hadn't had any pharmacy experience prior to choosing (my school stupidly abolished work experience the year I was in Year 10). If I had, I would never have done pharmacy. Though I dunno what I would've done, in hindsight. Maybe physio or something. Or maybe still have gone through with pharmacy but not been as disappointed. You don't need that plaguing you through 4 years of study.
 

meilz92

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whats this i hear about pharmicists now being allowed to do government "medicine reviews" or something? what are they? apparently something about being able to make a report of drugs sold or statistics or something? apparently if a pharmacist does these "medicine reviews" they get paid good money for each one they do?
 

sannous1

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Im just curious, anyone planning on doin this course and know what the cut-off is?


hey im a random but kjalloil u listen to ur heart girl dont listen to anybody woot woott shake shake kokojumboo lmaooo mwa
 

lala2

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whats this i hear about pharmicists now being allowed to do government "medicine reviews" or something? what are they? apparently something about being able to make a report of drugs sold or statistics or something? apparently if a pharmacist does these "medicine reviews" they get paid good money for each one they do?
i wouldnt count on it, its where you review the effectiveness of drugs mainly for age care patients. I think its 40 odd bucks per review but lala will definetly know more.

I think if you want mega bucks for what you do, u should do locum pharamacy. Its where you drive to patients homes and sort of give them the meds prescribed? lala ellaborate please?
Yep, you've got the gist of it. You review the effectiveness of drugs in a nominated patient (sometimes their GP will request one, other times the pharmacist will initiate if they're particularly concerned about a patient). Can't remember the price but I think it's $120/review? So if you get up to speed you could be earning >$40/hr for a single review. But it's a lot of work. You need to interview the patient (usually at their homes too so travel time and cost as well), then you need to write up the actual review, then you need to inform the GP and patient about your recommendations, then send it off to the government.

Another thing--you need to be accredited to do these medicines reviews, also known as home medication reviews (HMRs). I think it's an initial exam plus you have to do a certain amount of continuing education points to retain this accreditation.

Locum pharmacy is basically substituting for another pharmacist, e.g. they're on holidays or sick. Mega bucks here, because it's an emergency situation. Particularly high demand in rural locations--I've seen rates as high as $60/hr and that's just from casually browsing job websites for locum pharmacists. If you'd like more info you can check out Welcome to Locumco. They also have a brief pros/cons section which might be of interest. If you do decide to have a look, also note how the only jobs available seem to be in rural areas (both locum and non-locum).
 

sinophile

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I really, really appreciate your advice on this matter. Thank you heaps. You've really made a positive contribution to deciding on a good course.

I highyl suggest anyone who hasnt read her thread and is considering pharmacy to do so now.
 

lala2

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I really, really appreciate your advice on this matter. Thank you heaps. You've really made a positive contribution to deciding on a good course.

I highyl suggest anyone who hasnt read her thread and is considering pharmacy to do so now.
You're welcome.

Is pharmacy a good undergraduate course for Medicine?
If so, is it hard to get/maintain a GPA of 5.5? Whats the percentage of students that get a GPA of 5.5?
It's a great undergrad course for med according to a friend who's doing med now. They teach you very little pharmacology (study of drugs) in med because of how much else needs to be known, so having that extra knowledge is advantageous. Not to mention we do quite a few of the same foundation subjects, e.g. bio, chem, physiology, microbiology, so even though you cannot be credited for them (nothing can in med) it's just easier to learn it second time round. Note the same can be said for any other health course, e.g. physios will have it easy when it comes to anatomy. So pick something you'd be remotely interested in for 4 years that will allow you to get the marks required.

It's not hard to maintain a GPA of 5.5. That's a credit average. You only need to put in a reasonable amount of effort. Don't know about percentage though.
 

danz90

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With the new curriculum, Pharmacy is actually an even better undergrad course for Med. The 3rd year units of study are now more like in a Med degree, you focus on body systems (ie Respiratory, Endocrine, Gastro etc.) and thats what the actual units of study are called by, eg. "PHAR3811 -Respiratory".
 

lala2

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^^Good point, I completely forgot about that. I'm assuming they're mixing the physiology and pharmacology together per body system?
 

kjalloul

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omg, kjay! are u gunaa do pharmacy loll .. i reccomend yu doin it, my brotheers loving it =) he can helpp yaa if ur in need if yu do end up choosing pharmacy lol :D
LOL, nah I doubt i would even get into pharmacy. And anyway, by the sounds of things, its not a career id last long in. Soooo.....bye bye pharmacy.
 

kjalloul

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hey im a random but kjalloil u listen to ur heart girl dont listen to anybody woot woott shake shake kokojumboo lmaooo mwa
:eek: I think its too late, im put-off pharmacy. Doesnt sound like something id be interested in let alone love to do


..............smeekeh
 

danz90

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^^Good point, I completely forgot about that. I'm assuming they're mixing the physiology and pharmacology together per body system?
Yep, and also Pharmacy practice and other areas. Will be interesting, hopefully.
 

meilz92

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If you want to spend ridiculously long shifts (8am-8pm) standing on your feet, in the one spot, doing the same repetative physical movements over and over and over again (pick up script, walk to shelf, pick up box, type on the keyboard, print label, stick label, print repeat, staple, hand out to px)
+ dealing with grumpy, rude old people
+ sifting through order forms, unpacking boxes
+ your colleagues being 15 year old shop assisstants
+ always having to keep a smile on your face and be really "friendly" to customers, even at the end of a 10 hour shift
+ ultimately having a job in which you can't progress in (i.e. someone who has been a pharmacist for 38 years will have EXACTLY the same position, pay, responsibilities, as someone who has been a pharmacist for 2 years)
haha omg when i think about it, at MY work this is sooo true! except im a 17 year old shop assistant :p
 

jasonml

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It's not hard to maintain a GPA of 5.5. That's a credit average. You only need to put in a reasonable amount of effort. Don't know about percentage though.
a credit average equates to GPA 5.0 you loser

and no, pharmacy probably isn't a particularly good undergraduate crouse for medicine. yes in your first year you will have some common foundation subjects, but within BSc (medical science) and even straight BSc you have way way way way more potential foundation subjects - and BOTH of these courses have lower entry requirements, and are only 3 year ft (instead of Bpharm's 4-5)

if are looking for an medicine undergrad course, pharmacy is a terrible option.
 

lala2

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a credit average equates to GPA 5.0 you loser

and no, pharmacy probably isn't a particularly good undergraduate crouse for medicine. yes in your first year you will have some common foundation subjects, but within BSc (medical science) and even straight BSc you have way way way way more potential foundation subjects - and BOTH of these courses have lower entry requirements, and are only 3 year ft (instead of Bpharm's 4-5)

if are looking for an medicine undergrad course, pharmacy is a terrible option.
No need for the insult thanks. I'm more than willing to correct my mistakes. GPA 5.5 is somewhere between a credit and distinction average, again, not hard to achieve. They must've restructured the degree to eliminate all the foundation subjects not directly relevant to pharmacy, because when I did it our first year was identical to science and med science students--bio, chem, maths, the lot. And don't forget the second year too, which covers subjects only a second year science student would cover anyway--microbio, physiology, pharmacology.

True that, you save a year but if you fail to get into med (or even if you do) this is where pharmacy becomes very useful--you can work towards your registration while waiting to try again, or work part-time as a pharmacist if you do. Some stats--six people from my year who got into med--1 ANU and the rest USYD. And that's just who I know. So it's not a bad backup plan, imo.
 

anonymus2003

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^^Good point, I completely forgot about that. I'm assuming they're mixing the physiology and pharmacology together per body system?
To Jason: your completely right, pharmacy is not as grand as people think. you do the same things day in and day out. but thats with alot of jobs not just pharmacy to be honest. but yes sticking labels, giving out difflam and saying u want generics? is bout the height of your careeer. unless you work in industry or hospital where youre more an expert and you recommend what needs to be prescribed etc.

To Lala and danz, yeah its like that, theyre going to talk about the pharmacotherapeutics of each of those body systems seeing that by the end of second year you've pretty much done everything in 3rd year they had to bring some new things, from what i know 4th year isnt even developed for us yet. But should be exciting, last years pharmacology they removed diabetes saying it would now be included in 3rd year, but so far ive done pharmacokinetics and genetics, medchem 2a, 3a (now called drug discovery and design A and B) and also done pharmaceutics a and b, now skillfully called Formulating and Dispensing.

ill let u guys know how it goes wen the year starts i guess?

P.S Im 3rd year pharmacy student under the new curriculum so if anyones got questions by all means direct them to me.
 

lala2

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Please do anonymous. That'd be a great help to future students not to mention it'd be interesting to compare to what I studied.
 

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