b pharmacy or b comm/science? (1 Viewer)

[gunat61]

hi ..

i'm interested in doing pharmacy.. preferably work for a pharmaceutical company then maybe open a pharmacy when i'm older .. do you need to have a commerce degree as well? they only have pharmacy/commerce in melb and i'd prefer staying in syd if there's an alternate approach. OR is it better doing commerce/science and majoring in chemistry + business something .. ? or commerce (liberal studies)

thanks! i have loads of time to decide .. just want an idea for where i'm headed

 

[meilz92]

Oh ma gawd you are exactly like me, I was tossing up between pharm and com/science. Firstly do you KNOw much about pharm, ie. The fact that it is glorified retail and a very boring job? Or are you passionate about it? I've worked in a pharmacy and let me tellyou, pharmacists don't do shit, they don't use half the stuff you learn in uni. Also they have to perform menial retail tasks especially if they own their own pharmacy. If you are really keen, DEFINITELY do b pharm, you don't need commerce, I've never heard of a pharmacy owner with a commerce degree, they all have B Pharm or occasionally B Science with a master in pharmacy. Also job prospects in Sydney for a graduate are shit, I know of pharm grads who haven't been able to get a job and go back to uni. Also base hourly wage for a graduate is About $22 an hour lol. bottom line, unless you are passionate about pharmacy and intend to open up your own shop, don't do pharm. If you are passionate etc then just do B Pharm, like NO pharmacists have a commerce degree. One of my bosses is like 28 yrs old and has a b pharm and has a partnership with my other boss and they are doing EXTREMELY well for themselves, it's a gr8 business.

 

[meilz92]

I chose commerce/science because I realized I don't want to slave away in a pharmacy for the rest of my life, also I can study more broad fields and keep options open with com/sc.

 

[Hermes1]

I chose commerce/science because I realized I don't want to slave away in a pharmacy for the rest of my life, also I can study more broad fields and keep options open with com/sc.

i agree with this. comm/sci is a much better course since it combines the two most popular fields of work. so if you decide pharm is not for you, the degree will give you other job prospects

 

[gunat61]

thanks guys. so can i still work in a pharmaceutical company with commerce/science and are there many pharmaceutical companies in australia? majority seem to be in US and switzerland (nice place but maybe later .. )

 

[meilz92]

with a major in pharmacology perhaps.

 

[Omnipotence]

USyd Pharmacy is a stand alone course (4Yrs). If you definitely want to do pharmacy then it wouldn't be necessary to do a double degree, as it is a waste of time.

 

[Hermes1]

iirc the cutoff for B Pharm at USyd was like 93.5 last year. Also i think theres a bachelors degree in pharmacy but you can also do a major in pharmacology in the bachelor of science degree

 

[gunat61]

what abt the commerce (liberal studies) degree? what would be the advantage of doing comm/science (or disadvantage) over comm (lib)? and major in chem .. but yeah, i'm not fixed on anything so probably better to do something broader.

 

[jamesfirst]

I like turtles.

 

[Hermes1]

I like turtles.

wtf

 

[meilz92]

but you can also do a major in pharmacology in the bachelor of science degree

this is not sufficient qualifications to become a registered pharmacist, you would have to do masters ie. waste of time but your only option if you dont get the atar for pharm.

 

[meilz92]

what abt the commerce (liberal studies) degree? what would be the advantage of doing comm/science (or disadvantage) over comm (lib)? and major in chem .. but yeah, i'm not fixed on anything so probably better to do something broader.

commerce will be absolutely 100% useless if you want to pursue a career in pharmacy, nothing but a waste of time.

out of commerce liberal studies and com/sc, com/sc would be better imo simply because you get so much choice and the privilege of having a combined degree. However as i said earlier, if you are keen on pharmacy and have educated yourself about it, then i would only do B Pharm because honestly that is all you need.

Have you ever worked in a pharmacy?

 

[gunat61]

lol but i'm not 100% sure pharmacy is what i want to do .. it's just that i enjoy chemistry the most out of my subjects so i thought that's probably the best thing to do. what else can you do with pharmacy besides research/education? don't mind those but what else? yeah i have worked in a pharmacy and it was pretty boring but that was work experience and they kept asking me to clean/buy milkshakes/stick stickers on medication so don't think it was the complete experience but what about pharmaceutical companies? instead of actually having a pharmacy. can i work in a pharmaceutical company without the commerce bit?

 

[Hermes1]

lol but i'm not 100% sure pharmacy is what i want to do .. it's just that i enjoy chemistry the most out of my subjects so i thought that's probably the best thing to do. what else can you do with pharmacy besides research/education? don't mind those but what else? yeah i have worked in a pharmacy and it was pretty boring but that was work experience and they kept asking me to clean/buy milkshakes/stick stickers on medication so don't think it was the complete experience but what about pharmaceutical companies? instead of actually having a pharmacy. can i work in a pharmaceutical company without the commerce bit?

if you enjoy chemistry, there are way better professions out their, like chemical engineering, medicinal chemistry etc.

 

[meilz92]

lol but i'm not 100% sure pharmacy is what i want to do .. it's just that i enjoy chemistry the most out of my subjects so i thought that's probably the best thing to do. what else can you do with pharmacy besides research/education? don't mind those but what else? yeah i have worked in a pharmacy and it was pretty boring but that was work experience and they kept asking me to clean/buy milkshakes/stick stickers on medication so don't think it was the complete experience but what about pharmaceutical companies? instead of actually having a pharmacy. can i work in a pharmaceutical company without the commerce bit?

the job prospects are very shit for someone with merely a B Sc(Pharmacology). To work in a pharmaceutical company, depends what you want to do for them. Drug synthesis and research would be very difficult to get into as a graduate imo. If you want to be work in corporate fields for the company like marketing, HR, accounting, finance etc than you dont even need a b sc because it has nothing to do with science, but you will need a b com. Sounds like you like science, so I wouldn't bother with the commerce part. Have you considered any other professions besides pharmacy?

 

[gunat61]

medicinal chemistry looks quite appealing lol. you guys know about job prospects for that? thanks. how do i 'rep' you guys? yeah, i know i'm pretty noob =P

 

[FrozenSky]

medicinal chemistry looks quite appealing lol. you guys know about job prospects for that? thanks. how do i 'rep' you guys? yeah, i know i'm pretty noob =P

The job prospect for medicinal chemistry is also crap. Medicinal chemistry is basically a research degree in creating medicine which doesn't allow you to attain a pharm licence. A lot of people believe that medicinal chemistry will allow you to practice pharmacy, however that is wrong. Pharmacy is making medicine (staying at the back of the retail store and following instructions on how to make the drug), whereas medicinal chem is research on how to design and create new drugs.
Any research degree in Australia will have a crap job prospect (and thus why most of the high achieving science students at uni will become lecturers), if you were to combine your research degree with an international degree then you may migrate to places where there's a demand for research.