Pharmacy and the future (1 Viewer)

[Amakii]

Hey all! It feels wrong for me to post here, as all of you seem so enthusiastic about uni and everything, but let's see if I can get any advice. (And also literally wrong, was it wrong to post in general? Should this be in the Medicine/Health section? o_o)

I'm in first year pharmacy, and I feel like it really sucks. I passed first semester, but I just really hate the course (I think I hate it anyway). I'm not really putting much effort into anything, I basically only do the assessable work, and no proper consistent study. At the moment, half of the course is maths and chem, and to be honest, I was never really superb at those two subjects. The atmosphere at uni just makes me want to puke, everyone is so hard-working, and even the types that seem like party-loving people seem to get great exam marks, three HDs and marks like that. >__> I think the course is freaking hard, but I'm not sure if it's because I'm simply not suited for it, or because I'm lazy.

I didn't really think much about what I wanted to do, I just basically put down a bunch of health sciencey courses, and enrolled in the one I was accepted into. I've always just assumed that I'd do a health science, because that's just a common girl thing to do (Sorry for the stereotyping). T_T

Maybe I should have gone to more open days? I'm just not sure what I would transfer into if I were actually considering a transfer, and then if I did transfer, would I find it just as hard? It'd feel wasteful if I transfer and hate that course too.

I'm not sure if I'm just being a lazy phag, so someone please enlighten me? The thing is, I'm sure I could most probably scrape a pass through 4 years of this pharmacy course, I'm just wondering if I'll end up as a sucky pharmacist who hates the job. Is this just a phase I'm going through? Will I get over it? :x Should I just try to study harder? At the moment, I'm just dreaming of getting a part-time supermarket checkout-chick job; it's a pretty whacky dream, which I think evidently means I'm bored of studies, haha. But hmm, yes, at the moment, I feel like I have absolutely no educational interests at all. x]

Thanks in advance for any advice. Please slap some sense into me, my lovelies.

 

[xoa]

It's usual for universities to include irrelevent boring crap in practically orientated courses.

I endured 4 semesters of anatomy and 2 semesters of physics. I might use a bit of anatomy, but the phsyics is utterly useless.

The question shouldn't be whether you enjoy studying pharmacy, it should be whether you'll enjoy working in pharmacy..

Community pharmacists might live a sedentary life, but it's better than being a checkout operator. You'll get more respect, more pay, and you won't be standing in one spot for hours on end. Pharmacists are treated like professionals, checkout operators get treated like dirt.

 

[Amakii]

Ah thanks for the reply, xoa! Especially to someone with one post, hehe.

Haha yeah, I wasn't aiming for a checkout operator job for the rest of my life, I think my parents would disown me and I doubt I'd be able to live comfortably off that type of salary by myself. I just meant that at the moment, I have absolutely no interest in studying. Sort of sad actually, I feel so left out.

I guess I assumed that the course would be enjoyable since I've committed myself to four years of it. I guess I'll just try to struggle through another three years of it.

I can't imagine myself being a pharmacist though. Seems sort of creepy. Hopefully I'll mature some time in the near future.

 

[wlauy1]

I agree with XOA, it's not realli important on whether u like the course or not (although it will affect how well u'll get in ur marks) but more on whether u want to become a pharmacist or not. Try talking to some 4 yr student or pre register pharmarcist and ask them wat's it's like in the working environment. I had a friend who's in his pre-registration yr and he's having doubts working as a pharmacist after 4 hard yrs of study....... he was complaining the pay just isn't good enough for the hard work he put in (he's only in his pre-registered yr, how mch does he expect to earn?) and the other thing he was complaining that working as a commnity pharmacy is quite if not very boring eg stand around and waiting for customer lol. The only thing he enjoys is working in a hospital but that's quite limited according to him.

 

[xclusv2bhung]

hey x]
umm .. you can transfer across to other courses can`t you ?

i dont know though , cos i`m still in yr 12 ... but i plan to do pharmacy though.
haha i heard first year was crap though (really year-12-like) .. so i guess you wont be getting into the awesome medicine-making stuff until next year

ahahah best of luck ! =]
[ aww pharmacy`s so cool ^^ ]

 

[Amakii]

Aw thanks all for the replies!

Yeah true, I hate the course and my marks are pretty dodgy. Semester 1 results ranged from 50 to 79, hahahaaha. T___T

Our lecturer told us that in pre-reg year, you basically earn 80% of how much a fully licensed pharmacist earns. o__o Pharmacists don't really earn that much, it's more about the self-satisfaction and the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you know you've helped someone. Or something like that... that's what they keep telling us anyway. The big bucks are in the big drug companies, lol. Seems sort of heartless to make big money out of ill people though. Oh well, an expensive cure is better than no cure, right?

I worked part-time in a community pharmacy, it's true, it's pretty boring. But I suppose it's what you make out of it? You can make boring things fun if you try, I guess? @__@ I'm not sure if I like hospital or community pharmacy better. Just let me stick some labels on boxes and pay me for it, please.

Actually in first year, we get to make medicines and stuff. I've made syrups, mixtures, creams, lotions and all that. But I don't think I would ever use anything that I or anyone else made, hahaha... Watching how people do things in pracs is just... big lol. It's only first year, everyone's attitude is just, "ah, close enough is good enough". I've made a bunch of aspirins and stuff too, but they always collect them up after we make them, just in case we decide to try our own products. Again, I would definitely not take that stuff, the labs that we work in are disgusting and no one really takes that much care with what they're doing. xD

Good luck with year 12! All the best and I hope you get into pharmacy. ;P

 

[xclusv2bhung]

Aw thanks all for the replies!

Yeah true, I hate the course and my marks are pretty dodgy. Semester 1 results ranged from 50 to 79, hahahaaha. T___T

Our lecturer told us that in pre-reg year, you basically earn 80% of how much a fully licensed pharmacist earns. o__o Pharmacists don't really earn that much, it's more about the self-satisfaction and the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you know you've helped someone. Or something like that... that's what they keep telling us anyway. The big bucks are in the big drug companies, lol. Seems sort of heartless to make big money out of ill people though. Oh well, an expensive cure is better than no cure, right?

I worked part-time in a community pharmacy, it's true, it's pretty boring. But I suppose it's what you make out of it? You can make boring things fun if you try, I guess? @__@ I'm not sure if I like hospital or community pharmacy better. Just let me stick some labels on boxes and pay me for it, please.

Actually in first year, we get to make medicines and stuff. I've made syrups, mixtures, creams, lotions and all that. But I don't think I would ever use anything that I or anyone else made, hahaha... Watching how people do things in pracs is just... big lol. It's only first year, everyone's attitude is just, "ah, close enough is good enough". I've made a bunch of aspirins and stuff too, but they always collect them up after we make them, just in case we decide to try our own products. Again, I would definitely not take that stuff, the labs that we work in are disgusting and no one really takes that much care with what they're doing. xD

Good luck with year 12! All the best and I hope you get into pharmacy. ;P

ahah thanks

WHOA ! dyou really make those in your first year ? as in the syrups and mixtures and that ? woww ! wait which uni is this ?

@USYD they told us that we wouldnt be making creams until our 3rd year , and eyedrops in our 4th.
hahaha yeah if i made it , i wouldnt wanna try it either .. could be infected with something .. lmaoo xD

aww is it really that boring ? haha.
so is it better to like , be doing hospital pharmacy , or community pharmacy , you reckon ?

 

[Amakii]

Haha yes. I've made creams, lotions, suspensions, mixtures and solutions I think. It's mostly the simple stuff though, weigh a bit of this, pipette a bit of that, stir, pour into a container, lol. It's nice that you find that stuff interesting. xD I dread it, they're getting really strict on proper "technique", eg. how to hold a spatula properly.

I'm at Monash University, the Parkville campus in Melbourne. Also known as Victorian College of Pharmacy, ehee.

I find it boring because I hate chemistry and half of the course is chemistry; so there are no questions there. xD

I've worked in a community pharmacy before, I thought it was alright, but you just have to really know what products to recommend for what conditions, and know a truckload of over-the-counter products. Every time a customer walks in, you have to be prepared to answer their random questions, hehe. I suppose you'll gain experience over time though... But there's still that lovely element of surprise available in community pharmacy.

Hospital pharmacies I'm not too sure about, but I think it's more about dispensing and running around to counsel patients when required. I think there are less randoms popping out and asking you questions. And you'll probably be working more closely with other health professionals? :0 I may have had a lecture about that hospital pharmacists, I was probably napping peacefully. x__x

I'm not really sure which is better, but I seem to hear more people complaining about their boredom from working at a community pharmacy hahah. Don't worry about that now though, you'll have plenty of time to find a part-time job at a community or hospital pharmacy to see which you like better.