Pharmacy - Advice

[Guest PhysiologyDude]

There isn't a pharmacy forum here, so I just started a new thread.

 

I'm currently completing my 3rd of 4 years of an Hons.B.Sc. at UofT majoring in physiology. Things look grim right now - I've applied year after year, attempting to enter the pharmacy program here, but have met with rejection everytime. If I end up getting rejected this cycle, I don't know what I would be doing. What exactly are they looking for, and how do I prepare? As well, I'm wondering as to how important marks are, as I've got a less than stellar track record. I've read some threads here that mention that the 2.7 posted on-line a at the UofT website is nowhere close to what is actually needed.

 

I haven't closed the doors on other universities, but I'm thinking that marks would matter even more if I were applying to any other provinces as an OOP student. I've even gone through a slew of schools in the United States, but I feel hopeless there, as many of them have requirements that I cannot imagine filling including economics, accounting, public speaking and U.S. history, computer tools (whatever that is supposed to be) to name a few. Perhaps someone who has been through a similar situation can offer some words of wisdom.

 

Helpless,

PhysiologyDude

[Guest makdaddy08]

Hmm..what exactly is your mark? I can probably shed some light as I was once in Pharmacy at U of A.

 

Unfortunately, its becoming quite competitive to get into pharmacy in the past few years. I believe you may have a chance at UBC as they factor in PCAT scores (yes there is such a thing), and interview scores in addition with your GPA. ANd your'e absolutely correct in assuming the 2.7 is definitely nto what's competitive. I mean, i'm sure there are med schoos that tell u they need 3.3 minimum but I can garuntee you will not be getting in with 3.3 at most institutions.

 

Sorry to be kind of honest...but yeh, UBC is the best way to go. You may want to look into other schools to see if they factor in those other things. Another tip: at some schools (ie U of A), they give you an extra 0.5 on your GPA (which is huge)...if you have experience working in a pharmacy. HOpe this helps.

 

If worse comes to worse and you can't get in, there are many community colleges that offer a "Pharmacy Technician" certificate which affords you to do much of the similar work that a pharmacist would do (except signing off prescriptions, counselling, and managing clinical cases in the hospital). It is also lower pay by about 1/2 but...like i said the work is quite similar.

[Guest FungManX]

Volunteer in a Pharmacy, get some great Letters of Rec.

The process is similar to a medical school application, so try to beef up your application with lots of pharmacy AND hospital volunteering. I say AND because Pharmacy volunteering is a MUST.

 

Try to get really good Letters of Rec. and then take the PCAT ( equivilent to medschool MCAT incase you didn't know ). The PCAT is dead easy, just score well on that and then apply to UBC with your new and improved resume.

 

I'm not too sure what a 2.7 is at UT but at UBC a 2.7 = 69%. To be honest with you it does look pretty grim, but here's some encouragement.. I've known people who have failed 2-3 courses in first year, got their act together in 2nd year (pulling mid 80's-90's) Boosting up their overall gpa to 72% and end up getting accepted by UBC Pharm. (mind you they had alot of volunteering hours and great LOR's).

 

And don't worry about the in-province/out-province thing UBC Pharm doesn't look at that.

 

Hope this helps good luck!

[Guest bibibab]

Hi PhysioDude,

 

Sorry I have to be kinda honest... I am a UT Pharm grad and

 

l i f e i s d e p r e s s i n g

 

as a pharmacist.

 

This is why I am looking at this discussion board now.

 

*I work in retail by the way, there you go*

 

Are you sure you want to become a pharmacist? As with becoming a pharmacy tech, don't go that way, you do the same boring stuffs and get paid 1/2, it's not worth it (not even... unfortunately the real numbers are actually 1/4 to 1/3).

 

Sorry I have to say the truth... I apologize if I'm offending anyone... Retail pharmacy is more like business and administration, it's really BORING AND FRUSTRATING unless you own your own store (then you can look at it from a $$$$$$$$ perspective). Many of my classmates are already considering quitting. There are few pharmacists that I know of who are really happy working in retail.

 

If you think you'd be happy with the money and stability, then go for it. But if you need challenge, hospital pharmacy may be an option... Some hopsital pharmacists only do dispensing (boring); while clinial pharmacy requires 2-3 years of additional training.

I do know some pharmacists that are really dedicated and are excellent clinicians. They usually did a hospital residency or have a Pharm.D.

 

Hope I didn't sound too discouraging... Pharmacy certainly opens a lot of doors... (there are also jobs in the industry, government, or even patent law if you wanna do an LLB after phm school) but I'm not sure if I'd be happy staying in this profession, this is why I'm looking at this webpage now. Anyway, best of luck. If you need more info about the UT Phm program, I have stories to tell....

[Guest makdaddy08]

I agree that pharmacy is quite tedious with the administrative duties that you have to perform, and very little of it is clinical.

 

But overall the profession is still a good one, you will earn a stable income (possibly 6 figure if u work in smaller towns), and the profession is advancing and being given more recognition within the healthcare system. As Pharmacy is an undergrad degree requiring only a year before admittance, I think its an excellent option as a degree and it makes for an great fall-back plan if you want to try at a faculty like meds, law, dent, etc.

 

Too bad you can't qualify for the states, cuz there u get a PharmD and thus are qualified to work clinically in hospitals and whatnot.

[Guest PhysiologyDude]

Thanks everyone.

 

Right now, I think I'm sitting at around a 3.3*ish. I've never had any practical experience in any pharmacy, although I've done two years of hospital volunteering in high school, sporadically in Uni. I've been keeping a part-time job during the school years in retail to help pay for transportation.

 

I have considered applying for UBC and UofA. Their english requirement I'm not sure if I'll meet though, as they stipulate a full year of first year english. I'll be taking at UofT in the summer a first year half-course, as well as a second-year half course, so would this rule me ineligible? (There isn't a first year full course in english at UofT for non-english majors to the best of my knowledge).

 

The Manitoba site was pretty hilarious to read. They said that they accept OOP students, but grant priority to Manitoba residents. However, they still encourage applicants, according to them. At the bottom, there is a note indicating that nobody outside of Manitoba has been accepted for 15 years. 15 YEARS!!!!!!!

 

This summer, I'll be with a professor, while I await the good (or bad) news.

 

P-Dude

[Guest maquisapa]

I wouldn't completely rule out pharmacy based on community pharm. For ppl who like clinical experience, going into hospital pharm could be interesting. With a BSc. Pharm +/- a residency you can do a mix of clinical and dispensary work in hospital. Many hospital pharmacists I've spoken to really like it, better hours, ACTUAL lunch breaks (unlike in community when you're eating, filling scrpits and answering the phone :b ). And of couse you can do a pharm D if you only want to do clinical work.

 

... just some thoughts.

[Guest kellyl20]

accepts 10% oop per year into their med program, or at least that is what admissions claim