Guest minnieMD Posted July 11, 2003 Report Share Posted July 11, 2003 Hi, I am slightly confused about when one can apply to med school while being in the Pharmacy program. Is it anytime during the course of Pharm or Must it be in 3rd year of Pharm, or higher? I understand that in the OMSAS guidelines, Univ. only consider people with at least 3 years of undergrad, so does it matter which program I apply from, as long as i have at least 15 credits...? Also, I used to think it was a disadvantage to apply to med thru pharmacy, for fear of Med school interviewers not taking me seriously (Is this True?). But realistically, it's a good 'backup' plan. I am just concerned about the years I may have to wait before applying, because my mcat scores may expire! Do any of you have a pharmacy degree before getting into med or applied to med while in pharm? Anybody know of someone who has? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UofA man Posted July 11, 2003 Report Share Posted July 11, 2003 I went to UofA for pharmacy in our class, one went to Dentistry after 1st year another to medicine at the same time. In 2nd year another went into dentistry, he also was interviewed for medicine. I know another girl who interviewed for medicine after 3rd year. Another girl from our class is starting medschool this fall after working for 2 years as a pharmacist. As for myself I interviewed at UofA for medicine 1 year after practising as a pharmacist and will be attending an Auzzie school at the begining of 2004. Alberta schools only require two years of universities to apply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shkelo Posted July 11, 2003 Report Share Posted July 11, 2003 Glad to hear you're doing well, UofA man. Good luck to you in Australia!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cgb2006 Posted July 11, 2003 Report Share Posted July 11, 2003 Why would med school interviewers not take you seriously. This perception thats out there among applicants really surprises me. As an interviewer I would think that you would have a pretty realistic view of what medicine is all about coming from a pharmacy background (or some other medical background) - it would make me think that had likely considered your decision to apply to medicine pretty carefully. We have pharmacy grads in Queen's med as well. I also see that at least one pharmacist is admitted for meds2007 as well. I think its great. Do you have an undergrad besides your pharmacy studies? Your years of full time study don't have to be from your current program as far as I know. As long as you have years of full-time study in SOMETHING undergraduate then you can apply. It doesn't matter that you're only in first or second year pharmacy or whatever. The decision of when to apply is up to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest druggist Posted July 12, 2003 Report Share Posted July 12, 2003 I have heard of many individuals going to med from pharm or being a pharmacist and going back to school to take med. I am only posting, however, to inquire on the thought that you would not be taken seriously applying from pharm or applying as a pharmacist? What disadvantage could this possibly offer? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest minnieMD Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 Thanks for clearing up when it is possible to apply from pharmacy to med. In that case, I am thinking of applying after my 1st year in Pharmacy. However, my question to cgb2006 is- as a pharm 1st year applicant, I would have learned basically the Basics (aka nothing) in the past year...so it's not necessary true that: "I would have a realistic view of what medicine is all about coming from a pharmacy background." Would an Interview see it this way? Does it show that I'm "fickle" for applying to Meds just after 1st year Pharm? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ssup Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 I'm not so sure that you should be concerned about interviewers not "taking you seriously" if you apply out of pharmacy into medicine....here's something to think about though: I've been to a few seminars by the Dean of Admissions at UBC and she was asked this Q (ie are pharmacy students applying to med at a disadvantage?) Her response was: "Well I wouldn't say they are a disadvantage but it DEFINITELY does raise some commitment issues for us. For example, if you've made a commitment to pharmacy and are willing to bail on your commitment to start medical school then how do we know that tomorrow you won't bail on medical school should you be accepted to another program, for example dentistry?" I think the argument is definitely flawed since I'll be "bailing" on my undergrad degree to start medical school (I was a 3rd year applicant)....so aren't we all in a sense bailing on something when we start something new?!?!?! Still, consider that this may come up in your interview.... Ssup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kellyl20 Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Fact is 1 pharm person got into UBC med after 2 yrs in pharm at UBC and 1 person got accepted after 3 yrs in pharm also at UBC and many more got in after 4 yrs pharm at UBC. These are the stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UTMed07 Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 I think everyone that studied something with a well-defined career path (e.g. pharmacy, nursing, engineering, architecture, law...) has some explaining to do. I'd just make sure your essay explains well your decision to go into medicine. If it does, I have a tendency to think you have an advantage because you're a bit different than the more typical (biology/life sciences) applicant. When interviewing time rolls around think about how you'd answer the question: Why medicine... why not pharmacy? If there is some bias at some schools there isn't much you can do about it, nor would you really know about it. So, just focus on doing your very best and with a bit of luck you'll be in medical school before you know it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mitchie41 Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Well, from what i hear, quite a few people from UBC Pharmacy do get into Meds. But according to some people I know, Pharmacy is a tough route for medicine, because you usually have to take >5 courses per semester, and you have lots of labs\tutorials\lecture. Also, I've heared that lots of pharmacy profs look down on students trying to get into medicine, so it'll probably be really tough getting references from your instructors. --MITCHIE41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Matty J K Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 What do you really want to be? A pharmacist or a doctor. If you know you want to be an MD, and if you plan to complete a pharmacy program, this is a long way to get to your desired profession. Rewarding and challenging pharmacy is, but a waste of your time as you could have been in a reward and challenging MD program for a few years already. If you're hoping to get in before 4th year pharmacy, you miss the best part of the program and the awesome rotations in the hospitals. You will have good drug and medical knowledge but don't expect to have any huge experiences to tell the admissions people. If you DON'T know what you want to do, and you're in 1st or 2nd year general science (or other), Pharm may be a good option. Instead of waiting till the end of undergrad science to be rejected from meds and then applying to the 4 years of pharmacy, you get into pharmacy ahead of time. (It is funny that you would expect to be rejected from meds 2 to 4 years before even applying) Key thing is that if you apply to pharm, you should be satisfied with being a pharmacist. Not a bad worst case scenario plan of study. I was a pharmacist for 3 years before applying. I would say that ANY pharmacy prof would gladly give you their blessings if you apply to medicine. My prof references were even quite excited with my successful application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kellyl20 Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 mitchie41: I agree with what you posted except that Pharmacy is not a tougher route for medicine than any other science majors. There probably is literally only a couple of pharm profs that would not mind giving references for med. Perhaps after graduating and then practicing as a pharmacist is a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cgb2006 Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 Hey minnieMD: You're right. After only a couple of years of pharmacy you will not have gained the insight that you'd likely gain after completing your degree and the clinical placements that come with it. The best insight by far would come from actually working as a pharmacist. If you had worked as a pharmacist then applied you would likely be asked why you've decided to switch. This question would open up a great opportunity to talk about your clinical/work experience, what you've learned from it, and how it will help you in medical school and beyond. If you applied from early in your pharmacy degree, the question becomes a little bit more challenging. You would have to explain your reasons for leaving pharmacy before really having an opportunity to get your feet wet in a clinical placement or in the workplace, where you would see what its really like. Please don't think I'm criticizing anyone who has decided to to this. I certainly realize that people can know a profession isn't for them VERY early in their training. Everyone has the right to switch professions, so I would never criticize anyone for doing this, but I'm sure your interviewers would be interested in knowing why. Clearly its been done before and I expect it won't be the last time. Good luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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