Pharmacy or Medicine

virtus

Hi guys,

Nearly finished doing pharmacy and thinking about doing graduate med. Not sure which way to go and would like some advice.

The main reason I stuck at pharmacy was that it seemed to have better job conditions and also seemed to be more science orientated. Now however I am seriously considering going back, reasons being I think a career involving research (specifically oncology) would be more viable.

I have asked a few doctors what they think and they all told me to stick at pharmacy. A couple said that if they had the choice, they would have done pharmacy instead. However if it was GP vs Pharmacy I would pick pharmacy.

I dont subscribe to any of that "following your heart BS", so im trying to look at this objectively. Going back to college for 4/5 years (+the extra years), or going on and doing clincial diplomas (maybe even PhD!)and the like.. Would it really be worth it?

It would be my dream to do be involved in cancer, however I am unsure as to which would be the best way to go about it, if I ever get there at all..

2Scoops

If you want to be involved in research then a medical degree won't be a big help. It takes a long time to complete and will mostly be concerned with patient treatment/care. Now, if you were already a consultant MD, you could pretty much walk into a clinical research position but getting that high up first is a big ask. And, of course, you would be far removed from the real 'science' aspect.

A PhD or similar in an oncology lab is the quickest and most appropriate way forward if the science is really what you want to do. That won't have the same prestige as an MD role, at least in a clinical context, but if you want to do basic science it's your only man.

Be warned, if you're planning a career in oncology research then you should probably think about your options. There aren't very many full-time research positions and the money is generally poor versus what a doctor earns.

Schlemm

I dropped out of Pharmacy despite the prospect of a great job, great pay, great hours, yada yada, basically because I knew I really wanted to do something else. Now I dropped out after 1 year of the course and it was a tough decision to make then, so I can appreciate how tough it must be for you after having gone through nearly your whole degree. IMO the 'follow your heart bs' isn't bull$hit at all! If you want to do something, then go for it. It can be a tough descision to make at the time, but it's worth going through it if you'd spend the rest of your life regretting not making it.

Yes medicine is a long course and yes there's a lot of work involved, but life is longer and I'd say to go for it if you genuinely are interested in it. I switched to veterinary and I met vets who have changed from being vets to pharmacists and even a vet who was in practice saying that pharmacy would be a much better job and if she could go back she'd do pharmacy instead. But it still didn't put me off because I'd also met vets and seen practice and I just knew that this was what I wanted to do, regardless of the hassle of changing course, lower pay in a job, irregular hours and so forth.

I did pharmacy to get involved in a sciency job in research but I could really see myself working in a real 'hands on' job, dealing with living animals rather than just drugs and research. I know nothing about medicine apart from what my friends who are studying it tell me, but you seem to have a genuine interest in a specific area, and speaking from experience, if you have a dream to do something and you're able to do it (and you'll regret it if you don't), then go for it!

Nothingcompares

why do you want to work in oncology? personal reasons?

ZorbaTehZ

virtus wrote: »

I dont subscribe to any of that "following your heart BS"

Uhmm, please explain.

virtus

Nothingcompares wrote: »

why do you want to work in oncology? personal reasons?

Its an area of interest to me both personally and academically. Im indebted to people who made advances in oncology and I want to contribute something as well.

Cancer is such a fascinating area, and it is a condition which affects everyone in some way. I think that if we can understand cancer and learn how to control it, we could pretty much treat any disease. Stem cell technology and gene therapy are the therapies of the future and the problem of undifferentiated cell division is a fundemental problem which needs to be addressed.

ZorbaTehZ wrote: »

Uhmm, please explain.

I didnt phrase it properly. Its important to believe in what you do, but you also have to believe you are doing it for the right reasons. The aim shouldnt simply be to get there, every dream should be a starting line rather than a finish.

Anyways, PhD would probably be the most appropriate route. But from what I understand research jobs are dictated by funding so you dont neccessarily get to do what you want.. Thats why nearly all the new drugs that come out are made to treat first world diseases, and malaria vaccines are still unavailable!

virtus

Schlemm wrote: »

Now I dropped out after 1 year of the course and it was a tough decision to make then, so I can appreciate how tough it must be for you after having gone through nearly your whole degree

I dont regret doing it all. That said I did think about switching early on but decided to stick it out.

Im not afraid of the length of time involved. Even a PhD is going to take 4-5 years before the real Post Doc stuff. Seems a bit daunting, but like you said theres no point having regrets.

Nothingcompares

I know someone with a similar perspective to you about a different disease. I did a zoology degree so I obviously wouldn't be an expert on cancer research etc. but there seems to be loads and loads of research going on with plenty of funding. If I was in your position I'd look to do something in genetics, I don't know how much genetics you did in genetics as part of pharmacy. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be many masters (correct me someone if I'm wrong) in the area of genetics or cancer research so your best best would to read up as much as possible (research papers in journals etc.) on the areas of research you want to do and start applying for phds. Again, in my own personal opinion, a PhD in Cancer research would a be lot more straight forward way to get involved in cancer research than doing another degree in medicine, followed by specialisation and then cancer research. However, obviously as a doctor you'd be able to become a oncologist and be involved with actually treating people more directly. Definitely get in touch with people doing Phds/masters in the area, Post-docs and people supervising the research for more specific advice.