Pharmacy or Medicine

partyatmygaff

Now i still have 2 years to go before my leaving cert but im pretty sure Im going to either do Pharmacy or Medicine. Getting the points isnt what im worried about(yet :pac:) but from anyone studying either of these what are the timetables like? I loathe tedious repetitive classes with no practical aspect to them (for medicine or pharmacy's case this would be dealing with Patients). Which would be more of an active (in the sense that it is more practical) field to study?


If I don't get the points I need to do either im falling back on Computer Engineering (unlikely).

longlegs

If you dont like dealing with patients dont do pharmacy or medicine as both professions are based on this.

mathew

longlegs wrote: »

If you dont like dealing with patients dont do pharmacy or medicine as both professions are based on this.

Im pretty sure the OP wants to be dealing with Patients..
Its a practical aspect of the course as opposed to some degrees which have little or no practical involvement, just reading and learning

anotherlostie

Pharmacy is no longer the cash generating career it once was - salaries have fallen by 20K and are still falling, because there is now an oversupply in the market for the first time (because there are three schools here, and the arrival of pharmacists from the 10 accession states). If you are motivated by using your intelligence to make a lot of money, then by the time you qualify, there might not be much money to be made! Medicine does not seem to be suffering the same fate.

Pharmacy has other options, such as hospital, regulatory affairs (IMB) and industrial positions. These were always less well paid that retail, and would still be initially, but times may be changing.

Shoeless Ailbhe

I'm in my final year in pharmacy in TCD, and know a lot pf people doing medicine both here and on other colleges so I think i've a good grasp of what goes on in both, and the answer is that both courses involve some subjects which seem impractical for a while before you see any value in them. In the case of pharmacy, because its a Bachelor of Science in the end, you need to do physics and statistics in order to qualify is as a B. Sc. degree, though these subjects have little to do with the main coursework.

The new pharmacy course (now in its 2nd year) is much more practical in the way its laid out.... you start to do pharmacy-relevant stuff right from 1st year, which wasn't the case when I was in 1st year.

From the point of view of practical experience, you'll get none of that during the terms in Pharmacy, but you will with medicine. In pharmacy, you're work experience is during the holidays, while with medicine, nursing, physio, OT and SLT you'll get them throughout the year. So if that's your biggest concern, pharmacy probably won't suit!

But the two careers are so incredibly different in any case, I'd like to know why you've narrowed them down?

Jimdw

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Now i still have 2 years to go before my leaving cert but im pretty sure Im going to either do Pharmacy or Medicine. Getting the points isnt what im worried about(yet :pac:) but from anyone studying either of these what are the timetables like? I loathe tedious repetitive classes with no practical aspect to them (for medicine or pharmacy's case this would be dealing with Patients). Which would be more of an active (in the sense that it is more practical) field to study?


If I don't get the points I need to do either im falling back on Computer Engineering (unlikely).

I am in the first year Medicine straight from Leaving Cert. I find that Medicine is the best thing I have ever done. You get practice in all subjects from the very first day, and Medicine is incredibly relevant to everyday life. I know that I will always find a job, and the salary is incredibly high, although I don't really think about the money. I just enjoy being one of the best students in TCD.

Pharmacy is also great, Medicine is nothing without Pharmacists. I know one person doing Pharmacy, he was in my class and always wanted to do Chemistry. He also got 600 points on his Leaving but he still applied for Pharmacy as his first choice. I think that's because he was more Chemistry oriented guy. And I was more Biology oriented. So I would say if you like Biology more, then go for Medicine. If you like Chemistry more, then Pharmacy.

paperclip

Two of my brothers are doctors and I'm in third Pharm. There's a massive difference between the two courses. You'd be mistaken in thinking that pharmacy is 'like medicine, but with more drugs'. Medicine is a far more practical course, whereas at times I feel like I'm doing an applied organic chemistry course. An interest in chemistry is absolutely necessary, not so for medicine. You'll be learning some fascinating stuff in pharmacy though- pretty much how to make a finished medicinal product out of raw plant material, for example- and how drugs work on a subatomic level. Medicine is theoretical too, of course, but in a completely different way. Pharmacists learn the theory but most of the practical information is passed down through work experience, as a previous poster mentioned. If you don't have the patience to go through tedious classes, don't do Pharmacy. You'll need patience for Medicine, as well. Every course has tedious classes- there's no escaping them.

We have a LOT of labs though (every day) so you wouldn't be in lectures all day though- from pharmaceutical chemistry (analyzing drugs) to pharmaceutics (formulating drugs into finished products) to pharmacognosy (developing actives from plant materials) and seminars in pharmacology (the effects the drugs have on the body). You have to find it interesting, deep down. If not, don't do pharmacy. Trust me. Don't do it because it sounds 'cool' or because 'It's good money'.

Even now (maybe even more so), I find it amazing that you can put a certain arrangement of atoms into a body and it will have a huge impact on the quality of life of that person. People once crippled by rheumatic arthritis can now walk again. I love learning how this happens. That's why I do Pharmacy.

oogyoop

You're very sensible to be asking these questions.

I'm a student in Third Medical Year (year 3/5 now that pre-med has been abolished).

We had quite a few drop-outs in first year and very few since... some people didn't quite realise what they were letting themselves in for. We even had a couple of people who hastily put in medicine on top of their CAO forms thinking they'd never get it and did... and it wasn't what they wanted to do at all.

Medicine is great, but the first two (pre-clinical) years can be depressing and very tough-going... but it's important to realise that things do improve! This year is much better than the first two.

What would be an excellent idea for you would be to get in contact with a hospital (use any contacts you have - parents of friends, your GP etc) and shadow a doctor for a morning/afternoon some day during your holidays.

It'll stand you in good stead if you keep things in context and don't expect to understand what's going on around you. Also, it's not as boring as it looks once you start understanding things! It just might give you a taster and some extra motivation... or sway you more towards pharmacy or something else.

If you're having trouble finding contacts, PM me and I'll help you out.

JC 2K3

Jimdw wrote: »

I just enjoy being one of the best students in TCD.

Ha! What a load of crap.

Just because a course is in high demand doesn't mean it makes you any better than anyone else or that that course is necessarily harder than any other course.


I was deciding between Pharmacy and Computer Science (body programming vs. computer programming ), and chose Comp Sci in the end, both because I didn't like the career prospects of Pharmacy and I felt Comp Sci suited me better. It's up to you to think about it and figure out what you want to do.

One thing I will say is if you're interested in it, don't have Engineering/Computer Science (there's no Computer Engineering course until your third year of Engineering) as something to "fall back on" simply because the points are lower. I got 580 and didn't feel the need to do a high points course because I could. Computer Science is a very practical (although very challenging at times) course and if that's what you're interested in, it mightn't be a bad idea to think about it too.