Here Pharmacy

How does one go about getting into pharmacy school and becoming a pharmacist?

I plan on attending the University of Washington this fall, and I want to major in either biochemistry or bioengineering as a pre-med. If I can not get into medical school, pharmacy is another career I am interested in for its heavy use of chemistry and biology. I was just wondering what you have to do to become a pharmacist in the United States. Thanks for the help!

Public Comments

1. you can become a pharmacist not by studying only in america. you can study anywhere and can become a pharmacist by your hardwork
2. You should really decide whether you want to do medicine or pharmacy. I know you will decide at some point but just know (you probably know) that it would be unwise to do something like apply to both medical and pharmacy schools (and LS) at the same time and if you don't get into medical school, then you're doing pharmacy (that means that you don't know what you really what to do). They are very different careers and you wouldn't want to end up choosing pharmacy just because you didn't get into medical school and then end up not satisfied. You may even decide you want to do PA or dentistry or nursing or pharmaceutics or K-12 education or further study in your major fields or a PhD. A lot of medical school applicants don't get in on the first try. That doesn't mean you have to ditch medicine. I knew somebody who did a teach English abroad program and then reapplied and got in the next year or the year after. I also know another person, a biochem major, who traveled (bummed around the US and Europe), worked, and then did a master's in international relations at the UW and then got into a private medical school (~age 26). I think he chose to do this though (not because he applied and was rejected). My friend and her husband graduated from UW pharmacy. My friend's husband got in without a bachelor's degree (just completed the prereqs) and works in retail. My friend was not accepted right away (she got into WSU though but wanted to stay in Seattle so it took a few more applications) and worked for a few years at a hospital pharmacy in Northgate and graduated at about age 31 (it gives you an idea of how competitive things are). She is now a pharmacist there. They are both happy. Consider the lifestyle and work hours though of both medicine and pharmacy. I always thought it would be neat to work at the UW as a sports medicine doctor or in Hall Health as a pharmacist or doctor. You should meet with the medical and the prepharmacy adviser and your major or college of arts and sciences adviser before you start classes and if you have any prerequisite questions. All the prerequisites are on the websites also. Make sure you take the right classes. I'm guessing you'll take the calculus series and chemistry your first year and biology and calculus based physics your second year. You should meet with the department advisers for biochem and bioengineering and get some planning sheets from them. I recommend that you go to both the UW's premedical and UW's prepharmacy club and be a part of that. The UW's intro science lectures have ~400 (300-500) people in them. The calculus classes can be tough too. These really are what people would call 'weed out' classes (so maintain a good work ethic). I have heard the honors series are smaller classes. More people (more competition) generally means tougher grading and harder exams. You might be better prepared in math and science than I was but I think if I could do it over I would've taken the intro classes at a good community college like Bellevue where the classes are smaller (but I guess transferring is tougher these days so maybe that isn't a great idea) or gone to WWU or WSU. If you aren't going in with a good head/work ethic, you can really get your butt kicked in the intro science classes. The mean (or median I've forgotten) is a 2.7 or 2.8 in some of them. So study hard your first years. Allen library was my favorite spot for that. Odegaard was too crowded with undergrads (but you might like it). Suzallo cafe and the Suzallo reading room are good places to go at night if you want quiet. It makes it a lot less stressful in the end. From what I understand, pharmacy school has a lot of chemistry. Organic chemistry is important too. You should do some volunteering to see what is right for you. Biochem is a good one. My friend did that and now he is in dental school at a private school. He had thought about medicine too and his father was a surgeon but he researched it and decided by his junior year that he wanted to do dentistry. I got a feeling that the long hours in residency for medical school were a consideration. He did a program in the summer before his senior year where he was able to help dentists in a Spanish speaking country. Don't worry if it takes a little more than 4 years to graduate. I knew people who did economics and electrical engineering or biology and economics who took five years. Also, do internships in the summer or even during school if you have time. If you're interested in radio you could go to KUOW or other places or music then you could go to Sub Pop. And if you're interested in study abroad, plan for that too. A lot of bio-type students get jobs in labs too. And sports. There are a lot of sports clubs (running, skiing, triathlon) if you are interested in those. I highly recommend working out at the climbing wall at the IMA if you like exercising. You could take classes there and even if you are alone you can do bouldering. And it would also be cool if you are involved in student government, ASUW. Be involved and build up your resume. This would also be a great thing to join. Check out some of the members' bios. University of Washington's Health Leadership Program http://www.uwuhelp.org/index.htm A good place to volunteer would be Harborview emergency department. I had a few study friends who did that. You really need to get into a medical and a pharmacy environment to see what you'd like. One of my friends worked as a receptionist at Harborview before starting premed post-bachelor's. She had good stories. So be involved. Study a lot. Form study groups. Study and get good grades. Do not start out lazy like some people do. Don't be discouraged by bad grades though (just try harder). You should study and work problems at least 1 hour a night for each class and probably 2 or more just to make sure. There are a lot of resources like CLUE or study centers if you get stuck. And I read that you are thinking of law school. Well, you should know that the school you go to is important. There are so many law schools these days and unemployed lawyers that the school you go to can make a big difference in your future employment prospects. Although, UW might be good if it means less debt. And even then you need to study hard in law school to graduate in the top of your class because there are so many lawyers. If you do a poor job in law school (you are competing with other students), your prospects could be very poor. Although with a science degree, you could have different options (maybe US Patent Office in Washington DC but look at their requirements). You asked before about ROTC. ROTC might be good for a person like you. You seem to be all over the place and ROTC might give you some good discipline and reinforcement. My friend (female) did Air Force with a humanities degree and is now an officer in North Dakota or something working with the nuclear missiles. She will be out at 26 but it would be different for you. Air Force has some pretty sweet deployments. Just know what you are getting into and think carefully. Discuss it with people. Most importantly, don't rely too much on advice from anonymous people (like me!) on the internet who may not know what they are talking about. Go out and talk to people who are working in the field. Ask everything. Lifestyle, training, prerequisites, debt, salary, employment prospects.