Pharmacy or IT?

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: digitalsnare
oh god no, I have heard consulting is the absolute worst form of IT to go into.

He was referring to pharmaceutical consulting, but what you've heard about consulting is absolutely false in the context of IT.

 

[RedRooster]

In 15 years computers will be able to synthesize, count and recommend drugs.

Turn the tables, will pharmacists be able to fix and program those computers?

 

[Juice Box]

I heard it from someone who surprisingly is a consultant!

 

[brtspears2]

I'm ready to leave IT and do something else. But then I have a silly Sociology degree, so I'm stuck.

Better take the pharmacy route.

 

[Turfzilla]

I went to pharmacy school and ended up graduating in the IT fiels. People say IT isn't safe anymore. Thats bullsh(t. Pharmacy is hard hard hard hard hard. But worth it if you can get through it. Trust me, I've been there
be prepared for 4 chemistry (organic, basic, inorganic, bio-chem) you have to take all of thoes. And if you do go IT. Get a Unix Cert. just for fun 😉

 

[Turfzilla]

Not to mention, Pharmacy holds TONS of liability. Just keep that in mind.

 

[zixxer]

Originally posted by: Taggart

Originally posted by: digitalsnare
honestly, i could be either, i like them both, i just dont think there will be a demand for IT ppl in 5 years

With all due respect, I think you're wrong. There will always be demand for IT🙂

Tell that to the company that just bought my company.

 

[imported_Pablo]

Originally posted by: Isshinryu

Originally posted by: digitalsnare
do most of those pre pharm kids drop out? Im not only doing it for the money, id just like a carrer that i know Id be able to get a decent job when im done with college.

Most of them don't make it into Pharmacy school. The 1/4 who really want it usually make it. Pre-Medicine/Pre-Pharmacy/Nursing are not majors you can go into half-assed like Business or English.

Business half-assed? Get over yourself. Maybe at your school, but don't be a pompous jerk.

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: digitalsnare
honestly, i could be either, i like them both, i just dont think there will be a demand for IT ppl in 5 years

I'm working an internship and I'm majoring in Computer Science, I'm still abotu 3 years from graduating but the company I'm working for is already talking to me about getting hired out of college for 60k+ per year. Who said IT will be dead?
EDIT:If you REALLY want job security go start flipping burgers now at McDonalds, they will always be around and always want people to flip burgers. You can't take "my dad's friend said..." or "this one guy in IT told me..." or "my friend's mom the pharmacist said..." I know IT guys that are out of work and looking for diff jobs, however I work for a company that has 1,000s of IT guys world wide with plents of job security and pay, being that it happens to be a Pharmaceutical company, I also know 100s of pharmacists that are doing well. I guarantee you nationwide I bet there at least 5 IT guys with a job for every pharmacist. I know pharmacy may be a harder major so you can justify it that way but then again do you want to start with a hard major and fail out or screw over your GPA? Just do what you want to be doing

 

[Imdmn04]

IT is dead for people with CS degrees from ITT or Devry or University of Phoenix, or some sh!t-ass no name school, no longer can you get a bunch of certs along with your worthless degree and live in the bubble.
If you are doing CS, from a reputable school, meaning top 10 in rankings for the program, then I'm sure you will be fine. Lots of companies are setting up internship programs at these schools because they want the best of the best. IT is coming back as the economy is coming back, at least for the people that truly knows their sh!t. It will be harder to find a job outta school now than the late nineties since the IT craze has died down, but you will surely find it if you are more qualified and competitive than others.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: rh71
Healthcare is the way to go. There is always going to be a need for healthcare and the field isn't all saturated like IT has become.

Pharmacy involves a ton of studying. 2 of my friends went to school for 5+ years and that's with some semesters with nearly 30 credits each. It's crazy, but in the end, it's well worth it. They start at like $60k (NY) and keep shooting up.

For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with basing your career choice on payout so long as you're not miserable doing it. "It pays the bills" comes to mind.

Edit: I don't know many schools that will allow more than 18 credits without dean review yet alone 30!....sounds like a bag full of flaming poop.

Well ok then I must've made it up so you guys would be impressed that I have a friend who worked hard. I felt that this would make me look good. :roll:

The semester she lived in my hall, she definitely had 21+ credits... coulda been 26 coulda been 28... she did way over 18 credits many semesters and I remember making it a big deal one time we were lounging around in the hall kitchen. I'm sure she had to get it approved. I did it once (21 credits to try and make up for changing majors) but this was in '97 so god help me if I can remember what I had to go through to get that approved. The other person I was referring to - well I never saw her around much while in school, but I see her all the time now (she's my fiancee's bridesmaid come Sept.). She also worked her A$$ off during school years.

And if you want to call people out, the phrase I'd use is horse manure. Sounds better than poop if you ask me.

 

[toant103]

Originally posted by: digitalsnare
Ive been looking at what to go into in college (im a senior in HS) and ive narrowed it down to two, Pharmacy and IT. I am very good with computers, and love working with them, but i have a feeling in 5 years the demand for IT ppl wont be as high, and the salary will be terrible. I wouldnt mind being a pharmacist, and the pay is amazing, but i just want your opinion about the IT job market in the future.

pharmacist, pay is amazing but your hours are going to sucks.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: rh71
Healthcare is the way to go. There is always going to be a need for healthcare and the field isn't all saturated like IT has become.

Pharmacy involves a ton of studying. 2 of my friends went to school for 5+ years and that's with some semesters with nearly 30 credits each. It's crazy, but in the end, it's well worth it. They start at like $60k (NY) and keep shooting up.

For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with basing your career choice on payout so long as you're not miserable doing it. "It pays the bills" comes to mind.

Edit: I don't know many schools that will allow more than 18 credits without dean review yet alone 30!....sounds like a bag full of flaming poop.

Well ok then I must've made it up so you guys would be impressed that I have a friend who worked hard. I felt that this would make me look good. :roll:

The semester she lived in my hall, she definitely had 21+ credits... coulda been 26 coulda been 28... she did way over 18 credits many semesters and I remember making it a big deal one time we were lounging around in the hall kitchen. I'm sure she had to get it approved. I did it once (21 credits to try and make up for changing majors) but this was in '97 so god help me if I can remember what I had to go through to get that approved. The other person I was referring to - well I never saw her around much while in school, but I see her all the time now (she's my fiancee's bridesmaid come Sept.). She also worked her A$$ off during school years.

And if you want to call people out, the phrase I'd use is horse manure. Sounds better than poop if you ask me.

My wife has had several semesters that were 23-25 credit hours. And that's even with taking some electives during the summer.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

My wife has had several semesters that were 23-25 credit hours. And that's even with taking some electives during the summer.

Are you guys talking pharmacy programs and even really credit hours (the number on your class slip, not the time length of each class or study time).

I know most pharamacy programs are structured in a way you sort of move through like medical school, the highest I have seen is around 19 hours and mostly 18. In the 2nd and 3rd years there are usually electives that can be moved to the summer term and the 4th years are notoriously low in hours (12-13, sometimes only an 8 hours) but these are usually your rotations which you are at the mercy of the staff.

Those taking more hours and taking 5 years are doing somethings extra, somethings over, or somethings just wrong. It's also hard to accelerate yourself through Pharm/Med as the classes just aren't available...

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: PabloMartinez

Business half-assed? Get over yourself. Maybe at your school, but don't be a pompous jerk.

Most business degrees are just that. It's like chicks just getting an arts degree to become a trophy wife.

You Bachelor's of Business candidates are a dime a dozen, most schools cater to this by offering 'easy' degree programs.

YMMV, just like only some schools offer things like CALCULUS for non-math majors and PHYSICS/ORGANIC CHEM for non-science majors....WTF do you count on your fingers in non-math calc, and use play-doh and mouse balls in the physics and organic?

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: digitalsnare
oh god no, I have heard consulting is the absolute worst form of IT to go into.

He was referring to pharmaceutical consulting, but what you've heard about consulting is absolutely false in the context of IT.

Most people think 'consulting' is when you are unemployed, living at home, selling FAR items on ebay and doing a web page you haven't gotten paid for yet and two computers for family friends at cost.

 

[Wuffsunie]

Pharmacy, no question. With the boomers aging as they are you'll have insane job security, not to mention starting salaries of $50/hr at the least. You can also go pretty much anywhere and as long as it's a decent sized community you're liable to find work.

The downside is of course that you have to deal with people telling you (and sometimes showing you) their medical problems on an almost daily basis. Some of them will be regulars, like those annoying people who go to banks daily to check their accounts.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Wuffsunie
Pharmacy, no question. With the boomers aging as they are you'll have insane job security, not to mention starting salaries of $50/hr at the least. You can also go pretty much anywhere and as long as it's a decent sized community you're liable to find work.

The downside is of course that you have to deal with people telling you (and sometimes showing you) their medical problems on an almost daily basis. Some of them will be regulars, like those annoying people who go to banks daily to check their accounts.

The starting and average pay for a pharmacist is closer to $25 per hour than $50....you work usually 50 hour+ weeks.....$75k is the take on the higher end.

Most retail pharmacy's don't want the pharmacist dispensing medical advice anymore, but if you aren't into it for patient care it's the wrong field for anyone.

 

[vi edit]

The starting and average pay for a pharmacist is closer to $25 per hour than $50....you work usually 50 hour+ weeks.....$75k is the take on the higher end.

Uhh by which statistics? Maybe if you went to a hole in the wall pharmacy school. The most recent graduating pharmacy class from the University of Iowa took in an average salary of $85,000.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

The starting and average pay for a pharmacist is closer to $25 per hour than $50....you work usually 50 hour+ weeks.....$75k is the take on the higher end.

Uhh by which statistics? Maybe if you went to a hole in the wall pharmacy school. The most recent graduating pharmacy class from the University of Iowa took in an average salary of $85,000.

Based on what reporting, tax returns? Also just because one school had a certain average it does not make that the nationwide one.

Also many of those so called salary reports include benefits as income.

Also you have Pharm.D's and Pharm.BS and I think there is even a three year program still.

The average pay in the SF area for entry level Pharmacy (usually .D wanted) is $100k....probably worse than making $65k in the midwest though.

If you are going to shoot down something have something to back it up with than a report of some potato school.

Check out the Dept of Labor for bonifed reporting. Colleges have a benefit to knock up starting salaries to look good to grads. I am sure alot are sitting at home right now despite their schools promising a ton of high 5 figure+ jobs would be waiting for them.

 

[imported_R0GX]

Since I'm a recently graduated Pharm.D. I may be a little biased, but I'd say definately Pharmacist. You CAN make very good money and not do retail despite what Alkemyst states. I for a small company that contracts with nursing homes and other managed care organizations. My job is about 50% clinical, and 50% reviewing and verifying orders. Some days I head out to the nursing homes and meet with physicians and nurses to offer guidance and help optimize pharmacotherapy. You guys would be shocked at how complicated medications can be in the elderly, and what a tremendous differance having a pharmacist on board can make. I constantly have nurses and physicians coming to me for guidance on new drugs, formulations, compatibilty, dosing, and so on... We reduce medication errors, which in turn helps protect patient health and saves tons of money. I started out making 90,000 a year right out of school doing this.

Many of the most desirable clinical jobs in Pharmacy require a residency (which can be an additional 1-2 years). I was lucky since my current job did not require this. Having a pharmacy practice residency, or an advanced practice residency under your belt opens a whole new world to you, and many of my peers who graduated before me are making well over 6 figures in their clinical positions.

So you see... if you don't want to work in a retail setting and count pills you don't have to. There are tons of opportunity in pharmacy if you apply yourself and work hard.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: R0GX
Since I'm a recently graduated Pharm.D. I may be a little biased, but I'd say definately Pharmacist. You CAN make very good money and not do retail despite what Alkemyst states. I for a small company that contracts with nursing homes and other managed care organizations. My job is about 50% clinical, and 50% reviewing and verifying orders. Some days I head out to the nursing homes and meet with physicians and nurses to offer guidance and help optimize pharmacotherapy. You guys would be shocked at how complicated medications can be in the elderly, and what a tremendous differance having a pharmacist on board can make. I constantly have nurses and physicians coming to me for guidance on new drugs, formulations, compatibilty, dosing, and so on... We reduce medication errors, which in turn helps protect patient health and saves tons of money. I started out making 90,000 a year right out of school doing this.

Many of the most desirable clinical jobs in Pharmacy require a residency (which can be an additional 1-2 years). I was lucky since my current job did not require this. Having a pharmacy practice residency, or an advanced practice residency under your belt opens a whole new world to you, and many of my peers who graduated before me are making well over 6 figures in their clinical positions.

So you see... if you don't want to work in a retail setting and count pills you don't have to. There are tons of opportunity in pharmacy if you apply yourself and work hard.

so who are you really? You are giving sort of third person / text book answers on who a pharmacist is...it's your *first* post though so who knows. When you say having a Pharmacist on staff, is there an option not too? Doctors and nurses come to you because they are not pharmacists, they cannot dispense their own drugs.

Stating that you are making $90k at the start would tell me you have a highly non-common situation. What do residents make coming out of med school there?

Clinical:
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_HC07000012.html

Retail (which has improved about $10k off my numbers, so I was a wrong at $75k, should be more closer to the mid 80's, still not $50/hr...especally based on hours worked.):
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_HC07000011.html

 

[imported_R0GX]

Hey Alkemyst... can't write much as I need to get out that door for work. But to answer your question the pharmacy I work for dispenses medications to all these various institutions, and part of the responsibility of this job is making sure they utilized correctly. So I spend 2-3 days a week at these institutions reviewing patient charts and talking with physicians. Generally, physicians are glad for the backup and quite often come to me with their more complex patients. This is fairly standard practice in Ohio, and I don't think any of my friends that graduated with me made less 85,000 right out of school. Medical and Pharmacy residents are paid a lot less (about 30-40,00 year), but generally they can make it up for it later with clinical positions that pay a lot more. Pharmacists can and are paid for their knowledge and not just for their ability to dispense medications. Gotta go....

PS: 2nd post but longtime lurker...

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: R0GX
Hey Alkemyst... can't write much as I need to get out that door for work. But to answer your question the pharmacy I work for dispenses medications to all these various institutions, and part of the responsibility of this job is making sure they utilized correctly. So I spend 2-3 days a week at these institutions reviewing patient charts and talking with physicians. Generally, physicians are glad for the backup and quite often come to me with their more complex patients. This is fairly standard practice in Ohio, and I don't think any of my friends that graduated with me made less 85,000 right out of school. Medical and Pharmacy residents are paid a lot less (about 30-40,00 year), but generally they can make it up for it later with clinical positions that pay a lot more. Pharmacists can and are paid for their knowledge and not just for their ability to dispense medications. Gotta go....

PS: 2nd post but longtime lurker...

I am aware of what a Pharmacist does esp. a Clinical Pharmacist. You merely explained what the definition of them is....there is no doubting that. Still the average is the average pay...regardless is a handful here made more. It'd be like taking a processor speed query here, I am sure "we'd" spec out about the nationwide average....it still does not dispute that. Also any other Pharmacist will be leery to reply now and get bashed for making less or coming from a 'crappy' school.

Most physicians only know the medications based on reps coming to them with them. They take a quick look over the paperwork and if it seems like a better alternative they switch if liberal minded and stay with the old if conservative (very general example).

Now despite the pay involved the retail pharmacist (which I was talking about) usually is not using alot of his knowledge, just responsibility. However, with profit sharing and management positions, and the fact that the pharm counter is often 80%+ of all store revenue....his bonuses can smoke all clinical pharmacists.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Just about anything software related can and will be sent overseas, eventually. Them there foreigners are learning to be proficient at English very quickly.

You are missing my point I think. A dude making millions a year is not going to want to make a phone call/vid conference overseas.

If you know your stuff you get the job. Overseas is mostly hacks and clerical duties. Yes a lot of IT/IS has become merely clerical.

I'd have to disagree...

What I'm seeing is top executives Actively Searching for what they can outsource that is IT related. Every function that IT does is being scruitinized in an effort to cut costs.

Let's face it - IT is an expensive business fuction that most companies don't use properly...its just a big black money pit to the board sucking away profits.

And yes - all IT functions can be outsourced. All of them.