hi makaveli, i'm in the US and i'm studying to be a pharmacist.
2 years of undergraduate coursework is required before you can even apply to pharmacy school, i'm just about to complete that now. The coursework includes general chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, microbiology, physics, calculus (only 1 course of that), genetics, and some other misc courses depending on what school you apply to. Truthfully, they aren't that hard, but you do have to devote a lot of time to studying and you'll know it well.
The Pharmacy College Admissions Test, PCAT, is also something you have to score high on as it is becoming very competitive. It's very similar to the MCAT for med school, the only difference is the PCAT does not have a physics section. (Hoorah!) It has 5 sections: biology, chemistry, reading, math, and a writing section. From there the process of applying to pharmacy school is pretty much like applying to med school. You have to get recommendation letters from professors and pharmacists, have lots of volunteer and extracurricular activities throughout your academic career, go through an interview process with the schools that like your appication, blah blah blah, etc.
In the state where I live the average applicant to accepted student ratio is 7 to 1. so for every open spot at a pharmacy school, you have to compete with about 7 other applicants to get that spot. most schools in my state typically accept about 100-150 students each year. that means they get about 750 applicants a year but only admit 150. but that varies in different states. so it is definitely something you have to work towards to make yourself stand out above the rest and get noticed.
from there, pharmacy school is 4 years long. you cannot be a pharmacist without having your degree and being licensed, even if it's just working at cvs, walgreens, etc. the degree you will have will be your doctorate of pharmacy, or Pharm.D. Your first 2 years will usually be mostly coursework and lab work, with the last 2 years mostly being spent doing rotations in the field. You gain your license at the end of pharmacy school when you take the NAPLEX standardized test.
Yes it is a lot of hard work, but in my opinion the benefits and stability of that profession greatly outweigh the risks and amount of work involved in getting there. you'll have so many more opportunities than just working retail pharmacy though. my plan when i finally graduate is to get a standard high paying pharmacy job and use it to pay off all my loans for 5 years, then move on to working for a pharmaceutical company or something of that nature. I don't just want to count pills all my life, but the retail jobs pay so well it's perfect for new graduates to take those and use it to their benefit when just getting out of school. that's another thing about becoming a pharmacist, it's very expensive, like becoming a doctor, and most students graduate with a huge amount of debt to pay off. but it goes with the territory, and you just have to stay strong and keep going so you can get that high $$$ in the end to pay that shit off.
oh and also, i'm a pharmacy tech right now as well. i had to take the PTCB, Pharmacy Technician Certification Board test, but it was not hard at all. it was so easy, i didn't have to take any courses for it. you can get review books for all kinds of standardized tests at most book stores. i just got myself one of those, studied with it for a month, and i was good to go.
hope this helps.
EDIT: also i would like to add one other major difference between applying to pharmacy school and applying to other professional health schools is that you do not need to have your bachelors degree before applying. Med school, vet school, dental school all require you to have graduated with a bachelor's degree before you begin their program. pharmacy school only requires the 2 years of undergraduate coursework that they specify.
EDIT #2: you're only 19 and at the perfect age to begin the pharmacy school process. if you succeed you'll be rollin in the $$$ by your mid-20's. I got a late start, i'm 25 and just about to start applying now, my only regret is not making this career decision sooner. you should definitely give it some serious consideration my friend, since you said you have a good knowledge of medicine. do you like chemistry? because that's a large portion of what you'll be getting yourself into. Everyone says if you like and understand organic chemistry then you'll have no problem in pharm school. haha, i kinda feel like i'm trying to recruit you or something. i really am a strong advocate of the program, like i said, it's a big payoff for very little work in comparison to other things.
come on, join us on the other side. you know you want to. one of us.....one of us.....
