Career Advice MEGA - Courses and Careers related to Drugs

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joeldatroll

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Mar 26, 2005
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Im a freshment at University. My current major is Physics, but I just realized that I really have no idea what I want to do with that. I'd get my 4 year degree and then...I have no idea. Im thinking about changing my major to Pharmaceutical Sciences (im going to be talking to an advisor after the weekend) because I am good at Chemistry and I like the idea of knowing for sure what type of job I will be able to get.

Are there any pharmacists out there with anything to say? Was it easy to find a job when you got out of school? Will there be a demand for pharmacists in 4 years?

Also, do you make your own medications/recreational drugs? Making my own stuff isnt the reason why Id want to switch my major, but it definitely sounds cool.
 
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I think a mod might wanna move this to the college forum, as this has nothing to do with consuming illegal substances...
 
Arg, I was going to post this in the college forum but its such a slow forum that I thought I'd get better responses here.

Plus, I asked about making your own drugs and consuming them. Thats plenty illegal :D
 
TBH you’re probably better off going with chemistry. That way you don't close employment opportunities by specialising.
 
I believe Shulgin has degrees in Chemistry, Botany, and Pharmacology.
 
I'm a senior in high school and I've declared my major as Pre-Pharm on all my applications. So, I'm interested in any and all helpful replies as well.
 
get ready for the most boring life you can imagine. At least the controls on hydrocodone aren't that tight.
 
get ready for the most boring life you can imagine
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You sound like you have some experience with pharmacy. Why just tell me what you told me and not go in a little deeper? Maybe you dont have the time, which I understand, but I would like it if you could give me some details and experiences if possible.
 
Re: Any Pharmacists out there?

Pharmacy is kind of a risky path to go down right now career wise. The profession is trying to move away from the dispensing role and into a more "clinical" role that focuses on disease management and direct intervention in patients' drug therapy.
The dispensing role of pharmacists is quickly becoming obsolete with automation and mail order gaining momentum. In some countries you can already get prescriptions filled by ATM-like machines with no pharmacist involved.
There will most likely be lots of jobs for clinical pharmacists in the future but there probably won't be enough to replace all the pharmacy jobs that focus on drug dispensing.

On the other hand, they've been saying this stuff for the past 20 years and pharmacy hasn't really changed much, so who knows.

joeldatroll said:

Also, do you make your own medications/recreational drugs? Making my own stuff isnt the reason why Id want to switch my major, but it definitely sounds cool.
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You will most likely NOT learn how to make drugs in pharmacy school, unless you do some sort of graduate degree. Pharmacy deals more with how drugs work and how to treat diseases, not how to manufacture drugs. You'll have to take some organic chemistry classes during pre-pharmacy but they are usually pretty basic.

One more thing, if you are planning on going to pharmacy school to be a regular pharmacist, it is vital that you enjoy working with people, because you will have to deal with lots of patients and physicians everyday. You said you are good at chemistry, which is good because it might help you get through your chem classes, but the actual job of a pharmacist uses very little chemistry.
 
man, i know plenty of shitty, unfriendly, mean mean pharmacists. I really wonder how they ever "became" pharmacists, musta been way easier back in the day. Now most schools only have PharmD degrees............ buttttt........you definitly do not need to know how to get along with people.......just need to know enough to fool the pharmacy school into thinking you are a nice, smart future pharmacist
 
Fried Man said:
man, i know plenty of shitty, unfriendly, mean mean pharmacists. I really wonder how they ever "became" pharmacists, musta been way easier back in the day. Now most schools only have PharmD degrees............ buttttt........you definitly do not need to know how to get along with people.......just need to know enough to fool the pharmacy school into thinking you are a nice, smart future pharmacist
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its because of the dumb ignorant customers and their chicken-scratch doctors;)
 
I'm guessing your from the US? I am in Australia and pharmacist jobs are plentiful and the money is great
 
Careers When it Comes to Drugs?

I'm not exactly where this thread should've gone... perhaps the Social or Basic Drugs. No idea. However... I had last year heard of a field of research involving the effects on the brain regarding psychoactive drugs, called psychopharmacology. A definition lifted from Wikipedia.com : Psychopharmacology is the study of the effects of any psychoactive drug that acts upon the mind by affecting brain chemistry.

Now, is there any psychopharms out there? If so, what's the job entail, how is it, etc. I'm interested in perhaps studying in this field, just because I'm fascinated by the effects of a substance to temporarily or permanently affects one's mind and set.

Also, on a somewhat related yet unrelated topic... are there any other careers that involve the study of these sorts of substances, whether with the mind or body, doesn't matter.

Thanks all for reading, dismissing, ignoring, moving, or closing! =D
 
only psychopharmacologist ive ever seen is Alexander Shulgin....im sure youve heard of him, auther of "PiHKAL" and "TiHKAL". to tell you the truth, if thats what Shulgins career is......I really dont think it will be a walk in the park to get to the level he is......i would think it would be damn near impossible to be able to have the rights and privileges he has without lots of damn determination
 
You could become a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist specialising in dealing with patients with drug problems?

And only because nobody else said it... Career.... Drugs... Hmm.... Yes, I can think of something ;)
 
Pharmacist.

My dad's becoming a pharmacist assistant. I saw his flashcards with various chemical names and the drug they are in and the schedule they are. I already knew almost all the drugs and there schedules. Would be a decent job but I'd be afraid of wanting to steal pills or being caught with pills and losing my job.
 
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