Looking into pharmacy, there were quite a few things that attracted me. One was definitely the money, as I had mentioned earlier in a blog post, also the atmosphere of working around people, and the steady hours. I don't personally like those jobs that you never know when you are leaving or how many days a week you will work. Even though pharmacists sometimes work days, nights, or weekends, it is still a steady schedule that you are assigned to work. I personally wouldn't mind working either days or nights. Pharmacists of course work in pharmacies but there are a variety of places they are located such as drug stores, retail stores, privately owned, or in the hospital. Almost everywhere you go to shop for necessities or groceries, if you take a minute to look around there would be a pharmacy.
Pharmacists work hard to get where they are in their careers. Pharmacy requires a lot of study and schooling before getting into the profession. All pharmacists must graduate from a accredited pharmacy school. Luckily for me, the University of Iowa is one of those main schools. They have a College of Pharmacy that you must apply to. Receiving a pharmacy degree takes six years. The first two years are all general education classes and become your undergraduate degree. You also must take a "PCAT" test that qualifies you for the specialized college. That is the score that they mainly look at to see if you are eligible for admission or not. At the beginning of your second year, you apply to the College of Pharmacy. This is the part that is very competitive. The College of Pharmacy only selects a set number of students for the program and all the others are able to apply the next year. I learned all of this through the University of Iowa, they have been very helpful. Hopefully, I will get in within my first year of applying.
According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook for 2010-2011 pharmacists make anywhere from $92,000 to $123,000 per year. The salary depends on the status of pharmacist you are and how long you have been in the profession. The job outlook for opportunities is very good for the future. This is a growing field and is always looking for new pharmacists to come in to existing large corporations. Employment is expected to grow by 17 percent, and there are already around 270,000 pharmacists in employment. Those numbers seem large, but when I look around at St. Luke's and in the job shadows it doesn't seem exaggerated. Some pharmacists can become specialized such as oncology, nuclear, geriatric, or psychiatric. These require special courses and exams for their narrowed field. I am not very interested in those, I still have my eye on the retail pharmacy. They both make a lot of money, work with people, and have a good job outlook. Pharmacy seems to look like a positive career for me with those facts.
Pharmacists work hard to get where they are in their careers. Pharmacy requires a lot of study and schooling before getting into the profession. All pharmacists must graduate from a accredited pharmacy school. Luckily for me, the University of Iowa is one of those main schools. They have a College of Pharmacy that you must apply to. Receiving a pharmacy degree takes six years. The first two years are all general education classes and become your undergraduate degree. You also must take a "PCAT" test that qualifies you for the specialized college. That is the score that they mainly look at to see if you are eligible for admission or not. At the beginning of your second year, you apply to the College of Pharmacy. This is the part that is very competitive. The College of Pharmacy only selects a set number of students for the program and all the others are able to apply the next year. I learned all of this through the University of Iowa, they have been very helpful. Hopefully, I will get in within my first year of applying.
According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook for 2010-2011 pharmacists make anywhere from $92,000 to $123,000 per year. The salary depends on the status of pharmacist you are and how long you have been in the profession. The job outlook for opportunities is very good for the future. This is a growing field and is always looking for new pharmacists to come in to existing large corporations. Employment is expected to grow by 17 percent, and there are already around 270,000 pharmacists in employment. Those numbers seem large, but when I look around at St. Luke's and in the job shadows it doesn't seem exaggerated. Some pharmacists can become specialized such as oncology, nuclear, geriatric, or psychiatric. These require special courses and exams for their narrowed field. I am not very interested in those, I still have my eye on the retail pharmacy. They both make a lot of money, work with people, and have a good job outlook. Pharmacy seems to look like a positive career for me with those facts.
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