Yes, to pharmacy.
It's been a very well paying profession for years. If you just look at all the chain drug stores that are opeing all over the place....each one has a pharmacy that has to have a pharmicist on duty. Not to mention the in-house phamacies in supermarkets.
The need out there is tremendous, and the incentives (at least in this area).
A pharmacy degree has been, last I heard, a 6 year program.
A pharmicist I used to know told me about 6-7 years ago that there was a push to extend it to a Masters or Doctorate. I don't know what happened there.

My sister is a pharmacist, works for a national store chain. Anyone would recognize the name of the chain. She became a pharmacist over 20 years ago,at the time it was a five year bachelors degree. She takes state tests regularly to maintain her license. She earns over $100,000 aear and lives very comfortably. She ha spotted several erroneous prescriptions-one was similar to Dennis Quaid's children-a potential overdose for a child, which she caught and informed the doctor who wrote the prescription, the other was a doctor over-prescribing pain killers, which resulted in a criminal case with the police. It's a high pressure job, you can't ever relax, but her job is secure and she makes lots of money. Her skills are very in demand. She can continue to work for the chain, work at any hospital, or start her own store. There is a nationwide shortage of pharmacists, and it will only get worse as baby-boomers get older.

I consider my pharmacist as important as a family doctor. James has known us for well over 20 years, owns his own little store. When we moved, we remained getting our drugs from him, driving an hour out of our way, but we visit my sister at the same time. He knows what meds we are on and always has good advice on what we should and should not take. Doctors do make mistakes with prescriptions, as a nurse I have caught a number of errors in doctors orders. Pharmacist have a big responsibility too. Their education is long and hard work and they are in demand. I wonder what the difference is in education between a pharmacist and a pharmacist-assistant.

yes, Monica when my son was in school they changed it to a 6 year program, the degree is called a Pharm D. He was at Phila. College Pharmacy at the time. It's very intense but an excellent career. Heather, yes the pharmicist knows as much as the doctor as far as medication goes.

I think it depends on the state down here. It's anywhere from OJT to a 1-2 year tech school program or a bachelor's degree.

The difference in pay IS huge.

IMO, and experience, a pharmicist knows more about drugs than the average doctor.
Fact is, most doctors know little more about drugs, dosgaes and interactions, than what is available in the paper flyer that you get from the pharmacy when you have your script filled.
Doctors knowledge comes from pharmacutical salespeople, the flyers they leave, other doctors and personal experience. Very few have the time or perceive the need to read the multi-page full description of the product, which is available to everyone at the pharmacutical company's website, if you take the time hunt for it and read it.
Good Pharmacists do keep up with this information, see a greater variety of patients taking the drugs, with a greater variety of drug combinations.
They also have access to computerized database applications that look at all the drugs you have on record with the store, and automatically red-flag interaction possibilities.
Your personal physician may only be up to date about the drugs he or she has prescribed for you, and unless you give the information, have no information about a drug another one of your doctors has prescribed.

A close friend of mine went through a special program somewhere in Kansas (can't remember the school) where your whole program is focused on getting your PharmD, so you are only in school for a total of 5 years from beginning to end and you end up being a pharamacologist. You obviously have to know what you want before even starting college, no changing your mind, etc. She now works for one of most respected hospitals in Seattle and I'm sure she pulls in over 100k/yr.

I wish there were more specialized combined undergrad/grad programs like that out there. With working full time, I went to school the same amount of time as her and ended up with a bachelors degree in a field that pays almost nothing. I love my job, but if I could have done a similar program in my field, I would have jumped on it.

The reason your son makes $70 an hour as a pharmacist is because there is a HUGE shortage of pharmacists. They get paid around that here too. But a pharmacy tech only gets about $14 - $17 an hour, so you'll find there will be about 3 or 4 techs behind the counter to one pharmacist who really only has to read the label of the bottle and make sure the contents are correct and sign off on the prescription. Techs do a TON of work.

I would never work behind the counter in a pharmacy. I was offered a tech job (they would have me trained through their program) but I turned it down flat, knowing I'd make more money. It's bad enough working at the front end of the drug store with sick customers yelling at you all day, there's no way I'd work behind the counter. It's even worse back there. LOL

My Husband has been a pharmacist for 28 years.
He loves his work behind the counter because he is a real people person. I've got to hand it to him, I could never do it.
I think if you are inteligent enough to get a degree in nursing, you have the brains to be a Pharmicist.
There are way more females receiving their Pharmacy degrees these days.
I think it's a great career for a woman because, after having children, you can cut and adjust your hours and still bring home a sizable salary.
I believe that is why there is a shortage in Pharmacy, but I still say "family first", and good for the ladies who can have a family and a respected profession.
It's about time that the ladies can call the shots on when and how much they work, sounds like a dream job to me.
I have read that Pharmacy is the most respected profession and that Firefighters have the most sexiest job(?). I guess in this family, were both sexy and professional! LOL
My husband's first assignment was in a poor neighborhood where he was called "Doc" because to some of his customers, he was the closest thing to a doctor they could afford.
Some pharmacists still are sometimes referred to as a "Poorman's Doctor"
One local lady, who was a State Representative, wrote an article in the paper that said if Ted were single, he'd be the most elegable batchelor in the State. I didn't realize I was so lucky. To me, he was just "My Love Geek"
And his "Little Old Lady" groopies. May of his customers have followed him from location to location because, because, well, maybe I should find find out! LOL
He's lucky because he has been at the same location for 10 years now, just about a mile from our home.
But I do ramble on and on.
I say, go get it ladies, it's a great profession.

Nurses make nothing... sadly. My dad always wanted me to be a Pharmacist. I went on to Physical Therapy. Good $, too but Pharmacists and Physician Assistants make good bucks!!

I was told by a medical sales rep that the days of physical pharmacies may be coming to an end. It seems the insurance companies are pushing for mail order medicines because it is more cost effective (cutting out the middle man and all the extra paper work) and also the error rate is supposed to be close to zero.

I would guess pharmacists may still be needed, but they may not be that much in demand. I also heard that doctor's offices themselves may take over some of the more well known and one time prescriptions (like antibiotics for strep, etc) and such. I have noticed this already happening at my kid's doctor's office. I'm sure it would take awile, but considering all the talk about insurance reform and such, I don't think it's out of the question to think that the days of the neighborhood pharmacy may be numbered. Not so sure it is the best degree to be considering at this time.

When my daughter got headlice, she was about 8 years old. I was horrified, knew mext to nothing about them. I ran to my pharmacist and asked his advice on what product is best,how to prevent spreading to other family members, etc. That was before I had internet. And I didn't run to a doctor because I wanted to save money and I knew she wasn't sick.

I agree Monica, pharmacists know a lot more about drugs than doctors.

Sometimes, Doctors' call my son and tell him symtoms and ask what he thinks he should put them on. I told my son, maybe he should go on to be a Doctor. But I think he loves what he does but he works alot of OT and is tired all the time.

Carla, I agree, but someone still has to fill those bottles even for mail order insurance.

Maybe then Ted could sit down on the job instead of standing up for 12 hours a shift

There will always be a need for a neighbourhood pharmacy. I can't even imagine having to wait for mail order prescriptions. Unless drugs were hand delivered to that person only, I can see drugs getting into the wrong hands and being sold on the black market. The theft of drugs from mail boxes would rise. I can't see doctor's offices ever stocking all of the drugs that people would need. Right now some of them hand out samples they receive from the drug company reps.

I sure hope that the neighbourhood pharmacy is not a thing of the past!

I can't imagine going to school for six years but if you're young enough, and had the money that would be the way to go. I wouldn't want the debt, if I had to use loans, though. I've been out of nursing school for 4 1/2 years and still paying for my loans and will have to for years.