Question:
14/f
sophmore

I am trying to start to plan my career. I orignally wante to be a vet but I believe that that would be to much school. I want a job in medical needs or medicine that pays well. So I started talking with my family and they told me that Pharmacist get payed well and you only need to go to school for 5-7 years. I was wondering of what should I focus more in school for. I know science and math but is there anything else that I can do. Also if you know anything else about studying to be a pharmacist if you could please give me links or information about this occupation. Thanks.

My Answer:
While you are still in high school, besides math and science, I would recommend you to take health and medical classes so that you would have some base knowledge in the field.


Also, in your junior year (11th grade), I would definitely recommend you to take a Medical Terminology class, if your school offers it. Medical Terminology is a half-year class that give you college credit--it's a concurrent enrollment. Don't worry, even though it's a college class, it's fairly easy, just a lot of medical terms. Devote about one to two hours each day looking over those medical terms and you'll breeze through the course without much trouble.

In your junior or senior year, I also recommend you to take Medical Anatomy and Physiology.

You should DEFINITELY consider joining HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) and become a HOSA officer, too. Ask your school about this. Most high schools in the US have a HOSA club. I am aiming for a career in the medical field, too, and HOSA has provided me many valuable information and experience.

More information about HOSA here: http://www.hosa.org/


In your senior year, you should attempt to get a pharmacy technician certification. If your GPA is above 3.0 (this is different depending on you school), your school WILL PAY FOR YOUR TUITION FEE. Pharmacy technicians are people who assist licensed pharmacists. (You have to be 18 years old to take the certification test though, you should talk to your school counselor about this.)

This will help you get some hand-on experience of being a pharmacist. And while at that, you'll make about $10 to $15 per hour. It's a win-win situation.


Also, while in high school, if possible, you might want to take a few AP classes, too. If you pass the final exam, you'll have college credits. In my experience, AP English is fairly easy; AP US History is not too bad either; but AP Chemistry and AP Calculus are serious pains in the neck. This will help you finish college faster.


Another thing, if you think you can handle it, ask your health teacher for a chance to go to a cadaver lab ("cadaver" means dead body). It's a lab where you get a chance to touch real ("real" as in REALISTIC!) human brain, human heart, etc.; where you watch a professor dissect real human body.

You have be mentally ready though, because the last time we (50 students who are interested in the medical field in my school, including me) went there, one student passed out during the lab, and another walked out. That's only 1% though (2 out of 50), but, you know, make sure you're not within the 1%.



As for links, the followings are some good ones:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm
http://www.pharmacy.purdue.edu/students/prospective/
http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/Pages/default.aspx

Those three websites will tell you pretty much everything you needed to know about becoming a pharmacist.


Hope this helps,
Ng2491 =)

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