Alright, the time has come. For those of you patiently waiting on me to post about getting into pharmacy school and maybe add a few tips along with my pre-pharmacy experience
I got you guys, finally.
Let's run through a quick timeline of what it takes for someone fresh out of high school to begin with. It's important to do enough research to know exactly what you're getting into because the Doctor of Pharmacy degree is in fact, a doctorate. It's an investment of time, emotion, and yes money with each step forward becoming more demanding and more competitive than the last.
**0-6 programs exist and will accept you straight out of high school. In that case no college coursework is required, you roll right on through to your Pharm D, and as a note these are mostly located on the East coast**
Undergraduate schooling (years spent depends)
While a majority of pharmacy programs will prefer a bachelor's degree-- there are a handful out there that will accept just the necessary prerequisite courses (minimum of 2 years) to be completed before you apply
Pharmacy School (3-4 years)
Residency or Fellowship optional (post-post grad 1-2 years)
Totaling 6 - 10 average years of coursework and training straight from high school
Considering I chose the undergraduate bachelor's degree route then applied to a separate program; a lot of my notes will be from that standpoint... So here we go
Where To Focus
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I may not be the first to tell you but the road to pharmacy school is quite competitive. With a mix of many application components your GPA holds a fair amount of weight. And yes it matters, what you've learned in your high school chemistry, biology, math, even physics classes will INDEED be following you from this day forward.
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The specific undergraduate courses required will vary from each different institution and that's where your constant, active research/the utilization of resources like AACP and PharmCAS (I'll touch on later) will come in clutch.
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You aren't required to major in Chemistry or Biology in college check and see if your school has a pre-pharmacy, general science, or biohealth pathway. Chemistry is definitely the common choice but that doesn't make it the "only" "better" or "stronger" choice for admissions in my opinion. I've met psychology, business, and former communications majors all together in a pharmacy interview. All that matters is getting your prerequisites in and what that science GPA looks like when application season rolls around.
2. Letters of Reference
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Just when you thought the days of building lucrative student - teacher/faculty/etc relationships were over nope. Ideally these relationships should never be seen as business deals you should always get to know your professors, advisors, career mentors all on levels far beyond the classroom. Be so involved to the point you have a hard time choosing who to ask for a reference. Most programs ask for 2 to 4 people and it's very important to have one of them speak on any hands field experience which leads in to my next topic...
3. Experience (work/shadowing, volunteering, leadership opportunities)
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Having some form of experience volunteered or paid in a pharmacy or other health care setting is another way to strengthen your application. And I mean really strengthen. If you can put in some serious hours and get a reference from your supervisor you've given yourself a positive edge. Join clubs, volunteer at your local senior home if you can't get into a pharmacy (anything with decent medicine exposure will do) In those clubs/school organizations work up to a position of leadership you'll stand out more in admissions.
4. RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH - And I mean the schools
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Your final undergrad years will be glorious if post graduate research starts early. Try as early as possible. I was thinking about the different pharmacy schools I'd apply to and their requirements before walking into my freshman year and that allowed me to model my course load accordingly, even before my advisor, and keep my eye on the ball.
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How far in Calculus should you go.. Is there an elective course you otherwise wouldn't have thought to sign up for but counts as a special prerequisite? Most importantly does your school need the PCAT? One good pharmacy program database is on the PharmCAS website and I'm still getting to the section on them but AACP.org as well is great for all types of background research
5. PCAT
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The Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) is just another component to the pharmacy school applications quite similar to the MCAT for medical school. The areas accessed include: Biology, Chemistry, Critical Reading, and Math...
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But to repeat, not all programs require a PCAT score. A lot of them do but not all. To determine whether or not it's necessary for the school you're interested in, I can't stress this enough RESEARCH IS KEY. I found out the exam requirement for my program was waived due to my bachelor’s degree right before I was planning to take it.
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Something else to keep in mind is that it is possible to balance out an otherwise considered low gpa with an exceptional PCAT score. I've heard some nice comeback kid stories.
6. PharmCAS
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Almost all pharmacy degree programs in the United States participate in the centralized Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) for admission. In addition to guiding you through the application process pharmcas.org has a straightforward school directory that will outline each individual institutions requirements. I'd say it's a go to planning resource.
As a final note every school, every one, and every journey is different. Feel free to leave a comment below regarding your thoughts, questions, and if you've made it far enough --- your own little nuggets of advice and share your experience. I plan on incorporating pharmacy fully on to my website so also leave a comment on the topics you'd like me to discuss I'm more than willing to take suggestions.
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