Well, you're in luck! With advances in science, technology,
and medicine growing by leaps and bounds, it's a great time to
join this growing profession. Most pharmacy programs accept
students for their Pharm.D. degree once they've completed at
least 2 years of undergraduate study, but in reality, you'll
probably have to finish 3, or even have your bachelor's degree
before you can get in to most programs. There are some colleges,
on the other hand, that accept students to their pre-pharmacy or
pharmacy programs directly from high school.
The final four
The requirements you need vary from program to program, but there
will obviously be common prerequisites throughout. Math, biology,
physics, and chemistry are some of the basics you should be
taking if you're even thinking of applying. The fact is, you'll
probably need to take these courses to do well on the PCAT* exam.
This exam will be a critical part of your application package,
and, since the PCAT covers biology, chemistry, and math, make
sure you know the material before you take the test.
Why do you need the courses mentioned above for pharmacy? It's
really quite intuitive. A good pharmacist will need math to
measure out prescriptions and calculate dosage strength for
individuals of different height and weight, and might also need
business math to manage his or her own pharmacy. Biology is
necessary to know how drugs will react within the body, and to
know what's wrong in the first place! Chemistry and physics,
meanwhile, are needed to understand the behavior of drugs, the
ingredients included, and why they react differently under
various conditions. Of course, these subjects will be given in
pharmacy school itself, but you must understand the basics before
you start.
There are some more courses that might be helpful before you
start your degree program. Social science courses like English,
sociology, psychology, and more can prove helpful in relating to
your patients, your co-workers, and other health professionals
that you'll come in contact with throughout your career. In
addition, your English classes will no doubt help you score
higher on the verbal ability and reading comprehension sections
of the PCAT!
Get going
So what are you waiting for? Part of getting in to school is
making sure you have the minimum requirements. Doing well in
these courses can help you stand out from the crowd of applicants
and get into the school of your choice!