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Why Pharmacy? - For prospective pharmacy students (A current pharmacy student’s perspective by Holden Young)

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Why Pharmacy? - For prospective pharmacy students (A current pharmacy student’s perspective by Holden Young)


If you’ve found yourself reading this post, you’re most likely here because you are considering attending pharmacy school. Whether you are currently taking undergraduate classes, a few years removed from college, or a high school student looking for potential professional careers to pursue, you are probably asking yourself “Why would I pursue Pharmacy?”. In this post, I’ll explain why I chose to go to pharmacy school and why I still believe a PharmD is worth pursuing. 


The main reason I chose to pursue pharmacy and why I still continue to believe that it is a viable path for young professionals is because of the versatility that a Doctorate of Pharmacy affords. Although the majority of pharmacy school courses revolve around medications (brand/generic name, drug class, indications, mechanism of action, adverse drug reactions), the expertise that you acquire can be applied to careers across many industries. Not only does a PharmD help prepare students for careers in retail and hospital pharmacy, but it also provides a path in industries including pharmaceuticals, academia, government agencies, and pharmacy benefit management organizations. On the surface this only appears to be four industries, but in reality these industries include an innumerable amount of career opportunities. 


Along with its versatility, I believe that the PharmD degree complements other types of degrees and their corresponding industries very well. From an MBA to a J.D. to a PhD, a PharmD is not inferior or superior to any of these graduate degrees, but in my mind perfectly complements them for individuals who are interested in these programs and plan on utilizing their knowledge and experiences in their career. For example an MBA provides students with the opportunity to learn how to become a better leader and manager and prepares them to be able to properly run an organization/business. A J.D. allows pharmacists to pursue further specialization as a professional and lead to career advancements into the regulatory environment of pharmacy. Last, a PhD in conjunction with a PharmD can lead to a highly sought after specialization in academia and research. 




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