Career Switch Update

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Over the last week, I discovered this great site and I received lots of advice as to how to proceed with my life.

As you may know, I'm in my first year of pharmacy school. This spring was not a really good one and given that year 2 is much more intense, I may not be able to reach my career goals of clinical pharmacy. Furthermore, I'm just paranoid of the debt I've accumulated. To understand this, one would have to know that I was debt free and was very meticulous how I go about spending habits. Not that I was that frugal, but the thought of owing so much has something to do with it. The worse I did, the more I worried and the further I was away from my career goals.

Anyway, I narrowed my choice to Civil engineering hopefully with a structural engineering specialty. However, should I get accepted, I will strongly consider nursing which will cost me less than 10k for less than two years. This might serve me as a part-time job as I will need to support myself through engineering school.

What could be better? You earn a degree in which you learn what you need to support yourself and you have a "good debt" (I suppose depending where you go). But I doubt it is as expensive as med or pharmacy school.

Perhaps, I'm naive and this is where you come in! :)

Cons:

I post a link to structural engineering (for those who might be in my situation).

Admittedly, my favorite pharmacy courses were PathoPhysiology, Dosage calculations, pharmacology... and when I see them pop up here, I wonder if I'm making a mistake still.

Thank you all.

Please feel free to chime in with any advice if necessary.

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.

Am I reading your post correctly in that you might want to get a nursing degree so you can support yourself while you go to school for engineering?

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In pharmacy, many students had pharmacy tech license, hence they have a part-time throughout school or summer. Some engineering students who knew they would go engineering route, are math/science tutors or have engineering drafting license.

Given that my current situation, and as a way to pay for the loan, I was thinking if I had the nursing degree, it could be a great way to earn a living somehow. In addition, if engineering does not work out, then nursing will be my way of life and I aim to perform it well all the way up to a PhD. Then I'd teach dosage calculations or physiology.

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I don't know if I am understanding you correctly, but wouldn't going to nursing school (acquiring more debt), THEN going to Engineering school (more debt) take you a long time? Nursing school is highly competitive and there is no way of knowing if you will be accepted on the first or sometimes, second try. I would just go straight for engineering school, if that's what your goal is and find another kind of job to help pay for school. I am hoping you are not going to try to do both programs at the same time:uhoh3: I know you are facing a difficult choice, as I have struggled on which path to take myself. Good luck in whatever you choose:)

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

OP, your plan of going to nursing school so you can work part-time to pay for your engineering school is ridiculous. You're better off working as a bank teller than using nursing as your stepping stone to engineering.

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I guess I am more confused than when I posted first time about career switch. :uhoh3:

I'm hoping scoring above 90% (took all the sections) in the Kaplan test among other things will let the school know that I'm ready for the rigors of nursing school. And because I still like physiology, dosage and pharmacology... I can have that in nursing. Plus nursing is so cheap. I'd pay about 10K for the whole education (compared to 120K + for pharmacy school). And nurses seems to apply more of what they learn in school.

To be honest, save for the chemistry and lots of calculations, I believe nursing students learn much more about the human body and so on then us pharmacy students. Believe me, most of what we do is theoretical and retail pharmacy, you hardly put in practice at all. And as a nurse in a real situation outside hospital setting, you prolly would know much more what to do. And without the medications, we probably would not know so much. And nurses learn medication too! (ugh... how is it nurses earn much less than pharmDs?)

For those who mentioned bank teller.... dealing with money doesn't give me the satisfaction of helping society in a big way. I love science and technology. And if I weren't so worried about the debt, I would just continue on with pharmacy. Also, nursing is more a career with stability than bank tellers. And I probably can support a family with a nursing degree.

Some say in pharmacy, eventually I'll pay the debt. But if my dream of clinical pharmacy is probably not happening, than should I be miserable to pay off debt by working retail (my least favorite)?

Thanks for your input. I realize I may be going about it the wrong way. That is why, it's good to ask.

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.
Also, nursing is more a career with stability than bank tellers. And I probably can support a family with a nursing degree.

Actually, I would think bank tellers have more stability than nurses these days.

No one doubted you could support a family with a nursing degree. People did ask why you want to get a nursing degree if you plan on getting an engineering degree.

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What do you want to do as a career? Do you know where your strengths lie? Do you want to work with people? (Do you like being in hospitals and do you mind being around sick people?) Or do you prefer working with numbers? My point: You might want to talk to a career counselor to get a better sense of where you'd blossom. You sound smart enough to do any of these careers, but it is important to choose the one that best suits you. I had a friend who went all the way through dental school, worked as a dentist and HATED it. (He retired from dentistry, on orders from his psychiatrist.)

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