Pumpkin1621

this is basically where i stand with prerequisites. these are the courses i still need to take. the orange is overlapping. pharmacy school english composition 3 credits biochemistry 3 credits calculus3 credits microbiology (with lab) 4 credits general chemistry (with lab)4credits organic chemistry (with lab) 8 credits physics 8 credits human anatomy and physiology 6 credits total: 39 nursing school english composition 3 credits english composition 2 3 credits human anatomy & physiology with lab 8 credits microbiology with lab 4 credits human growth and development 3 credits mathematics (college algebra or higher) 3 credits nutrition 3 credits total: 27

Like I said before, medical school is out of the question. Longer hours, plus you have to have a bachelors degree at my local medical schools. In fact there is only one school where you don't have to have a bachelors degree, but it does say on their website that those with bachelors will have a better chance of acceptance. Not to mention my location has the top medical schools, so they are very hard to get into. (ie. JHU, Georgetown, etc) For me to get a bachelors degree at my school I have to have 124 credits... That would take me another 3 years. Then add on the 4 years of medical school, and a minimum of 3 years of residency.... 80 hour work weeks.... no thanks. I already have most of the courses done. It would take me two more years of part-time school to finish the prereqs for pharmacy school. It will take me one year of full time school to finish the prereqs for nursing. Then you have to compare the outcome. It would take me 3 years to get a BSN (1 more year of prereqs and 2 years of nursing school). Then with a BSN my salary will be around 50k. 2 years of prereqs for pharmacy school and 4 years of pharmacy school would take 6 years. That salary is around 90-100k. (I live in Washington DC so the salary is pretty good here.) I am pretty sure that I am going to choose nursing because of what some previous posters mentioned. I think I would get sick of doing pharmacy work. Even though I am good at chemistry I love the big picture. I am more fascinated the whole "organism." Nursing also has more options. I am currently researching consulting, CRNA, and I am going to shadow a pharmacist next week. If I do choose nursing I know it will be the right choice, because I will have researched every other option. It just may take longer to get that six figure salary that I dream of...

From the three pharmacy programs I have researched, you don't need a bachelors degree. You need to have completed the prerequisites. The same chemistry required for nursing at my school is the same chemistry required for pharmacy school, and they can all be taken at a community college. Just for comparison here are the course requirements for my local pharmacy and nursing school: Pharmacy School English Composition 3 credits Biochemistry 3 credits Calculus3 credits Statistics 3 credits Biology (with lab)4 credits Microbiology (with lab) 4 credits General Chemistry (with lab)8 credits Organic Chemistry (with lab) 8 credits Physics 8 credits Human Anatomy and Physiology 6 credits Humanities and Social Sciences 18 credits Speech communications or public speaking 1 course Microeconomics or macro/ microeconomics1 course Minimum Total 68 credits Nursing School English Composition 6 credits General Chemistry with Lab 4 credits Human Anatomy & Physiology with Lab 8 credits Microbiology with Lab 4 credits Introduction to Psychology 3 credits Introduction to Sociology 3 credits Social Science Elective (sociology, psychology, anthropology, political science, economics, geography, history, social work) 3 credits Human Growth and Development 3 credits Statistics 3 credits Mathematics (college algebra or higher) 3 credits Humanities* (literature, language, art, history, mathematics, philosophy, speech, music) 9 credits Nutrition 3 credits General Electives 7 credits Minimum Total 59 credits

This stinks. I always wanted to live in England. (I am from the US) My dream was to own a home there and have dual citizenship, but almost every occupation there seems to be "full." I am not sure if there are any jobs there that will hire people in the US. Even the MBA rquirements have changed. It used to be HSMW, now you have to have an MBA from a top 100 school. It is not in demand anymore. Thanks for all the replies. This has been an interesting read. I guess I will just have to wait until I am old and retired to move to England!

All areas pay about the same, but it does help to think about what you want to do. For instance if you do want to be a CRNA one day it would be good for you to start in the ICU b/c to be a CRNA you need ICU experience. I posted a link earlier in the thread and you can compare the salary in your area for all staff nurses. Ex. Staff Nurse - Operating Room, Staff Nurse - ICU etc.... Good luck.

http://allnurses.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_titleselect.asp?narrowdesc=&narrowcode=HC05&zipcode=&metrocode=&x=36&y=11

Starting salary for Pharmacists where I live is 90-100k, and the average salary for those with experience is anywhere from 110k-120k. Like I said earlier it would take me 6 years to get a PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy), and the 40 hour work weeks are very appealing. It would take me 3 years of undergrad, 4 years of med school, and a minimum 3 years of residency to be a doctor. That is 10 years, and they work a lot more than 40 hours a week. I have asked about shadowing a pharmacist, and I am supposed to hear back from her on Wednesday. She said she has to make sure that it won't violate HIPPA laws. I called an aunt of mine and told her my choices. I had no idea, but I have 3 cousins who are pharmacists. So she gave me their phone numbers in case I had any questions. I love hearing responses from those who have made a decision similar to mine and what factored into the decision they made. Thanks for all the replys.

I was hoping you guys could tell me what you would do in my situation. I know that I am the one who must decide, but I'm looking for advice. I have just found out that I could complete pharmacy school in 6 years. My ultimate career goal is a six figure salary. I am a people person and that is what attracted me to nursing. I was interested in being a CRNA. It would take me about 7.5-8 years to be a CRNA if they accepted me in the school with minimum work experience. I am a single parent and I want to be able to support both of us with a good salary, but I also want to have decent work hours. I have heard that pharmacists work 40 hour weeks, have good pay, and can still have the patient contact that I feel I need in a career... I always had the misunderstanding that Pharmacists stood behind the counter counting pills all day (boring!). I have good grades and I am good at Chemistry. I'm just not quite sure what to do. How should I make my decision? Thanks

There is already two programs at my local schools that have post Bach DNP programs. They are three to four years long depending on the specialty. I haven't seen one that includes CRNA as a specialty yet. However there is another school in my area where you get your CRNA first then go to DNP program. I don't know. All of this makes me want to go into pharmacy school. You don't have to have a bachelors to go to the pharmacy school in my area (you must complete certain prereqs and a bachelors doesn't make you a better candidate) and it is a four year PharmD program. I'm thinking about it. I'm not sure what I am going to do now.

Hello all. I am not a nurse yet and I am still taking my prereqs. I just read something and I want to make sure I understand it correctly. I am going to use CRNA as an example. After 3 more years to get my degree and 2 years min experience requirement it will be 2013 (pretty close to 2015). Does this mean that I will have to get my 4 year degree, get nursing experience, go to CRNA school, and then get a DNP degree? Will the DNP be incorporated into all of these programs or will they be seperate? Will I have to get a DNP degree before I can practice as CRNA? From what I have read the DNP degree takes about 4 years post Bach, so will CRNA school change from 2.5 years long to 4 years? TIA :smiletea:

OK So does this mean that if I want to be a CRNA (after 2015) I will have to go through nursing school, get experience, apply to CRNA school, and apply to a DNP program? Or will the DNP program be incorporated into the CRNA program? Could someone explain please.

OK I had my first day of Chem today. It was sooo long. But the prof. seems really nice. We had a lot of homework. I just finished 2 of the 4 assignments that are due on Thursday. The class moves really fast, but I expected that. Overall I think it is just going to take a lot of self discipline to buckle down and make sure I keep up with my readings and assignments (and there are a lot). So far not too bad. Good luck to everyone else.

I think it is important to take a tour at the hospitals you are interested in, and to talk to other people who have had children their. I took a tour at the hospital I gave birth at and the actual birth was greater than I expected. The staff was top notch, the rooms were huge and private, and they encouraged mother baby bonding by leaving baby in the room. My dd only had to leave the room to get a bath and her hearing test (which didn't take long at all, maybe an hour if that). They did everything else in the room with me. I also had an epi, and they wheeled me around too, but I was able to hold my dd. The nurses were so wonderful and let me bf right off the bat. I'm sorry about your experience, and it is unfortunate for those who live in areas that don't give much choice about where to deliver. Fortunately for me there are many hospitals where I live. I guess if there is only one hospital writing out a "birth plan" may help, but instead of it being a birth plan put instructions on what you expect after the birth. I dunno I hope someone else has good advice.

Add me to the Chem club. My class starts June 5th and goes from 5-10pm. Weee! This is the class I am most nervous about. I have never taken Chem before! I am also taking General Bio this summer (online). I took it at another school and it didn't transfer. I know I'll do fine in that one. I look foward to chatting with ya'll throughout the summer.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I am going to wait and take French next summer.