I love my career. The hours are great, the people are great and I have lots of job security. Study hard as pharmacy school is a bear! I would do it all over again if I had to. I have mentioned pros - but the main con is burnout.
When most people think of pharmacists, they envision the pharmacist standing behind the counter counting pills at the busy retail pharmacies on every street corner. But what many people don't realize is that pharmacists are capable of so much more. Pharmacy is an excellent, flexible and ever-changing career to pursue. In order to become a pharmacist in today's society it requires a minimum of 6 years and the entry-level degree is the PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy). For many students, this means 2 years of pre-requisite courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, english, etc. This is then followed by 4 "professional" years of schooling. As the years go by, a larger proportion of students are actually earning a 4-year undergraduate bachelor's degree before continuing on to the 4-year professional program. The degree also requires a significant amount of clinical experience before graduating. The PharmD program is a very vigorous program, but it truly is worth it in the end. The career opportunities for pharmacists these days are endless. Pharmacists can find jobs in hospitals, retail pharmacies, small-town independent pharmacies, government agencies, pharmaceutical industry, medical writing, consulting, ambulatory care clinics, nursing homes and many other places.