Should I become a Pharmacist?

I'm thinking of becoming a pharmacist (I'm 14 years old), and I'm wondering if it's a good job for me, but I have a few questions about it.
1. Does it have anything to do with chemistry?
2. Is the pay good?
3. What college is the best for a pharmacist? (I've been looking into Ferris University.)
4. Are pharmacies in Wal-Mart or Meijer good places to work, or Walgreen's and Rite-Aid? Or would it be better to open my own pharmacy?
I am currently getting good grades (although I'm just now entering high school). I love science, and on my ACT Explorer (a test that suggests jobs), pharmacist was one of the choices. I am somewhat shy, but I could probably get over it.
If there are any other suggestions, though, I'll gladly read them! Thanks for posting!

And by the way, I think that being a pharmacist in a hospital would be fun (working with (or for?) doctors). But I don't know about the pay for that is, either.

Besides retail, there is also clinical pharmacy wherein you usually work in the hospital and have much more patient contact and physician contact than working retail. I think clinical pharmacy is very exciting (if you like medicine).

I know for the pharmacy school I looked into they very much emphasize chemistry, particularly organic chemistry and biochemistry. If those are subjects you enjoy I think you would enjoy the field of pharmacy.

You can shadow a pharmacist to get a better idea of their job. I recommend shadowing both a clinical pharmacist (or better yet trying to volunteer at a clinical pharmacy at a hospital) and a retail pharmacist. Also, working as a pharmacy technician is excellent experience as well. Volunteer experience plus work experience would be invaluable for your application to pharmacy school.

Good luck!

Pharmacy can be rewarding but it can also be repetitive (lots of scripts, lots of stickers, lots of staples, lots of boring questions). My experience is only in community pharmacy and several of the pharmacists I worked with who worked in both hospital and community pharmacies said that hospital is a lot more interesting (apparently the pay isn't as good as community, though).

Having said all that, though, some people are born pharmacists and you never know: it might be you.

Get some work experience and that will give you a bit of an idea.

Have fun! :-)

I can't answer all your questions.

Chemistry, Biology, Physics. and Math are all part of a pharmacist job. The pay is excellent. 4 yrs of college seems like it would be for you to be a pharmacist. I dunno about what schools you should go to but. do some extensive researching on where you want to go. Maybe while you go to school you could be a pharmacy technician.

Remember where ever you work. Treat the customers with respect. I had only went to one place where the pharmacist was so sweet and helpful who offered info without my asking for it, That I am now a permanent shopper now.

I also did some research and found this.


http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm

good luck to you.

The pay is pretty good, I understand. Lots of science in understanding the basics, but in actual practice it seems to me to be counting pills all day most of the time. Compounding Pharmacies are not common anymore. ( where the Pharmacist makes what the doctor wants).

Pharmacists have to keep up with hundreds of possible drug interactions- some do it, some don't. Just saw a patient whose first seizure was caused by a mixture of a pain killer and a muscle relaxant.

You know of all the accidental deaths from people mixing the wrong medicines.

The idea of shadowing a Pharmacist is a good one. There are a lot of related areas- Pharmaceutical Chemist, for example.

The only thing I can suggest about the pay questions is go ask the Pharmacists at the different chains what the pay scale is. ( Don't ask them what they make- that is prying a bit too much) Ask if they are happy with their career choice and what they would do differently if they could go back.