What are the Prerequisites for Pharmacy School?

Most of the available pharmacy programs require you to have a bachelor’s degree before you can gain admission to these courses. Some, on the other hand, will accept direct admissions into their pre-pharmacy programs once you have completed high school. You need to do some research and decide which one of these courses you would like to pursue. The prerequisites for pharmacy school are somewhat similar to the prerequisites for medical school , and have been explained here.

Coursework Required for Pharmacy School To enable your admission into a good pharmacy school, you will be required to complete some amount of coursework. The subjects include Mathematics, Biology, Physics and Chemistry. While these subjects form the core of the pharmacy program itself, it is essential to gain a foundation in them before you get into pharmacy school. Apart from these subjects, some colleges also require you to take courses in Humanities and Social Sciences. Thus, coursework in subjects such as English, Sociology and Psychology will also be required. The pharmacist job description does not only include knowledge of the sciences and that of dispensing medication. Careers in the medical field require you to understand the core of humanity. All these subjects help you gain an understanding of human relationships and teach you how to deal with them in the right manner in order to become a pharmacist . Maintaining a good GPA through school is essential to get into the better pharmacy schools. Anything between 3.5 – 4.0 will always be helpful.

Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) Apart from completing the pharmacist education requirements , one of the most important pharmacy school admission requirements include taking the PCAT. It is a standardized test that is taken across the country about four times a year, and gages your aptitude to become a pharmacist. It further enables a comparison of your score among other students who have taken the test. The PCAT consists of five sections namely, Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Ability, Chemistry (General and Organic), and Biology. As such, the aforementioned coursework does not only qualify you for admission into pharmacy school, it also prepares you for the PCAT. The higher your percentile on this exam, the greater are your chances of getting into a good pharmacy school. For instance, if you attain a percentile of 70, it will imply that you have scored better than 70 percent of those who have also taken this test. Preparation for the PCAT should begin well in advance in order to be able to attain a good percentile. Also take a look at this list of top 10 pharmacy schools in America to be able to decide on a school of your choice.

Becoming a pharmacist allows you to hold a medical job without having to deal with the intricacies of being a doctor. You don’t have to deal with all those bloody sights, but simply dispense medication that has been prescribed by a doctor. As such, among the different fields of medicine, pharmacy is one that perhaps allows you to have your cake and eat it to. There are numerous career options in pharmacy that you can opt for. If you love the sciences and want to do your bit for the people around you (without having to become a doctor), then pharmacy is the career for you. Complete the prerequisites for pharmacy school, gain admission into a good one, and achieve the goal that you have set for yourself.