Pharmacy in Trinity or RCSI??

LizzieDarling · 07-09-2009 10:48am #1

Dont know if this is the proper place to put this but anyway:)
Just got offered pharmacy in Trinity today in like 3rd round offers soooooo unexpected!!:eek:!Accepted RCSI already but originally wanted Trinity.
Thing is Ive heard RCSI is better course but Trinity is obviously a better college,so a tough decision to make me thinks!

!
So if you've any advice please reply,tanx a mil!

glut22 · 07-09-2009 11:00am

Welll! I'm doing pharmacy in trinity and had the same choice as you on the CAO, trinity first, RCSI second. Ity is true they have a better course but being part of a wider university brings its advantages too. I've no regrets about choosing trinity

LizzieDarling · 07-09-2009 11:08am

Is the course much different??I heard that its a bit old fashioned and deals mainly with retail pharmacy wheras RCSI is more broader.

lucernarian · 07-09-2009 11:58am

I thought college was first and foremost about the course. Sure, having the surroundings right makes a big difference to how you'll perform over the degree. I wouldn't be so sure about the idea of trinity being a better place to study though. Socially, especially in health science courses, you'll more likely stick to your own. So your class is where you'll likely make most of your friends in college. Point is that you may not mix with non-HS people in TCD, so you'll probably be in a similarly smallish group of people in either college.

Having made comparisons with people from RCSI and TCD about medicine and Pharmacy (but I study neither), I think people were generally in harmony over how RCSI was superior for the course and for student support and administration. The friends from TCD I spoke to, chose it predominantly for the advantage being part of a bigger university gives when one graduates, and the reputation that TCD still (almost mistakenly) brings, and that there are more TCD graduates than most other colleges already working as professionals (espec. Pharmacy) and it makes it a bit easier to get a job when your interviewer is a trinner.

REPSOC1916 · 07-09-2009 1:15pm

Go to RCSI. I'd imagine there that you don't have to deal with pointless Pharmaceutics practical exams and the even more idiotic repeat exams for half the class (including myself I should add)

woodchuck · 07-09-2009 3:02pm

I did my undergrad in Trinity and doing my postgrad in RCSI. I have no experience of the pharmacy courses, but purely from a social point of view I think Trinity is better. There's just more going on with the societies, more facilities and there's an actual campus instead of just a few buildings.

LizzieDarling · 07-09-2009 3:46pm

Think Im gonna stick with RCSI!:eek:!The course seems way more relavent to the job,still I've two more days to make up my mind!
Decision making is not my strenght!

Kurtosis · 07-09-2009 6:43pm

LizzieDarling wrote: »

Think Im gonna stick with RCSI!:eek:!The course seems way more relavent to the job

Mind me asking what area of pharmacy you mean by the "job"?

anotherlostie · 07-09-2009 6:51pm

If you followed the news during the summer (and let's face it, if you are intending to study pharmacy, you most likely did), you will know that community pharmacy is facing a very uncertain future. Pharmacies are already on the market for sale, and many will close down in towns that are going to be oversupplied based on the new government pay structure. Several friends of mine have lost their locums now because the pharmacies they worked in no longer stay open til 9pm, or open on the weekends at all. Hospital pharmacies aren't taking on new staff because of the HSE staff cuts, and companies in the pharma industry aren't recruiting (look at TEVA in Waterford last week to see what's happening there).

All this means there will be fewer jobs for graduates in the future. If I was in your shoes, I'd be giving serious consideration to completely changing my career choice and taking a year out.

LizzieDarling · 07-09-2009 7:45pm

In relation to the 'job',some of the modules in trinity are not essentiel for pharmacy ie.the mathamatics module.
tbh I only thought about pharmacy as a back up plan to medicine,but now that Ive actually learned about the course it seems a bit more appealing:)
The job crisis is affecting every sector and pharmacy is no exception but that is no reason to discourage people from doing the course,there are plenty of job opportunities in industriel pharmacy in Ireland or abroad atm.

Aoibheann · 07-09-2009 9:03pm

I was studying medicine in RCSI (didn't like the course however so am starting TP in Trinity this year!), and if my course was available there, I'd go back like a shot. Sure, it's a lot smaller than the universities, but firstly you'll get an excellent education, the lecturers are easy to talk to (my experience with the pharmacy side of things from the pharmacology lecturers was always positive, they were really helpful if you had any problems), if you're having any difficulties they'll come up with a plan for you to help you improve and the lecturers from that department are very engaging.

So that's the academics dealt with, onto more important stuff..

There's a pretty decent variety of clubs and societies and there's always something to go to (medicine students anyway are the biggest bunch of pissheads I've ever met). You'll make friends within your year, with students from other years both within your course and from the med students, the physios etc. Everyone's lovely (the most common phrase heard during fresher's week!

) and it feels like you get to know people really quickly. Personally, I loved the fact that so many different cultures were represented - RCSI has so many international students so there's a great mix.

Not having attended Trinity as yet, I don't know much about it to comment. I know there's loads to do in terms of clubs and societies, and there are some excellent facilities. I was in and out of the maths department this past year meeting lecturers to get an idea of the course (don't want to make the same mistake twice!

) and they couldn't have been more helpful - some of them went to lengths to get some very specific info for me! Would hope it's the same with the pharmacy lecturers. Personally I can't wait to get started and I'm sure I'll get as good an experience from it as I did from RCSI.

If you have any questions about RCSI, feel free to ask. Tbh, I'd give it a good think over the next couple of days. You might decide you prefer a bigger university atmosphere, or you might go for the smaller close-knit college. Honestly, both are excellent colleges (I don't know much about either course unfortunately) in their own ways so best of luck with your decision and I really hope you love where you end up going.

woodchuck · 08-09-2009 10:20am

Socially I think it depends on what you're more comfortable with; small or large groups. In RCSI you'd get used to seeing pretty much the same faces day in and out and shouldn't have any trouble making friends that way. Whereas in Trinity, while there will obviously be the same faces in the classes/labs you're taking, there's also more opportunity to meet a wider range of people from so many different courses/departments.

And Trinity has proper student hangout areas like the pav and the buttery, whereas RCSI doesn't have any sort of student bar or anything like that really. There are cozy couches in the basement for lunch in RCSI, which actually is a great bonus, because for the first 2 years of lunches in Trinity if you're not buying lunch every day it's hard to find anywhere comfy to eat. But in RCSI the main building closes at 10pm so you have to find your own thing to do in the evenings.

And while RCSI does have a range of societies, it's been my experience that they're not really year-round things

There was one society in particular that I was involved with that was doing great up until Christmas, but then after that the students involved with running it were just too caught up in their studies to keep it going (that's 2 years running with 2 separate groups of students running it). There are some parties etc later in the year, but in Trinity there's always something going on.

If you like going to the gym. Trinity obviously has the better facilities for that with the new one they just got in.

Academically there's a couple of little things that might be a concern with RCSI... in terms of access to academic journals Trinity is miles better. And in Trinity all students are given a space on the file server (or whatever it's called!) to save their work so they can access it from any computer, but they don't have the same thing in RCSI (but if you bug IT enough they might give it to you). I know all the med students in RCSI are given a laptop when they start, but I don't know if it's the same for pharmacy students?

And the fact that RCSI is so multicultural is a great aspect that you wouldn't get as much of in Trinity. But on the flip side to that most of those students go home to their own countries during the summer (and sometimes easter and/or christmas) so just be prepared for that with any friends that you make.

Both RCSI and Trinity are great colleges, I think you'll get a fantastic education with whichever one you choose. But personally I wouldn't trade my undergrad years in Trinity for anything

lucernarian · 08-09-2009 12:02pm

I know that pharma students in the RCSI got a laptop in the past (albeit my knowledge is 5-6 years old). In the case of the person I knew, it was an ibook. A call to the admissions office of RCSI would clear that up, or perhaps their website?

Aoibheann, out of curiousity and if you don't mind saying:

What was it you didn't like about Medicine in RCSI?

Kurtosis · 08-09-2009 11:57pm

LizzieDarling wrote: »

In relation to the 'job',some of the modules in trinity are not essentiel for pharmacy ie.the mathamatics module.

To be honest, I wouldn't worry too much about the likes of this. If I remember, it was one lecture a week for maybe 8 weeks and by the time you hit 2nd year it will long be forgotten about!

Pharmacy in Trinity or RCSI??

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