Radiography or Pharmacy ? please help

ant043

well guys

just in a bit of dilemma at the moment. Am currently in second year radiography and have just received a late offer to study pharmacy in rcsi. Just wanted peoples advice on what they think is the best move. I am partial to both so it really only comes down lifestyle freetime salary. Also know if i choose pharmacy will have to pay fees in first year but will i have to in second if i drop out of radiography now at this early stage.

Thanks a lot

Stepherunie

To be honest go with your gut.

You've done a year of radiography now and when I was at your stage I had my views formed on radiography, and they've changed very little.

There's more autonomy in Pharmacy than in Radiography so that's a plus but the only one who can tell you which to do is yourself.

Odd as it may sound try sitting in a church. I did that when I had to decide which college to attend and I've never once regretted it. The silence does wonders if you ask me.

Schlemm

Yup I agree go with the gut instinct...

Pharmacy offers a fantastic salary (starting from something like 50,000 to 70,000 a year to begin with), and I guess the working hours are regular and predictable. Did a year of Pharmacy before I dropped out and came to UCD cos it wasn't for me, but I know some people absolutely loved it, especially since it offered a predictible and well paying career.

It was a hard decision to drop out and everyone kept saying how good the job and the money was, but at the end of the day I knew what I wanted to do and I went for it. TBH I don't know much about the kind of salary or hours that a radiographer would do but talk to your lecturers surely they'll know. Regarding fees, if you're a free fee student, you basically pay for every year you've done more than once, so you'd pay for first year (bearing in mind that a few grand would be nothing compared to what you'd be making once you're out working). Dunno about paying for 2nd year, that'd be a quesiton for the admissions office. But basically go with the career that you really want and can see yourself doing and best of luck!

Ado86

I was in a similar situation to you the year before last. I was in Physiotherapy in Trinity and offered a place in Veterinary. I had always wanted to be a vet, so in some respects that made it slightly easier- but not much ! I had really enjoyed my first year in Physio and settled in really well. There were plenty of reasons to stay...but something told me that I had to go to Veterinary or else I would always regret it. And I am extremely glad now that I changed course, I love my course even more now. its a completely different life- veterinary is more a lifestyle rather than a career- and certainly isnt a 9-5 like physio would have been. I wouldnt advise picking the course based on the salary and working hours- although this is important, you'll know when a course is right for you. If you feel that radiotherapy is right for you and nothing else could make you happier then you're probably best to stay, but if there is any doubt in your mind then you have to see if Pharmacy is for you. I have a friend doing pharmacy, she finds the course very scientific and has lots of labs, even though she would have been very interested in these prior to college. The first 2-3 yrs are very lab based and not alot of actual pharmacy practice is undertaken . If you want to talk to someone who has done the pharmacy course to get an idea of what it entails it might be a good idea. Best of luck with the decision.

Lucas10101

When I was picking m CAO Choices, I had Radiography and Pharmacy down as my choices, lucky for me I got Pharmacy. When I researched into Radi. I found that you could work 9-5 with late evenings and week-end work and still be earning around under 40K a year. Whereas with Pharmacy you can work 9-5 and get 70k a year starting. I think that plays a large influence because I wouldn't want to be payed bad after 4 years very hard work. Plus, the job of radi. gets monotonous and you will get bored doing the same process everyday, whereas with Pharmacy ( a new law has come in in which in a few years, pharmacists can prescribe. ) it's constantly changing with new drugs every months and confortable working conditions. Although there is risks obviously ( Like killing a patient giving them the wrong drug )...I would have liked to have done both, but if I were to pick one, It'd be Pharmacy. ( Only if you like a hell of a lot of chemistry )

rinnin

Stick with Radiography. Pharmacy is fully of lab geeks.

ant043

yeah i did stick by the way. dunno if i will regret it or not. I suppose it is wait and see

Vorsprung

rinnin wrote: »

Stick with Radiography. Pharmacy is fully of lab geeks.

Stick with Pharmacy. Radiography is full of X-ray room geeks!

More for the benefit of rinnin

eemoc

Schlemm wrote: »

Yup I agree go with the gut instinct...

Pharmacy offers a fantastic salary (starting from something like 50,000 to 70,000 a year to begin with), and I guess the working hours are regular and predictable. Did a year of Pharmacy before I dropped out and came to UCD cos it wasn't for me, but I know some people absolutely loved it, especially since it offered a predictible and well paying career.

It was a hard decision to drop out and everyone kept saying how good the job and the money was, but at the end of the day I knew what I wanted to do and I went for it. TBH I don't know much about the kind of salary or hours that a radiographer would do but talk to your lecturers surely they'll know. Regarding fees, if you're a free fee student, you basically pay for every year you've done more than once, so you'd pay for first year (bearing in mind that a few grand would be nothing compared to what you'd be making once you're out working). Dunno about paying for 2nd year, that'd be a quesiton for the admissions office. But basically go with the career that you really want and can see yourself doing and best of luck!

hey what did you find most different between pharmacy in trinity and your course in ucd. what were the differences in accommodation, campus life, social life, people, classes, lectures, and also did you prefer the elective?

I'm considering dropping out of pharmacy in trinity to radiography in ucd, just because I prefer ucd campus and find trinity a bit elitist. Also not sure if I like pharmacy as a course in general. Why did you drop out if you mind me asking?