Degree choice

p-nut

I'm sure everyone on here in a general degree knows the story with having to choose your subjects around this time in 1st and 2nd year. Well the story is i've to choose my 3rd and 4th year degree and i'm completely torn between pharmacology and chemistry. I've a feeling chemistry would have the most opportunities due to it being the most general, but the only thing that's putting me off is the fact that i know its going to get very tough in the next two years, and also the long lab hours. But i do find it a lot more interesting and enjoyable than pharmacology.

Has anyone got any tips on choosing the right option??

seraphimvc

hi p-nut:D

i have heard from francisca that chem people will have lots of labs next year,as so they tend to make all the labs on one day,that means you wont have labs everyday like,just one tough day to deal with them.

and i am sure you can do the joint degree thing?i know lots of people doing chem joint something.i say go for whatever you really interested

and oh,did u say tough?:) all science courses are indeed tough in 3rd/4th yr my dear.just imagine how tense the air will be when you tell someone your profession is chemistry......*salute*

p-nut

haha, i know theyre all gonna be tough, but i've a feeling chemsitry will get REALLY tough, especially for someone that didnt do it in secondary school:p

i ended up putting down joint honours in chemistry and pharmacology, cos the lady in the program office said that means you are assigned a space in both core subjects, meaning if you change your mind before the start of 3rd year you can still choose to do a single honours in either one as you will still have a place in each. hope that made sense, makes sense in my mind anyway:D

ps, me and woop have sussed out who ye are seraphimvc:D

seraphimvc

p-nut wrote: »

haha, i know theyre all gonna be tough, but i've a feeling chemsitry will get REALLY tough, especially for someone that didnt do it in secondary school:p

i ended up putting down joint honours in chemistry and pharmacology, cos the lady in the program office said that means you are assigned a space in both core subjects, meaning if you change your mind before the start of 3rd year you can still choose to do a single honours in either one as you will still have a place in each. hope that made sense, makes sense in my mind anyway:D

oh wow,i didnt know you could do it that!smart!:D

really tough?didnt do that in 2nd school?oh comon,you know that secondary school excuse is not working after 1st yr anymore:D

and i have no idea how tough of chemistry,but i do know that next year my pharm 8 core modules look super cool alright...*eye rolling*

p-nut wrote: »

ps, me and woop have sussed out who ye are seraphimvc:D

well,i was actually kinda seeing that coming after 5 sec i posted my mug head at the sticky thread:p but i have no idea of u two at all!:cool:u get me,go support that thread now!:D

sweet-rasmus

hey, thats great that you have your name down in both. I'm in 4th year chem at the mo. As mentioned, whatever you choose will be tough in 3rd and 4th year. Heck, I didn't do chem in secondary school and was more than confused about titrations were in 1st year, let alone the concept of a mole! Not having done it in the L.C. will not hold you back. Like you, I dreaded the labs, hearing tales of how long they took. Truth is, I can't rightly remember what they were like last year. I know we had one full day and one half day to do the set experiments at least. This year you go in every afternoon, mon to thu, and full day on wed, but the thing is that you are working in the area you enjoy. And at your own pace, no demonstrator breathing down your back. Pharma will have labs too; they are just a part of the corse which must be done.
PM me if you want to ask about the chemistry course at all

tribulus

I'm 4th year Pharm (Hi sweet-rasmus btw!)

Imo you should definitely go with the one you enjoy the most. As has been said they will get tougher, particularly 4th year so take time to think it through so you don't end up with a tough final year and hating every minute of it.

From speaking to a couple of mates in Chem they definitely have a higher workload in terms of labs and projects however they also seem to get *a lot* more flexibility with completing their coursework.

While I can't speak from experience I'd imagine the labs couldn't be any worse than the 2nd year inorganic labs: 3pm - 6:30pm lol.

So really try not to worry too much about potential job opportunities and instead focus on what course is best for you.

woop

see ya in pharm next year seraph...........I think we found out without the picture, hmm now you have to find us haha!

s yeh thats the one thing that has torn me, job opportunities, where the hell would a pharm grad or physiology grad get a job, most of the jobs in the paper seem to look for degrees other than these

btw for ye fourth years, did any of you do a summer internship or something like that? was it good if ye did?
4th year cant be that hard when youre on boards::p

tribulus

I know a few people who got summer jobs in the labs with lecturers'. Others applied to other programs being run in Trinity and DIT.

For pharm it depends on the type of job really. I think the likes of Pfizer and other bulk pharmaceutical places would prefer chemists however other companies with a different type of product line e.g Trinity Biotech, some parts of Wyeth etc. would have no problem employing pharm and biochem graduates.

Tbh a lot of it comes down to how well you sell yourself - exaggerating your experience with mass specs/HPLC's etc shouldn't be a problem as the training with most of the companies seems to be pretty thorough. You'll also get to use the cooler equipment (such as the above) with your 4th year projects.

seraphimvc

job opportunity huh?me too scare like hell!but then,always remember one theory,by the time you graduate,you are PROfessional!so no matter how ,*i wish* we will have less hassle than those Business Arts etc student.

and maybe you have heard about that or not ,there are 16 out the world top 20 pharm companies based in ireland...so basically,this is my sleeping pill

@woop:
ah,now we can talk about how do we find out each other when we meet!but then i will have to find you first!damn,UCD is big...

mloc

p-nut wrote: »

ended up putting down joint honours in chemistry and pharmacology, cos the lady in the program office said that means you are assigned a space in both core subjects, meaning if you change your mind before the start of 3rd year you can still choose to do a single honours in either one as you will still have a place in each. hope that made sense, makes sense in my mind anyway:D

Funny, I did the same thing 2 years ago. I ended up moving from joint hons to doing just pharm. No regrets, in retrospect chemistry would have been good too. Honestly, go with whichever you find more interesting; as the course gets more detailed in the next two years it will make it easier to work with, and believe me, you will work with both.

Bui

I was a biochem major myself last year, but most of my friends were in pharm (being by far the more popular choice) and a few in chem too. To be honest, when you get to fourth year, you're going to have a heavy workload no matter what you choose, especially if you're planning on coming out with a decent degree - realistically you'd want to be aiming for a high 2.1 or a 1.1 (which you're going to need if you plan on having a decent career in science afterwards, regardless of the area).

So when it comes down to it, you want to be going with the one you have the most interest in and are going to enjoy the most, because when it comes down to your research project for your thesis, all the hours you're going to have to put in for it, and then your finals, you're going to need to want to work at your subject so make sure it's one you enjoy, and it'll be worth it. When you get to that level either one is going to be interesting its just finding the motivation for final year is what you'll need.

woop wrote: »

btw for ye fourth years, did any of you do a summer internship or something like that? was it good if ye did?

I did a research scholarship at the end of third year myself, in conway (UREKA for anyone doing biomedical sceinces, its worth looking into). All I can say is it's totally worth it, I'd definately recommend it if you're interested. You get paid (really quite well) and the research experience you get from it is invaluable. Where most of the pharm /biochems were completely at a loss as to how to run a gel at the beginning of their projects in fourth year I could do them with my eyes closed and didn't waste the first month or so trying to get my head around the techniques etc, because being up in one of the research labs is totally different from anything you're used to coming from an undergrad lab. Not only that, but its great craic! I made some great friends and contacts from everywhere, as most of the other people on it were from abroad, we;d a great time!

More seriously though, its invaluable for your cv; when it comes to applying for research positions afterwards (masters, PhD etc) having the research experience on your cv speaks wonders for you, and also if you're lucky enough to work with someone with a good name, it also boosts your cv too.