Hey guys, i just completed my A -levels too and i am still deciding which UNI to go twin to for IMU

Currently i have 2 options which is :
1. Bpharm twin to Australia (Sept intake)
2. Mpharm twin to UK (Jan intake)

So my question is, which Uni is better? Comparing between Queensland, Otago , and Strathclyde.
If money is NOT a problem.

Hi, LYN.
I'm interested in pharmacy study.
Can you recommend some institution for this course ?


By the way, is it very difficult to find financial support to support the the fees for BPharm ?
Like scholarships, bursaries and all that.
I've no experience on the PTPTN and any others loan from the government.
How many $ does PTPTN approved for student who taking up BPharm in private institution ?

What's wrong with that? You'd probably look more mature and Give your patients more confidence in you rather looking like some fresh kid.

You are not alone

If you a're talking about better in terms of rankings Queensland would be thr best. Otherwise you can consider which place suits you better. UK does ooffer you more opportunities to go to more countries to travel though.

Read first page. Ptptn is easiest to get. 80k in total.

Well my only worry is that with the pay we're getting here, if we decide to work as a hospital/community pharmacist, we'd probably be only able to afford a house at like 31 32 ish? And get married at 33ish..

Have kids at 35?

haha maybe I overthinking

Lol. If your aim is to make big bucks within 5 years after graduation then pharmacy is probably the wrong course for you

Whats wrong with getting a house after 30 anyway? Dont have to follow the trend and craze of the society.

I actually want to get married earlier, so have to get a house earlier too!


Not exactly big bucks lah, just "enough" to buy a cheap apartment or cheap condo that I can survive in. But then again, one year doesn't seem like much.

I was actually advised against a gap year primarily because in one year I might lose alot of the knowledge I've gained from A levels and suffer in the first year of uni. Of course, that can be prevented if I self study and do internships at pharmacies etc.

Why not do accounting in the first place? The money is

No wei, I chose pharmacy because it's the best of both worlds for me in getting money and doing what I have a passion for.


Both my parents are accountants. Can't imagine myself being one!

doctors earn more wei, pharmacist don't have prescription rights yet. I think have to wait for many years still not yet confirm...You guy or girl?

Guy of course.

Well even without prescription rights, I hear that the pay is still not "bad" (not as bad as a high school teachers salary).

Of course I considered medicine, but since it's super overpopulated and nearly everyone wants to specialize, it's risky. Especially since I come from a middle-class (or slightly above avg) family that will probably suffer to finance me studying overseas for it since they have to support my sibling as well! Plus, I really don't think I'm the type of person who can perform a surgery without feeling weird or anything!

A friend of mine actually got to intern at a local hospital in the middle of his a levels and he was talking about how he got to help out at the E&E department of the hospital and actually had people he was working on die on him. He didn't show any emotion and was all smiles. I don't think I would've been very excited about that fact lol.

If you live somewhere with less competition, opening your own pharmacy is the best way to make monies. Otherwise, I guess you should just work hard to collect salary and promotions

Just never forget why you're doing this, because at the end of the day, passion is more important than big bucks. Fortunately, pharmacy earns you decent money too

Exactly haha.

I think one perk about planning to do pharmacy is that when people ask me what I want to do in the future, I'd say "I'm gonna be a drug dealer!"

Been there done that, survived first year pretty well. Never self studied and intern at pharmacy.

Pharmacy never had prescription rights in the first place. We are fighting for dispensing rights. Doctors earn more because their education fees are so bloody expensive. And it's not like they earn more as a fresh grad compared to a pharmacist.

This post has been edited by zstan: Jun 15 2013, 02:05 PM

Hi there, does pharmacist will be surely involved in sales or maybe business field? Because I had heard some of them said that even they were a graduated pharmacists, they don't really need to apply their knowledge they have learnt during their degree. Is that true? And in order to be a pharmacists, do we need to have socialising skill and be an out going person? I'm quite quiet and my socialising skill is not that good.so is pharmacist really suit me? I have been in dilemma for few months. I don't know whether I have made a right choice to study pharmacy. Please help. T.T. Thanks in advance

Community/retail pharmacists are involved in sales and business... because they need to run a pharmacy, which is a business too. BUT, what separates the good from the lousy pharmacists is your clinical knowledge. Your customers will really appreciate it if you take care of them well with your knowledge and skills. They will appreciate it if you give good advice and counselling... and to be able to do this you need to have a strong knowledge of your drugs and the conditions. If you really want to use your knowledge to the fullest, you should try working in a hospital.

You don't have to be a very sociable, centre-of-attention type person to be a pharmacist but you need to have decent communication skills. If your communication skills are not good, then you will dread communicating with patients and doctors. I used to struggle with it but I have much more confidence now. You will get better with time and experience too.

not necessary if you are just involved with manufacturing in pharmaceuticals or doing research. not much social skills is required there.

^Agree with the point above but communication skills will still be essential (talking with clients, your superiors, colleagues, giving talks and presentations etc).

communication skills =/= social skills. in my opinion

[quote=Farmer_C,Jun 21 2013, 05:18 PM]Community/retail pharmacists are involved in sales and business... because they need to run a pharmacy, which is a business too. BUT, what separates the good from the lousy pharmacists is your clinical knowledge. Your customers will really appreciate it if you take care of them well with your knowledge and skills. They will appreciate it if you give good advice and counselling... and to be able to do this you need to have a strong knowledge of your drugs and the conditions. If you really want to use your knowledge to the fullest, you should try working in a hospital.

You don't have to be a very sociable, centre-of-attention type person to be a pharmacist but you need to have decent communication skills.  If your communication skills are not good, then you will dread communicating with patients and doctors. I used to struggle with it but I have much more confidence now. You will get better with time and experience too.


Thanks for replying!;).yea I thought of working in the hospital also.but there not need much pharmacists in a hospital right? Thats the reason why I am worrying about the job scope.><.seemed like the job scope of pharmacists in malaysia is quite small since the dispensing right is on doctor instead of pharmacists. Although I heard that they are fighting for the right , I don't know how long it takes.there is shift work if u work in hospital right? So based on my personalities, u think I still suitable to study this course?


This post has been edited by PuRp13: Jun 23 2013, 01:58 PM