Any pharmacy students out there?

[Gneiss1]

My brother is starting grad school the same time I am only he is pursuing his pharm D. I am in a completely different field and I am guessing it works a bit different in Geophysics because most of our students get their tuition waived at least partially and many get an assistantship of some sort.

Right now from what my brother has heard from his university (VCU/MCV) its pretty typical to just take out loans to foot the bill for college, they dont really offer any sort of assistantships to pharmacy students. He also will be taking 8 classes so working isnt much of an option. Is this the norm for pharmacy students? He is a bit stressed out about it all and I told him I would see what I could find in terms of alternative scholarships or options for pharmacy students. Any recommendations are welcome and appreciated:)

[TropicalCharlie]

My husband is in his final year of the pharm d program. Pharmacy school is considered a professional school just like medical/veterinary/dental schools. There is no funding or assistantships. Pharm students are on their own when it comes to finances, so student loans are the only options for most students. The coursework is intensive. In addition to a lot of external responsibilities, my husband took about 18 units per semester which is the norm. By external responsibilities, I mean short stints of required pharmacy rotations that take place during the semester and summer at various clinical sites. Keep in mind that student loans only cover the school year and not summer months, so your brother will have to plan for that.

Your brother should definitely look into scholarships. My husband applied for some through his school and got a few which paid for about 15% of his tuition. While that doesn't really make much of a dent, it's better than nothing. He also worked for a pharm professor doing research and was paid as a RA, mostly during the summer and a few hours a week during school. Having a job is definitely doable but the employer would have to be quite flexible. If you have any other questions, pm me, and I'll have my husband reply. He's not on grad cafe.

Edited June 22, 2012 by TropicalCharlie

[OregonGal]

I had a friend who was in the PharmD program at Oregon State University. I don't know the specifics of his financial aid, but I don't recall him mentioning being funded; I got the impression that yes, like medical/dental school it's not usually a funded program. However, his school did set him up with internships every summer; he was the only 'hard science' guy in our group of friends and we were all amazed that he was being paid $25/hr to work at a Walgreens pharmacy (essentially as a pharmacy tech). I can't recall whether or not his student clinic rotations were paid or not, but unless you receive academic credit for the hours I'd assume you would be paid.

[prettyuff1]

That's the norm for pharmacy school. The only way to get it paid for is to get a pharm d/ phd. The tuition remission from your phd will cover the pharm school

Portion as well

[process chemist]

Your brother could join the military. They will pay his tuition through Pharmacy school, and give him a stipend ($2000/mo) in exchange for I think 5 yrs of service after. 5yrs as an military pharmacist>$200,000 in loans afterwards. The military has the same programs for nurses, doctors, dentist, but they all have varying years of commitment after school is over. He could graduate debt free, and that is a wonderful thing.