Between Medicine and Pharmacy which is harder?
BETWEEN PHARMACY AND MEDICINE, WHICH IS HARDER?
Both #Medicine and #Pharmacy are both courses that have a somewhat high level of difficulty due to the nature of the course.
They both deal with healthcare and human lives which is very delicate and which can be lost in blink of an eye due to even the most little of errors and as such it is necessary that the people who intend to study these courses are far above average, have the mental and intellectual capacity and are fit to do the needful.
In procedures such as surgery or diagnosis where even an error may be fatal for a patient, the mental capacities of a Doctor or surgeon is tested, in the case of filling out prescriptions or giving advice on how to properly use some drugs to avoid abuse or overdose, the mental capacities of a Pharmacist are tested.
Though, both may involve human life and health care, in terms of which is harder to study in the University Medicine takes the crown for i dare say being the hardest healthcare course as it encompasses everything health ranging from Anatomy and Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Ionizing radiation to Biomedical Technology.
Medicine is a six year course in the university which is followed by a 12 months of housemanship/Clinical experience in contrast to five years in the university for Pharmacy.
Pharmacy is the clinical health science that links medicine with chemistry and it is charged with the discovery, production, disposal, safe and effective use and control of medications and drugs.
Pharmacy is fixated on research and industry, they deal with drug formulation, drug sources, molecular structure, drug sciences, and methods to synthesize and manufacture drugs including the pharmaceutical action of the drugs although a variation of Pharmacy also known as Pharm D (which is the equivalent of a MD for doctors) is clinical oriented and has the added advantage of having courses in the concept of Pharmacy, Clinical healthcare studies, Pharmacy practice and Pharmaceutical care.
Medicine however, is a combination of all the components of the components of health science as medicine students study a bit of everything and the basics of medicine and surgery before moving to focus on areas of their choices such as; Paediatrics, gynaecology, ophthalmology, surgery or public health.
Therefore, Medicine requires considerably more mental power and effort to study.
They are both incredibly challenging degrees.
Though in a way in I think which one is harder will depend on the person and their existing experience and skills.
Pharmacists have in-depth knowledge of microbiology, drug mechanisms, metabolism and elimination.
But Doctors have to learn and use anatomy and pathology.
Both professionals build on these skills to complete the ‘relay race’ which is healthcare provision.
So while both fields are challenging, medicine even more so, I think most people pursue one path over the other because their skills and interests are more in line with that path rather than the objective degree of difficulty.
This is evident in the large number of students who study both Medicine and Pharmacy in Nigeria today irrespective of their level of difficulty.
Olayinka Shyllon
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