I just recently graduated with my B.Sc in Neurobiology, and I'm taking a couple of years off to mature a bit and get some more work experience under my belt. I really didn't know what I wanted to do when I got into undergrad (I just knew that I liked science). Though from taking science classes and doing undergraduate research, I knew that I was very fascinated with drugs and human physiology (favorite classes in college were Principles of Drug Action and Systems Physiology), so a career that applies that knowledge to solve problems is something that I want to go into. I thought I wanted to do a PhD in Pharmacology & Toxicology, but I don't know if I'd want to do bench work or be in Academia for the rest of my life as I really want to do research with clinical applications and maybe conduct and design clinical trials in a hospital or pharmaceutical company setting (the job market for PhDs isn't so great right now). Because I like research as well as health care, I decided that I want to go to Pharmacy school. With a PharmD, I have SO many career options (and, more importantly, more career stability) that extend past research, and with a PharmD, I feel like I'd be able to effectively conduct research with clinical applications as I would be exposed to the health care aspect (thinking about doing a PharmD/PhD, but I need to do some more research on that as some people have told me it's a waste of time and you can still do research with a PharmD alone). Even if I find out later that I may get tired of research, there are just so many employment options with a PharmD that I might like, which makes me attracted to it (also, the high salary is very attractive as well). Basically, the goal of me taking time off is to make myself a more competitive applicant for pharmacy school and just expose myself more to medical/pharmaceutical research and the different aspects of pharmacy. I plan to take 2-3 years off, but there isn't any rush to apply as I want to get as much exposure as I can (besides, I'm burnt out from school and I just want to be an adult for a bit and learn and have fun from it). My plan right now is to find a full time job as a research assistant at a medical center or pharmaceutical company. My interests include neuropharmacology and behavioral pharmacology (very fascinated with the biology of psychiatric disorders such as depression and addiction), cancer pharmacology, cardiovascular pharmacology, teratology (i.e. environmental effect on embryonic development; an example of this would be fetal alcohol stuff), and reproductive pharmacology/endocrinology. So, I'm trying to find work in labs that do something that falls within my interests. I'm also studying for the PCAT and my Pharmacy Tech certification, which would allow me to work as a tech in a pharmacy (may do this part time while doing research for a bit and then just switch to a full time tech or find work with a pharmaceutical company) or do some volunteer/shadow work with different types of pharmacists. I think I have a good plan. I just need to stay motivated, and be diligent with making it come to fruition.
I guess for personal life goals.... I just want to make sure I'm happy and healthy and financially stable. I want to start exercising again and bulk up. I'm a pretty skinny guy, so I want to gain like 20-30 lbs (in muscle of course so I can be healthy and look hot in cute underwear). Play more tennis as I love that sport. Get more into cars as I really love cars. Definitely travel around the world (particularly want to go to the more progressive areas of Turkey and Israel). And, marry a man that I can't see myself living without (good thing I can legally marry now thanks to the Supreme Court, but me getting married isn't going to happen any time soon as I want to establish myself first).
