clinical laboratory scientist vs pharmacy - HELP!

Hi all,

Would like to get some advice on this forum - I'm a student debating to go into pharmacy or CLS (Clinical Laboratory Scientist - the guys who work in hospitals or reference labs and analyze blood, body fluid, microbiology, etc), could anyone with experience in the health field provide me with their insight? I'll share my thinking process:

FYI, I'm currently a senior pursuing a BS in Biology, might stay an extra year in school, have most of my pre-reqs done for pharmacy school and CLS, for pharmacy I'm missing Calc 2 and Speech and for CLS I'm missing Medical Micro, Hematology, and Chemical Analysis which I can take in the Fall semester if I choose to do so.

Pros of CLS:
-I recently discovered I really like microbiology.
-Would take less time than pharmacy school and cost less.
-Great job demand in CA (starting salary of $30-35/hr, can go up to $50/hr if you're a supervisor)

Cons of CLS:
-seems like little opportunity to advance/specialize
-seems like it's not super mentally challenging after a while?
-seems like can get boring after a while? can't know this until I'm actually in the career
-your boss is an MD (the pathologist)

Pros of Pharmacy:
-Academically speaking, I prefer pharmacy/drug interactions more than topics in CLS
-Good pay
-great opportunity to grow/advance into niche fields, especially if you do residency
-with a PharmD, you're independent and considered the expert in the field which I like

Cons of Pharmacy:
-job market seems to be really saturated, esp. with new schools opening up
-would take an additional 4 years + about 200K in debt for loans =O
-can also get boring like CLS

I've volunteered in a pharmacy and I've also shadowed a CLS. Still confused. In summary, I *think* I would prefer pharmacy but I don't want to make a stupid decision going into a saturated field in huge debt in bad economic time, or should I pursue my dream yadda yadda? Would appreciate advice =)

bump

i thought i already told you to do pharmacy lol

Yeah u did lol but someone from the CLS forum suggested I post my question in the pharmacy forum too to get opinions from both groups. I dunno i'm leaning towards CLS right now even though I got into pharmacy school. I don't wanna be 200k in debt with no job

I have to say though I'm getting the impression that pharmacists are jerks/selfish and reluctant to help each other or potential students, that has been my experience both in person and online whereas CLS's seem to be more friendly and willing to give advice to a student

you're going to find jerks in every field. CLS included. trust me i used to work in a reference lab. it's going to be equally difficult finding jobs in both fields right now. for the CLS, especially in california, a lot are foreign grads from the philippines. sure $30/hr starting might sound good, but for the mt programs, they will cut out the bottom and only like top 70 students will go on to clinical. starts with like 100+ students. <-csudh
anyways.