Doctor or Pharmacist?

Hi there. I had a similar problem coming up to the end of my grammar years, I opted for pharmacy at the Queen's university of Belfast, because it is the science of treatment, whereas Medicine is more the science of diagnosis. My sister studied Medicine at a well regarded British university. By the end of L1 (Year one of four for Pharmacy), I knew more about the operation of the human body than she did, it's all dependent on the university and course. Advancing through, I decided that while research is my main passion, I was interested in the application, and theoretical applications, of my drug work and decided, after a lot of thought, to embark on a shortened degree in medicine, covering the same material as normal but in a shortened time frame because of my prior knowledge, at King's college, Cambridge, before embarking on my PhD. Now I work as a Medical pharmacologist and researcher at the Imperial College, London, and St. Bart's and the London, and I absolutely love it, wouldn't trade it for the world :) But, in total, with the PhD, I was at university for 12 years :L, 4 years for each, although I was paid handsomely during the latter 8, with my training as a pharmacist and then as a doctor I could find employment wherever my studies took me. I can't help you with regards the American education system, but hopefully my story might be of some assistance :)