MD and a pharmD... TOGETHER?

[histranger]

I apologize if this is a repeat question. I looked as hard as I could and only saw people SWITCHING from one to the other, not trying to do both.

I have heard (mostly on the SDN) that people have been coming out of either med school or pharmacy school, and then going to the other. I understand this often happens because someone has changed their mind, but what happens if you just really like both, like myself. I'd love to have both careers, but some things I just don't know about being possible. If you have an MD and PharmD can you prescribe a medication and then dispense it? (I'm in Canada) This seems highly unlikely to me, so the job already loses some benefits because you would have faithful patients you would be sending elsewhere.

I work at a pharmacy right now while in pre-pharm and I know that doctors have asked my boss if they could rent space from him (I work at an independent pharmacy and we run travel and zostavax clinics so there are extra "doctors office-like" rooms). If balancing the two careers, would you be able to have a doctors office and a pharmacy in one building, and do like a husband and wife deal, where one prescribes and the other checks? Or can you renew meds that you personally prescribed for someone.

It seems like a great mix for someone who's into a lot of school, but it gets so messy technically once it's done. I would never spend 4 years of my life working towards a career and then just drop it and do something else... even if I did spend four years on the second career as well...

If anyone knows how this works (or has done it themselves would be even better), that would be great. Thanks in advance.

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[inverness2012]

This is never done. In some states in the USA, MDs can dispense legally. Most don't dispense due to the paperwork requirements, and the fact that they can make more money seeing patients as opposed to filling scripts. By having one in the same building, it is convenient for the patient. You would have to be careful about the linkage between the two businesses. If they see you for an appointment, they cannot legally be forced to fill the script there.

 

[Reirrac]

You'll have to pick one of the two professions. Do you really want to spend all those years and tuition for a dual degree? We're talking about at least 11 years total or more in professional school. If you desire to run a business practice that offers both primary care and pharmacy services, then you can certainly partner with the corresponding professional. And as mentioned above, if one job pays more than the other, then why do the less paying job at all?

 

[EML9255]

Once you have both you'd just pick one. Last year when I was on rotations there was an MD who started off as a pharmacist. He doesn't practice as a pharmacist though

 

[Momus]

Husband and wife prescribing and dispensing = conflict of interest. It's possibly illegal, If I remember correctly you can't own more than 10% of pharmacy as a doctor...

This is no rocket science. You have two degree. You only have so much time in a day. One pays $60/hr, the other pays $200/hr, which degree do you want to use?

 

[eagles22]

0% worth trying to get the two degrees. Even for the "extra knowledge". You learn plenty of pharm in med school and in practice. Plus, as momus said, doctors tend to earn quite a bit more than pharmacists, so splitting your time would be economically disadvantageous.

 

[confettiflyer]

You learn plenty of pharm in med school

mmm...define "plenty"

but agreed, pick one...I can count on one hand the # of MD/PharmD combos I know personally, and the PharmD gives them a great background on the intricacies of kinetics and other minutiae, but from an economic standpoint today I wouldn't advise it. You're better off getting the MD/DO and specializing in an area of practice with those extra years you're thinking of. That will provide the income and job satisfaction boost that an extra degree wouldn't provide.

 

[deleted480308]

if you are smart enough to get into both schools, you should be good enough at math to know it doesn't make sense financially...just do what makes you happy

 

[Digsbe]

I've heard of a physician that went to get their PharmD because they really enjoyed compounding. They practice as a physician and have a second job as a compounding pharmacist. I don't believe they compound their own scripts though. I think it may be interesting to have a PharmD and an MD/DO for research/administrative purposes and it may come in handy in dealing with drug related disease/issues. However, practically speaking I don't believe it would be ethical to practice as a physician and pharmacist writing and then filling scripts for your patients and financially speaking you'd likely make more money just working as a physician.

 

[eagles22]

mmm...define "plenty"

but agreed, pick one...I can count on one hand the # of MD/PharmD combos I know personally, and the PharmD gives them a great background on the intricacies of kinetics and other minutiae, but from an economic standpoint today I wouldn't advise it. You're better off getting the MD/DO and specializing in an area of practice with those extra years you're thinking of. That will provide the income and job satisfaction boost that an extra degree wouldn't provide.

As in enough to practice medicine safely and know how to use the drugs. You usually get a year of formal coursework then exposure to the drugs in your field during residency which is plenty to practice effectively and safely.

You don't need to know how to rebuild a engine to drive a car, but it could help occasionally. Pharmacists can rebuild every part of the car, but that doesn't mean that other people can't drive it perfectly well. You can always take it to the mechanic if you're unsure how to fix it.

 

[Mad Jack]

There is no real way to practically apply both skill sets. An MD would benefit from the extra knowledge afforded to them by their pharmacy education, but not to a degree that it would be worth the extra time and money invested.

 

[confettiflyer]

I would think that a BS in a pharmaceutically minded major as the undergraduate degree would be more beneficial seeing as the future physician has to get a BS/BA prior to matriculation most of the time. That way, you get the pharma background with no opportunity cost involved.

 

[PharMed2016]

My law is a little rusty but I don't think you can practice as both a physician and a pharmacist at the same time. What that means is that in the future, if I decide to pickup shifts in the pharmacy... you cant recommend something to the patient and then prescribe it there to the patient. Major conflict of interest as you can imagine.

As for what you can do with both degrees. Often times you with have PT committees chaired by a physician. The one where I'm at is a joint MD PharmD. He actually practiced for some time before becoming a physician so he has a unique grasp on PK/PD.

Aside from that, having gone to pharmacy school made medical school cerrainly easier since Im not seeing things for the first time but besides knowing some dosing and minutia, I dont think the advantage is grwat enough to justify 3 to 4 years additional schooling. Do a BS in Pharm Sci if your interested in meds.

 

[Farcus]

Someone a couple year ahead of me had MD and went back for PharmD, he said he liked consulting as a pharmacist? Not sure what but he was indeed a real physician, he was actually video chatting with his people regarding his patients while in school. Its rare and a waste i think for both.

 

[PharMed2016]

Was he a foreign MD? I know there are alot from India that instead of taking the USMLE licensure exams... decide to go and practice pharmacy instead. Had one that had a BBBS? That was in my pharmacy school class.

 

[kendrick lamar]

I've seen a lot of RPH, MD/DO from when pharmacy was a bachelor's degree.

same, but I even see pharmDs/MDs, not many personally...most kids at my school just ended up practicing pharmacy. But my medical school cousins kno ppl who are PharmD/MDs.

 

[kendrick lamar]

there's no use for having dual degrees with pharm/med as it is for a MD/MBA, MD/MPH combo where you could use both together. People who are PharmD/MDs are that combination because they realized they wanted to do medicine instead of pharmacy at some point in their schooling or careers. For anybody in pharmacy who knows they want to do medicine, it would be better to just do medicine if that's what your end intention is and study some kind of a biological science as a bachelors and complete an SMP if your undergrad grades worry you. I have also heard about medical doctors from overseas coming to the US to do pharmacy probably because they didn't meet the requirements or pass the USMLE to practice here.