PharmD and MBA

[PharmD RPh]

Now I know there are tons of threads out there on dual degrees, but are there any pharmacists in this forum that are currently employed using both degrees? If so, give a brief summary of your job description. I'm thinking about going back for mine soon, but there is a downside to getting it... 30K over 2 years. Program is a top 60 Professional MBA program per US News rankings. Thoughts/discussions?

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[lorain]

i did both

it didnt really open up many doors for me. there were some chances, but those jobs said i didnt have enough relevant work experience (ahem residency)

so thats why im going back to do residency now

in the pharmacy world, be it wrong or right, residency > mba


i think the 2nd degree should be the last thing on the list, get rph degree, get residency or the work experience, then consider 2nd degree


and believe me, its not easy to do it, after pharm school, studying more books is the last thing one wants to do (even thou business degrees are dime a dozen, you still have to put the work in)

 

[PharmD RPh]

i did both

it didnt really open up many doors for me. there were some chances, but those jobs said i didnt have enough relevant work experience (ahem residency)

so thats why im going back to do residency now

in the pharmacy world, be it wrong or right, residency > mba


i think the 2nd degree should be the last thing on the list, get rph degree, get residency or the work experience, then consider 2nd degree


and believe me, its not easy to do it, after pharm school, studying more books is the last thing one wants to do (even thou business degrees are dime a dozen, you still have to put the work in)

Are you talking about a general pharmacy practice residency? I don't see how having a residency would be required unless you wanted in hospital administration? When I think MBA, I'm thinking opportunities more along the lines of the business aspect of pharmacy such as with a corporate retail chain, district manager, big PBM such as Medco, Humana or even pharmaceutical industry companies.

 

[lorain]

Are you talking about a general pharmacy practice residency? I don't see how having a residency would be required unless you wanted in hospital administration? When I think MBA, I'm thinking opportunities more along the lines of the business aspect of pharmacy such as with a corporate retail chain, district manager, big PBM such as Medco, Humana or even pharmaceutical industry companies.

when the economy tanked, companies restructured their corporate positions and reassigned employees, so its not that easy now to score DM positions

PBMs have their residency too (so goes back to my original post)

big pharma, this is true, you could prolly score a job there, in fact, that is where my only decent job offer came from. however, given the uncertainty in big pharma at that time, it wasnt the right 1 for me

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

I did a managed care rotation this year and most of director and management pharmacists had MBAs.

They were involved in development clinical programs, marketing plans, formulary structuring, presenting cost savings to clients quarterly, taking part in request for proposals, developing cost savings strategies, handling manufacturer contracting, dealing with pharma....etc

My preceptor was a hospital pharmacy director before he care to the managed care organization and he received his MBA part time over 3 years while working at the hospital.

His recommendation was to evaluate your career goals over the next 10 years or more before going after an MBA. His goal is to be a department director and eventually a senior executive so for him he found the MBA degree as a useful tool in his job and an important credential for advancement.

 

[iphetamine]

I did a managed care rotation this year and most of director and management pharmacists had MBAs.

They were involved in development clinical programs, marketing plans, formulary structuring, presenting cost savings to clients quarterly, taking part in request for proposals, developing cost savings strategies, handling manufacturer contracting, dealing with pharma....etc

My preceptor was a hospital pharmacy director before he care to the managed care organization and he received his MBA part time over 3 years while working at the hospital.

His recommendation was to evaluate your career goals over the next 10 years or more before going after an MBA. His goal is to be a department director and eventually a senior executive so for him he found the MBA degree as a useful tool in his job and an important credential for advancement.

..nvm..

 

[lorain]

I did a managed care rotation this year and most of director and management pharmacists had MBAs.

They were involved in development clinical programs, marketing plans, formulary structuring, presenting cost savings to clients quarterly, taking part in request for proposals, developing cost savings strategies, handling manufacturer contracting, dealing with pharma....etc

My preceptor was a hospital pharmacy director before he care to the managed care organization and he received his MBA part time over 3 years while working at the hospital.

His recommendation was to evaluate your career goals over the next 10 years or more before going after an MBA. His goal is to be a department director and eventually a senior executive so for him he found the MBA degree as a useful tool in his job and an important credential for advancement.

i agree guys, take your time, dont do what i did

i got my 2 degrees really fast, but i dont have the experience to get THAT job.

so my advice is get the pharm degree, the work experience/residency, then reevaluate the situation

dont do it back to back like I did, with loans from pharm school and $$ for business degree, Im literally running on gas in the bank account. I mean I had to pick and choose to apply to the residencies based on that I could afford to get to (ie no expensive ticket)

 

[sap24]

I have a pharmd and am realizing it is nearly impossible to get a job at a pharmaceutical company without knowing someone so i am considering going to law school or mba program
i have switched 3 jobs in the past year and am comfortable at this job but there isnt much growth opportunities!!

 

[sap24]

i agree guys, take your time, dont do what i did

i got my 2 degrees really fast, but i dont have the experience to get THAT job.

so my advice is get the pharm degree, the work experience/residency, then reevaluate the situation

dont do it back to back like I did, with loans from pharm school and $$ for business degree, Im literally running on gas in the bank account. I mean I had to pick and choose to apply to the residencies based on that I could afford to get to (ie no expensive ticket)

I agree but then I dont want to wait too long as i graduated a year ago and the more time im working i feel i will be stuck like other pharmacists who state it is too late for them to do anything

 

[sap24]

when the economy tanked, companies restructured their corporate positions and reassigned employees, so its not that easy now to score DM positions

PBMs have their residency too (so goes back to my original post)

big pharma, this is true, you could prolly score a job there, in fact, that is where my only decent job offer came from. however, given the uncertainty in big pharma at that time, it wasnt the right 1 for me

What experience can one get in order to eventually get a job at a pharma company? is that what you do at the moment?

 

[sap24]

when the economy tanked, companies restructured their corporate positions and reassigned employees, so its not that easy now to score DM positions

PBMs have their residency too (so goes back to my original post)

big pharma, this is true, you could prolly score a job there, in fact, that is where my only decent job offer came from. however, given the uncertainty in big pharma at that time, it wasnt the right 1 for me

Hello
I am working as a clinical pharmacist at the moment but i want to get a job at a pharma company - i dont have connections or know people who work there and i find that most of the jobs dont even come online (they are filled thru connections)
If you dont mind me asking, how did you get your job?
Thanks