PharmD/JD

I, too, am interested in this, but want to look deeper into my career opportunities with a PharmD/JD before pursuing it. I hate to sound greedy, but if I'm going to spend 3 extra years of my life in law school, I want to know that I'll be making more money than your garden variety PharmD graduate. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of PharmD/JDs out there. I'd love to meet with or shadow one just to hear their perspective.

I've heard of MD/JD, but a PharmD/JD is definitely more rare. I'm a little confused as to why you would want to pursue that combination or what role they would play...health policy?

Lexian said:

I've heard of MD/JD, but a PharmD/JD is definitely more rare. I'm a little confused as to why you would want to pursue that combination or what role they would play...health policy?

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Actually, it used to be pretty commonm, back when a BS pharm was the norm. I was just talking about this subject last night, and I started to wonder if there would be a decrease in pharmacy/health lawyers because of the longer comitment (BS/PharmD/JD=10-11 years).

"DrPharm": Why do your posts always seem so pseudo philosophical? You seem to have the clinical pharmacist's attitude ("you do all the work, and I'll lead your thoughts and discussion"). New topic: "Pharmacists and the war of 1812, discuss!"

From what I understand, you can make a load of money representing health professionals in malpractice cases.

These two links may also help give you ideas of what a dual degree may be used for:

http://www.aphanet.org/students/careers/pharmacystudent/combining pharmacy and law.pdf

http://www.aphanet.org/students/careers/pharmacystudent/Dual Degrees in Pharmacy.pdf

I actually looked into this when i first entered pharm school and yes it is really rare... the admissions guy i talked to said that very very very few people have both pharmD and JD.

my law professor/HR professor is a rph, jd, mba, phd....

he just can't get enough school

now that i am further in my pharm d process i may go to law school later but no way in hell i would go right now...

i am ready to be done!

my law professor/HR professor is a rph, jd, mba, phd....

he just can't get enough school

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I hope s/he got some of those degrees in a dual program. Thats almost 20 years of higher ed. including bachelors!

I actually work with a pharmacist (Pharm.D.) who is thinking about going back to school to pursue law. She also mentioned something about lobbying, so I'm thinking that it would be beneficial to have a Pharm.D./J.D. in that respect.

FutureRxGal said:

I actually work with a pharmacist (Pharm.D.) who is thinking about going back to school to pursue law. She also mentioned something about lobbying, so I'm thinking that it would be beneficial to have a Pharm.D./J.D. in that respect.

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ditto.. i know theres an internal state push right now for pharmd jd's for that specific reason,who better to lobby for us, make laws, than pharmacists... theres also a push for pharmd jds to run for state elected positions in the legislature...

my law class has a couple jd pharmd's as ta's/assistants

Ultracet, "now that i am further in my pharm d process i may go to law school later but no way in hell i would go right now...i am ready to be done!"

So did you finish PharmD. yet?? Are you persuing law degree??

I am a PharmD. I'm thinking of persuing for a JD. I just need to find more concrete information to give me reasons why I should go through more schooling and learn a new language (I read a paragraph from some judge's opinion, it spinned me around)

PharmD/JD is great !!!!

Someone has to teach pharmacy law..right?

PharmD/JD is certainly a great option...but consider your age when you finish JD. Obviously you're not going to practice pharmacy and law.. most likely Law.

Income potential is great if you're a young JD fresh out of a reputable law school joining a firm working 80 hours a week... and eventually make partner.

Certainly, PharmD is not a pre-requisite to practice Medical/Pharmaceutical Law...

Forget getting a JD from a 3rd rate law school evening program unless your goal is to start an independen law firm chasing ambulances... you're better off practicing pharmacy.

But if your life ambition was to do something else besides pharmacy and fell into it by default, by all means go to law school.

I was thinking about pursuing this combo for a while. I stopped because I realized the only incentive was tons more money. My understanding is that this combo easily leads to patent lawyer positions with pharma companies, and that PharmD/JDs make upwards of $250k/year quickly.

Shizelbs said:

I was thinking about pursuing this combo for a while. I stopped because I realized the only incentive was tons more money. My understanding is that this combo easily leads to patent lawyer positions with pharma companies, and that PharmD/JDs make upwards of $250k/year quickly.

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Yep patent lawyers kill when it comes to salary. Even while in law school you might be able to intern for ~60-70k/yr (so I heard and I'm not sure how many hrs are really involved).

However ZPackSucks made some good points. Law is different from pharmacy and the school you go to matters a lot when considering job placement and salary potential. Patent law is supposedly quite lucrative, but if your idea of fun is figuring out ways a drug should stay on the market vs generic availability than that it may be the way to go, if not than maybe some more thinking is necessary. Other issue is that earning potential in law can be much more variable than when compared to pharmacy so depending on what you do, 6 figures may not be quaranteed as it is in pharmacy straight out of school. Then there is also the hours involved which may vary with the field. I think patent law still tends to provide regular hrs w/ great pay. Either way just do your research and figure out what makes you happy and go for it.

I am graduating with a Pharm.D. from Butler University (Indianapolis) in May, and planning on attending law school in August. I've been looking into it and IU in Indy, U. of Maryland in Baltimore, and U. of Washington in Seattle all have great Health Care and Patent law programs. I'm on rotation with FDA next month and with Indiana Medicaid Office in February.

My goal is simply to get myself in a position where I can help shape law and policy to better benefit the "little guys" and not just "big pockets." I'm not against Big Pharma by any means, but there are TONS of kinks in health care law (esp. Pharmacy/insurance law that pertains to health care access being AVAILABLE to everyone at a reasonable price). I mean, just look at college students - how many actually have prescription drug insurance, let alone health care insurance? I know I didn't for like 5 of the last 6 years. We couldn't afford it.

So anyway, as far as making big bucks is concerned, I will probably end up going to school for 3 more years to take a 20K pay-cut. Worth it? Of course! Feels much better on the conscience than raking in 105K from Walgreen's or CVS while getting burnt out wasting your education and only solving very small problems for individual people (which that latter part feels pretty good I might add).

You actually forgot one of the best ways to make money. Representing patients suing healthcare providers, especially in a state that does not cap malpractice awards. One of the Pharmacists in my compay is married to a guy who is a Pharmacist/Lawyer and thats what he does. I think its like selling your soul to the devil for a few bucks but whatever makes you happy I guess.

I'm interested in going to law school too. By the time I graduate out of pharmacy school next yr, I will have just turned 24, so plenty of time. Question is, does a pharmd boost your profile to get into law school, esp a top tier one? Throughout my undergrad, I've always focused on science classes to get into pharm school, not a lot of political sci, philisophy, or history class to ready for law school. I'm just wondering how competitive will I be as an applicant to get into law school? THe only thing related to law that I've participated in is Pharmacy Law class and a legislative/regulatory experiential rotation with Governmental Affairs in ASHP and the state Board of Pharmacy. Well if anyone out there has any luck getting into law school, please let the rest of us know how your talented ass got in. Thanks a lot for listening to me ramble.

And by the way, the resources on pharmacist-attorneys out there on the web are so SCARCE!

At the moment, I am a pre-pharmacy student pursing a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences. I have always seen myself ending up in law school, seeing as how I was a good orator and debater. I pursued the field of pharmacy/pharmaceutical sciences because of my strengths in the maths and sciences classes in high school, and because I also have a strong fascination and interest in the field of pharmaceutical research, particularly pharmacogenomics and certain aspects of drug metabolism. I have the option to get a BS-MS degree (if my GPA is good enough) in one year, and was thinking of pursing either just law school or pharmacy school AND law school. I was wondering what would be the most efficient solution for me. My options are listed below.

Option 1: Get a BS-MS or simply a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and perhaps a BA in English and go to law school and attain a J.D. in patent law
Option 2: Get a BS-MS or simply a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and perhaps a BA in English and go to a school that offers the PharmD/JD joint program
Option 3: Get a BS-MS or simply a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and perhaps a BA in English and go to pharmacy school and law school seperately

Keep in mind, that as ambitious as I may seem, I will have humbled myself really quickly once I take into account how much schooling I really have to complete. What is the difference between the PharmD/JD joint programs and going to pharmacy school and law school separately (besides of course the amount of years you spend in school)? Does one have more versatility in their career over the other? Are the curricula in the JD portion of the joint programs more specialized to the field of health care and the pharmaceutical industry as opposed to general law if I simply chose to go to law school? Thank you in advance.