Anyone Concerned with having a A.A.S vs B.S Degree?

[L2pG4AllEtrnty]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Is anyone on the community college path towards pharmacy school and concerned that once they finish Pharmacy school a future employer might look down upon them for only having an Associates degree vs a Bachelors?

How many out there are following the Associates degree path and how many are following the Bachelors path leading to Pharmacy School?

I am at a cross roads and I am currently attending a community college and pondering the advantages of continuing my college career and transferring to a 4-yr school. I mean should I even bother if I get into to Pharmacy school with my Associates completed?

Thanks

Can anyone contribute to any obvious advantages that a 4-yr school might offer over a community college such as preferred admittance to some pharmacy schools, more knowledgeable advising, etc...

 

[eelo]

Is anyone on the community college path towards pharmacy school and concerned that once they finish Pharmacy school a future employer might look down upon them for only having an Associates degree vs a Bachelors?

How many out there are following the Associates degree path and how many are following the Bachelors path leading to Pharmacy School?

I am at a cross roads and I am currently attending a community college and pondering the advantages of continuing my college career and transferring to a 4-yr school. I mean should I even bother if I get into to Pharmacy school with my Associates completed?

Thanks

Can anyone contribute to any obvious advantages that a 4-yr school might offer over a community college such as preferred admittance to some pharmacy schools, more knowledgeable advising, etc...

I'm not sure why any sort of undergrad studies, be they at a CC or a 4-year school, would have any impact on anyone's potential employment as a pharmacist. What the employer is going to look for at that point is graduation from pharmacy school and whether or not the employee has passed the NAPLEX.

You may find yourself transferring to a 4-year school just to complete all the necessary pre-reqs. Some people are able to go directly from CC to pharm school, but it wuold have to be a CC that offered the required courses. While a bachelor's degree isn't required, it's looking more and more like that's going to be a preference for pharmacy schools. Realistically, it's pretty hard to predict how wel someone will do in a graduate or professional school based solely on what they did in lower-level college courses. Some people are able to make the transition quite well, and others struggle.

 

[confettiflyer]

No impact on employment when you are licensed, but by 2010 or so, big impact on what schools you can go to (high prestige vs. low prestige).

 

[L2pG4AllEtrnty]

I'm just curious of where you obtained your information that by around 2010 or so that they would be favoring a B.S.? That seemed like a pretty definite time period you spoke of?

Thanks

 

[confettiflyer]

My personal opinion right there, but given the trends over the past 5 years, I don't think I'll be too far off. I think by 2010-2012 either most schools will require a BS/BA, or will de facto require it (ie 99% of the incoming class has a Bachelor's, much like UCSF's MD entering class). Exception will be newer or less desirable schools, which will have more lenient standards.

 

[steveysmith54]

Well, if theory about BS degree preventing u from getting desirable employment is true then people who attend a 0-6 school are really screwed.

I think one third of all RPh only have a BS in pharmacy from back in the day or something.

 

[confettiflyer]

Well, if theory about BS degree preventing u from getting desirable employment is true then people who attend a 0-6 school are really screwed.

I think one third of all RPh only have a BS in pharmacy from back in the day or something.

my opinion on those programs differs. They should be awarded an honorary BS in conjunction with the PharmD much like UCSF awards the BS en route to the MD and many PhD's award MS/MA's en route to that degree. It's useless but serves to bridge that psychological gap.

 

[Farmercyst]

my opinion on those programs differs. They should be awarded an honorary BS in conjunction with the PharmD much like UCSF awards the BS en route to the MD and many PhD's award MS/MA's en route to that degree. It's useless but serves to bridge that psychological gap.

USC's TAP program is a 7 year program with an optional 8th year if you decide to finish the bachelor's before starting the PharmD curriculum. But then you're really not much better than a regular applicant (except that minimum GPA is only 3.2 to guarantee admission.)

 

[genesis09]

UIC for a while was thinking of granting everyone a bachelors degree after your second year of pharmacy school. I don't know if that idea is dead or alive.

 

[steveysmith54]

my opinion on those programs differs. They should be awarded an honorary BS in conjunction with the PharmD much like UCSF awards the BS en route to the MD and many PhD's award MS/MA's en route to that degree. It's useless but serves to bridge that psychological gap.

How do u figure they should be awarded bachelors degrees and in what? They are just taught the prereqs and after that the regular pharmD curriculum. Not enough for a Bio degree or Chem degree. Should they be awarded a degree for the preqs? You can't award them a BS in pharmacy because all the pharmacy classes that they take are for the PharmD degree (same classes that non 0-6 year are taught). Also, should a student who got into pharmacy school after doing two years of prereqs to a school like USN although get a bachelors degree?

I don't think majority of them care anyways.

 

[confettiflyer]

How do u figure they should be awarded bachelors degrees and in what? They are just taught the prereqs and after that the regular pharmD curriculum. Not enough for a Bio degree or Chem degree. Should they be awarded a degree for the preqs? You can't award them a BS in pharmacy because all the pharmacy classes that they take are for the PharmD degree (same classes that non 0-6 year are taught). Also, should a student who got into pharmacy school after doing two years of prereqs to a school like USN although get a bachelors degree?

I don't think majority of them care anyways.

no no just 0-6 programs should have their students be awarded a "BS in something" because it makes sense to me. I hauled out the UCSF example because i think it's the content of your studies not the time you spent doing them. If you have a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, it's implied that you also have a bachelor's degree. Same with MD, implied that you have the knowledge of a BS/BA person; and for PhD's...it's implied you have a master's degree hidden behind it.


Many schools do this (notably UCSF, Yale, UCI, etc...) upon completion of an MD or PhD...why not pharmD?

Like I said earlier, ONLY 0-6 programs. someone who did prereq's at a CC will probably get an AA on that level then their PharmD, but those are two different institutions. I'm talking about 6 continuous years at an institution.

But in the end it doesn't matter, I'm just a stickler for details

 

[steveysmith54]

no no just 0-6 programs should have their students be awarded a "BS in something" because it makes sense to me. I hauled out the UCSF example because i think it's the content of your studies not the time you spent doing them. If you have a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, it's implied that you also have a bachelor's degree. Same with MD, implied that you have the knowledge of a BS/BA person; and for PhD's...it's implied you have a master's degree hidden behind it.


Many schools do this (notably UCSF, Yale, UCI, etc...) upon completion of an MD or PhD...why not pharmD?

Like I said earlier, ONLY 0-6 programs. someone who did prereq's at a CC will probably get an AA on that level then their PharmD, but those are two different institutions. I'm talking about 6 continuous years at an institution.

But in the end it doesn't matter, I'm just a stickler for details

A BA/BS degree is awarded based on knowledge of a specific field (biology, chem, sociology, history) and units completed in it. Thats why it doesn't make sense to me to give it to someone who is not trained for it. U can't give a "bachelors in something", it has to be a field.

The reason that i brought up someone transfering without a degree is their knolewledge and amount of study is equivalent to someone who studies in a 0-6 program for first two years.

 

[eelo]

A BA/BS degree is awarded based on knowledge of a specific field (biology, chem, sociology, history) and units completed in it. Thats why it doesn't make sense to me to give it to someone who is not trained for it. U can't give a "bachelors in something", it has to be a field.

The reason that i brought up someone transfering without a degree is their knolewledge and amount of study is equivalent to someone who studies in a 0-6 program for first two years.

Why not a bachelor's or science in 'liberal studies' or 'university studies' or 'general science?'

 

[fungikid]

I don't think it's that great an idea to give 0-6 students an honarary BSc degree because it would be kind of unfair to those who did 4 years to receive their BSc degree. Maybe they can add something to their PharmD's to indicate the 2 years?

 

[steveysmith54]

I don't think it's that great an idea to give 0-6 students an honarary BSc degree because it would be kind of unfair to those who did 4 years to receive their BSc degree. Maybe they can add something to their PharmD's to indicate the 2 years?

Tell me about it. They are already getting rewarded by
-shortening their education by two years(usually)
-avoid pcat, lor, pharmcas, actually have guarantee with certain GPA

 

[confettiflyer]

Tell me about it. They are already getting rewarded by
-shortening their education by two years(usually)
-avoid pcat, lor, pharmcas, actually have guarantee with certain GPA

haha...not good reasons against a BS, sounds like you're just jealous 😀

but I guess we're at a dead end here...by your logic and arguments, NO advanced degree (PhD, MD, PharmD, etc...) should award an "en route" BS/MS degree.

 

[fungikid]

confettiflyer: Yes, by our logic and arguments, no advanced degrees should award "en route" degrees. I wasn't just talking about PharmD's. If you didn't do the years, you shouldn't receive the degree(s). And what's wrong with not having these "en route" degrees? As long as they have their PharmD's/MD's/PhD's/whatever, they can practise/do what they want, right?

Oh, and I'm one of those people who did two years before entering Pharmacy school so I don't have a BSc degree yet either. So I'm not speaking out of jealousy. 🙂

 

[steveysmith54]

haha...not good reasons against a BS, sounds like you're just jealous 😀

but I guess we're at a dead end here...by your logic and arguments, NO advanced degree (PhD, MD, PharmD, etc...) should award an "en route" BS/MS degree.

You know those aren't the only reason. I gave u my reasons in the last post. My argument is based on degrees awarded for completing certain amounts of units and taking certain amount classes. You argument is based on your feelings about a route to a pharmD.

 

[confettiflyer]

just for me at least...if you have the knowledge of a PharmD/MD/PhD, you have the knowledge of someone with a BS/MS. I know most people will not notate their name that way (i.e. Rico Suave, MD, BS), but hey...I like things that hang up on the wall.

 

[fungikid]

Actually, I'm finding that those with a BSc know more about certain subjects than us non-BSc Pharmacy students. For example, the physiology class we take is more diluted than that of the core science students. We focus on knowledge that is relevant to the profession while the BSc'ers cover more advanced stuff (this prepares them for research).

This is not to say Pharmacy school is easy. We have a lot more other stuff we need to learn. But if you only look at certain subjects, the BSc students cover them in more depth than we do.