Best Schools for a PharmD/MBA degree

[SHC1984]

I am interested in a PharmD/MBA degree. What schools are the best for that? I know it doesn't matter where you go to get your PharmD (to an extend) but for an MBA it matters lots. So any opinions?
So far the only school I know that offers PharmD/MBA is Mercer in Altanta GA. Any other schools?

PharmD/MBA is a five year program I assume?

Lastly, do you have to have an PharmD/MBA to be a pharmacy manager? What are some of the things that you can do with a PharmD/MBA that a regular PharmD CANNOT do?

Thank you. 🙂

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[pkp]

University of Maryland has a PharmD/MBA program as well.

 

[TTUMike]

I am interested in a PharmD/MBA degree. What schools are the best for that? I know it doesn't matter where you go to get your PharmD (to an extend) but for an MBA it matters lots. So any opinions?
So far the only school I know that offers PharmD/MBA is Mercer in Altanta GA. Any other schools?

PharmD/MBA is a five year program I assume?

Lastly, do you have to have an PharmD/MBA to be a pharmacy manager? What are some of the things that you can do with a PharmD/MBA that a regular PharmD CANNOT do?

Thank you. 🙂

There are a lot of schools that offer PharmD/MBA dual programs. If I were to give my personal opinion I would say that USC has a great program.

If you are looking for a pharmacy management position then you won't need an MBA. Walgreens practically begs pharmacists to be managers so I would not worry about an MBA if that is what you are interested in. I would just suggest taking a couple of finance and accounting courses so that you are familiar with financial statements.

 

[bkiskadd]

I am interested in a PharmD/MBA degree. What schools are the best for that? I know it doesn't matter where you go to get your PharmD (to an extend) but for an MBA it matters lots. So any opinions?
So far the only school I know that offers PharmD/MBA is Mercer in Altanta GA. Any other schools?

PharmD/MBA is a five year program I assume?

Lastly, do you have to have an PharmD/MBA to be a pharmacy manager? What are some of the things that you can do with a PharmD/MBA that a regular PharmD CANNOT do?

Thank you. 🙂

I had an interview last week at Mercer and they talked about their Pharm D./MBA program and they mentioned it would still only take 4 years.

 

[dinoant]

When I did my interview at Shenandoah I was told that there was a PharmD/MBA program you can do in 4 years. The electives you take throughout the pharmD program are courses for the MBA.

 

[Antimony]

I had an interview last week at Mercer and they talked about their Pharm D./MBA program and they mentioned it would still only take 4 years.

How did the interview go? Did you have a chance to look around the entire campus? and not just the pharmacy part?

 

[PharmD321]

I am interested in a PharmD/MBA degree. What schools are the best for that? I know it doesn't matter where you go to get your PharmD (to an extend) but for an MBA it matters lots. So any opinions?
So far the only school I know that offers PharmD/MBA is Mercer in Altanta GA. Any other schools?

PharmD/MBA is a five year program I assume?

Lastly, do you have to have an PharmD/MBA to be a pharmacy manager? What are some of the things that you can do with a PharmD/MBA that a regular PharmD CANNOT do?

Thank you. 🙂

Everyone else seems to know the answer for where you get the PharmD/MBA. My school has one too.

But, I do know that the corporations/industrial pharmacies would like to hire PharmD/MBA to calculate company's finances like go to the careers in johnson and johnson webpage (about 744 jobs posted!!), you will be surprised by how many jobs (27 finances jobs) they are looking for people with pharmd/mba.

 

[SHC1984]

There are a lot of schools that offer PharmD/MBA dual programs. If I were to give my personal opinion I would say that USC has a great program.

If you are looking for a pharmacy management position then you won't need an MBA. Walgreens practically begs pharmacists to be managers so I would not worry about an MBA if that is what you are interested in. I would just suggest taking a couple of finance and accounting courses so that you are familiar with financial statements.

Can you go directly to pharmacy management position after graduation? I heard pharmacy managers can make around 150K-200K a year (I heard not sure if its true), so it would be nice to make that much right after graduation. 😀

 

[SHC1984]

4 years for PharmD/MBA sounds like a great plan. Anyone here taking the GMAT or GRE and the PCAT then? If I am not mistaken we have to apply seperately to the PharmD and MBA program?
To the people that apply to Shen and Mercer...did you guys apply to both the MBA/PharmD program now or do you wait a year to apply to the MBA programs?

Thanks a lot for everyone's responses. This is extremely helpful. Especially for someone thats new to the pharmacy forums. 🙂

 

[RxWildcat]

Kentucky has an excellent PharmD/MBA program. You do have to apply to each separately, however you only have to pay tuition for the PharmD and you finish in 4 years. At KY you usually apply to the MBA program your first or second semester of pharmacy school.

 

[TTUMike]

Can you go directly to pharmacy management position after graduation? I heard pharmacy managers can make around 150K-200K a year (I heard not sure if its true), so it would be nice to make that much right after graduation. 😀

You can't go directly to pharmacy management without a minimum of a year experience. It may be possible to move up faster than that but it would not be in your best interest to do this. There is a lot of stuff that you need to know before taking this position on. What you will find to be the most difficult part in management is scheduling and inventory. I have known many pharmacy managers who stepped down because there was too much involved.

A typical pharmacy manager does not make 150-200k starting. They generally start off around 115k but you can find companies like walgreens who will give you large signing bonuses for managing stores in newly opened districts.

I have taken the GMAT and it is considerably easier when comparing it to the PCAT. However, it is a completely different kind of test. The test is taken on a computer and the questions increase with difficulty as you correctly answer. There is also a lot of logic which is similiar to the LSAT.

 

[Chem Geek]

MN has a dual degree program; it is a five-year program. Candidates do not have to apply until the third year, which I like. I have a couple more years to decide!

http://www.pharmacy.umn.edu/pharmd/curriculum/pharmdMBAdualdegree/home.html

 

[Snake Doctor]

USC does... but it is five years I believe.

 

[KristaMPH]

UB has one, I believe it's 5 yrs. Someone in one of my classes is doing that joint program, he likes it and says its not too hard but he also doesn't think that taking 24 credits this semester and working part time is a big deal either😱

 

[SHC1984]

You can't go directly to pharmacy management without a minimum of a year experience. It may be possible to move up faster than that but it would not be in your best interest to do this. There is a lot of stuff that you need to know before taking this position on. What you will find to be the most difficult part in management is scheduling and inventory. I have known many pharmacy managers who stepped down because there was too much involved.

A typical pharmacy manager does not make 150-200k starting. They generally start off around 115k but you can find companies like walgreens who will give you large signing bonuses for managing stores in newly opened districts.

I have taken the GMAT and it is considerably easier when comparing it to the PCAT. However, it is a completely different kind of test. The test is taken on a computer and the questions increase with difficulty as you correctly answer. There is also a lot of logic which is similiar to the LSAT.

Thanks for the information. I would prefer being a pharmacist over pharmacy manager. Unless of course the starting pay was a lot HIGHER for pharmacy managers.

 

[SHC1984]

Just wondering....a PharmD degree is 4 years long. So how can a PharmD/MBA be a 4 year program as well?? does that mean you will have no summer vacations? are you under more stress b/c you are taking more classes???

 

[rxlynn]

Just wondering....a PharmD degree is 4 years long. So how can a PharmD/MBA be a 4 year program as well?? does that mean you will have no summer vacations? are you under more stress b/c you are taking more classes???

Yes - I think at Mercer if you are joint enrolled you do generally have an extra class per semester (mostly night classes), and they do take some summer classes as well. However, apparently a lot of the MBA classes are blocked. I was just talking to a friend in the program earlier this week, and he is planning to not take an MBA class at the beginning of spring semester, but will take one in a block that goes from first of March to first of May.

 

[evilolive]

Michigan's MBA is highly regarded, but there are a few kinks in terms of trying to merge the two programs together. The schools are currently fighting over tuition dollars, so I don't know if they'll be together any time soon.

 

[Blickity]

The University of Florida has one of the best combination of ranked schools. They are currently top 10 for Pharmacy and top 40 for MBA.

The MBA/PharmD program isn't fully integrated and requires you to do a year of MBA in-between your 2nd and 3rd professional years of the PharmD program, for a total of 5 years to graduation. You are considered part of the 2 year traditional MBA program although it actually takes you 3 years to graduate from the time you begin the business component.

Entrance into the MBA program is competitive as class sizes for the 2 year traditional MBA are set at only about 35 students. This is looking from the perspective of a pharmacy student going into the MBA program and not vice versa.

 

[Artful Dodger]

I, too, have an interest in this combo degree, but i feel it's better to wait until after pharmacy school...i really don't mind going back to school afterwards, because MBA degree programs tend to be more flexible (with night classes or some online classes) than healthcare programs (from what i heard)...I mean, ideally, I could be simultaneously working & studying while climbing the corporate ladder, ya know.

 

[lymmys]

USN has dual enroll. and you can earn pharmD and MBA in 3 yrs.

 

[cinnamoroll12]

University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. 🙂