Hey Everyone!
So I'm a biology major, but I applied for an internal transfer to business, just to see if I'd get in. I got in, and after much thought, I think I'm going to have to switch, based on how it would give me a diversified perspective and more options in the future.
So my question is...Which business degree would be most useful for a pharmacist who is thinking of opening an independent pharmacy or moving up in corporate/industry?
My thoughts would be
-Management
-Marketing
-Finance
Thanks for your input!
I just graduated with a BS in Business Administration, so I'll give you a quick overview of my experience.
First, most schools have their business programs setup so that you 'Major' in business and your 'minor' is a specific discipline such as Economic, Management, Finance etc.
Now I decided with just a general business admin degree because you will be taking a LOT of credits to fullfill pre-pharm reqs that will not count towards your degree. I chose to have bio and chem minors instead as switching to a business degree (after being a chem major) was already adding a year on to my schooling. You can certainly do it if you wish, just be prepared to be in undergrad longer.
As for the specific type of degree, I'll do a quick overview.
Management - First off, management is one of the more difficult business classes I took simply because of the different ISOs and other crap you have to learn. Learning how to construct processes across an entire sector of a business is humbling. This would not be overly useful for an independent practice because most management courses focus on large corporations as it is where it is put to use best. It would work well for large corporate pharmacys.
Marketing - Marketing is a lot like being an artist. You either have it or you don't. Sure you can learn and do your best, but unless you have it you'll never reach the top as bad as that sounds. It would be a rather narrow focus in pharmacy and you would be looking at perhaps working on contracts for a nursing service pharmacy (i.e. marketing services to homes) or perhaps even in industry.
Finance - Finance as a whole is EXTREMELY useful. Learning how to shift money around, how to make money and what to do with it when you have it makes it one of the more informative series of classes you'll take in your undergrad. This is useful for both independent practices (huge benefit here) and in a corporate setting.
The two big questions are what you want to do at the end of the day and if you'll be willing to spend the extra time in school. Perhaps you're school is set up differently than most of the ones I have seen, but I figured I'd give ya a heads up.
Any other questions and give me a shout.
