Career Question for Current Pharmacists

[inocenciotj]

I am an undergraduate sophomore planning to enter pharmacy school in the fall of 2006. I used to be pre-med, but opted for pharmacy because of the type of the stressful lifestyle the MDs usually attain. However, being the ambitious person that I can be, I am not sure if I will be satisfied with just a PharmD degree. Even though it is now standard that pharmacists obtain a PharmD degree instead of a BS, I want to differentiate myself and feel more secure with my career. I also want to have some sort of authority in my chosen field of study.

The school I am planning to enter has combined degree programs that consist of PharmD/PhD, PharmD/MS, PharmD/MPH, and PharmD/MBA. These options are very attractive to me, and I am trying to have an open mind to each possibility. The combined degree options with MPH and MBA are self-explanatory for the most part, and the school offers MS/PhD programs in the following areas:

Pharmaceutics
Medicinal Chemistry
Pharmacology and Toxicology
Pharmacy (includes either Pharmacotherapy or Pharmacy Administration).

I am more interested in MS/PhD degrees, but am undecided about which track I should pursue.

Could anyone tell me what kinds of jobs I could have with each track? And, can anyone say the approximate possible salaries that come with the types of jobs. Better yet, is there anyone here that has graduated with these types of career options and what are your experiences? Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Bluhappy102]

I am an undergraduate sophomore planning to enter pharmacy school in the fall of 2006. I used to be pre-med, but opted for pharmacy because of the type of the stressful lifestyle the MDs usually attain. However, being the ambitious person that I can be, I am not sure if I will be satisfied with just a PharmD degree. Even though it is now standard that pharmacists obtain a PharmD degree instead of a BS, I want to differentiate myself and feel more secure with my career. I also want to have some sort of authority in my chosen field of study.

The school I am planning to enter has combined degree programs that consist of PharmD/PhD, PharmD/MS, PharmD/MPH, and PharmD/MBA. These options are very attractive to me, and I am trying to have an open mind to each possibility. The combined degree options with MPH and MBA are self-explanatory for the most part, and the school offers MS/PhD programs in the following areas:

Pharmaceutics
Medicinal Chemistry
Pharmacology and Toxicology
Pharmacy (includes either Pharmacotherapy or Pharmacy Administration).

I am more interested in MS/PhD degrees, but am undecided about which track I should pursue.

Could anyone tell me what kinds of jobs I could have with each track? And, can anyone say the approximate possible salaries that come with the types of jobs. Better yet, is there anyone here that has graduated with these types of career options and what are your experiences? Thanks!

You should really decide on what type of career you are looking for before deciding which track to take. Getting a 2nd degree for the sake of "status" is really not the best choice and a waste of time/money if you dont actually pursue a career that uses it.

Do u wanna do clinical work, patient care, business, regulatory affairs, public health, academia, industry, research...etc? At least narrow it down.

Again if you pursue a career that doesn't use the 2nd degree it might not necessarily make you a stronger candidate for the position than someone who doesn't have the degree.

 

[inocenciotj]

I definitely want a non-traditional pharmacy job. It's not just about status, but wanting to get into different types of jobs.

 

[bananaface]

Moving to pre-pharmacy as this is a pre-admission advising question.

 

[inocenciotj]

Why was this moved here? The reason I posted it in the Pharmacy subforum was so I could communicate with those that are more close to the field that I am at this point. This is a pre-pharmacy forum, more filled with people that have the experience or exposure to the different degrees to pharmacy. Just wondering, as I was hoping to get some input from actual pharmacy students.

 

[usi]

I am an undergraduate sophomore planning to enter pharmacy school in the fall of 2006. I used to be pre-med, but opted for pharmacy because of the type of the stressful lifestyle the MDs usually attain. However, being the ambitious person that I can be, I am not sure if I will be satisfied with just a PharmD degree. Even though it is now standard that pharmacists obtain a PharmD degree instead of a BS, I want to differentiate myself and feel more secure with my career. I also want to have some sort of authority in my chosen field of study.

The school I am planning to enter has combined degree programs that consist of PharmD/PhD, PharmD/MS, PharmD/MPH, and PharmD/MBA. These options are very attractive to me, and I am trying to have an open mind to each possibility. The combined degree options with MPH and MBA are self-explanatory for the most part, and the school offers MS/PhD programs in the following areas:

Pharmaceutics
Medicinal Chemistry
Pharmacology and Toxicology
Pharmacy (includes either Pharmacotherapy or Pharmacy Administration).

I am more interested in MS/PhD degrees, but am undecided about which track I should pursue.

Could anyone tell me what kinds of jobs I could have with each track? And, can anyone say the approximate possible salaries that come with the types of jobs. Better yet, is there anyone here that has graduated with these types of career options and what are your experiences? Thanks!

What do you intend to do with a degree in Medicinal Chemistry?
If you are considering Toxicology, do you like to spend your days in lab?

 

[inocenciotj]

What do you intend to do with a degree in Medicinal Chemistry?
If you are considering Toxicology, do you like to spend your days in lab?

Hm... after thinking about it, I've decided that I want to do something either in pharmacotherapy or pharmacy administration. I know pharm admin can get into things such as pharmacy management for chains, etc. What else could they get into though? I know that pharmacotherapy has to do with making optimizing drug use in patients, but what kinds of actual jobs can you obtain with such background?

 

[usi]

Hm... after thinking about it, I've decided that I want to do something either in pharmacotherapy or pharmacy administration. I know pharm admin can get into things such as pharmacy management for chains, etc. What else could they get into though? I know that pharmacotherapy has to do with making optimizing drug use in patients, but what kinds of actual jobs can you obtain with such background?

Do not go by job descriptions in a book or website. You will not know what the job entails until you talk and spend some time with somebody that has this job. For that matter, talk to more than one, because some people get disgruntled and may be hating their jobs when you are asking. You need several people to be honest with you.
Do not go by your school advisor. They are not on the job, and they may be partial to fill up certain programs for reasons other than preparing you for a profesion.
Decide this right now: Do you want to be in lab, or do you want to be in the front lines with patients, or do you want to be in a desk and attend a lot of meetings?

 

[inocenciotj]

Do not go by job descriptions in a book or website. You will not know what the job entails until you talk and spend some time with somebody that has this job. For that matter, talk to more than one, because some people get disgruntled and may be hating their jobs when you are asking. You need several people to be honest with you.
Do not go by your school advisor. They are not on the job, and they may be partial to fill up certain programs for reasons other than preparing you for a profesion.
Decide this right now: Do you want to be in lab, or do you want to be in the front lines with patients, or do you want to be in a desk and attend a lot of meetings?

Thanks for the advice. I think I will do just that. As for now however, working with patients is more ideal. I suppose it would be less mundane than working behind a desk and attending meeting after meeting, but like you said, I should talk to people that actually work there... I hope I can learn more when I take an intro to pharm class next semester. Thanks again!

 

[sdn1977]

Hm... after thinking about it, I've decided that I want to do something either in pharmacotherapy or pharmacy administration. I know pharm admin can get into things such as pharmacy management for chains, etc. What else could they get into though? I know that pharmacotherapy has to do with making optimizing drug use in patients, but what kinds of actual jobs can you obtain with such background?

Hmm..just stumbled across this question and I agree its a funny place - this is the first time I clicked on pre-pharmacy (I've been a pharmacist for 28 years). But...I'll give you a little insight. I have a Pharm.D. and have done lots and lots of clinical work - acute inpatient, intravenous home health, teaching and retail. But....I have classmates who went different paths. The ones who have done administration (which used to be a residency...) are directors of hospital pharmacies, managers of home health pharmacies, etc...you need to be good at people management, formulary management, "politics" and budgets. Those classmates who have gone into industry need a strong business background, however, one classmate is a liason between the technical/medical side and the business side, so she has strong clinical skills (within the field her company markets medications) in addition to business. Folks who do pharmacotherapy, or those who "optimize drug use"...tend to stay in the insurance/managed care side of pharmacy. They are often ones who determine the "sequence" of therapy an insurance plan might reimburse or who write protocols for major hospital networks. These jobs are few often not found in all parts of the country. As for salary....this is variable. I really can't tell you about industry - we don't chat/share salary stories among friends. For managed care, probably not much above the going rate for pharmacists in the area they are located. For administrators, IMHO...they are not paid enough for the grief they take!! They aren't paid much above what a pharmacist makes, which in N. CA is approx $100,000 give or take. My advice is it is too soon for you to make this decision - do you have to make it this early? Get in, learn all you can, try lots of rotations and practice settings and think about your life and the way you want to lead it. Do you want to live in an urban/suburban/rural setting? Do you have an SO to consider - his/her career options, desires, etc? Pharmacy is an extremely flexible career and what you decide now does not determine where you'll end up! Have a great ride!