Doing Biotech post PharmD

[zyas248]

Hi! I've been reading a lot about people saying that pharma is super saturated when it comes to retail pharmacy and how hard it is to get hospital residency but I'm not interested in any of these stuff. I am more interested in industry pharmacy where I can work in drug design or pharmacy politics (idk what it's formally called but like drug policies and government work). I've been reading that its really helpful having a PharmD and a masters in biotech but the issue is that I am currently a second year undergrad who has managed to be accepted in the PharmD program, meaning I would have to drop my bachelors and I would end up with only a PharmD degree at the end of the four years. I feel really anxious because I have wanted to do drug research and design my entire life but it seems like I may not have good enough credentials to beat out the competition. If I finish my PharmD program and I want to work in a drug company then I would have to go back and get a bachelors before I can get a Masters in biotech. I was just wondering if anybody has any advice for if you were in my position? I do def want to pursue the PharmD degree but I just want to know if you did a few years in PharmD and realized it's not for you what would you do? And if you did complete the PharmD and you were in my position (no bachelors or masters) what would you do?

I am a very social person so I def think I can network well. I am also young which I read that there is ageism in the industry so I think if I graduate at 23 with a PharmD it would look quite appealing to companies. But still, everything else kept in mind with my credentials, should I be worried? It seems like this has been my dream but everyone is telling me to not even bother with the industry.

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[M0df]

Look. I am no expert. But research on career options these days should be easy. You pick an ideal, your dream job for yourself. You go to linkedin and look for people holding that job right now. You check a few profiles. You see if they hold a pharm.d. And you have your answer.

I highly doubt you need a PharmD to get where you want to be but do your own research.

 

[Hels2007]

Look. I am no expert. But research on career options these days should be easy. You pick an ideal, your dream job for yourself. You go to linkedin and look for people holding that job right now. You check a few profiles. You see if they hold a pharm.d. And you have your answer.

That's great advice.

As I have already posted in a billion other threads like this one: a PharmD only makes sense if what you want to do is practice pharmacy in a community or hospital setting. For any other job in 2020 there are more efficient and/or cost-effective ways to get there.

 

[zyas248]

That's great advice.

As I have already posted in a billion other threads like this one: a PharmD only makes sense if what you want to do is practice pharmacy in a community or hospital setting. For any other job in 2020 there are more efficient and/or cost-effective ways to get there.

ok so what would you guys suggest as a career path then? Because currently I have no idea what direction to take?

 

[Seriously Serious]

I feel like this should have been something you decided before applying to pharmacy school?

There are some pharmacy schools that offer dual masters degrees (e.g. MPH, MBA, clinical research, etc) - where they waive the bachelor requirement. There are even some schools that offer a dual PharmD/PhD Pharmaceutical Sci.

Check it out:

Dual Degree Programs | PharmCAS

www.pharmcas.org

 

[wazoodog]

While I think having a PharmD helped me get into pharma/biotech industry, I see coworkers who do the same thing I do with a 4 year degree.

A PharmD in itself is nice, its just questionable whether the time and money spent is worth the benefits. Yes...if you want to be a pharmacist.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Your chances of getting into biotech/pharma are probably better with a PhD or Masters. The PharmD is the far more expensive route to take meaning that you'll likely end up with $200k+ in student loans with the most likely scenario that you will end up unemployed or in retail.

 

[Hels2007]

While I think having a PharmD helped me get into pharma/biotech industry, I see coworkers who do the same thing I do with a 4 year degree.

A PharmD in itself is nice, its just questionable whether the time and money spent is worth the benefits. Yes...if you want to be a pharmacist.

Yes... a PharmD got me to the level and salary I enjoy today about 5-10 years faster than I would have with a Bachelor's. But! I started when just about everything was different than it is now. And when I started pharmacy school, I was pretty sure I was going to keep working for Walgreens (I started in my freshman year of college as a tech), I didn't even think about industry until the middle of my P-2 year.

Drug design and public policy are VERY different jobs. When you are that unsure what you want to be when you grow up, go undeclared first, and take a number of classes from political sciences, chemistry & physics and business departments and see what actually fits best.

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

Get a degree concentration in pharmacology instead of pharmacy. If a PharmD was an easy gateway for industry jobs then why do fellowships exist?