General Questions about Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry

[emr1234]

Hi Guys,



I graduated from MCPHS University in 2015 with the Pharm.D. degree and am a licensed pharmacist. I plan to work for a few years and then try to obtain a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry so I can do the job I really want to do, which is work in drug discovery and research. I just have some general questions to anyone who can help:



1. How important is the school I go to? I plan on applying to MCPHS or Northeastern University (I want to stay near Boston MA), MCPHS is cheaper but I don't think it has as prestigious a reputation as Northeastern. When applying for jobs, do they care a lot about which school I graduated from or do they look more at other things? The job I would be applying for would be a Medicinal Chemist in a pharmaceutical company.



2. Are there any other good schools in the Boston area for this program?



2. Is there any way I can avoid paying out of pocket for this degree? I know if I get directly into the Ph.D. of Northeastern I think it is free of charge, but I heard this is very hard to get into to.



3. This may seem a bit silly, but, with regards to the future of drug discovery, will there always be work for a medicinal chemist to do? will there always be a lot of new drugs to discover over the next 50 years or so?



4. I already have accumulated about 20 ideas for new drugs. As a Pharm.D. with no industry experience is there any way for me to have these developed now? MCPHS has no funding to do it, and Northeastern can't because I have to be a student there.......



5. I understand that sometimes it takes longer than expected to receive a Ph.D. because of, something with regards to the research findings being significant. Can someone expound upon this in more depth? What exactly do you have to do to graduate? Discover a new finding?



Thanks for your time.

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[chemphysicsinstructor]

Hi Guys,



I graduated from MCPHS University in 2015 with the Pharm.D. degree and am a licensed pharmacist. I plan to work for a few years and then try to obtain a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry so I can do the job I really want to do, which is work in drug discovery and research. I just have some general questions to anyone who can help:



1. How important is the school I go to? I plan on applying to MCPHS or Northeastern University (I want to stay near Boston MA), MCPHS is cheaper but I don't think it has as prestigious a reputation as Northeastern. When applying for jobs, do they care a lot about which school I graduated from or do they look more at other things? The job I would be applying for would be a Medicinal Chemist in a pharmaceutical company.



2. Are there any other good schools in the Boston area for this program?



2. Is there any way I can avoid paying out of pocket for this degree? I know if I get directly into the Ph.D. of Northeastern I think it is free of charge, but I heard this is very hard to get into to.



3. This may seem a bit silly, but, with regards to the future of drug discovery, will there always be work for a medicinal chemist to do? will there always be a lot of new drugs to discover over the next 50 years or so?



4. I already have accumulated about 20 ideas for new drugs. As a Pharm.D. with no industry experience is there any way for me to have these developed now? MCPHS has no funding to do it, and Northeastern can't because I have to be a student there.......



5. I understand that sometimes it takes longer than expected to receive a Ph.D. because of, something with regards to the research findings being significant. Can someone expound upon this in more depth? What exactly do you have to do to graduate? Discover a new finding?



Thanks for your time.

A medicinal chemist is more or less synonymous with a synthetic organic chemist. So be sure you like doing multistep synthesis and LOTS of separations using HPLC and other chromatographic techniques. Be sure your organic chemistry lab skills are up to par. For example, be sure you can interpret a 2-D NMR, run a flash chromatography column, and know Schlenck (inert atmosphere) techniques.

 

[chemphysicsinstructor]

A medicinal chemist is more or less synonymous with a synthetic organic chemist. So be sure you like doing multistep synthesis and LOTS of separations using HPLC and other chromatographic techniques. Be sure your organic chemistry lab skills are up to par. For example, be sure you can interpret a 2-D NMR, run a flash chromatography column, and know Schlenck (inert atmosphere) techniques.

Usually, you can get funding and a tuition waiver by being a TA (teaching assistant) at the university.