I am at a crossroads, please help! PhD or PharmD?

[FarscapeGirl]

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I agree with the other poster. Pharmacy in most practice environments is very stressful especially retail. However, getting a PhD is not exactly easy. The big difference is once you have a PhD you have a much better life than as a pharmacist. So if it were me I'd nix the pharmacy route and get the doctorate

I don't think you can really say that with a PhD you have a much better life. It all depends what you want. My husband, who absolutely loves research, would be miserable as a pharmacist. I don't like research and want to be in health care. As a scientist, it's very stressful to have to write grants that you must have to continue your research, or else you're out of a job. With both jobs you usually have to work odd hours, but with research, you never know when that will be. Which career is easier really depends on your personality and what you want out of life.

 

[ffpickle]

I don't think you can really say that with a PhD you have a much better life. It all depends what you want. My husband, who absolutely loves research, would be miserable as a pharmacist. I don't like research and want to be in health care. As a scientist, it's very stressful to have to write grants that you must have to continue your research, or else you're out of a job. With both jobs you usually have to work odd hours, but with research, you never know when that will be. Which career is easier really depends on your personality and what you want out of life.

Consider attrition rates. How many ppl finish Pharm school vs. a PhD? How about the number of ppl so stressed out they are led to kill themselves, as xiphoid showed. Look at how many people leave PhDs in droves,..to something else. Others finish and start some other training Even once getting a career as a PhD (in a university, for ex.), people are leaving. The PhD in the lab I work at makes under 50k...she has a post-doc at a prestigious school and multiple first-author pubs in reputable peer-reviewed journals with strong impact factor. Also look at pay. Top public schools pay new profs (assistant profs) 60-80k, and these positions are highly competitive....have fun staying there while you slave away. Only do a PhD if (a lot of) money is unimportant to you. Yes, retail pharmacy is stressful....but so was working at Burger King, but I got through it. An at-work stress is different than a stress that consumes all aspects of your life (and sometimes takes your life) completely.

 

[MPH 2010]

Consider attrition rates. How many ppl finish Pharm school vs. a PhD? How about the number of ppl so stressed out they are led to kill themselves, as xiphoid showed. Look at how many people leave PhDs in droves,..to something else. Others finish and start some other training Even once getting a career as a PhD (in a university, for ex.), people are leaving. The PhD in the lab I work at makes under 50k...she has a post-doc at a prestigious school and multiple first-author pubs in reputable peer-reviewed journals with strong impact factor. Also look at pay. Top public schools pay new profs (assistant profs) 60-80k, and these positions are highly competitive....have fun staying there while you slave away. Only do a PhD if (a lot of) money is unimportant to you. Yes, retail pharmacy is stressful....but so was working at Burger King, but I got through it. An at-work stress is different than a stress that consumes all aspects of your life (and sometimes takes your life) completely.

From all of this great information on this thread, would it be fair to say, to obtain a job at CDC or NIH as a PhD would rely primarily on which institution I attended? If I do pursue my PhD, I would like to stick with the governmental agencies (my husband is military).

 

[xiphoid2010]

From all of this great information on this thread, would it be fair to say, to obtain a job at CDC or NIH as a PhD would rely primarily on which institution I attended? If I do pursue my PhD, I would like to stick with the governmental agencies (my husband is military).

A Ph.D's job prospect is very dependent on the reputation of the graduate department (not the school itself), and more importantly on the reputation of the adviser.

Being a research oriented field, it's a small world. Everybody knows everybody, knows who's famous, who's a raising star, who's publishing good stuff... Your adviser's name will carry alot of WOW factor. So if you want a good cushy job after graduation, get a famous faculty in that field will get you the job you want. 🙂

 

[ffpickle]

A Ph.D's job prospect is very dependent on the reputation of the graduate department (not the school itself), and more importantly on the reputation of the adviser.

Being a research oriented field, it's a small world. Everybody knows everybody, knows who's famous, who's a raising star, who's publishing good stuff... Your adviser's name will carry alot of WOW factor. So if you want a good cushy job after graduation, get a famous faculty in that field will get you the job you want. 🙂

+1, bang on.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

A Ph.D's job prospect is very dependent on the reputation of the graduate department (not the school itself), and more importantly on the reputation of the adviser.

Being a research oriented field, it's a small world. Everybody knows everybody, knows who's famous, who's a raising star, who's publishing good stuff... Your adviser's name will carry alot of WOW factor. So if you want a good cushy job after graduation, get a famous faculty in that field will get you the job you want. 🙂

So that's another thing about having a PhD: you're much more limited where you can work once you finish. My husband, with his PhD and desire to stay in academia, will most likely be the one whose job dictates where we move once I finish pharmacy school.

It is your adviser, the amount of papers that your publish, and luck that's most important in your future career. But just make sure that you get along with that adviser. Grad students that don't get along with their advisers are absolutely miserable.

 

[Sevarious]

Consider attrition rates. How many ppl finish Pharm school vs. a PhD? How about the number of ppl so stressed out they are led to kill themselves, as xiphoid showed. Look at how many people leave PhDs in droves,..to something else. Others finish and start some other training Even once getting a career as a PhD (in a university, for ex.), people are leaving. The PhD in the lab I work at makes under 50k...she has a post-doc at a prestigious school and multiple first-author pubs in reputable peer-reviewed journals with strong impact factor. Also look at pay. Top public schools pay new profs (assistant profs) 60-80k, and these positions are highly competitive....have fun staying there while you slave away. Only do a PhD if (a lot of) money is unimportant to you. Yes, retail pharmacy is stressful....but so was working at Burger King, but I got through it. An at-work stress is different than a stress that consumes all aspects of your life (and sometimes takes your life) completely.

I wouldn't worry about the attrition rates. The PharmD and PhD programs are structured very differently. The PharmD program is mapped out for you from the beginning. You know exactly where you are and how much more you have to go at any given point. Hang in there and you'll finish.

The PhD program is very much a moving target. How well your research project is progressing and the opinions of your mentor and committee members are the major determinants of when you finish. Keep in mind that these people have no vested interest in you graduation. You are after all doing work for your mentor. All this combined makes both the date of completion and the requirements for completion a moving target. You're never really sure how much work is required to finish or when you are going to finish until you are done.

Not to be an entire downer about the PhD program. If you are smart and know how the game is played from the moment you start applying then you're almost garunteed to be out in under five years with a minimum of stress.

You are very correct about the pay. Pay for PhDs in academia is a joke. Anyone who denies that is deluded.

On the other hand don't do something just because of the pay. If you don't like your job it's hard to last. And staff pharmacy is the epitome of stress. 12 hours on your feet, no lunch, no break.

Personally, I recommend exploring all PhD and PharmD niche areas and determining if any of them are compatible with your personality and interests. If you identify one (or several) that you like and decide to go back to school make sure that you take every opportunity to gain experience within your niche and network for future jobs. For example if you want to work in industry spend your summers interning at a pharmaceutical company. Chat up professors who have connections. Join professional organizations geared towards industry.

 

[solzont]

Does anyone else think it's funny that a pharmd is considered a post graduate degree when for a lot of students the haven't graduated with any degree and the pharmd is their first degree?

Does anyone else think it is funny that it take longer to get a phd in philosohy or PE than a pharmd?

I think a 4-yr degree should be the absolute bare minimum.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I think a 4-yr degree should be the absolute bare minimum.

it already is at my school and few others. Many more haven't made it official, but require a degree in reality. It's the direction Pharm.D is headed.... unless all the newly opened Billy-Joe-Bob backyard Colleges of Pharmacy hold us back that is. 😀

 

[LiveLoveFartRepeat]

From a flyer:

"Why Do You Research ?"

1. I enjoy perpetual frustration

2. Blue ribon at the 3r grade science fair

3. I look great in white

4. Can't get enough tradeshow freebies

5. the killer night life

6. Two words: prescription goggles

7. Unlimited access to dry ice

8. It pays the bills..almost

9. Can't remember, let me check y lab notes

10.Wait, my timer is going off

 

[WhiteSnows]

Should definitely go to pharmacy if I were you.

 

[mustang sally]

From a flyer:

"Why Do You Research ?"

1. I enjoy perpetual frustration

2. Blue ribon at the 3r grade science fair

3. I look great in white

4. Can't get enough tradeshow freebies

5. the killer night life

6. Two words: prescription goggles

7. Unlimited access to dry ice

8. It pays the bills..almost

9. Can't remember, let me check y lab notes

10.Wait, my timer is going off

This is classic! And yeah, pretty much sums up why I went back to school to switch careers. Research is fun, but you really, really, really gotta have the burning passion for it, because it doesn't always promise a whole lot of other rewards.

 

[mike36]

Well, I am doing a PharmD/PhD program for one main reason...job security. The PharmD assures me a job (along with my undergraduate degree in Clinical Laboratory Science), while the PhD is what I am really interested in. So If I cannot get a job with my PhD, I have two other degrees I can fall back on (PharmD and B.S. in CLS).

I would suggest doing both a PharmD and PhD, even if you only want the PhD, as the PharmD assures job security.

 

[mike36]

From a flyer:

"Why Do You Research ?"

1. I enjoy perpetual frustration

2. Blue ribon at the 3r grade science fair

3. I look great in white

4. Can't get enough tradeshow freebies

5. the killer night life

6. Two words: prescription goggles

7. Unlimited access to dry ice

8. It pays the bills..almost

9. Can't remember, let me check y lab notes

10.Wait, my timer is going off

Yep, pretty much sums up the life of a PhD student.