Information on PharmD/JD

[jplaster]

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Ok so I'm only in my second week of pharmacy school, so it's probably a little early to start thinking about what I want to do after I graduate. But the thought of going to law school just won't get out of my head. Does anyone have any information on anyone that had done this or the career possibilities with these degrees. Also any information on how to go about applying to/or expressing an interested to law schools while in pharmacy school would be appreciated.

 

[ultracet]

I have thought about this pretty extensively and have still not ruled it out.

some pharmacy programs offer a joint degree.... but you're not there so...

i would say that you apply to law schools the same way you would in undergrad.

i have a professor who has this combination... he teaches law in pharmacy school.

i thought about doing malpractice defense or working for a pharmaceutical company.

 

[ProZackMI]

Hey, Jeremy, I’m Zack from Michigan. I’m an MD that completed a residency in psychiatry and during my residency, became interested in law. I recently graduated from MSU Law and plan on taking the February 2006 bar exam. My plan, once I pass the bar, is to go into criminal and civil law and occasionally practice medicine.

Some advice for you. If you’re serious about law school, you should think about what you’d like to do with your combined degree. Do you want to practice law or pharmacy? A friend of mine in law school had her PharmD and graduated with me in May. She took the bar in Ohio in July and wants to work in government regulation (i.e., drug policy and regulation). You have a ton of options open to you with a PharmD/JD: (1) academia – either teaching pharmacy or medicine (specifically, in areas related to law) or teaching law (specifically, in areas related to medicine and pharmacy/health care); (2) government – policy, enforcement, and regulation; (3) private law practice – health care law, drug law, med-mal, etc.; (4) private pharmacy practice; (5) consulting (to hospitals, attorneys, clinics, pharmaceutical companies); (6) private sector – representing drug companies, hospitals, etc.

Some more thoughts: First, finish your PharmD, take all of your licensing exams, pass them, and get a job. If you’re interested in a residency, get that out of the way first. Once you’re settled and working, look for local law schools. Settle in an area where there are at least one or two law schools (reputable, tier 3 or tier 4 is okay). Check this link: http://www.4lawschool.com/lawschools/lawschools.htm. Contact the school and set up an appt. with an admissions counselor. Take a look at the elective classes on the school’s website. See if they have classes in the areas of practice you’re interested in. Then…give it some time and ask yourself if you want to spend another 4-5 years earning another professional degree. Ask yourself how you’ll finance your JD. If you still want to go, schedule your LSAT (www.lsac.org). The LSAT is more logic, reading comprehension, and analysis than the MCAT or PCAT. There’s very little math on the LSAT.

Work full-time, as a pharmacist, and go to law school part-time. Don’t overdo it. Don’t get married. Don’t have kids. Maintain stability while in school. You’ll make it and graduate! If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. 

Best of luck,
Zack

 

[ProZackMI]

Ok so I'm only in my second week of pharmacy school, so it's probably a little early to start thinking about what I want to do after I graduate. But the thought of going to law school just won't get out of my head. Does anyone have any information on anyone that had done this or the career possibilities with these degrees. Also any information on how to go about applying to/or expressing an interested to law schools while in pharmacy school would be appreciated.

Just an addendum: If you're sane, DO NOT consider doing the JD/PharmD simultaneously. It's better to do one first, then the other.

 

[jplaster]

ProZack thanks for all the advice. My plan is to of course finish pharmacy school and either take the LSAT and apply in my third year then defer for a year, or to just take a year and work and then take the LSAT and apply. Haven't decided which yet. I do believe I want to be a full-time law student thought I don't think I want to do the part-time thing although I would still work as a pharmacist part-time just to keep the coffers full. With that plan taking a year off between pharmacy and law school seems to make the best since financially. As far as getting married, I'm not too worried I've never had a girlfriend for more than 30 days so I'm pretty good at avoiding commitiment when it comes to women. As far as where I want to work with this degree I'm not entirely certain although working for drug companies does sound interesting to me and possibly later getting into pharmacy law education. Right now I'm just trying to keep the grades up and the morale up and leave my options open.