Joint Degree Programs?

[Unshake]

Previous to this year I was a pre-law student interested in pursuing a career in patent law. I'm a genetics and cell biology major, but have been considering the possibility of entering a PharmD/JD program rather than a JD/MS program as my interest in Pharmacy has grown quite a bit after taking a few courses and becoming interested in pharmacy in general. Basically, I feel like this would potentially open up more career options without really closing any and I would enjoy the schooling more. What is the general consensus on the PharmD/JD programs? Also, I have only found a select schools that offer both of these at the same time (USC, Florida, SUNY, Drake(Iowa), and Maryland) are there any other schools that offer these? I'm not sure if I'll be a competitive applicant for both the Law and Pharmacy school at USC as my GPA is only 3.6xx (Although, I'm only finishing up my Sophmore year). If ideally I'd like to work for a large Pharm company on patents or elsewhere (Not sure which aspect, to be honest. Although trial attorney for some reason is interesting) would this degree combo be a waste of time or worth pursuing?


1st post and thanks for the input in advance, Awesome site.

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[aboveliquidice]

Previous to this year I was a pre-law student interested in pursuing a career in patent law. I'm a genetics and cell biology major, but have been considering the possibility of entering a PharmD/JD program rather than a JD/MS program as my interest in Pharmacy has grown quite a bit after taking a few courses and becoming interested in pharmacy in general. Basically, I feel like this would potentially open up more career options without really closing any and I would enjoy the schooling more. What is the general consensus on the PharmD/JD programs? Also, I have only found a select schools that offer both of these at the same time (USC, Florida, SUNY, Drake(Iowa), and Maryland) are there any other schools that offer these? I'm not sure if I'll be a competitive applicant for both the Law and Pharmacy school at USC as my GPA is only 3.6xx (Although, I'm only finishing up my Sophmore year). If ideally I'd like to work for a large Pharm company on patents or elsewhere (Not sure which aspect, to be honest. Although trial attorney for some reason is interesting) would this degree combo be a waste of time or worth pursuing?


1st post and thanks for the input in advance, Awesome site.

Welcome to the forum - Please review our pre-pharmacy FAQ that is located at the top of the forum - you will find some information listed concerning combined degrees, including Pharm D / JD option...

From my experience - you really have to desire the legal side of the pharm D / JD - and there is a law of diminishing returns with doing a joint degree.

Unlike pharmacy school, where the school you attend for pharmacy school does not matter - the law school you choose to attend does matter. It may make more sense to simply attend the best law school you can - then consider a Pharm D afterwards. Else you risk limiting your future law career.

Just my .02

 

[FarscapeGirl]

I wouldn't be afraid getting each degree separately. You're still young. ;-)

I went to a talk with a guy who had a PhD in some sort of molecular biology field and then went back to school a few years later for his JD. He seemed happy with his career. And I think the knowledge you get having an advanced degree in the sciences or a medical field can really help you with a JD, if you want to practice patent law.

 

[ffpickle]

From recalling what I had found when I was looking into PharmD/JD programs, the list of schoools you provided is exhaustive.

I can't tell you what the consensus opinion is, but I can tell you that my own opinion is roughly the same as the above posters, namely that it would be just as prudent to obtain the degrees separately as it would to obtain a dual degree. The main advantage in a dual degree program is time saved, e.g. I think at Maryland & Buffalo, this combined program takes ~6 yrs. But when you are investing that much money, time, and effort into obtaining two doctoral degrees, you will want the financial payoff to be huge, so I would suggest going to a "top" school. For many reasons, I think 1. PharmD, then 2. JD is much more useful than the reverse.