MS/PhD vs. Pharm.D

[jgdsn316]

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Hi all.

Okay, so I am in a unique situation.

I was awarded a scholarship that would cover all of my Master's degree as well as all of my PhD if I should choose to go on to graduate school. However, I am currently in Pharmacy school (P1) year at a school that charges around ~32k p/year, which I would have to "take out in loans every year should I choose to continue. I have to make my decision about whether to continue P2-P4 years or apply/enter grad school this year because I will no longer be eligible to use the scholarship after this year ends.

That being said, I am sure you can understand the difficulty of my situation. I have participated in research a few times during my undergrad career and really do enjoy the laboratory and would love a teaching/research position. If I were to pursue a PhD, it would definitely be in the Biomedical sciences. However, I have also volunteered in the hospital pharmacy and enjoy that environment as well.

I understand each decision has its own pros and cons, but would like honest opinions about each route, as taking out over 120k in loans is really not all that appealing to me anyways. Thank you very much!

 

[jgdsn316]

Sorry, for clarification, I won the scholarship in HS and it also covered my entire undergrad degree. I entered Pharm School and am still eligible for this year only bc the 1st year is still considered part of the undergrad degree program here at my school. It's like a transitional type of program.

 

[PharmDCandidate2014]

With bench top research, the MS/PhD is much more valuable. For clinical based research, then the PharmD would suffice. However, the industries do prefer M.D. applicants for obvious reasons, so the PharmD applicant would need to stand out.

An advanced degree in Biology/Biomedical sciences is much more useful than one in the pharmaceutical sciences. In fact, the top scientists in various industries have their PhD in organic chemistry or Biology: these degrees cover a wider range of topics and therefore make you qualified for a wider array of positions. Pharmaceutical sciences, by itself, is currently way too narrow.