Pharmacology vs. Pharmaceutics

[Slyncka]

Hi I have a question and I'll make it short and simple. I have applied and been accepted into Ph.D. programs in pharmacology within medical schools and also pharmaceutics programs within pharmacy schools. I was just wondering which one would be better for getting a job in industry? I know the difference between both subjects but just looking for which one is better for industry right now?

Thanks,
Ryan

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[miceheart]

In my opinion, Pharmacology is more toward to basic science research especially pharmacology in medicial college, it is hard to get into industry for the fresh Ph.D graduate, most industry want you to have a postdoc experience. Pharmaceutical is leaning more toward to industry. I am not familar with the graduates from pharmaceutical major.

 

[ZpackSux]

Ryan,

I would opt for Pharmaceutics because it would allow you to research more into medication delivery system and perhaps biotech... then again, this is a field I am not an expert in.

 

[cdpiano27]

Pharmaceutics definitely, and GO INTO PHARMACOKINETICS. It is the hottest area in industry. I am in biostatistics so I know this.

Which school's PhD program's by the way? Also did you apply with already a previous PharmD degree. it seems like you have to have a PharmD before you can apply to PhD programs in pharmacy schools.

Well, I think Pharmaceutics PhD is the right choice for sure.

 

[sdn1977]

Pharmaceutics is the science of the development of a dosage form. It involves the whole process of taking a chemical substance from its raw form to a functional dosage form.

Pharmacology is the study of the chemical substance & involves not just understanding its chemical properties and its interactions with other substances, toxicology & medical applications.

What are you interested in? Both have places within industry.

I think your school choice has a lot to do with this also.

 

[Slyncka]

Pharmaceutics definitely, and GO INTO PHARMACOKINETICS. It is the hottest area in industry. I am in biostatistics so I know this.

Which school's PhD program's by the way? Also did you apply with already a previous PharmD degree. it seems like you have to have a PharmD before you can apply to PhD programs in pharmacy schools.

Well, I think Pharmaceutics PhD is the right choice for sure.

This is what I was thinking too. The more I look at it, many medical school's pharmacology departments look more like a bio department with less emphasis on the actual drugs, which is what I am interested in. Pharmaceutics definitely deals more with what I would like to do. I am interested in drug delivery and targeting to tumor cells (or any other possibilities out there, I'm pretty open). The schools that I like right now are the University of Michigan, Illinois at Chicago, University of Florida, and University of Maryland (all pharmaceutics programs in pharmacy schools).

I don't have a pharmd and you dont need one to apply to any Ph.D. programs, but when talking to current students on my interviews I found few of them do.

Thanks for the advise, any other comments are still welcome!

 

[Hokie Grad]

Hi I have a question and I'll make it short and simple. I have applied and been accepted into Ph.D. programs in pharmacology within medical schools and also pharmaceutics programs within pharmacy schools. I was just wondering which one would be better for getting a job in industry? I know the difference between both subjects but just looking for which one is better for industry right now?

Thanks,
Ryan

I am a chemical engineer that has worked in the Pharma/Biotech industry for the past five years (though I am leaving this fall to get my Pharm D.) as a drug formulator (basically working in the pharmaceutics field). I can tell you for a fact that pharmaceutics Ph.D.'s are in high demand (especially in the Boston area). Many large Bio-tech companies are starting small molecule divisions and are heavily recruiting pharmaceutics people to head them up. Another industry trend is everyone and their brother are starting up contract development labs (That's who I work for) which is also creating many pharmaceutics openings.

I honestly can't speak that much to pharmacology. My impression is that they work more on the clinical side of drug development (analyzing clinical trial data), but I could be wrong? I just know that I don't run into many of them in my line of work, most people have engineering or pharmaceutics back grounds.

I may be biased but my impression is that there is currently more opportunity for pharmaceutics people in industry.

PS if you go to get your Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics don't refer to them as "pills" unless you are talking about Altoids. Pharmaceutics people are very touchy on that subject.

 

[Hokie Grad]

This is what I was thinking too. The more I look at it, many medical school's pharmacology departments look more like a bio department with less emphasis on the actual drugs, which is what I am interested in. Pharmaceutics definitely deals more with what I would like to do. I am interested in drug delivery and targeting to tumor cells (or any other possibilities out there, I'm pretty open). The schools that I like right now are the University of Michigan, Illinois at Chicago, University of Florida, and University of Maryland (all pharmaceutics programs in pharmacy schools).

I don't have a pharmd and you dont need one to apply to any Ph.D. programs, but when talking to current students on my interviews I found few of them do.

Thanks for the advise, any other comments are still welcome!

Slyncka,

If you are really interested in drug delivery and targeting tumor cells (and are brillant) I suggest you also consider the Chemical Engineering program at MIT.
Dr. Robert Langer's program is chemical engineering with a sole focus on drug delivery. I believe he developed a chip that can be implanted in your body to give targeted chemotherpay to sensitive areas like the brain. ( I think it is still in clinical trials)?

Below is a link to his website:

http://web.mit.edu/langerlab/

I have worked with a number of his graduates in industry. They all seem to obtain director level jobs right out of school.

 

[ButlerPharm.D.]

The chair of our Pharmaceutical Sciences department here at Butler shared with the students the following fact, "By discipline, the majority of Ph.D. degrees conferred was in pharmaceutics (49.3%). The next highest number was in medicinal chemistry (24.5%), followed by pharmacology (16.4%), social and administrative sciences (8.7%) and pharmacy practice (1.2%)."
Profile of Pharmacy Students, AACP, Fall 2004. Pharmaceutics is probably more of a hot topic right now than is Pharmacology.

 

[Slyncka]

Wow a ton of great info, it's good to hear from people who know first hand and can give advice. Thats funny you mention Robert Langer, Hokie Grad, because someone I work with is good friends with him and mentioned him before. It seems like a little more specific than I'm trying to be right now, I would still like to rotate through some labs and make sure its exactly right for me. If I would go there and not like it, I probably wouldn't have any other options, not to mention it's really hard to get in there and I probably wouldn't.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

It depends on what you want to do within industry.

I noticed when I was at Mylan, the folks in pharmaceutics dealt with delivery systems more than anything else - they were big players at Mylan as their business is trying to get AB ratings rom the FDA, med chem dealt mostly with drug discovery and the logistics towards physically creating the drugs, and the pharmacology PhDs were all over the place.

 

[rekesk]

Pharmaceutics definitely, and GO INTO PHARMACOKINETICS. It is the hottest area in industry. I am in biostatistics so I know this.

Which school's PhD program's by the way? Also did you apply with already a previous PharmD degree. it seems like you have to have a PharmD before you can apply to PhD programs in pharmacy schools.

Well, I think Pharmaceutics PhD is the right choice for sure.

PK/PD is a steady gig, but you if anybody on here is interested in doing a Ph.D in Pharmacokinetics, make sure you choose your program wisely. Some schools have departments that are entirely focused on PK/PD and others not as much.

Also keep in mind, PK/PD is very tedious work! One reason why there's such a shortage of PK/PD scientists and why PK/PD is a steady gig within industry.

 

[cdpiano27]

Well, nonlinear statistical models is very difficult and is related to PK. So I would think PK is very hard as well, but involves a biochemistry / physiology component that the graduate statistics class does not entail. I guess that in industry everything is done by computer.

 

[pharmacology]

The chair of our Pharmaceutical Sciences department here at Butler shared with the students the following fact, "By discipline, the majority of Ph.D. degrees conferred was in pharmaceutics (49.3%). The next highest number was in medicinal chemistry (24.5%), followed by pharmacology (16.4%), social and administrative sciences (8.7%) and pharmacy practice (1.2%)."
Profile of Pharmacy Students, AACP, Fall 2004. Pharmaceutics is probably more of a hot topic right now than is Pharmacology.

The statistics you just quoted are for PhD programs in schools of pharmacy. There are many more pharmacology graduate students if you include graduate programs at medical institutions.


Still, if you want a job in the pharma industry then you are better off going into pharmaceutics. Just make sure that pharmaceutics is an area that interests you. Why go into a career just because there is a job waiting for you? Go into something where a job is a possibility and in an area you enjoy.