joygirlx105 said:
If I want to be a professor in pharmacy, what do I need to do in pharmacy school?
Well I agree w/ some of the points of ZPack and VCU. It really depends on what School of Pharmacy you are trying to teach at and how much research is a a part of your faculty appointment. Even w/ pharmacy schools associated w/ major academic medical centers the requirements for faculty can vary a lot for research requirements.
Regardless of where you want to teach if you want a primarily research positions (i.e. >80% of your time) the PhD is the best route to go. Please note that most all universities determine responsibilities in a 80:20 or 70:30 ratio (i.e. research:clinical or vice versa). So the 50:50 (research:clinical) option is really hard to come by if not impossible.
If you are looking to practice pharmacy and teach then at least 1 yr of residency training is necessary (possibly 2yrs if you are trying to specialize). You really don't need a fellowship unless you are competing for a position that requires you to compete for funding/grantsmanship. What is expected of you can vary w/ the vision of your dept head.
If you want to just focus on teaching and clinical practice spend the 1-2yrs in residency training and shoot for a pharmacy school in a liberal arts setting where teaching and clinical practice is the focus for your evaluations and promotion potential (examples: St. Johns, Shenandoah, LECOM).
The downside of many of the clinical track faculty appts is that you may not be eligible for tenure unless you are willing to incorporate some research/funding into your scope of practice. Reason being is that many of the pharmacy schools affiliated w/ major academic medical centers have a large amount of clinical assistant/associate faculty out in the community (hospitals, retail, etc.) and would depend on these colleagues more for maintaining practice sites, precepting students, and various guest lectures.
Grades really don't matter. Just network during your 4th yr of pharmacy school and during residency training will benefit you the most in getting good references and inside info to faculty positions that may not be posted to everybody. Obviously presenting at regional/national conferences helps as well, but a good residency will help you get the "ball rolling".
Check out the search engine on
www.accp.com to look at what faculty positions are available and the various requirements and how they may vary from one school to the next.