Pharmacy school & starting salary concern

[Diuretic99]

Guys, i am very concern at one thing, I have a question.

So you guys know how the average salary for a pharmacist is about 110k.

Here is my question, does the school that you get your PharmD in takes into account for your starting salary pay?

Lets say School "A" is ranked #20 while School "B" is ranked #108.

Both pharmacist from those two schools got their PharmD, will both of them have essentially the same starting salary? Or will the person from School "A" receives more since it's a better ranking?

But I thought a PharmD is a PharmD though...because essentially you both will be performing the same damn task right?

Thank you for your time!

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[mik30102]

no one cares about what school you went to for salary purposes.

 

[Momus]

Same salary.

My accountant friends have a bachelor degree making 100k+ with no loan lol. And, a fu3k ton of my comp Sci friends... One of them the company will probably get IPOed soon (cloud related business). He will hit 8 figures jack pot in mid thirties.

 

[CMUchicka]

no one cares about what school you went to for salary purposes.

Not related to this post but are you in in pharmd+ MD program?

 

[Lnsean]

Not related to this post but are you in in pharmd+ MD program?

Also curious...are these more common now? I thought only Rutgers had the MD+PharmD 7-year track.

 

[PharmtoCS]

School does not affect salary. In fact, students who graduate from top schools are more likely to end up in clinical positions which typically pay less than retail.

As others have said, pharmacy is a terrible return on investment for your education if you're after the money. Amid the job saturation, astronomical student loans, and everyone chasing after the cushy jobs (especially non-retail), you would have to work a lot harder for your salary only to have much of it go toward taxes and student loans. There are other professions, i.e. computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, etc. that provide you an equivalent salary, better job projects, and a better quality of life without you having to graduate with $200k+ in loans and lose 4 years of earning potential.

 

[CMUchicka]

I knew the pharmd MD program existed, but why? Who actually does that program and for what career goals?

Yeah, it doesn't make sense. I would rather do MD after practicing for some years or even better - just go to MD school, no pharmD.

 

[lord999]

Yeah, it doesn't make sense. I would rather do MD after practicing for some years or even better - just go to MD school, no pharmD.

This is an ongoing Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (same guy as whose name is on the medical school) experiment to see whether those MD's are better prepared for industry or research work. Most MD's (solo) lack the preparation to undergo graduate work or hardcore research due to the specialization right now. And there's increasing criticism of the MSTP program that many aren't very committed researchers or physicians (the time pressures force the candidates to pick one or the other, not both), and it's considered a background knowledge problem. Rutgers has an incredible (easily considered to be the very best in the country irrespective of the rankings) reputation for producing very competent industry/regulatory pharmacists and physician researchers with a practical bent. (Purdue and Michigan are the other schools that had similar reputations for industrial training, but Michigan has gone more hospital than industry as of late.) Rutgers did this even before the program, and many of their grads went on to careers in Piscataway and King of Prussia (outer Philadelphia).

 

[Pharmadork]

Guys, i am very concern at one thing, I have a question.

So you guys know how the average salary for a pharmacist is about 110k.

Here is my question, does the school that you get your PharmD in takes into account for your starting salary pay?

Lets say School "A" is ranked #20 while School "B" is ranked #108.

Both pharmacist from those two schools got their PharmD, will both of them have essentially the same starting salary? Or will the person from School "A" receives more since it's a better ranking?

But I thought a PharmD is a PharmD though...because essentially you both will be performing the same damn task right?

Thank you for your time!

No, what school you went to has zero weight in retail pharmacy. It is up to each individual to negotiate their own salary (and vacation)!

 

[gwarm01]

I knew the pharmd MD program existed, but why? Who actually does that program and for what career goals?

Naieve people in their early 20's with a distorted view of the world.

 

[CMUchicka]

This is an ongoing Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (same guy as whose name is on the medical school) experiment to see whether those MD's are better prepared for industry or research work. Most MD's (solo) lack the preparation to undergo graduate work or hardcore research due to the specialization right now. And there's increasing criticism of the MSTP program that many aren't very committed researchers or physicians (the time pressures force the candidates to pick one or the other, not both), and it's considered a background knowledge problem. Rutgers has an incredible (easily considered to be the very best in the country irrespective of the rankings) reputation for producing very competent industry/regulatory pharmacists and physician researchers with a practical bent. (Purdue and Michigan are the other schools that had similar reputations for industrial training, but Michigan has gone more hospital than industry as of late.) Rutgers did this even before the program, and many of their grads went on to careers in Piscataway and King of Prussia (outer Philadelphia).

I see, that makes sense. And I always knew Rutgers has great pharmacy program and over all very well known school (some of my family members love that school). Can't say same for their football team lol. But I think the program is brand new, came in around 2013 something. I wonder how many people actually apply and get accepted. While knowing how competitive that school is, my guess would be not many. On the other hand I know someone who got accepted to their BS+ MD program right out of high school but I think that program is insanely competitive.

 

[mik30102]

Not related to this post but are you in in pharmd+ MD program?

I'm not in a dual program, just happened to do med school after pharmacy. I don't particularly see any benefit of the dual degree besides making med school a little bit easier.

 

[CMUchicka]

I'm not in a dual program, just happened to do med school after pharmacy. I don't particularly see any benefit of the dual degree besides making med school a little bit easier.

Did you practice after graduating or went straight to med school? How are you liking medical school? Do you regret going to pharmacy school?

 

[mik30102]

Did you practice after graduating or went straight to med school? How are you liking medical school? Do you regret going to pharmacy pharmacy school?

Feel free to pm me since we are getting pretty off topic from the original post . I went straight in, definitely liking it and I'm much happier here. I do regret pharmacy school but only due to the cost. Experience wise it has been helpful and I think it will serve me well in the future.

 

[Diuretic99]

Feel free to pm me since we are getting pretty off topic from the original post . I went straight in, definitely liking it and I'm much happier here. I do regret pharmacy school but only due to the cost. Experience wise it has been helpful and I think it will serve me well in the future.

Wow thats so nice....haha even tho offtopic from OP....doesnt mater.....i am so jealous of u! so u now have two Doctorate degrees...ok silly question but since u have more than one doctorate degrees.....does it mean that your salary also doubles, or at least...near it?...if not, what is the purpose of having both an MD and a PharmD when u can only practice 1 profession at a time?

 

[BidingMyTime]

You guys complaining about having to tip, you do realized waiters/waitresses make $2.13/hr ???? (albeit some states have higher minium wages for tipped staff.) Culturally in the US, it is expected that restaurant patrons will tip to ensure the waiter/waitress makes the minimum wage.

 

[awval999]

Wow thats so nice....haha even tho offtopic from OP....doesnt mater.....i am so jealous of u! so u now have two Doctorate degrees...ok silly question but since u have more than one doctorate degrees.....does it mean that your salary also doubles, or at least...near it?...if not, what is the purpose of having both an MD and a PharmD when u can only practice 1 profession at a time?

Not sure if serious?

Like that's not how this works. It's not how any of this works....

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Not sure if serious?

Like that's not how this works. It's not how any of this works....

LOL.
They can't really be serious, can they?

I can almost picture a poster board on their wall:
"Life plan... get most... expensive degree 4 most expensive salary.

(Maybe get MD... AND pharmacy degree for double expensive salary?)

PLAN B ))) Get 6 associates degrees!
6 x cheap degrees = 2 expensive degrees! "

 

[jblil]

From OP's syntax and type of questions, I think he's an international student from Asia and so he may be unfamiliar with stuff we all take for granted.

 

[gwarm01]

Not sure if serious?

Like that's not how this works. It's not how any of this works....

I can't express how laughable that post is using the written word, therefore it is likely a sincere question by a pre-pharmacy student.