PharmD after BS & MPH

[SB1234]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi -

I have already completed my BS in Biochem and am currently pursuing an MPH. I've been interested in Pharmacy for awhile and my current graduate coursework is in line with what I would like to pursue with a PharmD.

The majority of PharmD students merge into the program while still completing their undergraduate degree. How often does someone with a graduate degree apply for such a program?

And, does a BS & MPH influence the PharmD application process and coursework schedule in any way?

Thanks.

 

[pharmschooler]

Hi -

I have already completed my BS in Biochem and am currently pursuing an MPH. I've been interested in Pharmacy for awhile and my current graduate coursework is in line with what I would like to pursue with a PharmD.

The majority of PharmD students merge into the program while still completing their undergraduate degree. How often does someone with a graduate degree apply for such a program?

And, does a BS & MPH influence the PharmD application process and coursework schedule in any way?

Thanks.

The majority of PharmD students do *not* merge into programs while completing undergraduate degrees. At some institutions, it's possible many PharmD students have had just two years of college, but this isn't typical of most schools.

Many people with graduate degrees apply, but I imagine fewer than those with a BA or BS alone (partially because there might be less opportunity for government loans if you have a previous graduate degree -- this is something to talk with financial aid about if you have questions).

A BS and MPH wouldn't influence your application process or coursework in any way.

 

[Praziquantel86]

It's not unusual at all for an applicant to have already completed an undergraduate degree. Already having a post-grad degree of some sort isn't quite as common, but it definitely isn't unheard of.

Your application requirements and prerequisites will be the same regardless of your prior qualifications, but depending on what your degree is in, you may be able to waive some coursework during pharmacy school. You will, however, find that having completed an MPH will put your understanding of statistics well ahead of most of your classmates and quite a few of your professors.

There are plenty of opportunities to make an MPH useful as a pharmacist, and I think you'll find that your knowledge base complements the coursework very nicely.

 

[bananaface]

I had my BS when I started pharmacy school. You can expect to start out in the 1st year pharmacy curriculum, the same as everyone else. Some schools might let you use prior coursework towards electives or get classes waived. But, that would be school specific and isn't terribly common overall. If you have those opportunities, my advice is to just take the same curriculum as your classmates, to make sure that you get everything you can out of the program.

The application process will be the same, but you will have some additional life experiences to talk about and you can talk up your career goals and how the two degrees will work for you to get you to where you want to be.

 

[PharmDlife]

A BS and MPH wouldn't influence your application process or coursework in any way.

This piece of information is incorrect.
I have a BS in Biology and an MPH in Epidemiology, plus 7 months with the CDC. Trust me, when you apply to pharmacy school with a good GPA and good PCAT, all they want to talk about is your MPH. I had three interviews this year and one of the professors could only talk about my MPH and how much she wanted to get her MPH, lol.
If you want to be a clinical pharmacist or a research pharmacist then the MPH will help you so much. I believe the MPH is a powerful degree because you can look at the clinical studies done to approve the drug and critique their statistical methods, I have done it! And my interviewers were extremely impressed.

Again it all depends on what you want to do with your degrees. But like you, I will be an MPH, Pharm.D. in just about 3 years.

My advice to you is to go for it.

PS: the CDC needs pharmacist to monitor the national stock pile.

 

[pharmschooler]

This piece of information is incorrect.
I have a BS in Biology and an MPH in Epidemiology, plus 7 months with the CDC. Trust me, when you apply to pharmacy school with a good GPA and good PCAT, all they want to talk about is your MPH. I had three interviews this year and one of the professors could only talk about my MPH and how much she wanted to get her MPH, lol.
If you want to be a clinical pharmacist or a research pharmacist then the MPH will help you so much. I believe the MPH is a powerful degree because you can look at the clinical studies done to approve the drug and critique their statistical methods, I have done it! And my interviewers were extremely impressed.

Again it all depends on what you want to do with your degrees. But like you, I will be an MPH, Pharm.D. in just about 3 years.

My advice to you is to go for it.

PS: the CDC needs pharmacist to monitor the national stock pile.

I should have clarified -- it's probably a useful degree to combine with a PharmD and I'm sure admissions would take it into consideration, but it's not going to affect the actual admissions process or the courses you will take, most likely.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

I decided four years into a molecular biology graduate program that I wanted to switch to pharmacy. Two years later, I had finished all the pre-reqs, gotten into pharm school, and graduated with my PhD. A month later, I started pharmacy school.

My degree has helped me a lot in pharmacy school. For example, I understand cell biology easily and a lot of pharmacology, I don't flinch when professors present data in class (and understand knockouts, controls, etc.), and I think I have just a better overall understanding of pharmacy. On the negative side, I'm sick of school, which means every few quarters or so, I feel very burned out.

What my degree didn't do was get me out of much coursework. So far, I've only gotten out of both quarters of biochem. And I did get frustrated during the first year when we learned about basic pharmacy practices and I had already been working in an outpatient hospital pharmacy for several months (while I was finishing writing my thesis... that was not fun, to say the least).

I did talk about my degree a lot during my interview, and I'm sure it helped me get in. But I did have to prove both at that interview and at my internship interview that I knew what I was getting myself into and that I'd be willing to do mundane stuff in the pharmacy (there's a lot of mundane stuff in lab work, too). Sounds like you wouldn't have to do that as much, if your goal is to go into pharmacy school before you even get into your MPH program.

Oh, and I had no problem getting financial aid, but I hadn't taken any out in undergrad (state school and parental help), and in grad school I didn't need any because I got a stipend.

 

[SB1234]

Thank you for an outstanding set of informative responses.

My goal is work with the NDMS/CRI/SNS, so pharmacy is right up my alley. I should clarify that I will have the MPH before starting pharmacy school.

 

[atpsynthase]

This is interesting. I am planning on doing an MPH degree concurrently with my PharmD. I already have several PharmD electives done before entering the program, so that will free up my schedule a bit and hopefully I can get both of them done in 4 years! 🙂

 

[PharmDlife]

Like I said before the MPH is a powerful degree. There are several public health areas that you can specialize in. To me, the most exciting is biostatistics and Epidemiology. Although, if you want to become a pharmacy manager, HSA (health services administration) maybe a better specialization. The MPH is power; you will understand P-values, confidence intervals, blinding, case control studies, retrospective and prospective cohorts, two way anova. All of which are used in drug trials.
Go for it!

 

[veyep]

Hi -

I have already completed my BS in Biochem and am currently pursuing an MPH. I've been interested in Pharmacy for awhile and my current graduate coursework is in line with what I would like to pursue with a PharmD.

The majority of PharmD students merge into the program while still completing their undergraduate degree. How often does someone with a graduate degree apply for such a program?

And, does a BS & MPH influence the PharmD application process and coursework schedule in any way?

Thanks.

not that many people have graduate degree and apply for pharmacy; we had a person who had a PhD and another person who had MPH...But majority have BA/BS. It depends what you GPA is that will influence the decision making as well. If you have 3 PhDs with GPA of 2.0 then I don't think it is going to help you!!

 

[veyep]

This piece of information is incorrect.
I have a BS in Biology and an MPH in Epidemiology, plus 7 months with the CDC. Trust me, when you apply to pharmacy school with a good GPA and good PCAT, all they want to talk about is your MPH. I had three interviews this year and one of the professors could only talk about my MPH and how much she wanted to get her MPH, lol.
If you want to be a clinical pharmacist or a research pharmacist then the MPH will help you so much. I believe the MPH is a powerful degree because you can look at the clinical studies done to approve the drug and critique their statistical methods, I have done it! And my interviewers were extremely impressed.

Again it all depends on what you want to do with your degrees. But like you, I will be an MPH, Pharm.D. in just about 3 years.

My advice to you is to go for it.

PS: the CDC needs pharmacist to monitor the national stock pile.

You will learn all that in pharmacy school. We all can do that and non of us have MPH lol

 

[PharmDlife]

You will learn all that in pharmacy school. We all can do that and non of us have MPH lol

I hope this does not start a fight.

Hypothetical situation:

There is a job opening at the FDA (federal agency) for a pharmacist. We both have the same number of years experience. Who do you think they would consider hiring first? Veyep with a Pharm.D. or PharmDlife with a MPH., Pharm.D.
I am not saying that having a MPH makes you a better pharmacist but it will certainly make you more marketable.

Veyep why do you think schools like University of Florida offer the dual degree.

 

[veyep]

I hope this does not start a fight.

Hypothetical situation:

There is a job opening at the FDA (federal agency) for a pharmacist. We both have the same number of years experience. Who do you think they would consider hiring first? Veyep with a Pharm.D. or PharmDlife with a MPH., Pharm.D.
I am not saying that having a MPH makes you a better pharmacist but it will certainly make you more marketable.

Veyep why do you think schools like University of Florida offer the dual degree.

We are all adults hehe we can talk and not fight 🙂 I personally think they will look at the whole package! Depends how well you do in pharmacy school and how involve you get. I have been president of few organizations and have been involved in international healthcare outreach.

University of Florida ( I don't know their program well. But I've heard their MPH program is not accredited by CEPH, but even if it was once you get to the doctorate degree all the masters degree are the icing of the cake! It's a good source of revenue for institutions to offer master programs with doctorate degrees. Don't get me wrong there is value to it. But I think it is overrated!)

BTW I am not against dual degree, I tried very hard to start one for our school, but it never went through. What I wanted to start was PharmD/MHA. I think people should have the option, but reallisticly I look at the whole package before I look at initials after people's name.

You could be PharmDlife (PharmD MD PhD MPH MHA BCPS CGP MBA), but if you can't deliever, I am going to go with the veyep PharmD who can get results.

 

[Muangz]

Hi -

I have already completed my BS in Biochem and am currently pursuing an MPH. I've been interested in Pharmacy for awhile and my current graduate coursework is in line with what I would like to pursue with a PharmD.

The majority of PharmD students merge into the program while still completing their undergraduate degree. How often does someone with a graduate degree apply for such a program?

And, does a BS & MPH influence the PharmD application process and coursework schedule in any way?

Thanks.

Our class of 2014 has 13 students with Masters. Most of them have MPH. Although you don't need a Master's to go to pharm school, it may or may not help shape your passion for pharmacy. It sounds like in your case, it did! So definitely use it to your advantage. Live and pursue with no regret. Besides, if you didn't do pharm school, what would you do with your MPH? Would you be happy with that? Ultimately, it comes down to what your passion is for. Good luck. 👍