PharmD and MD Differences

[EddieL]

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The only thing that annoys me is that Pharm.D students are 6 years and med school you essentially need a BA/BS before you matriculate so its 8. That is such b.s. esp since pre-reqs only take 2 years and we as MDs hafta do 3-5 year residency +- fellowship post-graduation. I mean I'm a senior now, I have major senioritis and the "real work" hasn't even begun. Yayy

This is starting to change. As pharmacy programs get more competitive, a BS/BA is becoming more essential to admissions. 0-6 programs still exist, but then again, so do 2+4 programs for medicine. By the way, it's planned that by 2020, nearly all pharmacists will have to do a residency. 4 yr BS + 4 yr PharmD + 2 year residency = 10 years.

 

[UES Girl]

The only thing that annoys me is that Pharm.D students are 6 years and med school you essentially need a BA/BS before you matriculate so its 8. That is such b.s. esp since pre-reqs only take 2 years and we as MDs hafta do 3-5 year residency +- fellowship post-graduation. I mean I'm a senior now, I have major senioritis and the "real work" hasn't even begun. Yayy

Very few schools are actually 6 years ( just like very few med programs are combined BA/MD), good programs require BS - esentially everyone in my pharmacy class @ UCSF has BS, quite a few people double majored, a few even triple majored, and about 12 % of the class has masters.

At my pharm school at least - it's 4 years + 4 years pharmacy + most people plan on doing fellowship or residency so add on another 2 or 3 years. My professor told us soon within the next few years pharm residencies will become mandatory.

When you look this way, it's really not that much of a difference between becoming a pharmacist and a physician for example. Yes, it is longer for competitive specialities like surgery for example, but it's not like everyone in your medical class will be going into surgery.

 

[rxforlife2004]

This is ridiculous...a bunch of kids whipping our their dic**ks and compare to see who has an inch longer...please get back to ur study or work and help the patients instead of showing off whose di**k is bigger and/or shorter

 

[vicinihil]

uhh what's the argument here? PharmD = pharmacist MD = doctor....really guys, what are we arguing over? Who is better?

PharmD = better life, easier training
Doctor = better pay (on average), maybe more rewarding patient experience depending on what you do

Both help people so why are we having a 4 page discussion on this?

 

[tackett26]

uhh what's the argument here? PharmD = pharmacist MD = doctor....really guys, what are we arguing over? Who is better?

PharmD = better life, easier training
Doctor = better pay (on average), maybe more rewarding patient experience depending on what you do

Both help people so why are we having a 4 page discussion on this?

I assure you the training is no easier.

 

[MiniMoo]

I assure you the training is no easier.

"Easier training" could be interpreted as optional or shorter length of residency? At least that's how I read into it. Also no required call during clerkships.

 

[tackett26]

"Easier training" could be interpreted as optional or shorter length of residency? At least that's how I read into it. Also no required call during clerkships.

True, but at present I'm working my butt off.

 

[vicinihil]

I don't think most will agree with you that Pharmacy school is harder than medical school. Not only the is the training (majority of doctors) longer, but the lifestyle certainly more stressful (longer hours, more liability) and the education more extensive (equivalent to school and training years).

Notice I'm not saying one is BETTER or more rewarding than the other, just stating opinion.

 

[calvinNhobbes]

not gonna lie the hours are on average 16-17hr with some semester 18-19hrs.

I assure you the training is no easier.

As a comparison, I averaged between 25-30 hours per semester during my M1/M2 years. And those years were a joke compared to M3 year.

 

[alexjoan]

The Pharm.D. program is a four-year program. It takes approximately three years of undergraduate study to complete the prerequisite courses necessary for admission.
All medical schools in the United States and Canada award an M.D. degree, usually after 4 years undergraduate study at a college or university followed by 4 years of medical school. (Some medical schools award the M.D. after 3 years of college and/or 3 years of medical school).

 

[tackett26]

The Pharm.D. program is a four-year program. It takes approximately three years of undergraduate study to complete the prerequisite courses necessary for admission.
All medical schools in the United States and Canada award an M.D. degree, usually after 4 years undergraduate study at a college or university followed by 4 years of medical school. (Some medical schools award the M.D. after 3 years of college and/or 3 years of medical school).

The PharmD in theory takes 3 years to get the required classes for admission, but in practice a four your BS degree is strongly preferred. The Ohio State University School of Pharmacy has gone so far as to require a BS degree for admissions. At UNC Chapel Hill they don't go so far as to require a BS degree but in all honesty if you review their requirements for admissions without a BS degree you'll find that you may as well get the BS degree because you'll only be a credit or two shy of being able to get your BS by the time you finish the required classes.

Also there is a common misconception that pharmacy is low stress. The truth is pharmacy has its own "can of worms" to deal with. For instance pharmacists are shot at more than any health care professional. You can never underestimate the people that come out of the wood work when you are the only thing standing between their next dose of narcotics. Also the profession is becoming more demanding in and of itself. Recently one of our pharmacotherapy professors had to cancel class because he was paged to respond at the hospital-that's right we're taking call now for emergency situations. We also assume liability for all drugs dispensed. Without going into too much detail a recent court ruling- pharmacists are having to take more responsibility for the health of our patients.

 

[calvinNhobbes]

Also there is a common misconception that pharmacy is low stress.

It's all relative.

For instance pharmacists are shot at more than any health care professional.

Probably true, but I guarantee doctors, nurses, PAs, etc. are physical assaulted way more than pharmacists, especially in the inpatient and EM settings.

You can never underestimate the people that come out of the wood work when you are the only thing standing between their next dose of narcotics.

I lost count of how many drug seeking, alchoholic, overdose, etc. patients I saw in med school. Many already incarcerated or arrested, many violent and uncooperative. That is just another day of inpatient medicine.

Also the profession is becoming more demanding in and of itself. Recently one of our pharmacotherapy professors had to cancel class because he was paged to respond at the hospital-that's right we're taking call now for emergency situations.

Wow, up that by one or two orders of magnitude and then we're talking!

We also assume liability for all drugs dispensed. Without going into too much detail a recent court ruling- pharmacists are having to take more responsibility for the health of our patients.

About time. That should have been the case all along.

 

[UES Girl]

The intensity of training must depend on the school, our med school is on the block system and pass/no pass. It seems very chill. So quite a few of med students party like there is no tomorrow, I swear everytime I head to the library to study, they head to the bar. We are on the GPA system and we have 6-8 classes to take care off. When they have their exams, it's one midterm in a month and a half and pass/fail. When we have midterms - it's 5-6 midterms within a span of two weeks and you are graded on all of them, there are no curves either.

I don't think our classes are any "easier" either, for once we are taught by the same instructors. I also don't think pchem or advanced organic I'm taking this quarter is a "cake" compared to med student classes.

 

[calvinNhobbes]

The intensity of training must depend on the school,

Well, yes, of course it does. That goes without say.

And once again, everything is relative. Having done my undergrad in chemical engineering, pchem and advanced orgo do sound like cake compared to some of the classes I took in med school. 😉

 

[tackett26]

It's all relative.


Probably true, but I guarantee doctors, nurses, PAs, etc. are physical assaulted way more than pharmacists, especially in the inpatient and EM settings.


I lost count of how many drug seeking, alchoholic, overdose, etc. patients I saw in med school. Many already incarcerated or arrested, many violent and uncooperative. That is just another day of inpatient medicine.


Wow, up that by one or two orders of magnitude and then we're talking!


About time. That should have been the case all along.

Yes everything is relative. It depends on a number of factors- such as how you handle stress, do you like your job, and a number of other things. But we can agree that all careers have there pit-falls.

As far as physicians, nurses, and PAs being assaulted more often in the inpatient setting, I haven't found any statistics to back this up. Pharmacists are present in almost every department of the hospital. We go on rounds the same as everyone else, and we have just as much chance to be injured or assaulted as any other member of the team, but community pharmacy practice tends to be more hazardous in terms of violence then most other medically related practices.


As for the stress of taking call- it is a stressful situation regardless of the role you play on the health-care team in general practice. Dermatologists for instance are not on call very often. Family practice physicians are on call all the time. Some pharmacists have very strenuous call schedules others do not.

 

[Neuro Surg]

I agree, it is all relative. I would think that anyone who has actually compared course material side by side would agree that, without question, one learns more material in medical school than pharmacy school. The level of difficulty one experiences, however, is subjective to how easily that person can handle the respective amount of material. Someone in pharmacy school once told me "I study all the time! We have to know SO much!". I then asked her what her idea of "studying all the time" meant, she responded by saying she spends, on average, 4 hours a day studying starting about a week before the exam. Really, studying all the time, huh? So any one person's perception of "a lot of work" is totally variable depending on their ability to handle the work.

From what I have experienced by looking at my medical school material vs. my friends materials in pharmacy, dental, PT, and nursing school I would rank them (in amount) as follows: medical>dental>pharmacy>pt>nursing. Someone's ability may be totally maxed out by the work load in nursing, pharmacy, dental, or medical school, but it is usually much easier for a person to move down the work load hierarchy rather than up. It's just a fact of life that a physician needs to have a deeper understanding of more aspects of the human body and disease processes than any of the above mentioned.

However, I think that each of these groups have their place in the treatment of patients. Even though physicians have the most medical knowledge, we could not, with good conscience, solely treat each patient when we know that there are other medical professionals with adequate knowledge and skill to treat some patients. This triaging leads to more efficient and effective medical care for all patients.