PharmD/MBA contemplation

[samisab786]

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Hi guys,
My school offers a PharmD/MBA program. I considered it last year then put it off after a friend of mine had a medical emergency this year, which put me behind alone in my regular pharmacy coursework. Luckily, I managed to pull through okay, but I had to put-off/quit a lot of activities (clubs, etc.) to keep this up. I figured there was no way I'd have time to do another degree at the same time. Then, if you have read my last thread especially, I have had the hardest time finding an intern/tech job. I am doing everything I can (contact physicians I personally know, e-mails, phone calls) in the meantime, but I don't know how easy it will be for me to get employed soon (I will be a P3-I'm still trying, but just keeping this matter at hand). Now don't get me wrong-I don't want to do an MBA program to simply to fill a spot on my resume where experience isn't there, but I was wondering if it is worth pursuing simultaneously with the PharmD if it can broaden my job options. To make a long story short (which usually never happens with my posts, lol!)

1.What kind of job options can I expect, in terms of working for a pharmaceutical company, industry, in a hospital, etc.? And what kind of responsibilities would these jobs entail?
2. How much of a difference is getting an MBA realistically going to make on my job options?
3.Is it better to pursue as a dual-degree or after getting the PharmD degree which I notice some people do?

I hope you don't take these as stupid questions, I just want to know more about the nature of the MBA with the PharmD since I had to take a pharmacy management class as a requirement and did not really enjoy it (mostly because of the instruction-nobody I knew liked the way the teacher taught that class). But I have family and friends who work in business (not pharmacy related) and it seems okay, but again, since we don't get too much of an exposure in pharmacy (and also because I don't work), I want to know more of the details. Any help would be awesome.
Thanks!

 

[pharm B]

Based on what I've seen in my local hospital options, it sounds like an MBA can land you an assistant director position pretty fresh out of school. If you're interested in the management track, I don't think it would be a bad idea.

Are you competing for a residency? I know some programs give "bonus" points if the applicant is pursuing a degree on top of the PharmD

 

[rxlea]

Based on what I've seen in my local hospital options, it sounds like an MBA can land you an assistant director position pretty fresh out of school. If you're interested in the management track, I don't think it would be a bad idea.

Are you competing for a residency? I know some programs give "bonus" points if the applicant is pursuing a degree on top of the PharmD

Which programs are those?

 

[BMBiology]

I would think carefully about taking on more debt. I know plenty of unemployed MBAs.

This is been discussed before: http://mobile.sdn.net/showthread.php?t=922962&highlight=mba

 

[pharm B]

Which programs are those?

I'm not sure how public the scoring systems are, so I won't disclose. I would compare it to applying to pharmacy school: some stuff isn't published (like grade forgiveness) but they'll tell you all about their application scoring if you call the admissions office.

I know of one program that scores applicants based on degrees, GPA, activities, and so forth, and then the top of the list get interview invites.

 

[sisson329]

Hey sami! I'm the NCPA president elect at my school, along with being the co-president for the entrepreneurial academy, and both brign strong emphasis to our MBA program - which I'm also pursuing. Now given, I imagine there are plenty of differences between state needs, and school programs but let me tell you how mine is going so far.

Business classes are a joke. I'm sure someone is going to argue me here, but they are. Every single class I've taken thus far feels like vacation (I'm still finishing the "foundations" courses right now, but I'm not kidding when I say joke, but maybe this is because so much of it feels obvious to me) The core classes are the next portion, and the last portion, which is a total of 30 units. This is because the pharmacy program covers almost everything. This means that if you carry out the foundational courses at the very least through your pharmacy schooling, you will have 2 terms left to finish once you're done with your pharm D. that are actually considered "MBA core courses". This is important for a couple of reasons. My school covers up to 40 units a term (yeah who the hell is going to do that much?) under my Pharm D. program so all of the foundational courses are covered under my tuition. Once you hit those core courses you have officially entered the MBA program and the 7 year clock starts to finish your MBA degree, and you now must pay MBA tuition (which is quite a bit cheaper at my school, somewhere around 20 grand for the 2 terms total) And you have to remember, this is on a 7 year clock, meaning you can just go work with your pharm D if you want, and finish them out whenever you feel you have time. It's very flexible.

My experience with what employers have to say about seeing my pursuit of Pharm D./MBA have been exceptionally positive. I nailed one of the best internships possible in this area at 19/hr with an LTC pharmacy that has representatives in the Board, and has a lot of clout to throw around. I'm already guarenteed a job once I'm out with them (which is nice to have since I'm only a recent P2, just finished my first year)

Why did all of this happen? BE AGGRESSIVE! People are so stuck on this doom and gloom crap, I feel like they were expecting to just waltz into any area they want, get paid 150k a year and have everyone calling them up for free sexual favors or something. No. It's like most other careers where what you put in is what you get. One of the earliest things I've realized about this career is that my social skills have made me excell 10x more than my grades. Residencies? Haha, you know how many 3.0s I see nailing them? It's not about what you know, it's about who you know (you mean that age old saying is true?!?!) It's just the way of the world. I put myself out there, I go to events, I get involved politcally, I go out of MY WAY to make sure I meet important people and make sure they remember me in some way, I record EVERYTHING I do in some fashion so I can summarize and talk about it later if I need to. Get contacts everywhere you go, find resources where no one else does, NEVER burn bridges. Sorry I'm digressing here, I just get worked up sometimes, hah.

I just set up a presentation for my school with a well known recruiter in the state for a big chain and I've spoke to plenty of other recruiters in my time, like most degrees we're seeing shifts right now, BA is the new AA, Masters is the new BA, having a dual degree is becoming so much more common right now that not having one when you're surrounded by others competing for the same job could prove difficult. He's gonig to talk about why an MBA is seen to give you an edge, and in my opinion, every pharmacist takes on managerial roles in some fashion anwyays, having an MBA really should help you with your job wherever you go.

I'll end my rant, but I hope you can take something away from this, and if for some reason you have more questions about the programs or whatever let me know 🙂

 

[BMBiology]

My experience with what employers have to say about seeing my pursuit of Pharm D./MBA have been exceptionally positive. I nailed one of the best internships possible in this area at 19/hr with an LTC pharmacy that has representatives in the Board, and has a lot of clout to throw around. I'm already guarenteed a job once I'm out with them (which is nice to have since I'm only a recent P2, just finished my first year)

Why did all of this happen? BE AGGRESSIVE

I agree with being aggressive. That helps. The interns at the LTC pharmacy, are they also doing PharmD/MBA?

 

[sisson329]

I agree with being aggressive. That helps. The interns at the LTC pharmacy, are they also doing PharmD/MBA?

My specific location is fairly new, so there was an unpaid intern for a little while but that was it. Within the bigger sites yes, there was, and it's funny you mention it because I never realized that EVERY single one of them are Pharm D./MBA candidates. The MBA program is not online, but they do have satellite classes in the more "urban" area of my state, so you wouldn't have to be on campus for the entire thing.

Much networking as in? If you're asking if they push networking on you or set up meet and greets then yes my school has a large career fair where they bring in recruiters for a couple of days, and there's another large one that is also optional set up in another city nearby.

 

[BMBiology]

My specific location is fairly new, so there was an unpaid intern for a little while but that was it. Within the bigger sites yes, there was, and it's funny you mention it because I never realized that EVERY single one of them are Pharm D./MBA candidates. The MBA program is not online, but they do have satellite classes in the more "urban" area of my state, so you wouldn't have to be on campus for the entire thing.

Much networking as in? If you're asking if they push networking on you or set up meet and greets then yes my school has a large career fair where they bring in recruiters for a couple of days, and there's another large one that is also optional set up in another city nearby.

What is your typical day working at the LTC pharmacy?

 

[sisson329]

Typically they just feed me clinical questions and I do research for them. There's also random projects they toss me (some for fun) like updating appendices/reference guides/etc, etc. I do some filling, typically I handle the narc room restocks for the different facilities we ship to. Sometimes they direct calls from physicians to me with an issue and I have to do a thorough DUR or something. It's pretty mixed, which I enjoy. Eventually I want to open my own LTC so it's a great experience for me.

They let me take care of some of my NCPA prep work for next year too which is nice. Working on getting my school MTM certification abilities.

 

[BMBiology]

Typically they just feed me clinical questions and I do research for them. There's also random projects they toss me (some for fun) like updating appendices/reference guides/etc, etc. I do some filling, typically I handle the narc room restocks for the different facilities we ship to. Sometimes they direct calls from physicians to me with an issue and I have to do a thorough DUR or something. It's pretty mixed, which I enjoy. Eventually I want to open my own LTC so it's a great experience for me.

They let me take care of some of my NCPA prep work for next year too which is nice. Working on getting my school MTM certification abilities.

anything business related?

 

[sisson329]

Not yet, but I'm not for sure. Our CEO apparently has some business related plans here soon, but the interns haven't been informed just yet on exactly what.

 

[joetrisman]

Are you competing for a residency? I know some programs give "bonus" points if the applicant is pursuing a degree on top of the PharmD

Heard this as well. Not sure of the actual weight of a second degree relative to other areas that are allotted points for application scoring though.