PharmD + MBA

[_Tom_]

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Hi;
USN offers dual programs MBA and PharmD. What is the plus if you get both degrees? I come from different major (Engr) and NEVER have my feet in pharmacy dept before.

Thanks
_Tom_ (*_*)

 

[imprecious]

From what I understand, an MBA would come in handy if you're interested in such positions as being a director or manager of the pharmacy sector either in a hospital or a pharmaceutical company for example. It's basically the business management side of pharmacy. The school's website might have a link regarding possible career opportunities for PharmD/MBA. 🙂

 

[KUMoose]

Imp is right, if you want to get into the business side or possibly running your own store, then get the MBA. Don't bother getting it.

 

[patmcd]

If your interested in management, especially in industry, getting some sort of buisness degree is a huge plus.

 

[marylandpharm]

does it matter where you get your MBA (if you want to go into industry)? I know that University of Maryland offers PharmD/MBA program. But, their MBA is offered at University of Baltimore, so I'm not sure if it's really worth it.

 

[patmcd]

I'd say it doesn't matter too much, unless its from a school that has a widely know bad reputation or like a internet only school. I would imagine companies are more concered that you can apply the management skills you've learned.

 

[GDbyeKitty]

I was thinking about doing the PharmD/MBA program as well. But I'm not sure if the dual will offer significant benefits for me in the future 😕 I know a few pharmacists who run their own business and a lot of pharmacy managers with only PharmDs. Does anyone know someone with a dual degree and actually putting it to good use?

 

[kwizard]

I was thinking about doing the PharmD/MBA program as well. But I'm not sure if the dual will offer significant benefits for me in the future 😕 I know a few pharmacists who run their own business and a lot of pharmacy managers with only PharmDs. Does anyone know someone with a dual degree and actually putting it to good use?

A lot of pharmacy directors have MBA or MHA (Masters in Health Administration). A need for the MBA or MHA will depend on how much actual management experience you have. For instance if you want to go straight to management as opposed to practicing for several years and moving up then you would be more dependent on an MBA and illustrating experience (via an internship, often required for the MBA or MHA) or by doing a residency in Management. For instance Hopkins has one in the Baltimore area, but there are quite a few programs out there (many of which incorporate the Masters degree into the residency program (MS in Pharmacy in Administration at Ohio State is also a common pathway). Basically the "ideal manager" for a larger acadedemic medical center will typically have some type of auxillary MS/MBA/MHA type of degree and also have typically 5yrs of management experience. I'd say the PharmD is advantageous as well, but so many directors only have RPh, but that will change over the next 10yrs as many of them will retire and everybody will have a PharmD.

The smaller hospitals tend to only require someone w/ experience in management. So it really honestly depends on the facility and what they are looking for and how you sell yourself. If you do a combo PharmD/MBA program you would expect to move up the pharmacy administration latter fairly quickly but you would still typically have to do a residency and probably even practice a little before being able to get that Assistant Director or Director position. In industry the years of experience would be important as well. The MBA would help you significantly in competing for various positions when trying to move up. As w/ so many other things in pharmacy the MBA/MS/MHA (even some administrators have MPA = Masters in Public Administration) doesn't necessarily guarantee anything, but increases your likelihood of being successful in various career pathways.

There are lots of examples for success, just check out residency programs and look at Pharmacy Director's degrees to get an idea for who has what. FYI..Examples in Baltimore Area: Director at Hopkins has MS in Pharmacy Administration; Director at Union Memorial has PhD in Pharmacy Administration; Director at Baltimore VA has as MS (I think; not sure), Director at Sinai/Lifebridge just has a PharmD. As far as University of Baltimore...from what I understand the school has a pretty good national reputation for their MBA program so it may be worth a second thought?

Another option would be to go the pharmacoeconomics route and focus on drug outcomes (check out International Society of Pharmacoeconimics and Outcomes Research www.ispor.org). A good template in the Baltimore area would be Kenneth M. Shermock, PharmD at Hopkins (who also does a lot of outcomes research in addition to mechanisms for justifying clinical pharmacy services(http://www.hopkinspharmacy.org/residents/bios/preceptors.cfm#shermock)
or
Glen T. Schumock, PharmD, MBA and others at UIC Center for Pharmacoeconomic research
http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/research/cpr/

Schumock has the MBA whereas Shermock does not, but had fellowship training in the industry so there is more than one way to get from Point A to Point B, you just have to figure out which path works best for you. As long as you get the necessary training and start producing then you'll be fine.

 

[thaliagoo]

A lot of pharmacy directors have MBA or MHA (Masters in Health Administration). A need for the MBA or MHA will depend on how much actual management experience you have. For instance if you want to go straight to management as opposed to practicing for several years and moving up then you would be more dependent on an MBA and illustrating experience (via an internship, often required for the MBA or MHA) or by doing a residency in Management. For instance Hopkins has one in the Baltimore area, but there are quite a few programs out there (many of which incorporate the Masters degree into the residency program (MS in Pharmacy in Administration at Ohio State is also a common pathway). Basically the "ideal manager" for a larger acadedemic medical center will typically have some type of auxillary MS/MBA/MHA type of degree and also have typically 5yrs of management experience. I'd say the PharmD is advantageous as well, but so many directors only have RPh, but that will change over the next 10yrs as many of them will retire and everybody will have a PharmD.

The smaller hospitals tend to only require someone w/ experience in management. So it really honestly depends on the facility and what they are looking for and how you sell yourself. If you do a combo PharmD/MBA program you would expect to move up the pharmacy administration latter fairly quickly but you would still typically have to do a residency and probably even practice a little before being able to get that Assistant Director or Director position. In industry the years of experience would be important as well. The MBA would help you significantly in competing for various positions when trying to move up. As w/ so many other things in pharmacy the MBA/MS/MHA (even some administrators have MPA = Masters in Public Administration) doesn't necessarily guarantee anything, but increases your likelihood of being successful in various career pathways.

There are lots of examples for success, just check out residency programs and look at Pharmacy Director's degrees to get an idea for who has what. FYI..Examples in Baltimore Area: Director at Hopkins has MS in Pharmacy Administration; Director at Union Memorial has PhD in Pharmacy Administration; Director at Baltimore VA has as MS (I think; not sure), Director at Sinai/Lifebridge just has a PharmD. As far as University of Baltimore...from what I understand the school has a pretty good national reputation for their MBA program so it may be worth a second thought?

Another option would be to go the pharmacoeconomics route and focus on drug outcomes (check out International Society of Pharmacoeconimics and Outcomes Research www.ispor.org). A good template in the Baltimore area would be Kenneth M. Shermock, PharmD at Hopkins (who also does a lot of outcomes research in addition to mechanisms for justifying clinical pharmacy services(http://www.hopkinspharmacy.org/residents/bios/preceptors.cfm#shermock)
or
Glen T. Schumock, PharmD, MBA and others at UIC Center for Pharmacoeconomic research
http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/research/cpr/

Schumock has the MBA whereas Shermock does not, but had fellowship training in the industry so there is more than one way to get from Point A to Point B, you just have to figure out which path works best for you. As long as you get the necessary training and start producing then you'll be fine.

kwizard, you should be given an award for being the most helpful post-er (?) 🙂 on this forum... thank you for taking the time!

 

[Diamondeve21]

A lot of pharmacy directors have MBA or MHA (Masters in Health Administration). A need for the MBA or MHA will depend on how much actual management experience you have. For instance if you want to go straight to management as opposed to practicing for several years and moving up then you would be more dependent on an MBA and illustrating experience (via an internship, often required for the MBA or MHA) or by doing a residency in Management. For instance Hopkins has one in the Baltimore area, but there are quite a few programs out there (many of which incorporate the Masters degree into the residency program (MS in Pharmacy in Administration at Ohio State is also a common pathway). Basically the "ideal manager" for a larger acadedemic medical center will typically have some type of auxillary MS/MBA/MHA type of degree and also have typically 5yrs of management experience. I'd say the PharmD is advantageous as well, but so many directors only have RPh, but that will change over the next 10yrs as many of them will retire and everybody will have a PharmD.

The smaller hospitals tend to only require someone w/ experience in management. So it really honestly depends on the facility and what they are looking for and how you sell yourself. If you do a combo PharmD/MBA program you would expect to move up the pharmacy administration latter fairly quickly but you would still typically have to do a residency and probably even practice a little before being able to get that Assistant Director or Director position. In industry the years of experience would be important as well. The MBA would help you significantly in competing for various positions when trying to move up. As w/ so many other things in pharmacy the MBA/MS/MHA (even some administrators have MPA = Masters in Public Administration) doesn't necessarily guarantee anything, but increases your likelihood of being successful in various career pathways.

There are lots of examples for success, just check out residency programs and look at Pharmacy Director's degrees to get an idea for who has what. FYI..Examples in Baltimore Area: Director at Hopkins has MS in Pharmacy Administration; Director at Union Memorial has PhD in Pharmacy Administration; Director at Baltimore VA has as MS (I think; not sure), Director at Sinai/Lifebridge just has a PharmD. As far as University of Baltimore...from what I understand the school has a pretty good national reputation for their MBA program so it may be worth a second thought?

Another option would be to go the pharmacoeconomics route and focus on drug outcomes (check out International Society of Pharmacoeconimics and Outcomes Research www.ispor.org). A good template in the Baltimore area would be Kenneth M. Shermock, PharmD at Hopkins (who also does a lot of outcomes research in addition to mechanisms for justifying clinical pharmacy services(http://www.hopkinspharmacy.org/residents/bios/preceptors.cfm#shermock)
or
Glen T. Schumock, PharmD, MBA and others at UIC Center for Pharmacoeconomic research
http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/research/cpr/

Schumock has the MBA whereas Shermock does not, but had fellowship training in the industry so there is more than one way to get from Point A to Point B, you just have to figure out which path works best for you. As long as you get the necessary training and start producing then you'll be fine.

Thank you for being informative and helpful!! 👍

 

[kwizard]

Thank you for being informative and helpful!! 👍

Thanks all for the compliments. I know what it feels like to try to figure out what path may be best for you. Nonetheless, just always try to shoot for something you enjoy and I'm glad the information provided has been helpful.

 

[mph2pharm]

Just a thought...I know that a lot of companies offer tuition benefits (not sure about pharmacy---retail) that would allow you to get say an MBA with the company picking up the tab. My husband is having his MBA completely paid for by his company (the only slight catch is he has to stay with them for one year after he finishes his degree---not bad). He is not in the healthcare field however. Many MBA programs are part-time so you should still be able to work full time. I am all about having someone else pay for any additional degrees/training that I will receive. I will be in enough debt when I get my PharmD.

I know that many pharmaceutical companies have tuition benefits but as someone stated above, the hard part is getting in. Having an MBA coming in will probably make you more marketable to pharma (if that is the route you are interested in) but I have learned that ultimately in many cases it is about who you know.

 

[kwizard]

Just a thought...I know that a lot of companies offer tuition benefits (not sure about pharmacy---retail) that would allow you to get say an MBA with the company picking up the tab. My husband is having his MBA completely paid for by his company (the only slight catch is he has to stay with them for one year after he finishes his degree---not bad). He is not in the healthcare field however. Many MBA programs are part-time so you should still be able to work full time. I am all about having someone else pay for any additional degrees/training that I will receive. I will be in enough debt when I get my PharmD.

I know that many pharmaceutical companies have tuition benefits but as someone stated above, the hard part is getting in. Having an MBA coming in will probably make you more marketable to pharma (if that is the route you are interested in) but I have learned that ultimately in many cases it is about who you know.

Yes a lot of institutions help reimburse or pay completely for education. It depends on the facility. Typically hospitals pay anywhere from 3-5k/yr for tuition reimbursement (depending on the school 3-5k/yr may not be too helpful in affording tuition, but something is better than nothing). Typical agreement is that the degree has to be related to your field and/or the dept you work in. A second barrier is having a job flexibile enough to actually take all of the courses in a reasonable amount of time. But I agree that many places in industry and some of your more "major academic medical centers" (i.e. those affiliated w/ a large university that may also offer a MBA or MHA) will reimburse you for the entire cost of tuition.

 

[GDbyeKitty]

kwizard,
Thank you for your post... it definately cleared things up 🙂