PharmD/PhD and Pharmaceutical Industry careers

[cdpiano27]

Hello,

I was wondering what types of jobs in the pharmaceutical industry are available to PharmD / PhD graduates. I am currently finishing a Masters Degree in Biostatistics and my elective classes are mostly related to the different phases of clinical trials and design of experiments. In fact I have registered for pharmacokinetics this semester. I know that the pharmaceutical industry hires some statisticians with a PhD and a few with masters. I was thinking whether the PharmD / PhD would open additional doors in other areas besides data analysis (which is what I would be doing with a statistics PhD or masters) if I decide to go this route. Also, does anyone here specifically know students at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy or at another research-oriented pharmacy school who are pursuing this option? I was just thinking that my background in statistics could be helpful in this regard if I decide to pursue a research career in pharmacy.

By the way, does anyone work for the pharmaceutical industry with just a PharmD? If so, in what areas?

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[ksu]

Hello,

I was wondering what types of jobs in the pharmaceutical industry are available to PharmD / PhD graduates. I am currently finishing a Masters Degree in Biostatistics and my elective classes are mostly related to the different phases of clinical trials and design of experiments. In fact I have registered for pharmacokinetics this semester. I know that the pharmaceutical industry hires some statisticians with a PhD and a few with masters. I was thinking whether the PharmD / PhD would open additional doors in other areas besides data analysis (which is what I would be doing with a statistics PhD or masters) if I decide to go this route. Also, does anyone here specifically know students at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy or at another research-oriented pharmacy school who are pursuing this option? I was just thinking that my background in statistics could be helpful in this regard if I decide to pursue a research career in pharmacy.

By the way, does anyone work for the pharmaceutical industry with just a PharmD? If so, in what areas?

Hey!
Nice post! I too have these same questions...I too want to know the scope for someone who has done pharm D and PhD/MS and what kind of job such people get? How much do they pay? How long does it get to land on a job with the employer of your choice?

waiting for some replies on this post
Thanks.

 

[desklamp]

Hello,

I was wondering what types of jobs in the pharmaceutical industry are available to PharmD / PhD graduates. I am currently finishing a Masters Degree in Biostatistics and my elective classes are mostly related to the different phases of clinical trials and design of experiments. In fact I have registered for pharmacokinetics this semester. I know that the pharmaceutical industry hires some statisticians with a PhD and a few with masters. I was thinking whether the PharmD / PhD would open additional doors in other areas besides data analysis (which is what I would be doing with a statistics PhD or masters) if I decide to go this route. Also, does anyone here specifically know students at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy or at another research-oriented pharmacy school who are pursuing this option? I was just thinking that my background in statistics could be helpful in this regard if I decide to pursue a research career in pharmacy.

By the way, does anyone work for the pharmaceutical industry with just a PharmD? If so, in what areas?

There is a Pharm D/PhD (she started working with a Pharm D and got her PhD later) who is currently a Director of Clinical Development (she heads a lot of studies) at the pharmaceutical company at which I work right now. I think your background in clinical would be more helpful than stats, unless you were planning on going into analysis. I was interested in going into pharma too with a Pharm D but after working here for a while I don't know anymore haha.

Btw the starting pay at a pharm company with a masters degree in California was already at 60k for a lab job. As a director you can make close to 200k a year. (Before taxes ) CRO's generally pay less.

 

[MrMeowphers]

If you're interested in doing traditional bench research (e.g. on basic science, which is the cool stuff), then get a PhD.

I'm sad to say that even though having a Master's degree in engineering or an MBA might put you at the top of that profession, a Master's degree in science doesn't amount to much in Biotechnology companies. You'll be paid a little more than the Bachelor degree holders (~35-60K depending where you live), but a PhD will boost you up to around $80-90K in some states (will be much higher in the New England states or in California where all the biotechnology/pharmaceutical firms are usually found).

If you're interested in doing clinical research or having flexibility, then a PharmD or a PharmD/PhD is what you would aim for.

Let me reiterate though, that graduate school (e.g. for a PhD) is VERY DIFFERENT then any other professional school like optometry, dentistry, med. school, or pharmacy.

1.) The degree on average takes 5-8 years, depending on your program, depending on your mentor, depending on the luck of your project in getting great publishable AND REPEATABLE results, the impact factor of your research (from being not novel to amazingly novel). All other professional programs are traditionally planned for 4 years (unless you fail courses, and not including residencies or internships).
2.) The speed on which you graduate doesn't always depend on how hard you work (your initial project might not turn out how you wanted and you must start again on a new project).
3.) You write a thesis (known as the Preliminary-Qualifying Exam) during your 2nd year and defend it for 2-6 hours in front of a board of professors. If they like your idea, then you pass and are now considered a PhD candidate. If you fail, then you're given either a conditional pass (where they usually make you rewrite your entire thesis, or they assign you some additional graduate courses to make up your deficiencies) or a firm fail. Fail twice and you're kicked out of graduate school.
4.) You write a dissertation and defend it after your mentor and your graduate committee (which you choose during your 2nd year) near the end of the PhD.
5.) You MUST do a Post-doctorate after you attain your PhD (think of this as your residency) for 2-4 years prior to getting any sort of meaningful high paid position in Academia. You can do this post-doctoral work in a university or a company setting.

Given this, the average drop-out rate of various graduate PhD programs that I've encountered are between 25-50%. The retention rate in Ivy league schools tend to be higher. The most common reasons for quitting are these:

3.) Unable to pass courses during the first two years with the required B.
2.) Failing the PQE.
1.) Realizing that research is not what they expected it to be. You wont be winning a Nobel prize in graduate school, nor will you be making some super finding like the olden-days where you observed fungal byproducts inhibiting the growth of pathogens on an agar plate (penicillin)...

Please do not assume it'll be your back-up plan if you don't get into pharmacy school. You'll not enjoy the next 5-8 years if you're not prepared for it.

 

[MrMeowphers]

Also note that sadly not all PhD's are created equal.

A PhD in biochemistry/molecular biology is currently "hot"

whereas a PhD in microbiology will give you a difficult time finding a job that you want.

 

[raymondlow]

Also note that sadly not all PhD's are created equal.

A PhD in biochemistry/molecular biology is currently "hot"

whereas a PhD in microbiology will give you a difficult time finding a job that you want.

would you mind to brief more on the reasons why Phd in biochem can make such a difference with that of microbio?

 

[MrMeowphers]

the reason is because biochemistry/molecular biology are the basis of everything you do in research (much more broad training) then microbiology (very narrow, where your emphasis is pathogens).

biochemistry/molecular biology leaves doors open for pharmaceutical firms, biotechnology companies, government jobs, academic jobs, etc. for example, you use biochemistry to study the mechanism of drug action, the intermediate states, rate of reaction/kinetics, which are very difficult to study. you can also branch off with your skills into other fields of study like microbio, immunology, developmental biology, what-ever.

microbiology jobs tend to only be for government positions, and very few in the other listed.