PharmD / phD Programs

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renren_13

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I'm interested in talking to someone who has either seriously considered getting both the PharmD and phD or someone who has one. I'm just curious about how you chose to go about getting it and what you think you might do with it or what you are doing with it...
 
I have thought about it when I was considering doing research/academia. Really, I believe those are the only fields that you would need a PharmD/PhD for. Most of my professors (at least the ones without researdch labs) just have their PharmD or their PhD in another field. I'm not really sure what other opportunities lie for a PharmD/PhD. As far as I always knew it's for going into academia/research. Good luck!
 
What happens if you get a PH.D? You just do reseach and get to teach?
Im interested in teaching, what kind of courses could you teach? Also if you can teach Pharmacy courses, can you also teach introduction courses in chemistry?
 
OChemist said:
What happens if you get a PH.D? You just do reseach and get to teach?
Im interested in teaching, what kind of courses could you teach? Also if you can teach Pharmacy courses, can you also teach introduction courses in chemistry?
Click to expand...

So I'm about to get a PhD in molecular biology and am switching to pharmacy school this fall...

Usually, from what I can tell with my experiences in academia, after you get your PhD, you post-doc in someone's lab, and then hopefully you can start your own lab. Depending on what department you are in, you can teach classes, either to undergrad, grad, or professional students. I doubt you'd be able to teach chemistry classes at a major four-year university unless you are part of the chemistry department. And with a PharmD, most likely you'd be part of the pharmacy department. This may be different at a smaller school, or one that has a 6 year PharmD program.
 
One last question, this may sound stupid, but can Pharmacist with a PH.D be called a Doctor?
 
PhD is research focused while PharmD is clinical focused. I would say pick one or the other depending on what you want to do.
 
ya, I am, that's why I quote the above. I did not want to call them something, and have people bash me for saying it in the future?
 
Hello,
I'm a PhD student and a foreign-trained pharmacist.
PharmD/PhD is a good combination for those who are seriously interested in research and teaching. PharmD component makes you more marketable for positions in clinical research and drug industries. PhD is a must if you want to move up the ladder in research in academia and in industry research certainly, but recently I talked with someone from industry and they said "Without an MD, you can move up only so much even in industry. They (MDs) are really the kings in healthcare field."
You can teach with a PharmD. Pharmacy faculty are always going to be in shortage. I'm not sure if a PhD is a must in getting tenure, but its certainly a helpful degree when it comes to teaching career.
I'm interested in teaching too, but I'm not interested in fighting for money in the ever-shrinking pool of grant/funding. So, I thought, I'll just teach pharmacy kids with my RPh and PhD background. I found out that it may not be possible. They not only want you to teach but they want you to bring in grant money to their school. If you are a bad teacher, they might even tolerate you, but they certainly have a problem if you are not willing to do research for them (the school). Getting tenure is difficult no matter what, whether you are only PharmD or PhD or PharmD/PhD. Hope this answers your question.
My impression has been that a lot of PharmD positions in pharma industries go unfilled, simply because of monetary reasons. There is more money in retail than industry for pharmacists so with a PharmD/PhD, some paper publications, you should be a good candidate for industry and you can even apply to other positions like MSL with your pharmacy background.
 
tinu said:
Hello,
I'm a PhD student and a foreign-trained pharmacist.
PharmD/PhD is a good combination for those who are seriously interested in research and teaching. PharmD component makes you more marketable for positions in clinical research and drug industries. PhD is a must if you want to move up the ladder in research in academia and in industry research certainly, but recently I talked with someone from industry and they said "Without an MD, you can move up only so much even in industry. They (MDs) are really the kings in healthcare field."
You can teach with a PharmD. Pharmacy faculty are always going to be in shortage. I'm not sure if a PhD is a must in getting tenure, but its certainly a helpful degree when it comes to teaching career.
I'm interested in teaching too, but I'm not interested in fighting for money in the ever-shrinking pool of grant/funding. So, I thought, I'll just teach pharmacy kids with my RPh and PhD background. I found out that it may not be possible. They not only want you to teach but they want you to bring in grant money to their school. If you are a bad teacher, they might even tolerate you, but they certainly have a problem if you are not willing to do research for them (the school). Getting tenure is difficult no matter what, whether you are only PharmD or PhD or PharmD/PhD. Hope this answers your question.
My impression has been that a lot of PharmD positions in pharma industries go unfilled, simply because of monetary reasons. There is more money in retail than industry for pharmacists so with a PharmD/PhD, some paper publications, you should be a good candidate for industry and you can even apply to other positions like MSL with your pharmacy background.
Click to expand...

Yeah so true....or you could just get your BS in pharmacy 😕

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-epstein/8/305/bbb
 
As someone who's about to get her PhD in molecular and cellular biology, I have to disagree that you need an MD to truly advance in research. This may be true if you are interested in clinical research, but for those interested more in basic science or applied basic science, a PhD is more than sufficient. Even in industry, since they still usually do a lot of molecular research before they get to the clinical.

In fact, while I know many excellent faculty with MDs, when you are just starting out, usually you are more comfortable with research with a PhD than with an MD. Which makes sense, since the PhD is what trains you to be a scientist.

Like I said, I don't know much about clinical research. There, an MD probably helps a lot. But if you're interested in figuring out more about apoptosis or the molecular mechanisms of some disease, you're fine with a PhD.
 
I wonder what this guy would say if you were to tell him it would be impossible for him to excel in the clinical research arena:

http://ccr.cancer.gov/Staff/publications.asp?profileid=5728 (just start scrolling until you get to publication 393, then realize that is a "selected" list of his work)

Probably would provide a good laugh I suppose.
 
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So, no one wants to tell William Figg he needs an M.D. to ascend to the top of the clinical research arena? I didn't think so. This is the problem with spouting over-generalizations about what someone "needs" to have to do anything; the assertions are idiotic. They happen here too much, but that is the nature of this site it seems. If you happen to still think it takes some random degree to dominate research, you probably think that only people with an M.D. would ever be invited to speak at Harvard Medical School on major medical issues. Once again, you are wrong:

From William Figg's CV (not that impressive, he is just a Pharmacist right?)

"Thalidomide in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer," Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, Baltimore, MD, March 1997.

"Dilemmas in the Development of New Agents to Treat Hormone Refractory Prostate Cancer," Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, February 1998.

"Thalidomide in Solid Tumors," NCI Molecular and Clinical Grand Rounds, Bethesda, MD, September 1999.

Yeah, I guess I should go for that MD of PhD if I want to matter in research.....
 
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Does anyone know if you have to take GRE as well as PCAT for the dual PharmD/PhD programs?

Thanks
 
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