I'm currently on the waitlist for Pacific, and I would really like to go next year. HOWEVER, I currently only have an associate's degree (just finished community college). I currently also have offers from a couple UCs to get a BA.
Should I go straight into pharmacy school without getting my bachelor's degree?
YES, do not waste anytime. The competition is only getting harder every year, now when you are applying for pharmacy schools and later when you graduate from pharmacy and apply for a residency and/or a job. The sooner you get in and finish pharmacy school, the better imho.
Does it matter in the long run?
NO, it does NOT matter in the long run in general.
You do not need a bachelor degree to get admitted to a PhamD program (and you are already waitlisted).
After you obtain the PharmD degree and pass the NAPLEX and register with a state board of pharmacy, you are qualified to practice pharmacy as a registered pharmacist in that state and/or apply for pharmacy residency programs.
Because professional doctorate degrees such as PharmD degree are often referred as entry-level doctorate degree (vs PhD as post-professional doctorate degree), I would imagine you have no problem apply for many PhD programs. Read more about the definition of Doctorate here,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctorate
If I wanted to get a PhD in the future, would a PharmD be sufficient to apply for PhD programs, or would I need to go back to school to get a BA?
Thank you all so much!
YES and
NO.
First, remember that the PharmD degree is a professional doctorate degree or entry-level doctorate degree. (The US Department of Education specifically classifies the PharmD as a First Professional agree and generally is considered graduate level in the US, along with others like MD, DO, DDS, DMD, JD, etc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_professional_degree http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/glossary/index.asp?id=235 ). So the PharmD degree might be sufficient for you to apply for some PhD programs.
But the PharmD degree is not an academic/research doctorate degree like PhD, EdD, DEd, etc. The knowledge/skills and training of the PharmD degree are very specific and focused for the application and practice of pharmacy, and not general like liberal degree like BA or BS. Thus, unless you already had a Bachelor degree, the PharmD might be lacking in additional general coursework or even some specific courses/training that are needed for upper post-graduate, academic/research degrees such as a PhD degree, or even some Master degree (e.g. MSc) in a specific discipline.
this is from Wikipedia: Doctorate,
"The requirements for obtaining Ph.D.s and other research doctorates in the U.S. typically entail successful completion of pertinent classes, passing of a comprehensive examination, and defense of a dissertation.[90]
The median number of years for completion of doctoral degrees for all fields in the US is seven.[21] Furthermore, doctoral applicants were previously required to have a master's degree, but many programs will now accept students immediately following their undergraduate studies.[91][92] Many programs simply gauge the potential of a student applying to their program and will give them a master's degree upon completion of the necessary Ph.D course work.[citation needed] When so admitted, the student is expected to have mastered the material covered in the masters degree even though the student does not officially hold a masters degree.[citation needed] Once the person has finished Ph.D. qualifying exams, he/she is considered a Ph.D candidate, and may begin work on his/her dissertation.[citation needed]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctorate
and
"some professional fields offer degrees beyond the first professional degree. For instance, in the United States, in order to earn an LLM, one must have received a JD. Likewise, SJD candidates must generally have an LLM, although in rare circumstances SJD candidates are admitted based on their first professional degree. Also, in the field of dentistry, MSD (Masters of Science in Dentistry) applicants must have a DDS/BDent/DMD/BDS before admission to master's programs in dentistry, and a PhD in Dental Science requires either a MSD or DDS/BDent/DMD/BDS. Joint MD/Ph.D students in the U.S. must be accepted by both the school of medicine and the graduate school of the same institution."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_professional_degree
My guess is that it depends on the specific PhD programs you are considering to apply that the PharmD degree would meet the admission requirements or not. For example, if you want a PhD in English, your PharmD degree is not relevant and additional requirements might be required (e.g. a BA or Master in English?). But if you want to get a PhD in pharmaceutical science, I think the PharmD degree would be relevant and sufficient and you might not be required to have additional qualifications for the program.
Best bet is to
check with the specific PhD programs for their specific requirements.
I am not sure if you meant you got waitlisted University of the Pacific (UOP). If it is UOP, they have a dual PharmD/PhD program. Check it out.
If you did not get in this year (though I hope you get pumped up and accepted from waitlist) and really is interested in getting a PhD and PharmD, also check out schools that have dual PharmD/PhD programs such as Purdue University, UIC, UCSF, UMB,
UOP, etc. A list of those schools are here,
http://pharmacy-schools.findthebest.com/d/d/Pharm.D._-_Ph.D-..-
GL
🙂
