Research vs. Teaching...

[TV09]

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Are there any Pharmacy schools that focus more on teaching than research or do they all have a fairly even mixture of both?

 

[Farmercyst]

Are there any Pharmacy schools that focus more on teaching than research or do they all have a fairly even mixture of both?

This may be a little naive on my part, but I'd say if you want to know which schools have less focus on research that you'd invert the list of top schools in the country (the only one I've seen is in terms of research grants). Since they have fewer research dollars they'd have to be A.) just lousy schools (unlikely due to aacp requirements) or B.) They focus more on teaching.

 

[fmbzp5]

Depends on the schools I am going to guess. Midwestern University has minimal research yet I can't imagine people would rank it at the bottom of the schools. My boss has told me some advice. Having taught medical students for 30 years he says the first in the class and the last in the class to graduate are still both Doctors. That and for the most part having your degree and license really ends up being what matters. The only thing would be trying to get into specialty programs is my guess on where you went to school and how high your GPA was.

 

[srock]

I have been thinking about this very question. In fact, I posted a similar question in the Pharmacy section.

My wife is deciding between two smaller schools and a large school. Honestly, I have no idea how much the research is performed at the larger school but I think it comes down to a question of culture.

In undergrad at College Park, Maryland we operated under a culture catering to the professors and their research. Teaching undergrads was definitely secondary. This had its advantages and disadvantages for the undergrad student.

My wife wants to avoid a similar situation in Pharmacy School. From the interviews she has done it appears that all the schools definitely concentrate on the students but she got the impression Maryland didn't work quite as hard at it as smaller schools like Shenandoah. Unfortunately, this is quite difficult to quantify from an interview.

In the end, I think the best thing is to decide which school will allow you to succeed in PharmD, then worry about residency and such when the time comes, but honestly, who knows if they will care in 4 years or not.

 

[fmbzp5]

I agree the location of the degree seems to be less of importance after being licensed. My friend is a pharmacist and moved right into a position doing Vet. compounding with zero vet experience or knowledge without a problem. He picked up really quickly. His degree was from Albany and was the first class to graduate from their college with a pharmD (I guess they made the switch in the very last year possible to all pharmD students)


I work as a researcher for an individual that teaches both medical students and pharmacy students. Even though the research is fun and exciting, all of the professors put students first. I believe it depends on the mission statement of the school. He personally told me if you go to an interview and a person seems very rude and out of touch with students, do not go to that school. Some may attribute it to the individual giving the interview/tour, but remember someone higher up hired them after extensive review. If that is the type of professor they want to represent the college, it isn't a far reach to believe many others there are very similar.