Graduate Education in Pharmacy Schools: Pharmacy Administration Developed by: Noel E. Wilkin, R.Ph., Ph.D. Associate Provost Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Administration Department Chair: Donna West, RPh, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Administration 662-915-1071 [email protected] 1 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Questions Addressed in this Presentation • What is a pharmacy degree? What is an MBA degree? What is a graduate degree? And how are these different? • Should I go straight into a PhD program or a program that offers a Masters and PhD? • What is a stipend? • Does a large stipend indicate a quality program? • How do I judge the quality of a graduate program? • Do I need to consider cost of living? • What is a post-doc and will I need to do one after I finish graduate school? • What are the different pharmaceutical disciplines that offer graduate degrees? • What is a center of excellence? • What is the pharmacy administration graduate program like at the University of Mississippi? • What is required to apply? • What is a statement of purpose? 2 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Types of Degrees 3 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Pharmacy Degree (PharmD) • The Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) is a professional degree • Physicians earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree to practice medicine • Pharmacists earn a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree to practice pharmacy • Both the Doctor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Medicine degrees are professional clinical degrees, enabling one to enter that clinical discipline as a practicing professional 4 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Pharmacy Degree (PharmD) • Pharmacists – Work with patients to improve use of medications – Perform disease state management – Promote optimal drug therapy – Dispense medications – Design drug benefits – Review medications for formulary inclusion – Other tasks that require extensive drug and disease knowledge • People with this clinical degree work in a number of different organizations; most become licensed pharmacists and work for a retail pharmacy (community pharmacy) or a hospital pharmacy • To obtain information about earning a PharmD degree, visit the School of Pharmacy Website: http://www.pharmacy.olemiss.edu/ap/undergrad/index.html 5 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Master of Business Administration (MBA) • An MBA is a business degree • This graduate education experience teaches you the skills to operate and manage all aspects of a business • Just like the PharmD trains one to practice pharmacy, in some respects the MBA enables you to “practice” the administration of business • Most MBA programs offer a non-thesis degree, which is different than a graduate degree that teaches you to create new knowledge • This degree is offered by business schools at many universities • To get information about our Business School’s MBA program please visit: http://www.olemissbusiness.com/mba/ 6 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Graduate Degree • Our graduate program in Pharmacy Administration offers both the Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences degree and Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences degree, both with an emphasis in Pharmacy Administration • Research-based graduate education trains you to conduct research in a given area and create new knowledge • The MS and PhD degrees provide the skills necessary to conduct studies in a specific area that will create new knowledge in a way that it stands up to peer review by experts in the field to ensure high standards 7 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration What is Research? • Simply put… – Science is a systematic way of discovering new facts and information – Problem solving using hunches and systematic approaches to testing those hunches • Research is the process of identifying questions or problems in a given area, designing studies to systematically investigate those questions and problems, conducting those studies, and providing findings that in some ways answer the questions or problems Kerlinger, FN. (1986) Foundations of Behavioral Research. New York: Harcourt Brace 8 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Graduate Degrees (MS and PhD) • By earning an MS or PhD, one learns the skills to conduct research • These are the two graduate degrees offered in most schools of pharmacy – Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy • Master of Science degree (MS) – This is a research-based graduate degree that one earns after a Bachelor's degree – This usually teaches the basic research skills of a given discipline – It also provides an opportunity to conduct a guided research project (a thesis) 9 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Graduate Degrees (MS and PhD) • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) – This is the highest possible degree awarded by U.S. colleges and universities – Like other degrees, a PhD can be earned in a number of different disciplines – This degree signals that an individual knows a given discipline very well, has the skills to create knowledge in that discipline, and has the ability to conduct independent research in that discipline – Most faculty in universities are required to have a PhD 10 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration MS or PhD? • Some programs offer a graduate program that allows one to earn the PhD without stopping to earn the MS degree • In this instance, one typically learns the same information (takes all of the classes), and does not write a Masters thesis and does not earn the MS degree 11 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration MS or PhD? • What is a thesis? – A thesis is a research project to create new knowledge that is conducted under the direction of a thesis advisor (faculty member) – In our program, this advisor may not be your sole faculty contact during the program; he/she is selected for the project based on mutual interest – This thesis project enables the student to use the skills that are being learned in the courses – The thesis is generally smaller scale and has more faculty member direction than a dissertation (which is conducted during a PhD program) • A complete list of theses completed in our department through 2004 can be found at: http://www.pharmacy.olemiss.edu/phad/theses.pdf 12 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration MS or PhD? • The PhD program also requires – courses that further advance one’s knowledge of a given content area and one’s skills in designing, conducting, and reporting research – Passing an oral & written comprehensive exam demonstrating knowledge of a given area and research skills necessary to conduct research – A dissertation • A PhD is necessary for most non-clinical positions in academia 13 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration MS or PhD? • What is a Dissertation? – The dissertation is the capstone research project conducted by the doctoral student – It is an independent research project that is guided by a dissertation advisor and a committee – It in an opportunity for the student to demonstrate to the faculty that he/she has the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct independent research and create new knowledge in a given area – It is different from the thesis in that it is • More comprehensive than a thesis • Independent research with less faculty assistance/guidance • A way of demonstrating one’s readiness to advance knowledge in a given discipline • A complete list of dissertations completed in our department can be found at: http://www.pharmacy.olemiss.edu/phad/dissertations.pdf 14 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration MS or PhD? Thesis Dissertation • Ideally, original research that • Original research creates new knowledge • Must create new knowledge • Less comprehensive than a that answers a question and dissertation advances knowledge in a • More limited scope than given area dissertation • Is independent research with • Demonstrates ability to use less faculty assistance and research and analytical guidance techniques • Demonstrates one’s ability to • Conducted with more guidance think critically and conduct from a faculty advisor than a independent research dissertation 15 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration Factors to Consider when Examining Graduate Programs 16 The University of Mississippi Department of Pharmacy Administration How can I afford to earn a PhD? • Most graduate programs offer a stipend • This is a way to actually be paid to earn additional education! • A stipend is a salary that a graduate student receives in exchange for doing a job within the department. • This stipend can be for helping a faculty member teach (teaching assistant) or for helping a faculty member to do research (research assistant). • A full-time stipend is 20 hours per week in the Department of Pharmacy Administration. • A student will generally spend another 20 hours per week in courses, studying, doing course work, and working on other research projects. • Being a graduate student is a full-time job. 20 hrs stipend + 20 hrs coursework = 40 hrs per week (It is not unusual for graduate students to spend more than 40 hours per week engaged in the program given their interests, study habits, and research projects.) 17 The University