Difference Between PharmD And PhD In Pharmacy

PharmD and PhD are both doctorate degrees and often misunderstood as the same. They mean doctor of pharmacy and doctor of philosophy respectively. Doctor of pharmacy is abbreviated as PharmD or Pharm D and doctor of philosophy is abbreviated as PhD. Graduate from any of these degrees can use the title 'doctor.' In this post, we shall see the difference.

PharmD vs PhD in pharmacy

Doctor Of Pharmacy (PharmD)

 Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree is considered a postgraduate professional doctorate degree to become a pharmacist. It is essentially obtained by students who intend to be a pharmacist whether it be in a community pharmacy or in a large healthcare facility.

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The requirement of PharmD is similar to bachelor of pharmacy (B. pharm). Basically, five credits in O'level including mathematics, english language, biology, chemistry and physics. In addition, a good pass in Joint admission and matriculation board (JAMB) Unified tertiary matriculation examination (UTME) and post UTME. Some schools accept a first degree from a relevant course or advance course like Joint university preliminary examination board (JUPEB) into year two.

The programme ran for six years. This includes classes in six departments which include pharmacology, pharmacognosy, clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical microbiology and pharmaceutical chemistry. Ancillary courses from basic medical like physiology, medical biochemistry and anatomy adds to the versatility of the profession. Bits of general courses from school programmes such as computer operation and general studies (GST) add finishing touch to pharmacy education.

However, just the degree alone is not enough. The student must be inducted into the profession and registered as a pupil pharmacist, go through a one year compulsory internship and pass the PEP (Pre-registration examination for Pharmacist). Registration as a pharmacist begins the pharmacy profession.

With a PharmD degree, a pharmacist can work in any pharmacy related industry. This includes community or retail premises, hospital, pharmacy industry, drug and pharmacy regulatory agency, medical research institute, etc. Pharmacists are well paid across various fields.

PhD (Doctor Of Philosophy) In Pharmacy

PhD in Pharmacy is a research-intensive program. As a PhD in Pharmacy holder, you will be qualified to educate and do research development in the pharmacy field. Suitable for career in research and development in the industry or teaching. In addition, you may also consider positions as a regulatory affairs officer, a consultant, a science editor or medical writer or a position in clinical trial management.

Entry requirement is master of philosophy (M. Phil) degree in a relevant course to the PhD programme. Some schools accept good results from first degree without M Phil. Course entails metabolism and biostatistics, infectious disease, human pharmacology and therapeutics. This will take approximately four years. Salary is higher than PharmD.

Difference Between PharmD And PhD In Pharmacy

1. Entry requirements are different. PharmD requires five credits in O'level and JAMB UTME in year one or first degree or advanced course into year two. Whereas PhD in pharmacy requires a master of philosophy (M. Phil) degree from a relevant programme which may not be from PharmD or a good PharmD degree.

Read Also: The Main Differences Between B. Pharm. And Pharm. D. Degree In Pharmacy

2. The programme is different. The courses are different. Duration is also different. PharmD is for six years while a PhD in pharmacy is about four years. The course in PharmD spread across medical courses but PhD in pharmacy is more focused on science of drug discovery, development and design.

3. PharmD graduates proceed to become Pharmacists. Since not all PhD in pharmacy students are pharmacists (they don't have PharmD degrees), graduates come from all walks of life and those without PharmD cannot be called pharmacists.

4. Although both can work in any pharmacy related field, the difference is in the salary as a PhD in pharmacy degree gets higher pay.