Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Career Paths
MCPHS is widely recognized as a top tier preparer of pharmacy and pharmaceutics professionals. Pharmacy and pharmaceutical science programs at MCPHS provide graduates with the education and tools for success. Highly skilled faculty, student-centered learning, state of the art facilities, and cutting edge curricula prepare graduates for rewarding careers in pharmacy and pharmaceutics.
Pharmacy
Based on salary and job prospects, Money Magazine rates a career in pharmacy in the top 10 “best jobs in America.”
After completing a PharmD degree at MCPHS, graduates are prepared to become professional pharmacists, optimizing drug therapy and serving as an integral part of a patient’s health care team. They counsel patients on the use of drugs and potential side effects and also monitor treatment and manage and evaluate drug therapy.
Graduates with a PharmD degree find career opportunities in a range of settings, from the community pharmacy to hospitals and managed care, and also in the pharmaceutical industry in areas such as promotion of pharmaceuticals, marketing, clinical studies in patients, and managing regulatory and legal issues.
New opportunities are emerging for pharmacists in managed care organizations where they analyze trends and patterns in medication use, and in pharmacoeconomics—the cost and benefit analysis of different drug therapies. Opportunities also are emerging for pharmacists trained in research and disease management—the development of new methods for curing and controlling diseases. Pharmacists also are finding jobs in research and development and in sales and marketing for pharmaceutical manufacturing firms.
Increasingly, pharmacists are pursuing post BS PharmD pharmacy work. Some are involved in research for pharmaceutical manufacturers, developing new drugs and therapies and testing their effects on people. Others work in marketing or sales, providing expertise to clients on a drug’s use, effectiveness, and possible side effects. Pharmacists work for health insurance companies, developing pharmacy benefit packages and carrying out cost-benefit analyses on certain drugs. Other pharmacists work for the government, public health care services, the armed services, and pharmacy associations. Finally, pharmacists are employed full time or part time as college faculty, teaching classes and performing research in a wide range of areas.
Pharmaceutics
MCPHS graduates with bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in pharmaceutical science are sought after by employers and fill vital positions across a broad spectrum of the health care industry. Pharmaceutically-trained professionals are involved in research, synthesizing and testing new compounds; in marketing and sales of pharmaceuticals and biomedical devices; and in administering insurance programs, managed care organizations, and pharmaceutical benefit management companies. >
MCPHS has strong ties to New England biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Graduates are often able to take advantage of these relationships along with professional contacts they have established during their education and clinical opportunities at the College.
The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics projects strong demand over the next decade and an expanding job market for these qualified individuals. There is and will continue to be a strong and growing demand for health care professionals with the kinds of pharmaceutics education that MCPHS offers:
“The number of wage and salary jobs in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing is expected to increase by about 26 percent over the 2004-14 period, compared with 14 percent for all industries combined. Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing ranks among the fastest growing manufacturing industries. Demand for this industry’s products is expected to remain strong.” (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)