Concentrations & Dual Degrees

A concentration is a focused area of study that includes specific coursework and complements the core PharmD curriculum. Students may begin pursuing a concentration in the third professional year of the program. Each concentration includes two elective courses and one elective clinical rotation.

Veterinary Pharmacy

Gain knowledge and experience in Veterinary Pharmacy, a field recently recognized by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties. This unique field is becoming increasingly important to pharmacy practitioners due to the growing number of animal prescriptions and medications and increasing emphasis on the One Health approach to animal patient care. A dedicated APPE rotation allows you to apply classroom learning directly in practice settings.

In this concentration, you will acquire the skills and training required to think critically and apply evidence-based pharmacotherapy to obtain optimum therapeutic outcomes for large, small, and exotic animal patients. You will also build confidence in compounding and dispensing animal medications.

Pain Management and Palliative Care

Build the advanced skills and knowledge required to assess and manage acute pain, chronic pain, and pain related to serious illness. This concentration offers focused coursework and hands-on clinical experiences to deepen your knowledge of multimodal pain management, opioid stewardship, symptom management, treating patients with co-occurring substance use disorders, and ethical decision-making. A dedicated APPE rotation allows you to apply classroom learning in patient care settings.

This concentration prepares you to provide compassionate, evidence-based, and patient-centered pain and symptom management as part of an interprofessional healthcare team.

Psychiatry

Enhance your understanding of various psychiatric, neurologic, and substance use disorders. Explore these therapeutic areas in-depth while learning how to care for people living with these disorders across treatment settings. After completing the required concentration didactic courses, you’ll complete a psychiatric-focused APPE rotation to apply classroom learning in patient care settings.

This concentration builds on the PharmD curriculum and covers novel topics. It prepares you to deliver appropriate, evidence-based care for mental illnesses and substance use disorders as part of an interprofessional healthcare team.

Students enrolled in the Doctor of Pharmacy—Direct Entry program at MCPHS are eligible to earn dual degrees in a complementary area of study:

• Doctor of Pharmacy/Master in Clinical Research
• Doctor of Pharmacy/Master in Regulatory Affairs and Health Policy
• Doctor of Pharmacy/Master of Science in Health Informatics
• Doctor of Pharmacy/Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Technology (MBA)
• Doctor of Pharmacy/Master in Clinical Investigation and Development (MS)
• Doctor of Pharmacy/Master in Regulatory Sciences (MS)

These dual degrees prepare you and give you a competitive edge for fellowships, residencies, jobs in the pharmaceutical industry, and more. They're tailored for those looking to deepen their knowledge of drug development and seek employment beyond the traditional pharmacy setting.

Some dual degrees require eight additional courses beyond the PharmD curriculum: two courses in each of the summers after professional years 1, 2, and 3, and one course in both the fall and spring semesters of professional year 3. The latter two serve as professional electives in the third professional year. Earn two degrees without adding more time to your course of study and enter the workforce two years earlier than if the degrees were earned sequentially.

Summer courses are online and asynchronous.

How to Apply

Choose a dual-degree program during your professional year 1. Here's what to know:

• Applications open in January of professional year 1 of the Doctor of Pharmacy program
• The process includes an application and interview with the committee
• Minimum 3.0 GPA required