Question about r&d and pharmD

[benzeneandcandy]

Hello all!
I'm currently a community college student looking to transfer and declare a major (2 years in). I have all my general coursework done now and the time has come to choose a specific major. I read that in 2008 there were some major changes to the field making it so you need to go through the Pharmd process just to dispense (where before it wasn't necessary). Do you also need it for r&d or would it be fine if I went ahead and declared my major as chemistry and follow it up with a phd in pharmaceuticals?

 

[scureto1]

A Pharm. D. and a PhD in pharmacology are very different paths. The Pharm. D. is to make one a licensed pharmacist, they are the ones who are allowed to dispense drugs. That path focuses on learning all of the currently existing drugs, their mechanisms of action in the body, interactions with disorders/other drugs, and anything else patients who are prescribed those drugs would need to know in order to use them properly and safely.

A PhD in pharmacology focuses on the development of new drugs and the improvement of existing drugs. Generally, these are not the people who would develop the synthesis for the drugs, that would more likely be synthetic chemists rather than a pharmacologist. The pharmacologist is the one who investigates and finds the potential target molecules that might be useful drugs, and the person who would do the early testing with the drug, long, long before it is anywhere near the human trial stage.

Neither program requires the other. The PhD in pharmacology is probably the longer, and somewhat more difficult route. The Pharm. D. will get you to a very good paying job more quickly. The Pharm. D. route is most likely going to end you up in a semi-customer service position, forever, though. If that isn't something you mind, its a great route to job security and good pay. The PhD is the more academic route - it will take longer to get a good paying job, if you do, but you will be doing research instead of retail.