by Jim Gardner » Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:26 pm
Dave,
I think it is a good idea in general (the professional doctorate), but I don't think it will fly with the hiring managers in biology and chemistry (in big pharma companies) in the near future. Many of these managers consider themselves to be "academically oriented" and expect people to follow the traditional PhD/postdoc path (that they and all those working for them have followed). I'm afraid these new expedited doctorates would be seen as being more like MS degrees than PhD's.
That PharmD degree, I think, is underrated. There is room for more PharmD's and maybe more degrees like it. For some reason, at least at the company for which I work, the PharmD seems to be perceived as a higher degree than a masters for non-laboratory positions (med writing, regulatory, project management, competitive intelligence, med information, etc.). Folks with the PharmD do well in these fields.
By the way, I took just a few months less than 8 years to finish my PhD back in 1996. Perhaps I helped to start this trend of long PhDs. Sorry.
Jim