When the Fall Semester commences on Aug. 17, pharmacy students will be busy working for their doctor of pharmacy degree. With a new dual-degree program at UT, they now have an opportunity to add another title to the end of their name: master of business administration.
The dual-degree program, approved by the Board of Trustees in June, is part of an effort to provide pharmacy students with the business savvy that can help solve problems in today’s pharmacy industry.
Peter Chyka, vice chair for the College of Pharmacy’s Knoxville Programs, is excited to offer pharmacy students marketable business skills that can be applied to the world of pharmacy.
“The program is tailored for the pharmacy graduate who sees a career path in both pharmacy and business,” he said. “The entire business aspects of pharmacy and drug therapy are increasingly more complicated than they were in prior years. Therefore, there are a lot of opportunties for students with skills and knowledge in business and pharmacy to make a big impact in the industry.”
Amy Cathey, executive director for the MBA program, concurs that pharmacy students with a background in business will be able to fix problems in pharmacy and improve the industry as a whole.
“There is an important need from employers in the pharmacy industry for people who are both clinically trained and understand business,” she said. “Students who have skills in business can become leaders in the pharmacy industry. We expect our dual-degree students to have a competitive advantage in the job market.”
The program, which will take approximately five years to complete, is available to pharmacy students on both the Knoxville and Memphis campuses. After students finish their pharmacy degrees, they will continue on to the College of Business Administration in Knoxville to pursue their MBA.
Chyka recommends that pharmacy students interested in the dual-degree program not procrastinate on declaring their path towards an MBA.
“It is important for them to declare early in their curriculum that they are interested in the MBA pathway,” he said. “This way, we can give students electives in business that will help prepare them for the MBA program.”
Since the program was approved in June, Cathey said there has been an enthusiastic response from pharmacy students.
“There has been a great response from students,” she said. “Some have told us that they had expressed an interest in getting an MBA after they were finished with pharmacy.”
This dual-degree program is a new addition to the College of Business Administration’s multitude of dual-degree offerings. Cathey said this is the sixth dual-degree program for the college.
“We offer MBAs with a variety of different programs at UT, including law, economics and engineering,” she said.
While the dual-degree program will require hard work and diligence from its students, Cathey said she knows that an MBA complements many different degrees.
“The MBA is a great degree to pair with technical knowledge and gives our students an advantage in their careers,” she said.
