PharmD or PhD?
The UW School of Pharmacy offers training programs to prepare students for a career as a pharmacist and as a researcher in pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry, health outcomes, health policy and health economics.
The PharmD degree prepares students for a professional career as a pharmacist. Our student pharmacists take courses from highly-trained faculty and benefit from interprofessional and experiential learning as part of their training.
The PhD degree prepares students for careers in industry, academia, government and non-governmental organizations. The UW School of Pharmacy offers PhD programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, and Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy and Economics.
Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD)
The UW PharmD program is founded on the premise that pharmacists are essential to the health care team — playing a key role in improving human health and bettering people’s lives. Consistently ranked in the Top 10 nationwide, the UW School of Pharmacy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and committed to providing students with an academically rigorous and well-rounded education. As a student in our program you will work closely with our exceptional faculty who care about your interests and professional development.
PhD & MS Programs
Our graduate degree programs consistently rank among the top programs in the nation and around the world. Our faculty ranks #3 nationally for federal grant funding among U.S. schools of pharmacy; the faculty also ranks highly for research and publications by the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Our graduate students participate directly in faculty research, including NIH and private grant projects, and benefit from strong mentorship. The UW School of Pharmacy is uniquely co-located with the other Schools of Health Sciences—Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Dentistry, and Social Work—all of which are “Top 10” schools. This proximity, and the collaborative culture at UW, creates a dynamic environment for graduate students. Our numerous external partner organizations in Seattle also present graduate students with unique opportunities at the forefront of life-changing research, addressing some of the biggest problems in biomedical and population health. Upon graduation, our PhD and MS graduates are consistently sought after for competitive positions in the biomedical industry, academia, and government.