Contact: Ellen Bank
843.792.2626
Charlene Gunnells (The Citadel)
843.953.2155
Oct. 10, 2003
CHARLESTON, SC -- MUSC’s College of Pharmacy and The Citadel’s
School of Business Administration have teamed up to create a dual degree program.
The new program will give pharmacy students the opportunity to receive both
a doctor of pharmacy degree (Pharm.D.) from the Medical University and a master's
of business administration (MBA) degree from The Citadel within the same four-year
period it would normally take to complete the Pharm.D. degree alone. Graduates
will be more marketable within practice settings and the pharmaceutical industry.
“We are very excited to be able to provide this educational opportunity
to our pharmacy students,” said John F. Cormier, Pharm.D., dean of the
MUSC College of Pharmacy. “What began as an informal inquiry with Dr.
Earl Walker, dean of The Citadel=s School of Business Administration, very quickly
took the form of an integrated curriculum. Getting to this point so quickly
is due, in large part to the synergy between our two faculties who approached
this project with an open mind and a sense of purpose in making this work. Both
institutions are looking forward to getting started.”
The impetus for the program originated from student interest and an emerging
trend among pharmacy programs across the country to sponsor dual Pharm.D./MBA
programs for their students.
“I think we have really put together a terrific program for our students.”
said Elinor Chumney, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice, who chaired
the working group charged with putting the joint degree program together. “We
have been able to take advantage of unique attributes of our respective institutions
to respond to a real demand for in-depth training in business practices. The
COP and The Citadel's School of Business Administration were able to work together
to offer our first-year pharmacy students tremendous economies of scale in terms
of both credit hours and tuition.”
Required Pharm.D. courses like Pharmacy Law and Ethics, Pharmacy Practice Management
will be accepted within the MBA curriculum. In turn, some three-hour business
courses like Financial Management, Management Information Systems and Organizational
Behavior can be counted toward Pharm.D. elective credit hours.
The program allows qualified students to begin taking MBA courses beginning
the summer after their first year. Students may take one MBA course each semester
during their second and third years, and must maintain specific grade requirements
throughout the course of the program.
Beginning spring 2004, interested first-year COP students can apply to The Citadel’s
MBA program. They must have taken the GMAT, provided letters of recommendation
and completed either their bachelor’s degree or its equivalent of 124
credit hours. The Citadel’s MBA program is accredited by the Association
to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, an organization that sets one of
the highest standards of achievement for business schools worldwide.
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