No. At UCSF, you may be enrolled in only one academic program at a time. As a result, PharmD-PhD degree students will not be officially enrolled as PhD students until the PharmD is completed.

Most students are expected to complete the PharmD-PhD program in approximately 6 -7 years, depending on the pace of dissertation research.

Unlike the PharmD component with its fixed curriculum, the PhD is a research degree, so it is impossible to put a firm timetable on the duration of the program.

Typically, PhD students require five to six years to complete the requirements for the degree. However, the efficiencies built into the UCSF PharmD-PhD degree may shorten the time required for the PhD to approximately four years. It is expected that students will take their qualifying exam and will be advanced to PhD candidacy within 12 to 24 months of completing the PharmD degree.

At least one core course and several elective courses in the PhD program may be taken during the Extended Discovery Project in the PharmD program. Since course credit may be applied to only one degree program, your grades and credit for these courses will not appear on your transcript until enrolled in the graduate program. Importantly, research started in the Extended Discovery Project of the PharmD program may be part of the PhD thesis, potentially shortening research time.

Students, working with their advisor and dissertation committee, will complete their research and prepare their dissertation. Once the dissertation has been approved, students are awarded the PhD.

If the degrees are taken separately, the time for both degrees would be approximately eight years; the UCSF PharmD-PhD will take a minimum of seven years for both degrees.

A Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree is conferred upon completion of the PharmD program requirements and prior to entry into the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics PhD program.

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics is conferred upon completion of the requirements for the PhD program.

Yes. Students may request one deferment to the PhD program for up to one year following acceptance into the program.

This program is ideal for students who:

• Enjoy scientific inquiry and discovery
• Are interested in research-intensive careers
• Want to integrate clinical practice and research
• Aspire to leadership roles in academia, industry, healthcare systems, or government
• Seek to advance the future of therapeutics and patient care

PharmD–PhD graduates possess expertise in both patient care and scientific discovery. They are uniquely positioned to identify clinically relevant research questions, lead interdisciplinary teams, and translate research findings into improved healthcare outcomes.

Recent UCSF PharmD-PhD graduates have taken positions in academic institutions, biotechnology companies as well as with the United States Food and Drug Administration. We anticipate that our UCSF PharmD-PhD graduates will be highly competitive for most postdoctoral positions.

The UCSF PharmD-PhD will prepare you to be uniquely qualified to translate basic research into clinical applications. For example, your laboratory in a pharmaceutical company might study the genetic variability in drug transporters at the molecular level and then follow up with the relevant clinical studies to determine the impact of this variability on appropriate drug selection and patient care.

In an academic career, you would greatly expand your potential research topics and be able to clearly show students the relevance of the basic sciences to professional practice.

Our most recent UCSF PharmD-PhD graduates have, in general, gone on to careers in the academic setting and in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

The number of applications varies from year to year, but we generally receive one to two applications per year. All applicants to the PharmD-PhD degree must apply to both the UCSF PharmD program as well as the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics (PSPG) PhD program, both of which are highly competitive. Since admission to the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics PhD program is competitive, and a limited number of graduate students are admitted to the PSPG PhD program annually, admission to the UCSF PharmD-PhD is not guaranteed.

For the dual degree program, prospective students apply to both programs the year before they intend to matriculate.

For the sequential PharmD-PhD degree, students already enrolled as PharmD students at UCSF, will typically apply during the first two years of the PharmD curriculum. Applications must be received by the final December deadline. If you are accepted into the PhD program, you will receive a letter of intent that guarantees admission to the PhD program as soon as you have finished the PharmD and providing that you maintain the minimum 3.0 GPA in your PharmD program.
 

Of course. The letter of intent will be binding on our part but not yours. If you decide not to pursue the PhD, you will not be penalized in any way. We ask only that you notify us when you make your decision.

If you have already completed your PharmD, you are not eligible for the UCSF PharmD-PhD degree, but you might want to pursue one of our PhD programs.

International and non-USA citizens may apply for admission to the UCSF PharmD-PhD degree. Learn more: 

• PharmD: Applying Without U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Resident Status
• PSPG PhD: See Admissions.

Although not a true dual-degree program, UCSF has intentionally created efficiencies that shorten the overall training timeline compared with earning the degrees independently:

• PharmD students complete research rotations during Years 2 and 3 that can contribute to future dissertation work.
• Students may complete certain PhD coursework during the PharmD curriculum.
• The program is designed so that the combined training can be completed in approximately seven years rather than the eight or more years often required when the degrees are pursued separately.
• Students receive an early pathway into the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics (PSPG) PhD program while maintaining progress toward pharmacist licensure.

• Duration: The expected time to completion of most dual degree programs at other pharmacy schools nationwide is 7-9 years. However, the expected time of completion for UCSF's PharmD-PhD dual degree program is a maximum of 7 years. UCSF's PharmD program is a 3-year curriculum, allowing students to complete it one year faster than many other pharmacy schools.
• Focus: Most of the other PharmD/PhD programs offer the students a number of different coursework/research tracks that they can choose from for their PhD portion, including Health and Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy Research, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Bioanalysis, Pharmacometrics, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Clinical Pharmacy Translational Sciences, Drug Development, Forensics, and Pharmacognosy. However, only a few programs have faculty members whose research focus on pharmacogenomics and computational analysis as is the case at UCSF.
• Clinical rotations: Most other programs require completion of PharmD curriculum and clinical rotations (including APPEs) before beginning the PhD portion, with a few exceptions. UCSF includes clinical practice opportunities during each of the PhD years for all students.
• GRE: UCSF does not require not accept submission of GRE scores as part of application process, while other programs around the country do.

The key distinction is that the UCSF PharmD to PhD sequential degree program is not a true simultaneous dual-degree program. During the sequential degree program, students complete the PharmD first and then transition into the PhD, with some efficiencies and early research experiences built into the pathway. See a breakdown of how the different pathways compare.

While prior research experience is highly encouraged, students from diverse backgrounds may be considered. Applicants should demonstrate curiosity, commitment to scientific inquiry, and interest in research careers. The PSPG PhD considers the entire application and reviews applications with a ‘distance traveled’ lens. The PhD application requires and overall research summary and then applicants will list individual research experiences in detail.

The Dual Degree program is designed specifically for entry into the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics PhD degree program.

For the Sequential Degree Program, students may apply to other PhD programs at UCSF that align with their research interests and career goals. Program leadership will work with students to find efficiencies and identify areas of program overlap. 

At any time, and the sooner the better. The Extended Discovery Project in the PharmD curriculum will count as one rotation. A second research rotation can be taken instead of a seventh APPE experience. The final rotation can take place once the PharmD curriculum requirements are met.

Because the PhD is a research degree, you want to make sure that research is a good fit for you as soon as possible. You also want to make an informed decision about who you will select as your research adviser, so it is important that you get as much and as varied research experience as possible before making a decision. Ideally, you will start in your dissertation laboratory when you enter the PhD program.

In the Dual Degree Program, students’ primary program will be the PharmD in Years 1 (S/F/W/Sp), 2 (S/F/W), and 6 (F/W/Sp/S). During these years, students will pay tuition, but will receive a dean’s scholarship of $5,000 per year to help offset tuition fees.

During Year 2 (Sp), Year 3 (S/F/W/Sp), Year 4 (S/F/W/Sp), and Year 5 (S/F/W/Sp), students’ primary program will be the PhD program. During this time, students’ tuition and stipend will be supported via program funding, lab funding, fellowships, and/or other funding mechanisms.

The Financial Aid page of this website provides additional details regarding PhD student funding.