While many pharmacists practice in acute-care settings, many more work for and even own their own community businesses or hold a leadership/management position in a healthcare institution or a world's leading pharmaceutical company. Having a firm foundation in business practices gives you compelling advantages in your career. That is why the joint PharmD/Master of Business Administration (MBA) program was created—to give you exceptional business skills that complement your pharmacy degree.
The PharmD/MBA degree is a joint program with Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy and Brock School of Business. Through credit sharing, you can earn two degrees in a reduced time. Brock School of Business will apply 6 credits of pharmacy course work to satisfy work required under the regular MBA curriculum. McWhorter School of Pharmacy will apply 4 credits of business course work to satisfy the didactic elective course work required under the regular pharmacy curriculum. As a student in this program, you are required to complete 30 to 39 credits of business course work and 142 credits of pharmacy course work. The MBA online courses offered in this program met Quality Matters standards.
The MBA program welcomes and encourages students from all academic backgrounds. However, the business school requires students in this program to have a bachelor's degree from a college or university that holds institutional accreditation before they can receive the MBA degree. Pharmacy students without a bachelor’s degree can begin this joint degree program.
The MBA program welcomes and encourages students from all academic backgrounds.
General Policies
On graduation, you can receive both the PharmD and MBA in the same semester. In this program, you must complete the MBA within seven academic years of the original date of admission to the MBA program.
You will have two separate grade point averages, one for business and one for pharmacy. Pharmacy school ranking and percentiles will be based on the pharmacy only GPA. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in the MBA program to be in good standing. Pharmacy students no longer interested in completing the MBA program must communicate with the McWhorter School of Pharmacy Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Students may register for a maximum of 21 credits per full semester. If desired, you may petition the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to exceed this maximum course load.
You may choose to drop the joint degree in order to earn the PharmD degree earlier. Brock School of Business will accept shared credit from the pharmacy school upon later readmission to the MBA program as long as the student:
- Began the joint degree before graduating with the PharmD degree
- Was in good standing with Brock School of Business
- Requests readmission to restart MBA classes within one full semester after PharmD graduation
Admission Requirements
To be considered for the joint PharmD/MBA program, you must first be accepted to both McWhorter School of Pharmacy and Brock School of Business. For detailed information on applying to McWhorter School of Pharmacy, visit our admission page for details on the application process and required documentation. To be considered for the MBA portion of the joint degree program, submit the following materials to Brock School of Business:
- A completed Brock School of Business joint degree application form (do not fill out the online Banner application)
- A resume reflecting work experience and other accomplishments. Resumes should be sent electronically to: gradbusi@samford.edu
- A copy of your original undergraduate transcript(s) from the pharmacy student records or admission office. Copies should be sent electronically to: gradbusi@samford.edu
- A Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Exam (GRE) score. Please e-mail Heather Averett (heaveret@samford.edu) to see if you are eligible to have the GMAT or GRE waived.
The application deadline is April 1.
