Dual Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Public Health

Students enrolled in the PharmD/MPH Program at Idaho State University may combine the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree with a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) degree with approximately one year of additional effort. This combined program is designed to give PharmD students the added benefit of the MPH degree, giving them an edge in the future job market, opportunities for more advanced practice, including in pharmacoepidemiology, and the potential for a greater impact on the community.

Students may pursue this opportunity through either of two potential entry points: 1) the Graduate Certificate in Public Health, which provides an excellent pathway to explore public health topics while completing PharmD studies to see if the full MPH degree is appropriate for them or 2) the full MPH program. Both options are detailed in the “MPH and PharmD Dual Degree Program” section of the Graduate Catalog. Through strategic course sharing between programs, students can efficiently complete both degrees while maintaining the high standards of each program.

Students should note that the PharmD program is face-to-face and MPH program courses are fully online and students are encouraged to consider this dual degree program as early as possible in their PharmD program.

Students opting for the dual degree program will follow the traditional PharmD curriculum. 

In addition, completion of the following courses can be used to satisfy six hours of electives required for the PharmD degree: MPH 5507, MPH 5540, MPH 6601, MPH 6602, MPH 6604, MPH 6606, MPH 6609, MPH 6620, MPH 6640, and MPH 6660. The PharmD coursework will satisfy the required 6 hours of electives for the MPH program.

Students must work with both the pharmacy MPH advisors for the dual program to determine their individual plan of study.

MPH courses can only be completed after students have been admitted to the Graduate School and these courses require the payment of Graduate School course fees in addition to the PharmD program fees.

For Doctor of Pharmacy students to be admitted to the MPH program, they must meet regular admission requirements for the MPH program and must have completed either a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent. PharmD students applying to the MPH program must request the College of Pharmacy to certify to the Graduate School that they have completed 120 hours of coursework and that those 120 hours are equivalent to a bachelor’s degree. Students will generally apply for admission to the MPH program sometime prior to the end of their second year of study in the PharmD program. Students may also apply in their third year of the PharmD program; students who apply in their third year will not be able to complete both programs at the same time.

For more information see the “MPH and PharmD Dual Degree Program” section of the Graduate Catalog.