The main difference between PharmD and Rph is that Pharm.D. is a professional doctorate degree in pharmacy and stands for Doctor of Pharmacy, on the contrary RPh is a registered pharmacist with a license to practice pharmacy. A Pharm.D. degree is a prerequisite to be licensed to practice as a pharmacist.
- To work as an RPh, one needs to complete a bachelors in Pharmacy first, that is a 4 years university degree.
- PharmD is a Professional Degree, RPh is a license to practice it.
- RPh license allows better legal opportunities to practice in Pharma Industry.
- RPh is a Plus point for PharmD degree holders and not a necessity.
Choosing Pharmacy as a Career
The field of pharmacy and pharmacy schools use some common terminologies very frequently and fluently. It may sometimes bother people and very often confuse the mind of people.
Usually, students face this problem more commonly as they are unable to understand the difference more prominently. Especially students of pharmacy have the curiosity to know that what they can do with PharmD degree and for what purpose they will require a title of RPh (registered pharmacist)?.
Pharmacy students face trouble in explaining the difference between those terms that are quite similar and share many similarities. They are unable to discriminate the term most adequately. If you are among one of them then definitely it will be worth reading for you.
Comparision between Pharm D and Rph
PharmD and Rph are among those common terminologies that raise a lot of questions about similarities and differences between these two terms that are the part of pharmacy field. But many times instead of clearing this confusion certain articles make us confused more than before.
This article is designed to explain these differences between PharmD and Rph adequately to puzzled minds of readers with some new points for your concepts making and better understanding. This article is all about:
- Brief introduction about PharmD and Rph
- Difference between serving a field and practicing a field
- Significance of Rph tittle
Term description
The term description is an initial step for concept development. Without having a proper understanding of similar terms you cannot be able to explain its difference. So we start our journey from here.
Here we are focusing on two terms that are PharmD and Rph. PharmD stands for doctor of pharmacy, whereas Rph stands for registered pharmacists.
Now the worth noting point is that “PharmD is a professional doctorate degree in the field of the pharmacy, whereas Rph is not a degree it is just a title that is given to licensed pharmacists.
If you get this major difference between them then your half of the doubts will be automatically cleared, but still a lot of points we need to discuss further on the same page.
What raises confusion between PharmD & Rph?
Practically speaking there is not any chance of confusion between PharmD and Rph. It is illogical to compare a professional degree with a title.
An individual with a PharmD degree needs the title of Rph for career changes and further development. These two are not different degrees that need a comparison on professional grounds. Well now here are some valid questions like:
- What a PharmD degree holder can do?
- What are the authorities of Rph? ( Registered pharmacists)
- How can one get his Rph tittle after PharmD?
- Why is RpH title necessary after PharmD?
We considered these questions seriously in this article as it is essential to answer these with firm facts and ground realities.
What is pharm D degree?
Pharm D degree stands for doctor of pharmacy. It is a professional degree program that needs a college of pharmacy or the school of pharmacy accredited with the national pharmacy council of that country, for example, all schools of pharmacy in Pakistan must be accredited with POP (pharmacy council of Pakistan). Similarly, each country has its national council that governs and issues the degree of pharmacists.
The duration and requirements of a PharmD degree vary from country to country according to the educational policies of that country and institute.
In some countries, PharmD requires a bachelor degree or pre-pharmacy degree while some country offers bachelor and doctorate degree in a single degree program.
More advanced countries like USA and Australia offer a dual degree program that combines PharmD with MBA and the duration of this degree program lies between 7 to 8 years.
What is Rph tittle?
Registered pharmacists or Rph title is a title that is awarded to pharmacists when he is being registered by the national pharmacy council of his county and gets his license.
This title is authentic and valid evidence for a pharmacist that now his name and qualifications are being registered at a national level. Well, this Rph title is only specific to that country. It does not allow pharmacists to practice in any other country.
For example, if an individual is completing his PharmD degree from Pakistan and gets registered as a pharmacist in by pharmacy council of Pakistan and wants to practice in countries like Australia and Canada, so he cannot start his practice there until and unless he passes the exam of that country and gets registered as a pharmacist in the country where he wants to start his career.
This Rph title allows the pharmacist to practice his profession only in one country. It does not govern any pharmacist this authority that he registers himself as a pharmacist in Pakistan and starts practicing in Australia without getting a valid license.
Why Rph Title is necessary?
Rph title is necessary to stabilize your PharmD degree as pharmacy is such a field that has no finish line. The study of medicines continues its journey without any full stop. Many medicines are already registered by FDA but are still under research to enhance their therapeutic effects.
Likewise, a PharmD degree is not an endpoint in the field of pharmacy. So Rph title is essential to increase the worth of your degree.
It is also worth noting that being a pharmacist you still have certain limits and legal issues. There is a lot of tasks that cannot be performed by a PharmD degree holder so it requires an Rph title. Rph is not a title to be added with your name on resumes but a key that can unlock the gate of future opportunities for you.
PharmD vs Rph: Professional facts and realities
Here we are finally going to discriminate these two on behalf of professional skills & opportunities. A PharmD degree allows an individual to serve the field of pharmacy whereas an Rph title allows an individual to practice pharmacy. Serving a field & practicing is not the same thing.
Serving a field means you have an indirect role like pharmacist teaching in academia has an indirect role in the field of pharmacy. His name will be mentioned serving the field of pharmacy. In some cases pharmacists get engaged in the pharmaceutical industry, it is known to serve his profession.
Practicing a field means direct contact with your fields like a clinical pharmacist or community pharmacist who have direct contact with the patient and engages in medicine prescription and dose management. Now the two points are clear that:
- PharmD degree enables an individual to serve the field of medicine by engaging with pharma industry or academics.
- Rph title enables the pharmacist to practice medicines within a community and hospital setups by utilizing his medicinal knowledge for patients’ safety and health.
A pharmacist cannot build his own community pharmacy setup without getting registered and without the title of Rph. A PharmD degree is not enough to own a community pharmacy. Likewise in clinical and hospital pharmacy setups, the RPH title is mandatory for pharmacists.
Duties of Registered pharmacist with Rph tittle
Registered pharmacists can do each and every job that a pharmacist can. Registered pharmacists have more extensions in jobs and career opportunities as compared to non-registered pharmacists.
Rph title is just like a key that opens some more additional doors of opportunities to a registered pharmacist that unregistered pharmacists cannot, that is:
- A registered pharmacist with RPh title can have his own community pharmacy by the help of his license, but an unregistered pharmacist cannot own a pharmacy, He just works there as a community pharmacist.
- A registered pharmacist with RPh title can apply for government jobs like drug inspectors etc. This job cannot be performed by unregistered pharmacists.
Salary with Rph tittle
In the United States, the average salary for a certified pharmacy technician is $15.00 per hour, whereas for certified & registered pharmacists with Rph title this average salary becomes $57.00 per hour.
This average salary for registered pharmacy technicians with BS in pharmacy becomes $35,000 per year and for registered pharmacists, it becomes $110,000 annually.
Kindly note that all salary figures are on the basis of the records and data collected and maintained by employees in the previous 36 months to provide an idea about the salary and daily wages. This can differ according to the experience and policy of the country.
Before you leave!
After going through this article you will definitely be able to differentiate between a PharmD degree and an Rph title not only on the academic level but also on professional grounds.
PharmD’s degree together with the title of Rph becomes more worthy that will open the doors of opportunities in clinical and hospital pharmacy.
Even when you want to switch your career in another country so this registration from the pharmacy council of that particular country or state makes your PharmD degree legal and valid by providing you a license to continue your practice in a legal way.