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PharmD / MPH

The PharmD/MPH is a collaborative program offered by the Touro College of Pharmacy in partnership with our sister school, the School of Health Sciences and Practice at New York Medical College. Earning both a PharmD and MPH degree gives you greater flexibility within the pharmacy job market, and the ability to pursue a career with a public health focus.

Pharmacists are in a position to significantly contribute to the public’s health through community engagement, health education and promotion, and public health advocacy. Our collaborative approach to the PharmD along with an MPH education will equip you with the essential population-based health management and public health problem-solving skills that are key to optimizing the healthcare system.

Whether you’re interested in public health and disease management, looking to expand your scope of practice, or better understand how pharmaceuticals impact community health, the combination of PharmD and MPH degrees can help you get there.

How Pharmacists Can Make an Impact in Public Health

Pharmacists engaged in public health play vital roles in multiple areas including:

  • Improvement of population health outcomes
  • Medication effectiveness and cost control
  • Disaster planning
  • Drug safety
  • Quality assurance
  • Public programs

Adding an MPH degree alongside your PharmD degree allows you to expand the scope of your clinical practice, including developing screening programs and integrating counseling services to increase early interventions in numerous chronic diseases states such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, obesity and hypertension.

The addition of an MPH degree is so flexible that it can be adapted to your passion and enhance a specific skill set to land you a more specialized job. Whether you choose to focus on one of the areas above, or follow a more traditional pharmacy practice, this program expands your possibilities in the field.

MPH-Generalist Degree

The CEPH-accredited MPH offered through the collaborative program is an MPH-Generalist degree.  The MPH-Generalist degree includes courses in health behavior and community health, evaluating public health programs, grant writing, biostatistics, epidemiology, and more.

Through your study, you will learn how the most serious health issues in our society, like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, have strong social and behavioral components. You will develop a deep understanding of how public health policies and interventions effect change and learn how to evaluate current health challenges through this lens. With this foundational knowledge, you will be prepared to develop public health strategies that will promote health and reduce the prevalence of illness in our communities. Here are a few of the specific skills you’ll develop in the program:

  • You will learn how to use initiatives like health education, intervention programs and community needs assessments to influence behavior change
  • You will develop the ability to research and analyze the effects of behavioral, social, and cultural influences on individual and community health
  • You will learn how to lead public health projects and research studies while also being sensitive to cultural factors and following ethical considerations

An MPH-Generalist degree can lead to numerous careers including health educator, program coordinator or program evaluator/researcher in settings like public health agencies and advocacy organizations.

How the PharmD / MPH Program Works

The MPH courses are offered online.  A total of 21 PharmD credits count towards the MPH degree, either as transferred credits from the PharmD curriculum or as PharmD courses that cross-listed with MPH courses, and the additional 21 credits of required coursework can be taken simultaneously with the PharmD curriculum starting in the summer session of your first year (four-year accelerated track) or completed within a year of finishing the PharmD requirements (traditional five-year track). Each school–Touro College of Pharmacy for the PharmD and New York Medical College for the MPH–will grant their respective degrees upon completion of the respective program.

Earn Both Degrees in Five Years

In the traditional track, you can complete the PharmD and MPH coursework in five years, saving yourself one year of study.

In this option, you will first complete the PharmD program before starting the MPH program and can complete both degrees in 5 years. You will begin the MPH program in the summer immediately following your June graduation from the PharmD program and can complete the MPH by June of the following year.

If you choose this option and are eligible for financial aid, you are able to receive aid for all courses taken toward both degrees as long as all other financial aid eligibility requirements are maintained (such as satisfactory academic progress). As a TCOP student or graduate, you are eligible for a 30% tuition discount for courses taken while enrolled at NYMC for the MPH.

Earn Both Degrees in Four Years

In the fast track, you can complete the PharmD and MPH coursework simultaneously, in four years, saving two years of study. MPH courses start in the summer session of your first year in the PharmD program.

Since financial aid regulations stipulate that aid may be applied to only one program of study during a given period of time, for the terms that you are simultaneously enrolled in courses in both programs you would only receive financial aid, if you are eligible, for courses in one of the programs.

As a PharmD student receiving financial aid while pursuing the four-year PharmD/MPH, you would likely choose the PharmD as your primary program for which you would receive aid, as in most cases the number of credits of PharmD courses in which you are enrolled would exceed the number of credits of MPH courses in which you are enrolled. That means you will need to pay the tuition and fees for most MPH courses on your own (without financial aid). As a TCOP student or graduate, you are eligible for a 30% tuition discount for courses taken while enrolled at NYMC for the MPH.

If you are unable to complete the requirements for both degrees within the four-year time frame it will delay the awarding of your degrees. The degrees would be awarded after the completion of requirements for each, however, the PharmD degree must be completed and awarded either simultaneously with the MPH degree or prior to the MPH degree. The MPH degree will not be awarded prior to the PharmD degree.

Tuition Projection for PharmD/MPH Collaborative Program

  • MPH-Generalist degree is 42 credits
  • Academic year 2023/2024 cost per MPH course per credit is $1,255
  • Typical total tuition for MPH-Generalist Degree is $52,710 
  • PharmD courses applied to MPH are 21 credits
  • Remaining MPH course credits needed to complete the MPH for TCOP PharmD students are 21 credits
  • Usual cost of 21 credits for NYMC MPH courses is $26,355
  • Value of PharmD/MPH students discount (30% discount) is $7,961
  • MPH tuition for PharmD Students enrolled in PharmD/MPH Collaborative program is projected $18,448.50

See the NYMC MPH degree tuition for more details.

NOTE: Additional fees such as entrance fees may apply.  No discount is applied to PharmD tuition.

Once you are admitted to TCOP, let TCOP know your interest in the MPH program after admission or within the first year of the PharmD. You will apply to the MPH program through TCOP. Decisions for admission will be in the spring of your P1 year.

Contact

Touro College of Pharmacy:
Batoul Senhaji-Tomza, PharmD, MPH
Founding Director, PharmD/MPH Collaborative Program
Associate Dean of Curriculum and Associate Professor
Touro College of Pharmacy
Batoul.Senhaji-Tomza@touro.edu

New York Medical College:
Kenneth A. Knapp, PhD
Chair Department of Public Health
and Director, DrPH Program
School of Health Sciences & Practice
Kenneth_Knapp@NYMC.edu
Shsp_admissions@nymc.edu
(914) 594-4510 or (914) 594-2043