Last Updated on July 28, 2023
In pharmaceutical management degree programs, students follow a dual track of studies in medical science and business practices. Graduate degrees use classroom instruction, seminars and case studies to teach students about general business principles, business practices specific to the pharmaceutical industry and the emerging technologies driving the industry.
The bachelor’s degree requires a high school diploma or GED. The master’s degree requires a bachelor’s degree in a related field. Students may have to complete a comprehensive internship as part of the program. In this post you will find out more about Masters In Pharmaceutical Management Canada, mba healthcare management Canada online, post graduate diploma in pharmaceutical management in Canada, and pharmaceutical management courses in canada.
Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Management
Students learn basic business practices and fundamentals of biology and pharmacology while gaining skills in communication and resource management. Read further to find out about pharmaceutical management courses in Canada.
A bachelor’s degree program in pharmaceutical management will also include liberal arts courses that fulfill a general education requirement. Common core classes found in such a program include the following:
- Microbiology
- Anatomy and physiology
- Pharmacology
- Healthcare economics
- Regulation and business law
- Medical sales and marketing
Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Management
Master’s-level pharmaceutical management degree programs often have close partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry, enabling them to feature top pharmaceutical executives and federal authorities as guest lecturers. You will also learn about mba healthcare management Canada online in this post.
There will be some overlap in subject matter covered by a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree program in pharmaceutical management. Master’s programs will, however, replace general education courses with courses that are more intensely business focused, such as the following:
- Organizational behavior and structure
- Research and development management
- Production and quality control
- Information systems and technology management
- Pharmaceutical marketing and sales
Popular Career Options
Pharmaceutical management degree-holders may find positions in pharmaceutical sales, quality control management, health care market research and consulting. A number of entry-level opportunities may be available to graduates of such a program, including the following:
- Pharmaceutical sales
- Health information manager
- Pharmaceutical distributor
Pharmaceutical management program graduates will be prepared for roles in both and management and research. Some common job titles in the industry include the following:
- Quality control management
- Health market research
- Clinical trials management
- Consulting
Continuing Education Information
Since there are more master’s degree programs than bachelor’s degree programs in pharmaceutical management, students who want to become administrators, managers or consultants in the medical industry should consider pursuing the higher degree.
Students who want to work in a pharmacy but want to do administrative work can earn either a graduate or undergraduate degree in pharmaceutical management. Material is taught to students through classroom instruction and case studies.
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It’s no secret that for most, career progression is the main goal for completing an MBA. Post-MBA salaries are usually much higher, plus the skills gained on an MBA course (such as leadership, financial literacy and business acumen) are invaluable.
Pharmaceuticals or healthcare MBA specializations aren’t as common as other tracks, but an MBA with this concentration can be a fantastic way to boost your job prospects in a competitive (and booming) industry. Whether you’re a scientist or a marketeer, an MBA can turn you into a senior manager, or even a c-suite executive.
Read on to discover what an MBA specializing in pharmaceuticals involves, what it can do for your career, and the best companies recruiting MBA grads in the industry.
Pharmaceutical MBA lowdown
Although MBAs specializing in pharmaceuticals or healthcare aren’t as widely offered as other subjects such as finance, a number of top business schools do offer this concentration, including Saïd Business School, Harvard Business School and Rotman School of Management.
Along with core MBA modules and electives, students will study courses such as:
- Innovation in healthcare
- Technology, AI and healthcare
- Negotiation in healthcare and pharmaceuticals
- Ethics in healthcare
- Data analytics in healthcare
- Strategic leadership in pharmaceuticals
Benefits of an MBA specializing in pharma
Many people who work in the pharmaceutical industry have science degrees but might need that extra business knowledge achieved through an MBA to get you to the upper echelons of their company.
One of the most significant benefits of an MBA for healthcare and pharma professionals is the financial knowledge gained. With high profit margins and tightly controlled budgets, good fiscal knowledge is essential for senior roles.
The pharma and healthcare industries rely on cross-company collaboration and having an MBA can help you understand the company matrix better and enable you to facilitate interactions between teams. An MBA will focus on developing leadership and communication skills, plus innovative tactics and methodology for solving complex problems creatively.
MBA alumni in the pharmaceutical industry enjoy high salaries. According to data from MBA.com, mid-level positions in the pharma industry for MBA alumni have an impressive median salary of US$105,000, increasing to US$195,000 for c-suite positions.
Job opportunities
The importance of the pharma industry will never falter, as humans will always be prone to illness and disease, particularly with the increasing aging population worldwide. Therefore, jobs will be available in the industry for the foreseeable future.
There are a range of roles in the pharma and healthcare industries, ranging from the more technical work in labs to quality control, regulatory affairs, operations, marketing, and more. Senior job titles include:
- Senior project manager
- Regional healthcare manager
- Senior consultant
- Director of regulatory affairs
- Statistics director
- Senior quality control analyst
- Drug development director
What are pharma companies looking for?
Whilst an MBA isn’t essential for career progression in pharma in the way it is in consulting, for example, it marks you out as a cut above the rest, plus senior management are often expected to have higher-level qualifications such as a masters or a doctorate. For those already working in the pharmaceutical industry, an MBA can diversify your skill set.
An important part of any pharmaceutical company is innovation, and those with MBAs could find themselves in an advisory role for the company. This could involve minor changes such as software implementation or a major restructuring of the whole company.
Whilst you will obviously need more technical skills to be involved in the R&D and production of pharmaceuticals, there are skills that companies will be looking for in management that an MBA can really help with. These include:
- Time management
- Leadership skills
- Creative thinking
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Market knowledge
Recruiters
Recruiters emphasize that an MBA’s ability to handle uncertainty is part of why they are so valuable to the pharma industry. “[MBA’s] are champions for change,” says Stephanie Weisenberger, former Assistant Director of Talent Acquisition at Astellas Pharma US, Inc. “They can deal with ambiguity, and there’s lots of that going on in our industry.”
Popular recruiters in the pharmaceutical industry include:
- Eli Lilly
- Pfizer
- Bristol-Meyers Squibb
- Novartis
- GlaxoSmithKline Plc
- Sanofi
- Bayer AG
- Merck & Co Inc
- Johnson & Johnson
The final word
Although an MBA may not be essential for a career in the pharmaceutical or healthcare industries, the skills learnt can make your career progress at rocket speed into senior roles. Students who pursue a concentration in pharma and healthcare can enjoy healthy starting salaries and gain invaluable skills to become the best managers they can be.
