Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Doctor’s Degree	99
Master’s Degree	63
Bachelor’s Degree	24
Graduate Certificate	1

What Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills for Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Majors

medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry student include the following:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Can You Do With a Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Pharmacists	5.6%	$126,120

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

The major attracts more women than men. About 63% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	9
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	12
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry is $123,670. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some degrees associated with medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	9.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	11.3%
Master’s Degree	3.7%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.3%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	37.5%
Doctoral Degree	36.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.6%

Online Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	3	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	25	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	21	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry grad is $123,670 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 210% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,675,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry.

Major	Number of Grads
Pharmacy	14,811
Pharmaceutical Sciences	1,798
Other Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	911
Pharmaceutics and Drug Design	542
Pharmacy Administration and Pharmacy Policy and Regulatory Affairs	266
Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy	250
Clinical and Industrial Drug Development	216
Industrial and Physical Pharmacy and Cosmetic Sciences	199
Pharmacoeconomics/Pharmaceutical Economics	138
Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management	58
Clinical, Hospital, and Managed Care Pharmacy	24

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By {} under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.