Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Types of Degrees Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Doctor’s Degree	81
Master’s Degree	61
Bachelor’s Degree	17
Graduate Certificate	2

What Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Majors

Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• 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

Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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 Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry Major?

People with a medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry degree often go into the following careers:

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

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry?

Roughly 47% of the graduates are women, and 53% are men.

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	2
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	10
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. About 5.9% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry majors often go into careers with median salaries of $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 Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry

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

Find out what the typical degree level is for medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry careers below.

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 Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry Programs

In 2020-2021, 35 schools offered a medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry program of some type. 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	23	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	20	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry 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 Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Chemistry

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

Major	Number of Grads
Pharmacy	15,637
Pharmaceutical Sciences	2,139
Other Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	876
Pharmaceutics and Drug Design	503
Pharmacy Administration and Pharmacy Policy and Regulatory Affairs	240
Clinical and Industrial Drug Development	206
Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy	175
Pharmacoeconomics/Pharmaceutical Economics	175
Industrial and Physical Pharmacy and Cosmetic Sciences	152
Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management	97
Clinical, Hospital, and Managed Care Pharmacy	32

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.