Many of the posts on this site seem rather ignorant. I hear jealousy from nurses that likely have a MSN or are NPs (likely from online schools). I also hear a bit of angst from those that are likely PhDs. I hope that you realize that many physicians throughout the world hold MBBS degrees that are, in fact, 6 years as a total investment. Are all the physicians in the world that hold an MBBS an idiot because they went through only 6 years of post-secondary training? These arguments that are made in regards to whether a PharmD is a doctor or not are absurd. In fact, many commonly performed drug therapies are done because of the work produced by pharmacists (e.g., pre-op antibiotic prophylaxis, vancomycin dosing, c. diff therapeutics, arrangement of drugs in crash carts for codes, digoxin blood levels and dosing, etc.).
Most of the students that attend excellent pharmacy schools DO in fact have bachelors degrees BEFORE 4 years of professional school due to the stiff competition in being accepted into the professional programs. In addition, it is nearly impossible to assume a patient care role in pharmacy without post-doctoral residency training for 1-2 years and board certification from the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (which requires accredited residency training or many years of direct patient care to be eligible to take the exam.).
Another fun fact is that there ARE physicians and dentists in the United States that go to medical or dental school WITHOUT finishing a bachelors degree. Thus, these individuals have a 7-year professional degree. These individuals that only have 7 years of post-secondary training are surely idiots--right? In addition, medical schools (MD terminal degree) are promoting 3 year MD degrees to individuals that will go into family or internal medicine when finished with their professional degree. In fact, if a student was accepted into an accelerated MD program after 3 years of post-secondary training and then completed 3 years of medical school, this would equal 6 years total training.
There are many fallacies in academia. This would also include the many nurses that received there associates, bachelors, and/or master's degrees in nursing ONLINE. I imagine only the finest of training is obtained, especially physical assessment and drug administration, in such a "challenging academic environment". On the other hand, some nurses have obtained top notch training and are brilliant individuals with caring hearts. I applaud and greatly respect those nurses. However, some nurses are idiots with subpar training and have letters after their name that were bought from crappy schools only looking to make a big profit by churning out people who could buy their credentials.
I think that all of the professionals in healthcare should be proud of their own accomplishments, professions, and positions. Stop bashing others that may have a title that makes you feel inferior. If you want a doctorate degree, go back to school and get one. However, when you bash professionals like: Michael Ryback, PharmD, Joseph DiPiro, PharmD, Mary Anne Koda-Kimbal, PharmD, Marie Chisholm-Burns, PharmD, MPH, J. Russell May, PharmD, then you are nothing short of an idiot. If these individuals are not doctors, then no one can call themselves by that title. These individuals have produced massive amounts of meaningful healthcare research that nurses, MDs, and PhDs utilize every day in the U.S. and around the world. PharmDs have earned their title, and you will only be hearing that title and witnessing their expanding role more and more in the future.