Dual PharmD/ MD

[Chaz1979]

I have a question. I’m currently working on starting my own pharmacy. I have been recently obsessed with getting MD degree to the extent of applying to some MD and DO schools even applied to some accredited medical schools in the Caribbean because they are cheaper. if accepted, I will put my pharmacy project on hold until I get the MD license. My idea is that pharmacists will never get provider status in the near future, so having MD license in addition to my current pharmacist license can be a huge asset when I open my pharmacy because I will be able to prescribe for my patients if needed and bill the patient’s health insurance in addition to billing for prescriptions. I’m not an idiot and of course won’t risk my practice by prescribing narcotics or doing shady things. But I’m afraid this might constitute a possible conflict of interest. Does anyone here know if this can be a conflict of interest? I’m guessing pharmacists were not granted provider status because legislators chose to err on the side of caution to avoid serious concerns about conflict of interest. If pharmacists become providers they might prescribe unnecessary medications or medications with higher profit margins or to get rid of dead inventory.

I’m not asking anyone to judge my decision to enroll in a medical school. I just need to know if it is against the law or code of ethics. Again, I will abide by my scoop of practice and will never abuse any privileges.

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[deleted480308]

I will offer that it's a horrible idea to go to the carribean from a risk/reward aspect

It is only slight less horrible of an idea to go through US med school and residency just to occasionally provide meds at a pharmacy

 

[Chaz1979]

I will offer that it's a horrible idea to go to the carribean from a risk/reward aspect

It is only slight less horrible of an idea to go through US med school and residency just to occasionally provide meds at a pharmacy

I understand. But my question was about whether there is a possible conflict of interest or possible legal or ethical issues . I will have a separate office in the pharmacy building to receive patients so I will run both practices simultaneously. Kinda like CVS minute clinic. Unless I get too many patients if I’m lucky as a doctor and at that point I can just hire another pharmacist to cover.

Also, some Caribbean schools are accredited and they offer rotations in the U.S. The only risk is not matched to a residency which really depends on USMLE scores rather than the school name. Tons of foreign doctors had no problem matching with a residency program. I just need the MD license and I honestly don’t care if I can get it for $1000 in North Korea.

 

[deleted480308]

I understand. But my question was about whether there is a possible conflict of interest or possible legal or ethical issues . I will have a separate office in the pharmacy building to receive patients so I will run both practices simultaneously. Kinda like CVS minute clinic. Unless I get too many patients if I’m lucky as a doctor and at that point I can just hire another pharmacist to cover.

Also, some Caribbean schools are accredited and they offer rotations in the U.S. The only risk is not matched to a residency which really depends on USMLE scores rather than the school name. Tons of foreign doctors had no problem matching with a residency program. I just need the MD license and I honestly don’t care if I can get it for $1000 in North Korea.

You exhibit a lack of knowledge on the topic regarding the accreditation and risks of not getting a US residency from a Caribbean school

 

[Goro]

I have a question. I’m currently working on starting my own pharmacy. I have been recently obsessed with getting MD degree to the extent of applying to some MD and DO schools even applied to some accredited medical schools in the Caribbean because they are cheaper. if accepted, I will put my pharmacy project on hold until I get the MD license. My idea is that pharmacists will never get provider status in the near future, so having MD license in addition to my current pharmacist license can be a huge asset when I open my pharmacy because I will be able to prescribe for my patients if needed and bill the patient’s health insurance in addition to billing for prescriptions. I’m not an idiot and of course won’t risk my practice by prescribing narcotics or doing shady things. But I’m afraid this might constitute a possible conflict of interest. Does anyone here know if this can be a conflict of interest? I’m guessing pharmacists were not granted provider status because legislators chose to err on the side of caution to avoid serious concerns about conflict of interest. If pharmacists become providers they might prescribe unnecessary medications or medications with higher profit margins or to get rid of dead inventory.

I’m not asking anyone to judge my decision to enroll in a medical school. I just need to know if it is against the law or code of ethics. Again, I will abide by my scoop of practice and will never abuse any privileges.

From everything you've written above, no med school in the US would accept you.

Your conflict of interest would raise a red flag visible from the moon.

 

[KidPharmD]

I would submit that you probably wouldn't be able to hold a license for both medicine and pharmacy. So you could hold both degrees but you wouldn't actually be a licensed physician and a licensed pharmacist.

This also doesn't seem to have anything to do with residencies/fellowships.

 

[BC_89]

This is not the subforum for such a topic. Moving thread to the pharmacy forum.

 

[Rouelle]

Well, there’s the Stark law.

 

[rxkrafted]

Most people who enter medical school don't go for the idea of pushing through their pharmacy business. Why not go to medical school, do well, and match in a specialty that you enjoy... It'll payoff better and will have more job security than your pharmacy business idea.

 

[steveysmith54]

Most people who enter medical school don't go for the idea of pushing through their pharmacy business. Why not go to medical school, do well, and match in a specialty that you enjoy... It'll payoff better and will have more job security than your pharmacy business idea.

I agree. Also, If you become a successful physician, you can make a lot more time seeing more patients rather than running a pharmacy and doing all the PIC responsibility.

I happen to know one PHARMd/MD, his RPh license inactive- he only practices medicine

 

[Mr. Corporate Pharmacist]

To answer your original question, I'll offer my speculation:

Regardless of legality, you'd be opening yourself up to a lot of unnecessary business risk.

Just like physicians who are legally allowed to prescribe medicine for themselves and their families.

It might be okay in the right circumstances, but do you want to be held liable when something goes wrong?

How do you prove that your medical judgement wasn't affected by your business interests?

If you want to get a cheap MD for the status or knowledge, kudos to you. No different than getting more certifications (just more school, and hey I can understand being the life-long student).

But pharmacy is already so expensive and risky as a business with diminishing returns. Good luck with your venture!

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[thecoolpharmboi]

I’m pretty sure it’s against the law to be the prescriber that will benefit financially from both medical and pharmacy side. “Self referral” I think it’s called.

 

[BidingMyTime]

In Il, as I understand it, doctors are allowed to dispense medicines and basically have in-house pharmacies, but they aren't allowed to make a profit, because of the conflict of interest. Few doctors do this option, and the ones who do, do so in rural areas, mostly for very common, limited use medicines (like antibiotics) and such.
What you are describing, a doctor prescribing for their for-profit pharmacy, just wouldn't be legal.
Either be a doctor or be a pharmacist, there isn't a way to do both professions at once.

 

[ewax]

I've done both. Trust me, after you become a physician there really is no reason (pay is better, hours in some fields much, much worse) to also practice as a pharmacist. If you're keen on opening a clinic w an in house pharmacy, it would be much more feasible to hire pharmacy staff for day to day stuff.

IMO, switching to medicine was probably the best professional decision I made, but it is definitely not an endeavor to pursue without doing your due diligence. You can't just graduate from medical school and expect to eventually be able to get a permanent license (need to complete at least an internship from an accredited residency). Good luck.

 

[DocFluffy]

"The physician self-referral laws (Stark Laws) (42 U.S.C. § 1395nn) are a set of United States federal civil laws that prohibit physician self-referral, specifically a referral by a physician of a Medicare or Medicaid patient to an entity providing designated health services (DHS) if the physician (or his/her immediate family member) has a financial relationship with that entity. Although the financial penalties may be even greater than with the AKS, these are non-criminal charges. Penalties for violations of Stark Law include denial of payment for the DHS provided, refund of monies received by physicians and facilities for amounts collected, payment of civil penalties of up to $15,000 for each service that a person "knows or should know" was provided in violation of the law, and three times the amount of improper payment the entity received from the Medicare program, exclusion from the Medicare program and/or state healthcare programs including Medicaid and payment of civil penalties for attempting to circumvent the law of up to $100,000 for each circumvention scheme."

Anti-kickback Statute and Physician Self-Referral Laws (Stark Laws)

www.asahq.org

Not too hard to do a quick google search to answer your question

 

[steveysmith54]

I've done both. Trust me, after you become a physician there really is no reason (pay is better, hours in some fields much, much worse) to also practice as a pharmacist. If you're keen on opening a clinic w an in house pharmacy, it would be much more feasible to hire pharmacy staff for day to day stuff.

IMO, switching to medicine was probably the best professional decision I made, but it is definitely not an endeavor to pursue without doing your due diligence. You can't just graduate from medical school and expect to eventually be able to get a permanent license (need to complete at least an internship from an accredited residency). Good luck.

thanks for the post. How old were you when you made the switch? What field did you go into? If you don’t mind sharing, what’s your salary now?

 

[alpha12]

LOL. That's like asking if you can be quarterback and a wide receiver at the same time.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

I have a question. I’m currently working on starting my own pharmacy. I have been recently obsessed with getting MD degree to the extent of applying to some MD and DO schools even applied to some accredited medical schools in the Caribbean because they are cheaper. if accepted, I will put my pharmacy project on hold until I get the MD license. My idea is that pharmacists will never get provider status in the near future, so having MD license in addition to my current pharmacist license can be a huge asset when I open my pharmacy because I will be able to prescribe for my patients if needed and bill the patient’s health insurance in addition to billing for prescriptions. I’m not an idiot and of course won’t risk my practice by prescribing narcotics or doing shady things. But I’m afraid this might constitute a possible conflict of interest. Does anyone here know if this can be a conflict of interest? I’m guessing pharmacists were not granted provider status because legislators chose to err on the side of caution to avoid serious concerns about conflict of interest. If pharmacists become providers they might prescribe unnecessary medications or medications with higher profit margins or to get rid of dead inventory.

I’m not asking anyone to judge my decision to enroll in a medical school. I just need to know if it is against the law or code of ethics. Again, I will abide by my scoop of practice and will never abuse any privileges.

Interesting plan friend. I hope it works out for you.