<p>I am in Pharmacological Chemistry major. many said it is for pre-med or pre-pharm. but i am more interested in the Chemistry part. Pharmaceutical investigation, or designing the chemical structure of drugs, etc. do i have the right major? or what's better for my goals?</p>
<p>It is the same as a B.S. in Chem/Biochem but replaces sum UD chem electives with a course in pharmacology and covers the pre-reqs for med/pharm d. school (1 year of general bio). Well that is what i get when i compare the two curriculum.</p>
<p>[UCSD</a> | Department of Chemistry&Biochemistry – Administration](<a href=“http://www-chem.ucsd.edu/academic/Ugrad/biochem.bs.pdf]UCSD”>http://www-chem.ucsd.edu/academic/Ugrad/biochem.bs.pdf)
[UCSD</a> | Department of Chemistry&Biochemistry – Administration](<a href=“http://www-chem.ucsd.edu/academic/Ugrad/pharmchem.bs.pdf]UCSD”>http://www-chem.ucsd.edu/academic/Ugrad/pharmchem.bs.pdf)</p>
<p>You will need a graduate degree to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical field. I would pursue any related degree as undergrad that will prepare you for graduate school like bio/biochem/chem/chem engineering. Pharmacological chemistry is fine to pursue for undergraduate (Covers most of the pre-reqs too). For grad school I would look into pharmacology, pharmaceutical sciences or PhD in pharmacy (different from doc of pharmacy) if you interested in a career in pharmaceutical research.</p>
<p>I know they are mostly the same. but biochem seems a little better and hotter, cause I would be ACS(american chemistry society) certificated if I was in biochem. And i will need additional courses to be ACS certificated since i m in Pharm Chem.</p>
<p>You don’t need a graduate degree to work in pharmaceutical research. In fact, most the work is performed by BS-holding scientists, whereas the majority of PhDs are resigned to desk duties (project designing and administrative nonsense). Graduate school is not there just so you can “get a better job” at the end – if anything, job prospects are better for those without the extra education. </p>
<p>“Pharmaceutical research” is also a big umbrella term, since lots of different fields are incorporated in the pipeline of drug discovery and development. You could be a clinician identifying interesting disease targets, a computer scientist modeling drug-enzyme interactions, an organic chemist synthesizing candidate compounds, or a structural biologist purifying proteins for crystallography. Lots of things to do. </p>
<p>And for what it’s worth, the ACS certification isn’t worth squat. You don’t get any kind of certificate/acknowledgment, it’s not printed on your transcript, and employers/grad school interviewers don’t care. First and foremost in importance is the quality of your research, then classes/teaching/grades come secondary to that.</p>