July 21, 2006

A Clinical Look at Clinical Doctorates

By WILLIAM L. SILER and DIANE SMITH RANDOLPH

Universities complain about clinical doctorates, arguing that degrees like doctor of pharmacy represent little more than degree creep and are not equivalent to, say, the Ph.D. or M.D. But few institutions have done much more than complain, instead coming to rely on the revenues clinical programs bring them — especially given that many students in those programs pay tuition over a longer period than do students earning bachelor's or master's degrees in the same fields. And clinical