In Switzerland a pharmacist completes a 5 year academic education at
the University with the academic title of "Eidgenoessisch Diplomierter
Apotheker".
What is the corresponding title in the US? Is it Pharm.D.? is it M.S.?
or something else? I need to know what to use in my resume / C.V.,
therefore, please provide some documentation of evidence (source?)
with the answer, or some links where i may find that documentation.
Thank you for your help. Martin

Dear luegli,

Research on this topic was anything but easy since direct a comparison
between Swiss and American academic degrees seems not to exist
anywhere. So I had to use the very similar German academic
qualification as Apotheker for this purpose, but I assume that this
should do.

Generally speaking: The equivalent of the academically educated and
approbated Apotheker is the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D), which takes
six years of studies.

Two articles in the Pharmazeutische Zeitung describe how the Pharm.D
degree is gained in the USA. The description shows that the studies
and in particular the qualification gained with the degree are
comparable:

"Während der PharmD-Abschluß für pharmakotherapeutisch ausgerichtete
Tätigkeiten im Krankenhaus, in der öffentlichen Apotheke und in der
Industrie qualifiziert..."

Translation:
"While the PharmD degree qualifies for pharmacotherapeutically
oriented functions in hospitals, in public pharmacies and in the
industry..."

See:

Pharmazeutische Zeitung: Erfahrungen vom Aufbaustudium in Cincinnati
http://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/pza/1999-48/titel.htm

Pharmazeutische Zeitung: Studieren und promovieren jenseits des großen Teichs
http://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/pza/1998-21/titel.htm

Since the United States and Switzerland have different academic
structures, there can be no full analogy between the Apotheker and the
Pharm.D degrees. But the Doctor of Pharmacy is the only academic
degree that fulfills a function comparable with the Apotheker. So you
should use Pharm.D - with a brief reference to your original Swiss
degree - to make clear what your academic qualification is.

To see the obvious analogies between the (alas, German) Apotheker and
the Pharm.D, you may also want to have a look at this comparison chart
from a former private website (unfortunately only available as a
cached version):
://www.google.de/search?q=cache:Cq_jJvmWnusJ:www.j-albers.de/pharm.htm+%22doctor+of+pharmacy%22+apotheker&hl=de

Though I could only refer to the German Apotheker degree, I
nevertheless hope that the similarities are adequate for you to
justify an equation of the Apotheker and the Pharm.D in your CV.


Search terms used:
"pharm.d" apotheker
://www.google.de/search?q=%22pharm.d%22+apotheker&btnG=Suche&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1
"pharm d" pharmazeut
://www.google.de/search?q=%22pharm+d%22+pharmazeut&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&filter=0
"doctor of pharmacy" apotheker
://www.google.de/search?q=%22doctor+of+pharmacy%22+apotheker&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=0&sa=N
"pharmd" apotheker
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22pharmd%22+apotheker&btnG=Suche&meta=

Hope this helps!
Schöne Grüße,
Scriptor

Dear Scriptor,
Thank you very much, I am very happy with your answer, sure, the Swiss
and the German Apotheker are comparable, so I got what i was looking
for. I am impressed how well and how quickly you answered my question!