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About the PharmD + MAI Degree Pathway

Why Pursue a PharmD and MAI at Cedarville?

Are you a PharmD student passionate about advancing healthcare through creative solutions and strategic leadership? Cedarville’s innovative PharmD + MAI degree pathway will equip you to think creatively, solve complex problems, and drive meaningful change — all while practicing pharmacy with excellence and integrity.

Through a collaboration between Cedarville’s School of Pharmacy and the Robert W. Plaster School of Business, this unique pathway allows you to earn a Master of Arts in Innovation (MAI) alongside your Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD). The two programs are designed to work together — one PharmD course counts toward MAI requirements, and MAI courses can be used to fulfill the eight PharmD elective credits — helping you complete both degrees more efficiently.

You’ll explore topics like design thinking, systems improvement, and organizational strategy — all from a distinctly biblical worldview — preparing you to lead in clinical, administrative, or entrepreneurial pharmacy settings.

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What Sets Cedarville Apart?

  • Distinct Mission

    Cedarville prepares competent professionals who bring a compassionate, biblical perspective to their profession.
  • Critical Need

    Career demand and the expanding role of pharmacists in healthcare leads to a rewarding career of serving patients.
  • Proven Results

    Our graduates exceed national averages for pharmacy licensing test pass rate and being placed in residencies.

Program Overview

PharmD + MAI Highlights

Biblical — Cedarville’s commitment to the authority of Scripture shapes every aspect of the PharmD + MAI degree pathway. You’ll explore innovation and healthcare leadership through a biblical lens, applying principles of stewardship, creative design, and servant leadership to real-world challenges.

Distinctive Skillset — By earning both a PharmD and an MAI, you’ll graduate with a powerful combination of clinical expertise and innovation acumen — equipping you to lead transformation in pharmacy practice, healthcare systems, public health, and beyond.

Streamlined Efficiency — The PharmD + MAI degree pathway blends your pharmacy training with specialized innovation coursework. Ïã½¶Ö±²¥PharmD courses will meet select requirements for the MAI, streamlining your academic experience while maximizing efficiency.

Flexible, Online MAI — MAI courses are delivered fully online in seven-week terms. You’ll complete your innovation training alongside your pharmacy studies and finish the MAI coursework after your PharmD, with the flexibility to balance academic and professional goals.

What Can You Do With a PharmD + MAI?

With a PharmD + MAI, you’ll be uniquely prepared to lead innovation in diverse pharmacy and healthcare settings. Career pathways may include:

  • Clinical Systems Improvement
  • Healthcare Innovation Strategy
  • Public Health Program Design
  • Pharmacy Operations Transformation
  • Nonprofit and Missional Healthcare Leadership
  • Entrepreneurship in Health Technology or Wellness

Opportunities to Learn Outside the Classroom

Experiential Learning — As a PharmD student, you’ll become a licensed intern in Ohio during your first professional year (with the option to pursue licensure in other states). You’ll engage in hands-on training in hospitals, health systems, and community pharmacies throughout your program.

Innovation Projects — In your MAI coursework, you’ll identify a real-world healthcare challenge and develop a strategic innovation solution — applying your learning to an area of professional passion or ministry calling.

Professional Organizations — Engage in pharmacy and innovation-focused student organizations and take on leadership roles at the state or national level.

Research — Collaborate with faculty mentors on pharmacy or healthcare innovation research to contribute to the advancement of patient care.

Outreach — Join medical mission trips or serve in local clinics that support underserved communities, putting your faith and innovative mindset into action.

Admission, Costs and Aid, Start Dates

Admission Requirements

Begin your journey by applying to the PharmD program through PharmCAS.

You’ll typically apply to the MAI during the spring semester of your P1 year and begin MAI coursework in your second professional year.

PharmD Admission Requirements MAI Admission Requirements
Costs and Financial Aid

Cedarville’s graduate programs are competitively priced to provide excellent value. Financial aid options are available to help make your graduate education affordable.

PharmD Cost Information MAI Cost Information
Program Start Dates

The residential PharmD program begins in August each year. 

The online MAI offers flexible start dates in August, October, January, March, May, and July. 

Most PharmD + MAI students begin their MAI coursework in the summer following their P1 year.

Program Curriculum

The PharmD curriculum is a four-year professional program built on a modular structure that integrates contemporary topics, extensive practical experience, and close faculty mentoring.

The online MAI adds a focused curriculum in innovation, design thinking, and systems improvement — including a healthcare-specific concentration option.

Thanks to built-in overlap between the two programs, students can complete both degrees more efficiently:

  • One of three PharmD courses can be substituted for an MAI requirement, depending on the track you choose:
    • PHAR 7353 – Leadership & Business may substitute for MGMT 6720 – Applied Leadership (Business Innovation)
    • PHAR 6123 – Healthcare Ethics & Worldview may substitute for HLCA 6700 – Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare Systems (Healthcare Innovation)
    • PHAR 6111 – Research Design and Methodology may substitute for BUS 6100 – Managerial Data Analysis (Business Analytics and Visualization)
  • Any MAI courses, regardless of track, may be used to fulfill up to eight elective credits within the PharmD curriculum.

These course substitutions reduce duplication, streamline your workload, and shorten the overall time needed to earn both degrees.

Program Format and Related Programs

Cedarville offers graduate and undergraduate programs with flexible completion options. You may also want to consider these related programs as you consider the degree or program that is the best fit for you.

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From Our Students:

Meet the PharmD Faculty

Program Contacts

Photo of Jeffrey A. Bates

Jeffrey A. Bates, PharmD, BS Pharm, FMPA

Dean and Professor of Pharmacy Practice
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John Delano, PhD

Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Robert W. Plaster School of Business; Professor of Information Technology Management
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Kelley Anderson

Graduate Enrollment Advisor for Business, Communication, and Innovation

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Cathey Kincade

Director of Pharmacy Admissions - Graduate School

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Program News