[6] The Millis Commission was tasked with examining the place of pharmacists in the American healthcare system, the state of professional pharmacy education at the time, and the prevalence of prescription drug misuse.

[7] The Millis Commission recommended "training skilled pharmacy practitioners in research to increase the number and variety of clinical pharmacists,"[8] who were "equally skilled and trained in a science and in pharmacy practice",[8] but did not go as far as to explicitly define the term "clinical pharmaceutical scientist" or its educational requirements.

Many major scientific discoveries in pharmacology were by pharmacists, acting as clinical pharmaceutical scientists (although not necessarily recognized by that term).

In his essay The Pharmaceutical Science in America, 1852–1902, John Parascandola writes: Unlike Europe, the United States has never produced practicing pharmacist-scientists of the caliber of Carl Scheele or Joseph Pierre Pelletier, who made important discoveries in the laboratories associated with their pharmacies.

[12] To achieve this expertise, clinical pharmaceutical scientists typically pursue education after their professional pharmacy degrees (in the United States, a PharmD is generally a prerequisite).

[13] Postdoctoral programs tend to emphasize a specific area of pharmaceutical science for the scientist to specialize in, such as pharmacoepidemiology or pharmacogenetics.

[14] As one candidate wrote in Pharmacy Times, the duration of combined PharmD-PhD programs can vary, usually lasting 7–8 years in total.

[15] According to Robert Powell, PharmD, of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (a division of the FDA), pharmacists may serve as principal investigators (PI's) on clinical trials for investigational new drug applications in the United States, provided that they meet the same requirements that every other PI must meet.

The goals of PhD programs are the same as fellowship training, though the added time provides an even greater depth in a research area of interest, in addition to supplemental didactic curriculum.

[citation needed] In the United States, clinical pharmaceutical scientists can work as researchers for governmental agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute of Health.

[25] This applies to both (non-academic affiliated) hospital and community/retail pharmacy practice, where time and funding constraints limit opportunities for individual research.