Overview
The Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree is awarded after successful completion of four years of didactic and experiential professional study. Two years (62 semester credits) of prepharmacy education is required for admission, followed by four years of professional studies.
The professional curriculum is designed such that courses integrate information, building upon one another, and encompass both didactic and experiential learning. An integrated course model is used to provide the foundations of drug actions. In this model, physiology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacology are integrated to allow the student to see a broad view of how the physiochemical properties of medications interact with human physiology and apply to different disease conditions.
The courses are taught by organ systems (i.e., cardiovascular, neurological, renal, etc.). Medications and human physiology pertinent to each system are team-taught by faculty in their respective areas of expertise. Starting in the second year, integrated courses are used to provide the foundations of the application of drug therapy to disease. Also taught by system (i.e., cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, etc.), the pathophysiology and application of drug therapy is team-taught by faculty in their respective areas of expertise.
Throughout the first three years of the curriculum professional courses are offered that are intended to provide the student with an opportunity to integrate and apply information, and to work in small interprofessional teams to complete projects and assignments, develop critical thinking skills, and foster collaboration. These courses will provide early laboratory work in compounding and an opportunity for further development of both verbal and written skills.
The curriculum also provides students with a broad range of introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences over the final three years of the professional curriculum. These experiences are student-centered, activity-based, and outcome-oriented, and they are designed to develop attitudes, values, and skills that foster the effective delivery of patient-centered and team-based pharmaceutical care.