• Overview
• Course of Study
• Course Descriptions
  • First Year
  • Second Year
  • Third Year
• Professional Electives

Curriculum Overview

The Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree is awarded after successful completion of four years of professional study. Two years (64 semester hours) of pre-professional education is required for admission, followed by four years of professional studies.

The curriculum is designed such that courses integrate information, building upon one another, and encompass didactic, laboratory, and experiential learning. An integrated course model will be used to provide the foundations of drug action. In this course, physiology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacology are integrated to allow the student to see a broad view of how the physiochemical properties of drugs interact with human physiology. The course will be taught by pharmacological class (i.e. drugs acting on the nervous system, etc.). Medications and human physiology pertinent to each system will be team-taught by faculty in their respective areas. Starting in the second year, an integrated course will be used to provide the foundations of the application of drug therapy to disease. Also taught by system (i.e. cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, etc.), the pathophysiology and application of drug therapy will be team-taught by faculty in their respective areas.

Running throughout the first three years of the curriculum will be professional courses intended to provide the student an opportunity to integrate and apply information, to work in small groups to complete projects and assignments, and to help develop critical thinking and foster collaboration. These courses will also provide early laboratory work in dispensing and an opportunity for further development of both verbal and written skills. The curriculum also provides students a broad range of early, intermediate, and advanced pharmacy practice experiences over the four years of the professional curriculum. These experiences will provide students with student-centered, activity-based, outcome-oriented experiences that are designed to develop attitudes, values, and skills that foster the effective delivery of pharmaceutical care.