Elective offerings

The purpose of elective options is to provide pharmacy students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of pharmacy in areas not covered or covered in limited depth in required pharmacy courses. The PharmD elective offerings are designed to enable students to identify and strengthen areas of interest to better prepare them to meet their career objectives. 

All PharmD students must successfully complete a minimum of six credits of approved elective coursework, distributed over at least three separate courses, prior to the entry of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiential education. Coursework completed prior to entry into the PharmD program will not be accepted for elective credit.

Elective options include:

• Didactic coursework: Students choosing this track may opt for directed study or traditional coursework.
• Research Scholars program: This selective research-intensive concentration provides hands-on experience in applying contemporary scientific methodologies in research study design and modern analytic methods.
• Ambulatory Care Concentration: This selective clinical pharmacy-intensive concentration provides pharmacy students with a focused experience in ambulatory care.
• Business dual program: Students develop relevant business skills pertaining to operations in corporate, nonprofit and entrepreneurial settings, earning a Graduate Certificate in Business and about half the credits needed for an MBA.
• Public health dual program: Students learn to apply public health theory and practice in analyzing community health problems and health care delivery services, earning a Bridge Graduate Certificate in Public Health and credit toward the master of public health (MPH) degree.

In addition, a Bachelor of Health Sciences is available for students who wish to earn it along the way to their PharmD degree.

Timeline 

P1 year

• Jan. 31: Applications for Research Scholars are due.
• End of February: Students will be informed if they are accepted into the Research Scholars program.

P2 year

• Fall
  • Early in the semester, the available elective courses and directed studies will be distributed and an information session will be held to describe the process. Information will also be provided about the Graduate Certificate in Public Health and the Graduate Certificate in Business.
  • Advisor meetings must include discussion of elective choices.
  • Students participating in Study of Medicinal Plants and Culture in Amazonia will be required to submit their downpayment for the trip.
• Dec. 1: Application to Ambulatory Care Concentration and Graduate Certificate dual programs due.
• January-February:  Submission of application to attend the APhA Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependencies Course. Students will be notified of exact deadlines.
• First week of winter semester: Confirmation of Directed Study Participation.
• Second week of winter semester: Submission of elective choices via Qualtrics survey (link will be sent to students).
• March: Assigned elective courses will be made available to all students.