Pharmacy School To Offer New Professional Degree

As pharmacists play an increasingly important role on the health care team, pharmacy schools are redesigning their curricula to prepare them for the growing responsibility. Beginning next fall, the UW School of Pharmacy will train pharmacists by means of a new professional degree, the Doctor of Pharmacy, or Pharm. D.

Replacing a five-year bachelor of science degree program, the four-year School of Pharmacy professional degree program begins after students complete two years of college-level science and liberal arts courses.

“Pharmacists today are responsible for much more than compounding and dispensing drugs,” says Melvin Weinswig, dean of the school. “They help members of the health care team choose appropriate drugs, monitor medications’ effects and communicate extensively with patients.”

The UW School of Pharmacy switch to the professional degree has been a two-year process involving some 100 faculty members, students and staff. In the preparatory portion of the new curriculum, students must complete courses in various sciences, mathematics, communications, social sciences, behavioral science and economics. Additional courses in history, humanities and ethnic studies are required during the professional phase of the program.

The four-year professional curriculum includes a balance of courses reflecting the variety pharmacists may encounter in their careers. Topics studied range from the basic sciences to drug action and delivery systems, from quality assurance to pharmacist-patient communication.

Students spend the bulk of their last year in clerkships and rotations in clinical settings. This gives them intensive, firsthand experience in hospitals, clinics, and chain and community pharmacies, says Weinswig.

“An important goal of the new curriculum is to ensure that pharmacists make direct contact with patients, informing them about appropriate use of medications,” he says. “With the growing numbers of drugs to chose from, physicians are also relying more heavily on pharmacists to help select the right medication for their patients.”