Degrees and Programs
The University offers the PharmD as the sole entry-level pharmacy practice degree. As described in the mission , this program emphasizes an integrated and problem-based approach to disease management as the core of the didactic, laboratory, and experiential program of study.
The capstone of the PharmD program is a series of seven six-week rotations known as the advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPE). Each APPE course requires between forty and fifty on-site, practitioner-faculty–supervised hours of internship experience a week for six weeks.
The college expects but cannot guarantee that experiential sites will include Austin/Temple/Waco, Dallas/Fort Worth (the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and other area health care facilities), El Paso (the University of Texas at El Paso and area health care facilities), Galveston/Houston (the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and other area health care facilities), the Rio Grande Valley (the University of Texas - Pan American and health care facilities primarily in Harlingen and McAllen), and San Antonio (the University of Texas Health Science Center and other area health care facilities). Students in the UT El Paso and UT Pan American cooperative programs and students assigned to San Antonio spend two years in these regions, while students assigned to other regions spend only the final year in the APPE region.
College of Pharmacy students who complete their experiential courses at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio are considered part of a joint PharmD degree program and receive a degree awarded jointly by the two institutions. The joint nature of this program is reflected on the student’s diploma. Students who complete the UT El Paso or UT Pan American cooperative program receive a diploma reflecting the cooperative nature of their programs of study.
In completing the Doctor of Pharmacy degree, students also fulfill the internship requirements of the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. The final year of APPE courses and several other practice-based experiential courses, beginning in the first professional year, make up the experiential program. The professional experience courses are currently approved by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy to meet its standards for completion of the professional internship licensure requirement. The board reassesses all programs annually.
The Minor
While a minor is not required as part of the PharmD degree program, the student may choose to complete additional coursework in a field outside of the College of Pharmacy. The minor consists of at least twelve semester hours of coursework in a single field of study or in closely related fields, including at least nine hours of upper-division work. The upper-division coursework must be completed in residence; coursework the student takes on a cooperative program campus in the third professional year may be counted. A course to be counted toward the minor may not be taken on the pass/fail basis, unless it is offered only on that basis. A course may not be counted both toward the minor and toward the 213 hours of work required for the PharmD degree.
Students are encouraged to use health-care–related courses to make up the minor; lists of such courses in a variety of fields are available in the Student Affairs Office. While the College of Pharmacy allows students to minor in any field in which the University offers a major, prerequisites and other enrollment restrictions may prevent the student from minoring in some fields. Before planning to take specific courses, the student should consult a pharmacy adviser and the department that offers the courses.
Written verification that a student completed the minor is available from the dean’s office.
Applicability of Certain Courses
Physical Activity Courses
Physical activity (PED) courses are offered by the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education. They may not be counted toward a degree in the College of Pharmacy. However, they are counted among courses for which the student is enrolled, and the grades are included in the University grade point average.
ROTC Courses
Courses in air force science, military science, and naval science may be substituted for a total of nine semester hours of nonpharmacy electives by students who complete the sixteen to twenty semester hours of required air force science, military science, or naval science coursework and accept a commission in one of the services. These courses may not be counted toward the professional elective requirement.
Correspondence and Extension Courses
Credit that a University student in residence earns simultaneously by correspondence or extension from the University or elsewhere or in residence at another school will not be counted toward a degree unless it is specifically approved in advance by the dean. No more than 30 percent of the semester hours required for any degree may be completed by correspondence, and no pharmacy courses taken by correspondence or extension may be counted toward a pharmacy degree.
Prescribed Work
Students who enter the Doctor of Pharmacy degree program must complete a minimum of 213 semester hours of coursework in the areas described below—the core curriculum, additional basic education requirements, professional electives, and preprofessional and professional coursework.
Core Curriculum
Each student must complete the University’s Core Curriculum . Because of the intensity and structure of the professional pharmacy curriculum, and because admission to the professional curriculum is highly competitive, the College of Pharmacy strongly recommends that students complete all of the core courses before they enter the college
The following core requirements are met by the preprofessional and professional coursework described below: English composition, mathematics, science and technology (parts I and II), and humanities. Students must complete additional coursework to meet the core requirements listed below; the courses in each core area are listed in Core Curriculum .
|
Courses |
Sem Hrs |
|
First-year signature course For students who enter the professional curriculum in fall 2010 or fall 2011, an approved course in the College of Natural Sciences will meet this requirement; students who enter the professional curriculum in fall 2012 or later must meet this requirement as directed by the School of Undergraduate Studies. |
3 |
|
American and Texas government |
6 |
|
American history |
6 |
|
Social and behavioral sciences |
3 |
|
Visual and performing arts |
3 |
|
Total 21 |
|
Transfer students who complete the core curriculum at another public Texas institution of higher education with core completion specified on their transcript and who are then admitted to the PharmD program are considered “core complete” by the University. Core curriculum requirements are waived for students admitted to the PharmD program who have previously earned a bachelor’s degree.
Additional Basic Education Requirements
All students must also earn the following skills and experiences flags: writing, quantitative reasoning, cultural diversity in the United States, ethics and leadership, and independent inquiry. See skills and experiences for more information; courses that carry these flags are identified in the Course Schedule, http://registrar.utexas.edu/schedules/ .
Students who enter the professional curriculum in fall 2012 or later must also earn a global cultures flag as directed by the School of Undergraduate Studies. The global cultures flag is not required of students who enter the professional curriculum in fall 2010 or fall 2011.
Flag requirements are waived for students admitted to the professional curriculum who have already earned a bachelor’s degree.
All students must complete the foreign language requirement before they enter the professional curriculum.
Professional Electives Course Requirement
The student must complete at least two professional elective courses, for a total of at least six semester hours, on the letter-grade basis. The student must take the courses used to fulfill the professional electives requirement after admission to the professional curriculum.