General Information
Accreditation
The College of Pharmacy has been a member of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy since 1927. The Doctor of Pharmacy degree program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE); ACPE does not accredit master’s and Ph.D. degrees in pharmacy.
Mission
The University offers a four year Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) as the sole entry-level, professional degree for the practice of pharmacy. Competitive admission to the program occurs after the completion of a series of required prepharmacy courses. This program offers a course of study in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, clinical, and social and behavioral sciences designed to provide the state and the nation with pharmacists who are scientifically educated and clinically competent to deliver a full spectrum of pharmaceutical services in all areas of practice. In meeting its teaching obligation, the college provides a curriculum and faculty that offer students an educational experience beyond training solely for the practice of pharmacy.
The profession of pharmacy has evolved from a role primarily in distribution of medication toward a patient-centered care model. The patient-centered care model is a process through which a pharmacist interacts with the patient and other health care professionals collaboratively in the collection, assessment, planning, implementation, and follow-up of a patient-specific therapeutic plan that will produce the desired therapeutic outcomes. To ensure that graduates have the necessary tools to practice in this complex, patient-centered environment, the pharmacy curriculum has evolved from traditional discipline-specific coursework to a discipline-integrated approach of disease state management and a case-based, team approach to the design of the patient-specific therapeutic plan that includes interprofessional collaborative practice.
The professional curriculum is designed to prepare pharmacy graduates to provide patient-centered pharmaceutical care in a contemporary interprofessional collaborative practice setting, whether a community pharmacy, an ambulatory clinic, a hospital, managed care, or a long-term care facility, as well as to work in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, the curriculum aims to inculcate an understanding of the basic sciences sufficient to prepare the student for graduate study in the pharmaceutical sciences or post Pharm.D. residency training. These objectives are pursued through a balanced program of study in pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, therapeutics, pharmacy administration, social and behavioral sciences, and the humanities, as well as a structured clinical and professional practice experiential program. The holder of a professional degree from The University of Texas at Austin has received an education and training as sophisticated as any available in the health professions.
The College of Pharmacy has conducted a joint Pharm.D. degree program with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio since 1974. Students who complete their P3 and P4 experiential courses at the Health Science Center are considered part of this program and receive a degree awarded jointly by the two institutions.
The college has educational affiliations with several other academic health institutions, health-systems, and pharmacy organizations through its five Texas regional internship areas - Austin/Temple/Waco, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston/Galveston, the Rio Grande Valley, and San Antonio.
The college seeks to encourage the belief that education is ongoing and lifelong and that all levels of professional education must form a continuum with professional practice and patient care. To meet this objective, the college provides postgraduate educational programs and develops innovative programs of training through continuing education for the roles pharmacists may be called on to fill as a result of changes in the patterns of delivery of pharmaceutical services.
In addition to the Pharm.D. degree, the University offers the Master of Science in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) with a major in the Pharmaceutical Sciences. The College of Pharmacy also participates in interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs in Cellular and Molecular Biology and in Neuroscience. In collaboration with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and The University of Texas at San Antonio, the College offers an interinstitutional Ph.D. program with a major in Translational Science. These programs are described in the Graduate Catalog.
History
For more than a century, the University’s College of Pharmacy has provided education and training for men and women as pharmacy practitioners, scientists, professional leaders, and responsible citizens. Eleven students constituted the first class when a school of pharmacy was created in the fall of 1893 at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. In 1927, the program was reorganized as the College of Pharmacy and moved to the Austin campus. The college shared quarters with other University programs until 1952, when the first pharmacy building was opened. Instruction now takes place in facilities designed for the pharmacy program and located near the center of the Austin campus, and on the campus of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
The first undergraduate program consisted of two sessions, each seven months in length. The current Pharm.D. degree program requires six years in pre-professional subjects, biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, and professional experience courses. Graduate study became available in 1948 with the institution of a Master of Science in Pharmacy degree program. Today programs are also available that lead to the Doctor of Philosophy in the pharmaceutical, administrative, and clinical sciences. More than 8,000 students have graduated from the programs offered by the college; many have achieved state, national, and international prominence in pharmacy or in related health fields.
Academic leadership for pharmaceutical education at the University has been provided by eleven prominent educators, beginning with James Kennedy of San Antonio, who was appointed as a pharmacy professor and director of the Galveston program in 1893. He was succeeded by R. R. D. Cline, who for almost thirty years guided pharmaceutical education in Texas. When the school was moved to Austin in 1927, W. F. Gidley was named the first dean of the college. In 1947, Henry M. Burlage succeeded Professor Gidley as dean. He was succeeded in 1962 by Lee F. Worrell, who served until 1966. Carl C. Albers was acting dean until Joseph B. Sprowls was appointed dean in 1967. William J. Sheffield became acting dean upon the death of Professor Sprowls in 1971. He was succeeded in 1973 by James T. Doluisio, who served the college for 25 years. Steven Leslie served as dean from 1998 until 2007, when M. Lynn Crismon assumed the leadership of the college.
University pharmacy students receive instruction in the basic biomedical sciences, the pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy administration, and pharmacy practice in state-of-the-art academic and health care facilities. Pharmacy interns expand their professional practice knowledge and skills at clinical education sites in the Austin/Temple/Waco area, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, the Texas Medical Center in Houston, and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Facilities
The Pharmacy Building
In addition to well-equipped classrooms, laboratories, and offices, the pharmacy building provides a learning resource center, a television production laboratory and classrooms, and pharmaceutical technology laboratories with facilities for product development, pilot manufacturing, sterile production and quality control, and stability testing. The University Health Services Pharmacy also serves as a teaching laboratory for second-year pharmacy students while providing comprehensive pharmaceutical services to the student community. Space assigned to the college in the Biomedical Engineering Building and the Dell Pediatric Research Institute expands pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutics research space.
Pharmacy Facilities in San Antonio
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has provided facilities for the education and training of pharmacy students, residents, and fellows since 1972. The McDermott Clinical Sciences Building on the Health Science Center campus, which houses the pharmacotherapy division of the college and the Pharmacotherapy Education and Research Center, provides a state-of-the-art distance education classroom, a student computer laboratory, research laboratories, and offices for faculty and staff members. The Division of Pharmacotherapy maintains a broad range of affiliation agreements with institutions in San Antonio that provide extensive training opportunities in a variety of practice settings. Research opportunities exist in the areas of infectious disease, oncology, anticoagulation, stroke prevention, and psychiatry.
Office of Pharmacy Continuing Education
As part of a state university, the College of Pharmacy recognizes obligations to the profession of pharmacy on a state, national, and international level. The college began providing continuing education to pharmacists in 1953 in cooperation with the University’s Division of Extension. Today, the college is an ACPE-approved provider of continuing pharmaceutical education. A primary goal of the Office of Pharmacy Continuing Education is to advance the pharmacist’s knowledge and provide the skills necessary to adapt to a changing practice. Toward this end, the office offers a variety of programs, including home-study courses, seminars, multiday conferences, and certificate programs addressing the most current practice issues. Programs are conducted both on and off campus and by correspondence and distance learning. Annually, the office provides about 350 contact hours of continuing education programming to more than 6,500 pharmacists across the United States.
Learning Resource Center
The college’s Learning Resource Center (LRC) offers a variety of instructional resources to students and faculty members. The LRC provides state-of-the-art digital video teleconferencing transmission of courses among the Austin campus, the Health Science Center at San Antonio, and other sites in the University of Texas System, so that faculty members can teach students at two or more locations simultaneously. Most courses are recorded and made available by video streaming. The LRC also operates the Delgado Library, a multipurpose, nontraditional facility with individual and small-group study spaces, and seminar rooms.
The staff of the LRC provides faculty members and students with computer hardware and software consulting as well as advice on the use of media in the classroom. Facilities and equipment are available for video and data projection. The College of Pharmacy’s website provides additional information and curriculum support for students and faculty members.
The electronic classrooms feature desktop computers with projection equipment and a full suite of software. The large distance-learning classroom supports notebook computer ports. Wireless high-speed Internet is available throughout the Pharmacy Building.
The goal of the Learning Resource Center is to provide the highest quality learning technology infrastructure and support services to students and faculty members.
Libraries
The Life Science Library supports the teaching and research missions of the College of Pharmacy by providing access to an extensive array of print and electronic information resources. The library maintains extensive holdings in pharmacology, pharmaceutics, pharmacy administration, and medicinal chemistry, with supporting materials in medicine and nutrition. Biochemistry and medicinal chemistry material is complemented by the collections of the Mallet Chemistry Library. Medical material is supplemented by additional material in nursing, pediatrics, and psychiatry at the Perry-Castañeda Library. Extensive collections in the social sciences and business provide additional support for the interdisciplinary interests of health outcomes and pharmacy practice. Current journal holdings are primarily online, while books are acquired in print or digitally as eBooks.
The online Clinical Information Center (ClinIC), sponsored by the Life Science Library, provides electronic access to the complete resources of a drug information center. The center gives users access to significant electronic resources such as Micromedex, Access Pharmacy, PharmacyLibrary, AHFS Drug Information, Clinical Pharmacology online, Drug Facts & Comparisons, LexiComp online, and the Cochrane Library of evidence-based reviews, in addition to databases such as Medline, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Web of Science, and SciFinder Scholar. These electronic resources are available for remote access through the University Libraries website, which offers a full range of databases, access to electronic journals, and links to other digital information sources. The libraries collaborate with the College of Pharmacy to select and integrate electronic resources into the pharmacy curriculum. Access to print information resources for students on rotation and at the College of Pharmacy Cooperative Program campus is provided through the University Libraries InterLibrary Services.
All units of the University Libraries offer reference service, circulation and reserve services, and interlibrary loan. Instruction in the use of information resources is provided in required pharmacy classes and by individual consultation.
Financial Assistance Available through the College
Students entering the first year of the professional curriculum may be eligible for certain college-based scholarships, and information is provided to students regarding these scholarships upon matriculation. Students who have completed the first year of the professional curriculum are eligible to apply for all scholarships and loans offered through the College of Pharmacy. Eligibility and application information is available at http://pharmacy.utexas.edu/students/financial-aid/ and in the Office of Student Affairs, Pharmacy Building 5.112.
Scholarship opportunities with the College of Pharmacy include Endowed Presidential Scholarships with a minimum of $2,500, and other endowed scholarships with a minimum of $1,500. Students must meet eligibility requirements, and in some cases additional criteria, to be awarded these scholarships. Additional college scholarships are funded by various pharmacy associations, individuals, employers, and organizations. These scholarships are awarded, as they become available, through The University of Texas College of Pharmacy at the direction of the college's Financial Aid Committee.
Loan Funds
The Klinck Family Loan Funds
These loan funds were established by the Klinck family of McAllen, Texas, to assist students in need of financial assistance. Emergency loans, for a maximum of $1000 are available; they normally are repayable within 90 days. Long-term loans of up to $2,500 are available to pharmacy students who demonstrate financial need. The interest rate for these loans is six percent. Repayment begins three months after the student's graduation from pharmacy school, or once the student is no longer enrolled in the pharmacy program. Students may apply for more than one loan, but except in unusual circumstances the loans will total no more than $5,000. Additional information is available in the Office of Student Affairs, Pharmacy Building 5.112.
Student Services
Academic Advising
Academic and career advising are ongoing activities of the Office of Student Affairs, Pharmacy Building 5.112. Because advising is not restricted to the time just before registration, all students are strongly encouraged to seek advice whenever they need it about degree requirements, the availability of course offerings each semester, and taking courses in proper sequence.
Advising for pre-pharmacy students at the University is provided by assigned academic advisers in their colleges and by the Health Professions Office in the College of Natural Sciences. University students interested in the profession of pharmacy should contact their office early in their college careers.
Pre-pharmacy students from outside the University should seek information from our College of Pharmacy website, from their institutional academic advisers or Health Professions Office, and from an admissions representative from the College of Pharmacy.
Career Services
The college provides career counseling to students in the professional sequence of courses. Throughout the year, staff is available in the Office of Student Affairs to assist students in examining the career options available to them upon graduation.
In addition, a systematic exploration of professional career options is conducted as part of the foundations for professional development series of courses. Guest lecturers include successful pharmacists representing a variety of pharmacy practice models, other health care and regulatory settings, and careers in professional organizations, education, research, and the pharmaceutical industry.
The College of Pharmacy, under the supervision of the assistant dean for student success, conducts a P4 senior interview day for graduating seniors. This event gives seniors an opportunity to interview for professional practice positions with major employers of pharmacists in Texas and throughout the nation. A workshop including mock interviews is conducted to prepare students for interviews and is held prior to the P4 senior interview day as a part of Senior Conference. A college-wide Career Day each fall, featuring major employers, allows students in all years of the curriculum to interact with numerous pharmacist employers and explore practice opportunities.
The college also facilitates interaction between employers and professional students interested in obtaining competitive internships. More information on this process is provided to all students during the first professional year.
A limited number of competitive internships both in and outside of Texas are available by application only. Information is available in the Office of Student Affairs, Pharmacy Building 5.112; from individual faculty members; and via the student's own internship search.
As a complement to the assistance available from the college, the University's Vick Center for Strategic Advising and Career Counseling in the School of Undergraduate Studies provides comprehensive career services to all students. The center offers professional assistance to students in choosing or changing their majors or careers, seeking an internship, and planning for a job search or graduate study.
The University makes no promise to secure employment for each graduate.
Student Organizations
American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS)
The University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter of AAPS was initiated in 2003 with the primary goal of increasing awareness of educational and career opportunities in the pharmaceutical sciences among The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy students. The organization fosters participation at the national AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition.
American Pharmaceutical Association Academy of Students of Pharmacy (UT-APhA-ASP)
In December, 1951, the Longhorn Pharmaceutical Association was organized as an association jointly representing the student branches of the American Pharmaceutical Association and the Texas Pharmaceutical Association. Renamed in 1998, the association sponsors service projects and social events and serves to develop professionalism in pharmacy students.
Asian Pharmacy Students Association (APSA)
The mission of the Asian Pharmacy Students Association, established at the University in 1999, is to promote unity among pharmacy students who have common interests, values, and backgrounds, in order to help them achieve educational, professional, and personal excellence.
Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International (CPFI)
This group seeks to identify and enroll all Christian pharmacists, wherever they practice, and to assist them in creating opportunities for fellowship. CPFI is the first international organization of evangelical Christian pharmacists established with a focus on integrating the spiritual and vocational dimensions of the pharmacist’s role.
Kappa Epsilon (KE)
Kappa Epsilon is a national professional fraternity established to promote careers for women in pharmacy, but membership is open to women and men. Xi chapter, established in 1943, sponsors service and professional projects, including a focus on breast cancer awareness, poison prevention working with elementary schools, as well as social events and other extracurricular activities.
Hispanic Association of Pharmacists (HAP)
The primary goals of the Hispanic Association of Pharmacists are to assist in the recruitment and retention of qualified students in the College of Pharmacy, to provide health care education to the community, and to maintain open communication channels between students and the college. Membership is open to prepharmacy and professional students.
Pharmacy Council
The Pharmacy Council is composed of officers and representatives of the sponsored student organizations in the College of Pharmacy and elected student representatives from each of the professional pharmacy classes. The president, financial director, and senate representative of the council are also members of the Senate of College Councils, and a member of the council serves as the college’s representative to Student Government. Acting as liaison between the student body and the Office of the Dean, the Pharmacy Council works to ensure the equitable consideration of student concerns and problems. The council sponsors orientation programs for new pharmacy students, college and University-wide programs, events that promote student and faculty interaction, and community service activities for medically underserved citizens throughout the state.
Pharmacy Graduate Students’ Association (PGSA)
This association conducts activities that promote the general welfare of pharmacy graduate students. Its chief purposes are to encourage and facilitate graduate student communication and interaction; to gather and disseminate information important to pharmacy graduate students; to represent pharmacy graduate students to the University community; and to promote pharmaceutical education at the undergraduate level.
Phi Delta Chi (PDC)
Lambda chapter of Phi Delta Chi, established at the University in 1905, was reactivated in 1956. Phi Delta Chi is a professional pharmaceutical fraternity of national standing. Membership is open to qualified professional students who are interested in promoting leadership, scholarship, and professional ethics in the field of pharmacy.
Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS)
Psi chapter of Phi Lambda Sigma, the national pharmacy leadership society, was established at the University in 1989. Students selected for membership must be of high moral and ethical character, must have demonstrated dedication, service, and leadership in the advancement of pharmacy, must have completed at least 90 semester hours of scholastic work, and must be in good academic standing as defined by the College of Pharmacy.
Rho Chi
Nu chapter of Rho Chi, the national pharmaceutical honor society, was established at the University in 1930. Charters for chapters of this organization are granted only to groups in colleges that are members in good standing of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Eligibility for membership in the society is based on scholarship, character, personality, and leadership. Students selected for membership must have a pharmacy grade point average of at least 3.20, must be in the top 20 percent of their class, and must have completed the first professional year of the pharmacy curriculum. All candidates must be approved by the Dean of the College of Pharmacy.
San Antonio Student Pharmacists Association (SASPA)
The San Antonio Student Pharmacists Association (SASPA) was formed in the spring semester of 2010. This organization serves as a venue to bring The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy students located in the San Antonio region together to impact the community and to promote the profession of pharmacy.
Student Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO)
This group's mission is to advance the experience of student pharmacists interested in industry careers by promoting knowledge, resources, academic support, and employment opportunities.
Student Pharmacist Recovery Network (SPRN)
The Students of Pharmacy Recovery Network (SPRN) is a program for pharmacy students at the University of Texas designed by conscientious students, faculty members, and staff members of the College. The purpose of the SPRN is to act as a concerned intermediary by assisting pharmacy students having personal problems including emotional stress, alcohol or other drug abuse problems, or a combination of these. SPRN students, faculty, and staff members are able to refer others to the appropriate University and Austin resources that best address their particular needs.
Texas Coalition of Student Pharmacists (TCSP)
This group's mission is to be committed to promoting pharmacists as competent health care professionals, increasing the awareness for improved patient access to pharmacist care, and advocating on behalf of pharmacy for the betterment of our patients.
UT Chapter, International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (UT-ISPOR)
This group’s mission is to provide an environment in which students can share knowledge in pharmacoeconomics and health outcomes research. It brings together students of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research and members of the pharmaceutical industry, health-related organizations, and academia; acts as a resource for students interested in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research; and provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with the work of ISPOR and to be represented in its affairs.
UT Chapter, National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)
NCPA is a national professional organization representing the interests of independent community pharmacists. The student chapter sponsors projects and events designed to foster the entrepreneurial spirit among future practitioners. The national association has a loan program available to student members, as well as several competitive scholarships and research grants.
UT Chapter, National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA)
The purpose of the SNPhA is to plan, organize, coordinate, and execute programs geared toward the improvement of the health, educational, and social environment of the minority community.
UT Student Chapter of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (UT-SCCP)
The mission of SCCP is to adopt the purposes of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. SCCP is focused on giving students exposure to clinical pharmacy, research, and academia. Students have opportunities to hear from and research with many different clinical pharmacists and researchers.
University of Texas Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (UTSSHP)
The student chapter of the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists is an organization for students interested in institutional or health-system pharmacy practice. An affiliate of the American and Texas Societies of Health-System Pharmacists, the organization considers a wide range of topics of interest to health professionals and encourages the broadest possible educational introduction to institutional pharmacy and pharmaceutical care. This introduction includes presentation of programs and seminars, tours of pharmacy practice sites, and distribution of literature. The chapter publicizes job openings in hospital pharmacies across the state.
Longhorn Prepharmacy Association (LPPA)
LPPA comprises all prepharmacy students at The University of Texas at Austin. The group’s chief objectives are to function as a small community of students within a large institution; to provide current information on the preprofessional and professional curricula; and to provide information about the pharmacy profession.
Legal Requirements for Professional Practice
Upon matriculation to the first professional year in the College of Pharmacy, each student must apply to become an intern trainee with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. Each student must be registered as an intern trainee, and subsequently as a student-intern, in order to acquire, through pharmacy courses, the internship hours necessary for licensure upon graduation as a pharmacist in Texas.
Students should be aware that the process of registration as an intern includes a criminal history and fingerprint check. The existence of a criminal record may preclude the student from registration as an intern, completion of experiential courses in the curriculum, and/or from subsequent licensure as a pharmacist in Texas. However, the Texas State Board of Pharmacy may grant limited internship status under certain conditions to those with prior convictions. It is possible that health care facilities in which students are placed for experiential coursework may mandate an additional background check and/or drug screen. Students assigned to these facilities must comply with all such requirements. If a student cannot be placed in practice facilities because of prior convictions that appear on any background check, or because of a positive drug screen, his or her graduation may not be possible or may be significantly delayed.
After completing the first professional year (at least 30 semester hours), students registered as student-interns may earn internship hours toward licensure not only through professional sequence pharmacy courses but also outside the academic program through employment in certain practice settings. Internship hours gained outside the College of Pharmacy curriculum may not replace any portion of the experiential program required for graduation.
Students are required to inform the Student Affairs Office of any change in status that may affect intern registration or the ability to be placed in practice (experiential) sites.
Graduates of the College of Pharmacy are eligible to apply to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy for licensure as pharmacists. Licensure exams may be taken shortly after graduation. Postgraduate internship experience is not currently required for Texas licensure but may be required for licensure in other states.
Additional information about requirements for pharmacy licensure in Texas is available from the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.
Intern registration and pharmacist licensure requirements are subject to change by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. Students and graduates must meet current requirements, even if they differ from those described above.
Graduate Degrees (Research)
Graduate programs leading to the Master of Science in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Doctor of Philosophy in the Pharmaceutical Sciences are offered through the Graduate School and described in the Graduate Catalog. The graduate student may specialize in medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology, pharmaceutics, pharmacotherapy, pharmacy administration, or translational science. Faculty members in each area work closely with students and engage in research in such fields as drug synthesis, pharmacokinetics, drug mechanisms and toxicity, and clinical research.