Doctor of Pharmacy Degree

Doctor of Pharmacy Degree (Pharm.D.)

The Pharm.D. is a professional degree requiring four years of study in the College after completion of at least two years of pre-pharmacy study in a community college or liberal arts college. (Applicants who have completed work in a college of pharmacy, including those who have earned a B.S. degree in pharmacy, are considered for admission at advanced levels.)

The focus of the program is to educate students about the practice of pharmacy, but the program is broad enough to allow students to gain employment in fields outside of pharmacy practice. The program includes extensive clinical training and may be adapted to prepare students for graduate study. Graduates are qualified to practice pharmacy and are eligible for examination for licensure as a pharmacist.

The Pharm.D. program enables graduates to:

understand and appreciate the delivery of comprehensive health care and the contribution of each health profession to patient care;
understand the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and the rational selection of drugs;
understand and appreciate the social, emotional, and psychological aspects of disease;
communicate effectively with other health professionals and patients;
know what factors affect initiating, maintaining, modifying, or discontinuing drug therapy;
understand pharmacokinetic principles well enough to improve dosage regimens for individual patients;
retrieve, interpret, and report drug information from pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences and apply the information to specific patient care situations;
develop a patient data base from a patient interview and patient chart, and from communications with other health professionals;
design, implement, conduct, and evaluate research studies on drugs and/or patients in a specific area of interest;
be an effective health care educator;
demonstrate administrative and organizational skills and understand group dynamics; and,
demonstrate professional maturity and personal responsibility to patients and other health professionals.

Pharm.D. Curriculum

The Pharm.D. curriculum is comprised of the following, four-year course sequence:

First Year Pharm.D. Courses

First Term	Credit	Second Term	Credit
Pharmaceutical Sci. 462	3	Pharmaceutical Sci. 463	3
Pharmacy 351	1	Pharmacy 420	2
Medicinal Chem. 409	3	Pharmacy 330	2
Statistics 350 or 400¹	4	Pharmacy 352	2
Biochemistry 415 or 515	3	Medicinal Chem. 410	3
(or Biology 310)¹	(4)	Physiology 502	4
Total	16	Total	16

Second Year Pharm.D. Courses

First Term	Credit	Second Term	Credit
Pharmaceutical Sci. 464	4	Pharmaceutical Sci. 465	2
Medicinal Chem. 411	3	Medicinal Chem. 412	3
Pharmacology 659	3	Pharmacology 660	4
Pharmacy 431	3	Pharmacy 432	3
Pharmacy 451	1	Pharmacy 452	1
Elective	2	Pharmacy 476	2
		Elective	1

Total	16	Total	16

Third Year Pharm.D. Courses

First Term	Credit	Second Term	Credit
Pharmacy 531	3	Pharmacy 532	3
Pharmacy 551	1	Pharmacy 552	1
Pharmacy 561	2	Pharmacy 562	2
PharmD Investigations²	4	Pharmacy 520	2
Soc. & Admin. Sci 540	2	Elective	4
Elective	4	Elective	4

Total	16	Total	16

Fourth Year Pharm.D. Courses

First Term	Credit	Second Term	Credit
Pharmacy 680	2	Pharmacy 691	3
Pharmacy 687	3	Pharmacy 692	3
Pharmacy 688	3	Pharmacy 693	3
Pharmacy 689	3	Pharmacy 694	3
Pharmacy 690	3	Elective	4
Elective	2
Total	16	Total	16

1. Students may elect Statistics and/or Biochemistry 310 before admission.

2. Investigations courses include: Medicinal Chemistry 573, Pharmaceutical Chemistry 571, Pharmaceutical Sciences 568, Pharmacognosy 572, and Pharmacy 569. Students also may elect select investigations courses outside the College (e.g., Pharmacology 600) after receiving permission from the Investigations Committee.

If you are interested in finding more about admissions to this program contact Valener Perry at (734) 764-5550; vlperry@umich.edu or browse the links below.

Admissions

Pre-Pharmacy Curriculum

Financial Aid

Fees and Expenses