Admission Requirements

Admission to Pre-Pharmacy

Applicants to pre-pharmacy should contact the LAU Admissions Office and follow LAU’s regular undergraduate application process. Eligible applicants include students who have been admitted to LAU, or others who hold an academic degree (e.g., B.A., B.S.) of different majors or course of study. Applicants who hold an academic degree from an American institution are exempted from taking the Liberal Arts Core (LAC) courses.

Admission to the Professional Pharmacy Program

The professional program requires successful completion of pre-pharmacy studies. Applicants transferring from an outside academic institution must have a minimum letter grade of B or its equivalent in any of the major pre-pharmacy courses (see below) or their LAU course equivalents, to be eligible for applying to Professional Pharmacy Program (P1).

All applicants must complete an application form that can be obtained from the Office of Student Affairs at the School of Pharmacy. The application deadline is April 15 for all required documents. Incomplete or late applications will not be processed.

To be eligible for admission to the professional pharmacy program, applicants must fulfill all of the following conditions:

• Completed all pre-pharmacy courses with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5;
• Passed all major courses with a minimum letter grade C. Major courses include all PHA courses as well as BIO201, CHM201, CHM311, CHM312, CHM313, and CHM314. For the non-major courses, D is considered a passing letter grade;
• Did not exceed three course repeats, whether these repeats were of the same course or different courses. Note that a course withdrawal noted “WF” is counted as repeat; and
• Did not receive more than one official academic warning.

For transfer students, only courses listed in the pre-pharmacy curriculum, either transferred from an outside academic institution or LAU, will be taken into consideration in the calculation of the GPA as well as the number of repeats.

Evaluation criteria for admission into the Professional Pharmacy Program are based on:

• Cumulative GPA as well as the GPA related to major courses;
• Performance in an interview conducted during the admissions process;
• Cumulative internal evaluation by all SOP faculty who were directly involved in teaching the applicant;
• Three recommendation letters (attached to the application);
• Assessment of the applicant’s writing skills based on his/her performance on a short essay;
• Number of repeated courses (R), withdrawals (WF), and failed courses (F); and
• Number of official academic warnings.

The School Admissions Committee reviews the applications and conducts student interviews at the end of the spring semester of the academic year preceding the anticipated entrance into the program. Admission to the Professional Pharmacy Program takes place in the fall semester of the following academic year. Typically, up to 75 students are accepted in the P1 year.

A student who meets the admissions criteria may carry over one course from the pre-pharmacy program to the professional program, upon the approval of the School Academic Council. This exception does not apply to courses from which a student has withdrawn or scored a final letter grade F. Moreover, a student seeking this exception must provide proof that he/she was unable to repeat the course prior to the start of the P1 year. A student must pass the said course with a minimum letter grade of C within the following academic year; otherwise he/she will not be promoted to the next academic year.

Graduation Requirements

A student must pass all professional program courses with a minimum letter grade of C in order to advance to the next professional year.

A total of 174 credits are required to graduate, based on:

Program Requirements

Major Pre-Pharmacy Courses (39 credits):

• BIO201 / General Biology I (4 cr.)
• CHM201 / Chemical Principles (3 cr.)
• CHM311 / Organic Chemistry I (3 cr.)
• CHM312 / Organic Chemistry II (3 cr.)
• CHM313 / Organic Chemistry I Lab (1 cr.)
• CHM314 / Organic Chemistry II Lab (1 cr.)
• PHA202 / Medical Anatomy & Physiology (4 cr.)
• PHA204 / Computer Application to Pharmacy (2 cr.)
• PHA205 / Statistics for Health Professional Majors (3 cr.)
• PHA208 / Medical Biochemistry (4 cr.)
• PHA209 / Principles of Pathology & Immunology (4 cr.)
• PHA210 / Systems Pathophysiology (4 cr.)
• PHA211 / Microbiological Basis of Disease (3 cr.)

Professional Major Courses (104 credits):

• PHA308 / Pharmaceutical Analysis & Biotechnology (2 cr.)
• PHA309 / Pharmaceutical Analysis & Biotechnology Lab (1 cr.)
• PHA312 / Medicinal Chemistry I (3 cr.)
• PHA313 / Medicinal Chemistry II (3 cr.)
• PHA314 / Dosage Forms I (3 cr.)
• PHA315 / Dosage Forms I Lab (1 cr.)
• PHA316 / Dosage Forms II (3 cr.)
• PHA317 / Dosage Forms II Lab (1 cr.)
• PHA320 / Physical Assessment (2 cr.)
• PHA322 / Professional Communication (1 cr.)
• PHA325 / Pharmacy Practice & Ethics (2 cr.)
• PHA330 / Pharmacology I (4 cr.)
• PHA333 / Pharmacy Management (3 cr.)
• PHA340 / Pharmacotherapeutics I (2 cr.)
• PHA398 / Pharmacy Practice Management I (3 cr.)
• PHA421 / Drug Information & Literature Evaluation (2 cr.)
• PHA422 / Pharmacokinetics & Biopharmaceutics (4 cr.)
• PHA430 / Pharmacology II (4 cr.)
• PHA435 / Pharmacognosy & Evidence Based Herbal Medicine (2 cr.)
• PHA441 / Pharmacotherapeutics II (3 cr.)
• PHA442 / Pharmacotherapeutics III (3 cr.)
• PHA443 / Pharmacotherapeutics IV (3 cr.)
• PHA444 / Pharmacotherapeutics V (3 cr.)
• PHA445 / Pharmacotherapeutics VI (3 cr.)
• PHA449 / Dispensing & Pharmaceutical Care (3 cr.)
• PHA452 / Toxicology (3 cr.)
• PHA497 / Introduction to Professional Pharmacy Practice Experience (1 cr.)
• PHA499 / Pharmacy Practice Management II (2 cr.)
• PHA510 / U.S. Pharmacy Law & Regulation (2 cr.)
• PHA512 / Lebanese Pharmacy Law & Regulation (1 cr.)
• PHA514 / Pharmacoepidemiology (2 cr.)
• PHA550 / Introduction to Pharmacogenomics (1 cr.)
• PHA558 / Pharmacoeconomics (2 cr.)
• PHA560 / Clinical Nutrition & Diet Therapy (2 cr.)
• PHA570 / Professional Pharmacy Practice-Hospital/DIC Experience (6 cr.)
• PHA571 / Professional Pharmacy Practice-Community Experience (6 cr.)
• PHA572 / Professional Pharmacy Practice-Patient Care Experience (12 cr.)                

Required Liberal Arts Curriculum Courses (10 credits):

• ARA— / Arabic Language or Literature (3 cr.)
• PED2— / Physical Education (1 cr.)
• ENG202 / Sophomore Rhetoric (3 cr.)
• ENG203 / Fund. Oral Communication (3 cr.)

Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Elective Courses (15 credits):

• LAC – Literature (3 cr.)
• LAC – Cultural Studies, History, Philosophy or Religion (3 cr.)
• LAC – Arts (3 cr.)
• LAC – Social Sciences (3 cr.)
• ECO201 or ECO202 / Microeconomics or Macroeconomics (3 cr.)    

Pharmacy Professional Electives (6 credits):

Students have to complete an equivalent of 6 credits of elective courses among the list offered each semester.         

• PHA523 / Clinical Pharmacokinetics* (1 cr.)
• PHA567B / Special Topics-Public Health (1 cr.)
• PHA 567C / Special Topics-Immunizations (1 cr.)
• PHA567D / Special Topics-Cosmeceuticals and Dermatology (1 cr.)
• PHA567E / Special Topics-Drug Interactions (1 cr.)
• PHA567G/ Special Topics-Career Opportunities (1 cr.)
• PHA567H / Special Topics-First Aid (1 cr.)
• PHA567I / Special Topics-Critical Care (1 cr.)
• PHA567J / Special Topics-Geriatrics (1 cr.)
• PHA567K / Special Topics-Biostatistics application to informatics (1 cr.)

* Students interested in applying to Professional Year 4 leading to the Pharm.D. degree should take PHA523 Clinical Pharmacokinetics (1cr.) as a professional elective.

Sample Study Plan

Year One

Fall (17 credits)

• ARA— / Appreciation of Arabic Literature (3 cr.)
• BIO201 / General Biology I (4 cr.)
• CHM201 / Chemical Principles (3 cr.)
• PED— / Physical Education (1 cr.)
• Liberal Arts Core (LAC)-Arts (3 cr.)
• LAC–Social Sciences (3 cr.)

Spring (16 credits)

• CHM311 / Organic Chemistry I (3 cr.)
• CHM313 / Organic Chemistry I Lab (1 cr.)
• ENG202 / Sophomore Rhetoric (3 cr.)
• PHA202 / Medical Anatomy & Physiology (4 cr.)
• PHA204 / Computer Application to Pharmacy (2 cr.)
• LAC – Literature (3 cr.)

Year Two

Fall (14 credits)

• CHM312 / Organic Chemistry II (3 cr.)
• CHM314 / Organic Chemistry II Lab (1 cr.)
• ENG203 / Fund. Oral Communication (3 cr.)
• PHA209 / Principles of Pathophysiology and Immunology (4 cr.)
• PHA211 / Microbiological Basis of Disease

Spring (17 credits)

• ECO201 or ECO202 / Microeconomics and Macro Economics. (3 cr.)
• PHA205 / Statistics for Health Professional Majors (3 cr.)
• PHA208 / Medical Biochemistry (4 cr.)
• PHA210 / Systems Pathophysiology (4 cr.)
• LAC – Cultural Studies, History, Philosophy or Religion (3 cr.)

Year Three

Fall (18 credits)

• PHA308 / Pharmaceutical Analysis and Biotechnology (2 cr.)
• PHA309 / Pharmacy Analysis and Biotechnology (1 cr.)
• PHA312 / Medicinal Chemistry I (3 cr.)
• PHA314 / Dosage Forms I (3 cr.)
• PHA315 / Dosage Forms I (1 cr.)
• PHA320 / Physical Assessment (2 cr.)
• PHA322 / Professional Communication (1 cr.)
• PHA333 / Pharmacy Management (3 cr.)
• PHA567 / Professional Elective (2 cr.)

Spring (15 credits)

• PHA313 / Medicinal Chemistry II (3 cr.)
• PHA316 / Dosage Forms II (3 cr.)
• PHA317 / Dosage Forms II Lab (1 cr.)
• PHA325 / Pharmacy Practice and Ethics (2 cr.)
• PHA330 / Pharmacology I (4 cr.)
• PHA340 / Pharmacotherapeutics I (2 cr.)

Summer (3 credits)

• PHA398 / Pharmacy Practice Management I (3 cr.)

Year Four

Fall (18 credits)

• PHA421 / Drug Information and Literature Evaluation (2 cr.)
• PHA422 / Pharmacokinetics and Biopharmaceutics (4 cr.)
• PHA430 / Pharmacology II (4 cr.)
• PHA441 / Pharmacotherapeutics II (3 cr.)
• PHA442 / Pharmacotherapeutics II (3 cr.)
• PHA567 / Professional Elective (2 cr.)

Spring (17 credits)

• PHA435 / Pharmacognosy and Evidence Based Herbal Medicine (2 cr.)
• PHA443 / Pharmacotherapeutics IV (3 cr.)
• PHA444 / Pharmacotherapeutics V (3 cr.)
• PHA445 / Pharmacotherapeutics VI (3 cr.)
• PHA449 / Dispensing and Pharmaceutical Care (3 cr.)
• PHA452 / Toxicology (3 cr.)

Summer (3 credits)

• PHA497 / Introduction to Professional Pharmacy Practice Experience (1 cr.)
• PHA499 / Pharmacy Practice Management II (2 cr.)

Year Five – Professional year 3 (P3)

Fall (18 credits)

• PHA514 / Pharmacoepidemiology (2 cr.)
• PHA550 / Introduction to Pharmacogenomics (1 cr.)
• PHA560 / Clinical Nutrition and Diet Therapy (2 cr.)
• PHA567 / Professional Elective or PHA523 Intro. to Clinical Pharmacokinetics (1 cr.)
• PHA570 / Professional Pharmacy Practice-Hospital/DIC experience (6 cr.)
• PHA571 / Professional Pharmacy Practice-Community Experience (6 cr.)

Spring (18 credits)

• PHA510 / U.S. Pharmacy Law and Regulation (2 cr.)
• PHA512 / Lebanese Pharmacy Law and Regulations (1 cr.)
• PHA558 / Pharmacoeconomics (2 cr.)
• PHA567 / Professional Elective (1 cr.)
• PHA572 / Professional Pharmacy Practice-Patient Care Experience (12 cr.)