Academic Catalog 2024–2025

jump to navigation

Doctor of Pharmacy

Overview

The Pharm.D. program extends over six years of study and requires the completion of a total of 201 credits, including two years of pre-pharmacy followed by four professional years (P1, P2, P3 and P4) of pharmacy education.

The P4 curriculum applies only to Pharm.D. students. It encompasses all the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) that include nine rotations (four of which are required and five are electives) for a total of 1,540 hours. The four required APPEs must be conducted in the United States or its territories or possessions (District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands). All APPEs are conducted after students have successfully completed all didactic, laboratory and practical (IPPEs) course work during the first three professional years.

Graduates find employment in a variety of settings after graduation, including hospital and clinical settings, pharmaceutical marketing, industrial pharmacy, academia, community practice, or consulting. They may also pursue advanced education and training including but not limited to postgraduate pharmacy residencies, fellowships, or graduate studies.

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the professional year 4 (P4) leading to the Pharm.D. degree must apply within two years of completing professional year 3 (P3) in an ACPE-accredited program. They must complete an application form for admission into the P4 year. Application forms are obtained from the Student Affairs Office at the School of Pharmacy and must be completed and submitted with all required documents by November 20 of each year. Incomplete applications and any application received after the deadline will not be processed.

Students applying to P4 must have successfully completed the PHA 523 Clinical Pharmacokinetics course.

To be eligible to apply for admission into the P4 year, students must fulfill all of the following conditions during their professional pharmacy years:

  • complete all professional pharmacy courses with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5,
  • pass all courses of the professional pharmacy program with a minimum letter grade C,
  • have no more than three course repeats, whether these repeats were of the same course or different courses (Note: a course withdrawal noted “WF” is counted as repeat), and
  • not have received more than one official academic warning.

Evaluation criteria for admission into the P4 year are based on all of the following:

  • GPA of courses related to the professional pharmacy program courses,
  • performance on an interview conducted during the admissions process,
  • three recommendation letters
  • number of repeated courses (R), withdrawal (WF), and failed courses (F), and
  • number of official academic warnings.

The School Admissions Committee reviews applications and conducts interviews at the end of the fall semester of the P3 year. Student acceptance into the P4 year remains pending until successful completion of all P3 courses. A student may not carry any course from the pharmacy professional program to the P4 year.

All students accepted into the P4 year must complete the pharmacy curriculum exit exam according to the schedule set by the School of Pharmacy.

Admission to the P4 year takes place in the fall semester of each academic year.  Class capacity is determined based on site capacity.

Curriculum

Progression Criteria through APPEs

  • The passing grade for all elective and required APPEs is C.
  • A P4 student may fail only one elective or required APPE.  Should a student fail more than one APPE (elective or required), he/she will be dismissed from the Pharm.D. program.
  • A P4 student should repeat the failed APPE only once to be eligible for graduation.
    • If a student fails a required APPE, he/she will have to repeat that same required APPE, with a different preceptor when feasible.
      • Failed required APPE must be repeated during the grace period month in the U.S. prior to returning to Lebanon over a condensed 3-week duration equivalent to 50 hours/week (150 hours in total).
    •  If a student fails an elective APPE, he/she will have to repeat that same APPE with the same or different preceptor when feasible, or repeat a different elective.
      • Failed elective APPE must be repeated during the last available month of the academic year in Lebanon over a 3-week duration condensed equivalent to 50 hours/week (150 hours in total).
  • A P4 student who fails a repeated APPE, he/she will be dismissed from the Pharm.D. program.
  • A P4 student can spend a maximum of one calendar year to complete the Pharm.D. APPEs unless interrupted by a force majeure (i.e. health-related conditions, visa delay). In such case, extension for up to one additional calendar year may be considered and will be addressed on a case-by-case basis by filing a petition to the school’s Student Affairs Office.

Disclaimer: For required APPEs, all is contingent on allowances by U.S. immigration, if the visa extension is allowed from original interval.

P4 APPE Credit Distribution

The total number of credits to be completed in the P4 year is 27, distributed as follows:

  • Required Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (12 credits)
  • Elective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (15 credits)

Required APPEs (12 credits)

  • PHA670 Ambulatory Care (3 cr.)
  • PHA671 Community Pharmacy (3 cr.)
  • PHA672 Hospital/Health System Pharmacy (3 cr.)
  • PHA673 Inpatient/Acute Care General Medicine (3 cr.)

Elective APPEs (15 credits)

Students are required to take 5 elective rotations. They may choose from the following topics: