Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy

Program Objectives

Provide evidence- and team-based patient-centered care in accordance with legal, ethical, socioeconomic and professional standards.
Exhibit leadership skills and entrepreneurial attitude in managing pharmacy operations in various practice settings.
Engage in disease prevention and population health management through innovation in pharmacy practice and interprofessional collaboration.
Integrate scholarly research and promote personal and professional development in pharmacy practice.

Learning Outcomes

Mapped to the AACP Educational Outcomes 2013 of the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE)-Effective February 2016

integrate and apply foundational scientific knowledge to make informed, rational, and evidence-based decisions,
develop complete medical and drug therapy plans,
implement a holistic patient-centered treatment plan,
collaborate and communicate with other healthcare professionals to engender an interdisciplinary team-based approach to patient care,
educate patients of different cultural backgrounds, caregivers, and the public about drug therapy, medical goods, and devices,
develop skills to promote health and wellness for individuals and communities,
apply patient population-specific data to optimize patient outcomes,
ensure efficient, cost-effective utilization of human, physical, medical, informational, and technological resources in the provision of safe and effective patient care,
describe and demonstrate appropriate use of healthcare resources in the U.S. and Lebanese healthcare systems,
demonstrate leadership and entrepreneurial skills to accomplish professional goals,
display compliance with the Code of Ethics for Pharmacists,
exhibit self-awareness and personal commitment to ensure ongoing personal and professional growth.

Admission Requirements

Admission to Pre-Pharmacy Program

Applicants to Pre-Pharmacy should contact the LAU Admissions Office and follow LAU’s regular undergraduate application process. Applicants who hold an academic degree from an American institution are exempted from taking the Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) courses.

Admission to the Professional Pharmacy Program

Admission to the Professional Pharmacy Program (P1) requires successful completion of Pre-Pharmacy studies. 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 for all required documents is announced by the office of student affairs. 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 in pre-pharmacy:

Completed all pre-pharmacy courses with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.
Passed pre-pharmacy PHA courses with a minimum letter grade C.
Passed all non-PHA prepharmacy courses with a minimum letter grade of D. This applies to non-PHA major courses taken starting Fall 2020.
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.
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 taken at LAU — will be taken into consideration in the calculation of the GPA as well as the number of repeats.

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, or their LAU course equivalents. For non-major courses, a D is considered a passing letter grade.

Evaluation criteria for admission to the Professional Pharmacy Program are based on the

cumulative GPA as well as the GPA related to major courses in Pre-Pharmacy years;
performance on interview conducted during the admissions process;
three recommendation letters attached to the application;
assessment of applicant’s writing skills based on their performance on a short essay;
number of repeat courses (R), withdrawals (WF), and failed courses (F); and
number of official academic warnings.

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

A student who meets admission criteria may carry over one course from the Pre-Pharmacy Program to the Professional Pharmacy Program, upon the approval of the school’s Academic Council. This exception does not apply to courses noted as (W) or (F). Moreover, a student seeking this exception must provide proof that they were unable to repeat the course prior to the start of the P1 year. A student must pass the said course with a minimum grade of C within the following academic year; otherwise, he/she will not be promoted to the next academic year.

Curriculum

A total of 174 credits are required to graduate, distributed as follows:

Program Pre-Pharmacy Courses (39 credits)
Professional Program Requirements (104 credits)
LAS Core Courses (6 credits)
LAS Elective Courses (15 credits)
LAS Arabic literature (3 credits)
Other pre-pharmacy requirement (1 credit)
Pharmacy Professional Electives (6 credits)

Program Pre-Pharmacy Courses (39 credits)

BIO201 General Biology I (3 cr.)
BIO201B General Biology I Lab (1 cr.)
CHM205 Fundamentals of Chemistry (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 Program 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/DI Experience (6 cr.)
PHA571 Professional Pharmacy Practice-Community Experience (6 cr.)
PHA572 Professional Pharmacy Practice-Patient Care Experience (12 cr.)

LAS Core Courses (6 credits)

ENG202 Advanced Academic English (3 cr.)
COM203 Art of Public Communication (3 cr.)

LAS Elective Courses (15 credits)

LAS Change Makers (6 cr.)
LAS Digital Cultures (3 cr.)
LAS Arts and Humanities (3 cr.)
ECO201 Microeconomics or ECO202 Macroeconomics (3 cr.)

This LAS curriculum is applicable to students admitted starting fall 2022. Students admitted prior to fall 2022 should refer to previous catalogue version.

LAS Arabic literature (3 credits)

ARAxxx Arabic Language or Literature (3 cr.)

Other Pre-pharmacy requirement (1 credit)

PED2xx Physical Education (1 cr.)

Pharmacy Professional Electives (6 credits)

A student must complete a total of 6 credits of professional elective courses throughout the first three professional pharmacy years (P1, P2, P3), as per course offering. Typically, a student completes 2 elective courses in each of these academic years.

PHA523 Clinical Pharmacokinetics (1 cr.)¹
PHA567B Special Topics: Public Health (1 cr.)
PHA567D Special Topics: Cosmeceuticals & Dermatology (1 cr.)
PHA567G Special Topics: Career Opportunities (1 cr.)
PHA567I Special Topics: Critical Care (1 cr.)
PHA567J Special Topics: Geriatrics (1 cr.)
PHA567K Special Topics: Biostatistics Application to Informatics (1 cr.)
PHA567M Special Topics: Introduction to Entrepreneurship (1 cr.)
PHA567N Special Topics: Emergency Medicine (1 cr.)
PHA567O1 Special Topics: Longitudinal Investigation Project Development (1 cr.)
PHA567O2 Special Topics: Longitudinal Investigation Project Implementation (1 cr.)
PHA567P Special Topics: Access to Medicine (1 cr.)
PHA567Q Special Topics: Palliative Care (1 cr.)
PHA567R Special Topics: Culture Competency for Healthcare Professionals (1 cr.)
PHA567S Special Topics: Pharmacy Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (1 cr.)
PHA567T Special Topics: Introduction to Digital Health in Pharmacy (1 cr.)

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

Recommended Study Plan

Year One

Fall (17 credits)

ARAxxx Appreciation of Arabic Literature (3 cr.)
BIO201 General Biology I (3 cr.)
BIO201B General Biology I Lab (1 cr.)
CHM205 Fundamentals of Chemistry (3 cr.)
PEDxxx Physical Education (1 cr.)
LAS Arts and Humanities (3 cr.)
LAS Digital Cultures (3 cr.)

Spring (16 credits)

CHM311 Organic Chemistry I (3 cr.)
CHM313 Organic Chemistry I Lab (1 cr.)
ENG202 Advanced Academic English (3 cr.)
PHA202 Medical Anatomy & Physiology (4 cr.)
PHA204 Computer Application to Pharmacy (2 cr.)
LAS Change Makers (3 cr.)

Year Two

Fall (14 credits)

CHM312 Organic Chemistry II (3 cr.)
CHM314 Organic Chemistry II Lab (1 cr.)
COM203 Art of Public Communication (3 cr.)
PHA209 Principles of Pathophysiology & Immunology (4 cr.)
PHA211 Microbiological Basis of Disease (3 cr.)

Spring (17 credits)

ECO201 Microeconomics or ECO202 Macroeconomics (3 cr.)
PHA205 Statistics for Health Professional Majors (3 cr.)
PHA208 Medical Biochemistry (4 cr.)
PHA210 Systems Pathophysiology (4 cr.)
LAS Change Makers (3 cr.)

Year Three

Fall (17 credits)

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

Spring (16 credits)

PHA313 Medicinal Chemistry II (3 cr.)
PHA316 Dosage Forms II (3 cr.)
PHA317 Dosage Forms II Lab (1 cr.)
PHA325 Pharmacy Practice & Ethics (2 cr.)
PHA330 Pharmacology I (4 cr.)
PHA340 Pharmacotherapeutics I (2 cr.)
PHA567 Professional Elective (1 cr.)*

Summer (3 credits)

PHA398 Pharmacy Practice Management I (3 cr.)

Year Four

Fall (17 credits)

PHA421 Drug Information & Literature Evaluation (2 cr.)
PHA422 Pharmacokinetics & Biopharmaceutics (4 cr.)
PHA430 Pharmacology II (4 cr.)
PHA441 Pharmacotherapeutics II (3 cr.)
PHA442 Pharmacotherapeutics III (3 cr.)
PHA567 Professional Elective (1 cr.)*

Spring (18 credits)

PHA435 Pharmacognosy & Evidence Based Herbal Medicine (2 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.)
PHA567 Professional Elective (1 cr.)*

Summer (3 credits)

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

Year Five

Fall (18 credits)

PHA514 Pharmacoepidemiology (2 cr.)
PHA550 Introduction to Pharmacogenomics (1 cr.)
PHA560 Clinical Nutrition & Diet Therapy (2 cr.)
PHA567 Professional Elective or PHA523 Introduction to Clinical Pharmacokinetics (1 cr.)
PHA570 Professional Pharmacy Practice: Hospital/DI Experience (6 cr.)
PHA571 Professional Pharmacy Practice: Community Experience (6 cr.)

Spring (18 credits)

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

* Professional Electives may be offered over one or two semesters.

Progression policy

A student must pass all professional program courses with a minimum letter grade C in order to advance to the next professional year.
A student may carry forward to the next professional year only one course with a letter grade D, D+ or C- after securing the approval of the School Academic Council. Courses from which students have withdrawn or scored a letter grade F may not be carried over. A carried over course must be completed with a minimum letter grade C within the next academic year or summer semester in order to be promoted to the next professional year.
A student must complete all P2 courses (didactic and experiential) prior to enrolling in P3 courses. No more than one didactic course can be carried forward to P3 year with a letter grade of D or higher, after securing the approval of the School Academic Council, and cannot be registered with any P3 experiential course concurrently in the same semester.