The Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) is a professional degree leading to pharmacist careers in inpatient and outpatient health care settings, managed care, community pharmacies, academia, research, or government.

The UCI Pharm.D. is a four-year program that will prepare graduates to be practice-ready pharmacists who are problem solvers, independent lifelong learners, team players, and leaders who will drive transformative changes in the healthcare system. The curriculum will be taught by faculty from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Clinical Pharmacy Practice and delivered using innovative instructional methods and applying evidenced based practices.

• Strong foundation of pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical sciences, and clinical sciences integrated throughout the curriculum

• Interprofessional education within the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences

• Rigorous clinical training at within UCI Health to ensure graduates are ready to work in interprofessional teams

• Integrative health approach to treating the whole patient with a wide range of preventive and treatment modalities

• Committed to serve under-represented populations and advance healthcare equity

Admission

For admission, a bachelor’s degree is required; students must demonstrate readiness to enter the Pharm.D. by providing evidence of satisfactory completion of required courses in general biology, biochemistry, human physiology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, calculus, statistics, English/writing, macro- or micro-economics, communication/public speaking, and psychology with a preferred cumulative GPA of 3.0. Applicants must meet general requirements of the UCI Graduate Division. Applicants must submit applications via the Pharmacy College Application Service (PHARMCAS) http://www.pharmcas.org/ and the UC Irvine Graduate Division Application https://apply.grad.uci.edu/apply.

Additional information on PharmD Admissions, including recruitment events, can be found on the program web site: https://pharmsci.uci.edu/pharm-d/

Requirements

The program of study emphasizes preventive and integrative health care, using innovative and evidence-based instructional methods. The curriculum includes didactic and experiential content areas that span across four categories of sciences: biomedical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, social/administrative/behavioral sciences, and clinical sciences. Students complete internships and practicum training throughout the program.

Beyond the required coursework, pharmacy students are required to participate in co-curricular activities such as community service, societies/clubs, and/or student chapters of professional organizations. Students are formally evaluated on these activities, which must be approved in advance by a faculty advisor or committee and have supervision.

Additionally, students are required to complete self-directed learning throughout the program, i.e., students follow their interests, or as part of a guided course experience, to develop independent learning opportunities. Examples include group activities such as a journal club, or faculty-guided activities such as a research project.

There is a formal cumulative assessment at the end of each year. At the end of year four, the Doctor of Pharmacy epilogue PHMD 290 is the final course, which represents a cumulative assessment of the entire program.

Normative time to complete the requirements of the Pharm.D. degree is four years. Students enter and work through the program as a cohort. Those on approved leave of absence are expected to return at the same level and must continue making normal progress upon their return. Maximum time to degree is six years.

Course Requirements

1. Students who completed PHRMSCI 174 and PHRMSCI 174L and/or PHRMSCI 177 as undergraduate students at UCI may waive PHMD 274C and/or PHMD 209 (respectively) if completed within 5 years prior and a grade of B or better was received. Students who completed similar courses on campuses other than UCI may not waive these courses. Eligible students must obtain formal approval for the waiver by the Associate Dean of Pharmacy Education and must replace the units with equal or greater elective course units.