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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Pharmacist School

What is the Most Common Pharmacist School Program?
Doctor of Pharmacy
Pharmacists dispense medicine and provide information to patients regarding drug side effects, interactions and proper dosage. Due to the high level of responsibility associated with the profession, there is a standard Pharmacist school degree program that qualifies candidates who wish to pursue a career in the pharmacy field. The Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) is not a graduate degree, but is considered a professional degree. To earn this degree, one must first complete a 2-year pre-pharmacy program before moving into a 4-year Doctor of Pharmacy professional program. The pre-pharmacy program includes general education courses as well as pharmacy related courses in college level chemistry, biology and physics. The curriculum in the professional program involves advanced courses in pharmacology, biometrics, chemistry and therapeutics, as well as an intensive final year that includes six to eight different clinical rotations in various specialties and settings. Many schools of pharmacy allow students to concurrently earn a master's or Ph.D. along with the Pharm.D., providing students the opportunity to perform pharmaceutical research; typically, it takes two or three more years to earn this extra degree. Students often have the option of completing all 6 years required for earning this doctorate degree at the same college or university; students may also complete the pre-pharmacy program at a different school than the 4-year program. Candidates who have already completed equivalent courses while earning a bachelor's degree may apply directly to the professional Pharm.D. program. Pharmacist school programs frequently consider letters of recommendation, grade point average and Pharmacy College Admissions Test scores in choosing candidates for admission. Upon earning the Doctor of Pharmacy, graduates must obtain licensure before beginning work in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and in home health. In most states, candidates are required to pass The North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam and the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam, which test pharmacy knowledge and law, respectively.

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