University of Arizona College of Pharmacy

The University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy is a public pharmacy school located in Tucson, Arizona. The College of Pharmacy is located on the University of Arizona campus and was established in 1947. It offers a four year Doctor of Pharmacy program and a Master of Science/Ph.D in Pharmacology and Toxicology or Pharmaceutical Sciences, taught by faculty belonging to the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science and the the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. In addition, the College of Pharmacy consists of a wide range of research centers including the Center for Toxicology,the Health Outcomes & PharmacoEconomics,the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, and the Medication Management Center.

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History

The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy was founded on Sept. 1, 1947 by Andrew Martin, a well respected pharmacist residing in Tucson, Arizona, alongside the Arizona Pharmacy Association. Pharmacy was the first health profession to be represented at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The first class at the College of Pharmacy consisted only of 25 students and three faculty members. However, the College of Pharmacy was the first in the nation to establish a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree in the 1950's and had established a Doctor of Pharmacy program by 1981. The College has two main buildings; the Skaggs Building of 1982 and Roy P Drachman Hall of 2006.

Rankings and Awards

The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy ranked 4th in America's Best Graduate Schools in 2005 by U.S. News and World Report.

In addition, it is consistently ranked among the top 10 Colleges of Pharmacy for research by the National Institute of Health. Specifically, the College ranked sixth in terms of dollar amounts in grants and contracts in the fiscal year of 2006.

Furthermore, the College of Pharmacy was ranked fifth in Percent of Ph.D faculty. The College also received grants from other external sources including grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for establishing the college as a leader in toxicology research and training.

Prepharmacy Club

The UA's Prepharmacy Club was formed to help undergraduate students learn about the profession and learn more about admission to the College of Pharmacy. The Prepharmacy Club meets monthly and provides resources and different opportunities to its members, including advisors and peers who are also interested in the field of pharmacy. In addition to monthly meetings, this organization is also active in the community as volunteers in Habitat for Humanity and other projects. The faculty advisor for the Prepharmacy Club is Marty Baker.

The Prepharmacy Club has eight leadership positions:

• President
• Vice president
• Treasurer
• Historian
• Recorder
• Activities Coordinator
• Computer Guru
• American Pharmacists Association liason

Admissions

The admissions process at the College of Pharmacy is very competitive. Applicants applying in Fall of 2008 must complete sixty-seven units of specific pre-pharmacy courses at an accredited college. The College of Pharmacy raised the requirements for applicants in Fall of 2009 to seventy-one units of specific pre-pharmacy courses at an accredited college.

Once admitted, applicants must also be accepted into the Graduate College -- a minimum of a 3.0 GPA for the last sixty units of college coursework and seventy-two hours of college coursework at an accredited college completed by June 1st of the admission year.

These requirements include:
• English
• Composition
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Humanities
• Social and Behavioral sciences
• Physics
• Organic chemistry
• Calculus
• Microbiology
• Economics
• Fine arts

Applicants must have a competitive Science GPA and PCAT-- Pharmacy College Admission Test-- score.

Academics

The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy offers a four year Doctor of Pharmacy program. In addition, the College also offers Master of Science/Ph.D in Pharmacology and Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Sciences taught by faculty belonging to the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science and the the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. The Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum includes three years of classes and one year of rotations.

First Year Curriculum:

Fall Semester:
• Biochemistry
• Pharmaceutical calculations
• Pharmaceutics
• Pharmacy practice
• Interviewing and counseling
• Pharmaceutics lab
• Case discussions

Spring Semester:
• Anatomy
• Physiology
• Pharmacy practice
• Pharmaceutics lab
• Patient assessment
• Case discussions
• Statistical methods

Second Year Curriculum:

Fall Semester:
• Case discussions
• Medicine use in health care systems
• Research design considerations
• Medicinal chemistry
• Pharmacology
• Chemotherapy of infectious diseases

Spring Semester:
• Drug information
• Literature evaluation
• Pharmacotherapeutics
• Medicinal chemistry
• Pharmacology
• Clinical toxicology
• Non-prescription medications and devices

Third Year Curriculum:

Fall Semester:
• Pharmacotherapeutics
• Pharmacokinetics
• Preparation for rotations
• Pharmacokinetics discussion
• Professional practice management
• Selection of electives

Spring Semester:
• Pharmacotherapeutics
• Pharmacy laws and ethics
• Clinical pharmacokinetics
• Pharmacokinetics discussion
• Writing a proposal for a scientific study

Student Organizations

The College of Pharmacy endorses several student organizations, including American Pharmacists Association (APhA-ASP), American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP), National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), and the Arizona Pharmacy Alliance. The College of Pharmacy encourages student participation in the pharmacy profession organizations.

• APhA-ASP has the largest membership of all the student pharmacy organizations at the University of Arizona and received the Chapter Achievement Award in 2007 for a fourth consecutive year. American Pharmacists Association represent pharmacists and all its members in every area of pharmacy. The faculty advisors are Dr. Theodore Tong and Dr. Richard Herrier.

• American Society of Health-System Pharmacists is based around students who are interested specifically in clinical pharmacy, and the faculty advisor is Dr. Micheal Katz.

• National Community Pharmacists Association is dedicated to pharmacy ownership and compounding pharmacies, and the faculty advisor is Dr. Kevin Boesen.

Student Fraternities

There are four fraternities offered to student pharmacists -- Kappa Psi, Kappa Epsilon, and Phi Delta Chi. Rho Chi is an academic honor society offered to the top percentage of the pharmacy class.

• The local chapter of Kappa Psi is the Gamma Upsilon Chapter. It is the world's oldest and largest pharmacy fraternity, with sixty-six collegiate and forty-one graduate chapters in the United States and Canada. Faculty advisors for Kappa Psi are John Murphy and Grant Skrepnek.

• The local chapter of Kappa Epsilon is the Sigma Chapter, and the faculty advisor is Lynne Mascarella.

• The local chapter of Phi Delta Chi is the Alpha Nu Chapter, with David Lee as the faculty advisor.

Accreditation

The US Department of Education and specifically the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education is responsible for accreditation of the College of Pharmacy. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education was established in 1932 for pre-service education and then expanded accreditation to pharmacy education in 1972. The Council for Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education is an independent agency. The Board of Directors was made up of members from American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Pharmacists Association, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, and the American Council of Education. This Board of Directors has authority to manage corporate affairs, establishing criteria for accrediting providers of continuing pharmacy education, and taking actions concerning accreditation.

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