PharmD

To enroll in a didactic electives offered by the College of Pharmacy (courses with “PRMC” preceding course number), complete an add/drop form and submit it to the course coordinator(s) (1 form per course).

• PRMC-630 - Acute Care (Spring 2022)
• PRMC-639A/B - Contemporary Topics in Pharmacy Management (Spring 2022)
• PRMC-638 - Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) (Fall 2022)
• PRMC-633A - Pharmacy Calculations (Fall 2022)
• PRMC-633B - Pharmacy Calculations (Spring 2022)
• PRMC-632 - Residency & Post-Graduate Training Preparation (Fall 2022)

To enroll in didactic electives offered by other programs (courses with IPEC or OPCC) complete an elective form and submit to the course coordinator(s) (1 form per course).

• OPCC-670 - Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Coaching (Spring & Fall 2022)
• IPEC-673 - Functional Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine (Spring & Fall 2022)
• IPEC-692 - Global Wellness (Spring & Fall 2022)
• IPEC-650 - LGBTQIA & Considerations in HealthCare (Spring & Fall 2022)
• IPEC-690 - Pathways to Success (Spring & Fall 2022)

There is a set sequence of topics covered in the first and second years of the curriculum. Each year‘s Fall and Spring semester is divided into three 5-week-long blocks that focus on a particular organ system. During the 6th week of each block, a formative-style examination is given in each track.

The 19th week of each semester assesses all material covered during the semester. The comprehensive assessment is a three-part examination referred to as the Triple-Jump Exam (TJE).

The TJE evaluates a student's competencies and overall command of the knowledge base. It consists of:

1. A closed book exam, with a patient case generating questions from the four tracks
2. An open-book exam in which the same case is analyzed in greater detail, and finally
3. An Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to evaluate all aspects of professional demeanor

A total of 21 credits each semester is divided among the courses in accordance with the class contact hours described above to comply with the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards 2007.

The course credit hours indicate the corresponding weight given to each course in calculating the cumulative GPA. The departments (or tracks), course titles, PHRM catalog numbers, and number of credits carried by each of the four courses each semester are described below and in the student catalog.

The experiential component of PharmD 2+2 curriculum allows students the opportunity to practice using the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for competent pharmacists in an actual pharmacy setting.

The experiential program is divided into two parts, each of which has increasing levels of responsibility and clinical maturity:

1. The Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE)
2. The Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE)

Extended clinical training means TUC graduate pharmacists are prepared for increasing patient centered pharmacotherapeutic responsibilities.

The Board requires a total of 1500 intern hours before graduates may sit for the pharmacist licensing exam; 900 hours must be acquired in a pharmacy and 600 hours of experience substantially related to the practice of pharmacy may be granted by the Board at their discretion.

A student licensed as an intern during the first year of pharmacy school may acquire all of the required hours through their experiences in the curriculum.

All of the IPPEs, plus the 6-week APPE rotations in Institutional, Ambulatory Care 1 and Ambulatory Care 2 may be counted towards the 600 hours substantially related to the practice of pharmacy (we use this category for ambulatory care because ambulatory care rotations are not based in a pharmacy, but a medical clinic).

The 6-week APPE Community 1, Community 2, Acute Care 1 and Acute Care 2 rotations may be applied towards the 900 hours of experience acquired in a pharmacy (these total 960 hours) and the students are required to have the site preceptor sign off on these hours. Any of the 4 elective rotations based in a pharmacy may also be counted towards the 900, although the minimum would have already been met.

The PharmD clinical program during the P3 and P4 years consists of the seven required off-site clinical rotations and the 4 clerkship electives. Four 6-week rotation blocks are left open for use at the student’s discretion. The P3 Callbacks (Web-based advanced pharmacotherapeutics lectures and Grand Rounds) are present via WebEx on Friday afternoons, so that students off-site can participate.

Curricular Goals

The following curricular goals and objectives of the College of Pharmacy serve as guidelines for the design and organization of our curriculum:

GOAL 1

• Provide a curriculum that produces graduates proficient in all the professional and educational competencies required, and who have met all outcome expectations related to those competencies.
• Curricular design should allow all students the time, resources, and opportunities to achieve all competencies.
• Outcome expectations and methods of assessment must relate to the desired professional and educational competencies, and be able to provide reasonable assurance of a student‘s achievement of these competencies.
• Curricular competencies and outcome expectations should be reviewed annually by the faculty and by practicing pharmacists to ensure their relevance to contemporary practice.

Assessment methods should be reviewed regularly to ensure they relate to the stated proficiencies and outcome expectations, and that they are adequate measures of achievement.

GOAL 2

• Design a curriculum that provides a student-centered, interactive learning environment that is cooperative rather than competitive, and able to accommodate individual learning styles.
• Class time should focus on student learning rather than faculty teaching.
• Students should take responsibility for their own learning, be encouraged to participate, and regularly self-assess their progress toward achievement of outcome expectations.
• Faculty should design and guide educational experiences of varied types to accommodate and facilitate different styles of learning.
• Educational experiences should include case studies, discussions, debates, simulations, problem solving, role-playing, and other presentations that allow students to apply, analyze, integrate, and evaluate knowledge.
• The learning environment and daily planned group activities should stimulate participation and promote cooperation towards outcomes rather than competition among students.
• Students should be encouraged to teach each other and learn from each other.
• In designing learning experiences for students, the faculty will recognize and accommodate different styles of learning by providing varied types of educational experiences.

GOAL 3

• Employ assessment tools that emphasize achievement of outcomes.
• Assessment, feedback, and reassessment should be the fundamental means to achievement.
• Knowledge and critical thinking skills should be achieved at individual levels of performance.
• Students should be encouraged to work as teams because often groups can arrive at answers that elude them individually.
• The curriculum should communicate clear outcome expectations to all students, and produce entry-level, generalist pharmacy practitioners.
• Individual outcomes should be assessed through examination and feedback provided by review and reassessment.
• Team assignments should be assessed by peer- and self- evaluations.
• The most decisive methods should be employed to assess a student‘s progress, provide feedback about their progression to students and teachers, and show deficiencies and corrective procedures.
• Skills should be practiced periodically throughout all four years so that mastery is achieved.

GOAL 4

• Produce graduates who have the ability to solve problems, make wise decisions, teach, and learn by themselves, and remain committed to lifelong learning.
• The curriculum should provide opportunities to develop problem-solving skills.
• The curriculum should provide opportunities to develop problem-solving skills.
• The curriculum should assign student projects that go beyond the classroom.
• The curriculum should give students educational experiences that develops the ability to locate, retrieve, and assess information for the benefit of their patients.

GOAL 5

• Produce graduates who are able to meet the expectations of the workplace.
• The outcome expectations of the curriculum should be reviewed annually by current pharmacy practitioners to ensure their relevancy to the profession.
• Data about a student‘s knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors from the practice experiences, and employer satisfaction should be collected via surveys designed to give feedback and assess the quality and preparation of graduates for contemporary pharmacy practice.