Pharmacy, the doctor of Pharmacy degree, and you

Rich Wilcox, Ph.D.Assistant Dean for Admissions / Advising

Professor of Neuropharmacology

LPPA Fall 2014

Theme = Admissions ProcessPoints to cover

• What is Pharmacy, really?• What pre-Pharmacy major?• Keys to the pre-reqs• Online college course work• Community college course work• UT policy on simultaneous enrollment• Myths in the application process

What is Pharmacy really?

• Pharmacy is the health profession in which you may have the most contact with patients on a regular basis.

• Pharmacy is the health profession in which you may have the most control over which life saving medications will be taken by a patient.

• IMPLICATION: Work with patients!

What should be my pre-Pharmacy major?

• ANY pre-Pharmacy major is OK.• Most common are Biology & Chemistry.

Do my pre-Pharmacy courses have an expiration date?

• For UT, NO!• For other PharmD programs, you need to

check!

Keys to the pre-reqs

• All science / math courses should be for science majors.• You need English comp and a literature course.• You should take a microbiology course for health

professions [326M]• Your genetics course should cover cell & population

genetics.• Your calculus course needs to cover several topics in

integration. The one semester majors course often covers these topics. [See next slide]

• There are some core / flag graduation requirements for UT.

Topics in calculus that my course should have?

• 1/3 of course on integration• a] Fundamental theorem of the calculus; b] Integration

formulas; c] Intermediate value theorem; d] Theory of the integral such as Riemann sums and integrating continuous functions; e] Applications of the integral - areas, volumes, work, approximations by the trapezoidal rule and by Simpson's rule; f] Integration in relation to logs; g] Trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions.

Online & community college courses?

• Both online and community college courses are fine.

• HOWEVER, IF you wish to take one of the above while enrolled at UT that term you MUST get prior approval from your advisor!

Myth

• The PharmD program only cares about GPA and PCAT scores, not about passion for or experience in Pharmacy.– Not true!– Yes, the average GPA and PCAT are high, but– Virtually all admitted students have significant amounts

of Pharmacy work experience, community service experience, and organizational experience.

GPA of enrolled students

PCAT composite scores enrolled students

Work and service experience

• While NOT required, direct PHR work experience as a CPhT is valuable and helpful.

• Volunteering & community service show your true heart!

Myth

• Communication skills don’t matter as admission criteria.– No one is admitted to the PharmD program without

communicating effectively during interview weekend.– The committee has denied folks with a 4.0 GPA and

99% on the PCAT because during the interview they did not communicate effectively OR did not convey a real interest in helping other people.

– Ethical scenario – team activity– MMI = multiple-mini interviews

Myth

• Language skills don’t matter as admission criteria.– Not true!– Writing achievement and potential are

evaluated specifically • by the PCAT writing score

– And by your grades in English comp and literature

MMI http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/02/021313-vetmed-

admissions.html

MMI http://school.med.nyu.edu/md-admissions/mmi-faqs

Myth

• Letters of recommendation don’t matter to the admissions committee.– Letters of recommendation from Pharmacists are the

gold standard for admission!– It is a red flag if someone indicates that they work in a

pharmacy and do NOT have a letter from a pharmacist.

PharmCAS

As of June 2012 we use PharmCAS for the application.

Academics

Pre-req GPA > 2.8 [2014 mean = 3.6] PCAT > 70% [2014 mean = 89%]

Academics + Professional

• Academic ability – Pre-req GPA – PCAT– Grades in advanced science courses

• Knowledge of and passion for pharmacy – Resume– Essay– Letters of recommendation– Interview experiences

Real work experience

• Health care • Especially in pharmacy• Have contact with patients!• Learn about health care

policy & medications

Meaningful service

• Organizational activities• Community service and

volunteering• Where you actually DO

something!

PharmD characteristics

• Following slides show some of the key characteristics of our students.

• Are these your characteristics?

Passion

•Passion for serving others–THE major focus of your life–THIS is why you are here on earth

Discipline

• 60 hour “work” week [academics, work, and service]

• such discipline is the key to success

Pharmacy work experience

• Understand at least one type of pharmacy experience

• Have real insight about the issues facing the profession

• Know something about medcations

Serving in the community

•Care enough about helping others that you do it….a lot

Develop leadership

• Lead “in front”• Lead by example• But do lead• Being a quiet leader is OK

Statistics

Size of PharmD Applicant Pool

GPA for Each Class

GPA of enrolled students

PCAT for Each Class

PCAT composite scores enrolled students

Degrees of Enrolled Students

Residence of enrolled students

Ethnicity / gender enrolled students