Academic Information
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY PHILOSOPHY
Traditionally, the pharmacist's role has been that of a dispenser of medications.However, this traditional method of practice is no longer adequate to ensuresafety and effectiveness in the use of medications and health devices.The focus of practice must change from one of product distribution to amore expansive duty; assuming the responsibility for our patients' outcomesfrom the medications we dispense.
Health care reform has put an emphasis on primary health care. Thisemphasis coupled with a lack of access, increasingly rising costs, anda concern for quality is placing the pharmacist in an important role asa member of the primary health care delivery team.
Pharmacies are located in most rural communities and throughout innercities and urban sprawl across the country. This physical placement ofthe pharmacist, who is trained in delivering comprehensive care to thepublic, allows access to primary health care where it is critically lacking.The role of the pharmacist as a member of the primary health care teamdoes not replace the physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner,but enhances their effectiveness. The pharmaceutical services providedin this changing arena will include participating in the drug therapy decisionprocess through recommending therapeutic objectives, selecting the mostappropriate drug product to achieve the desired therapeutic outcomes giventhe patient's unique characteristics, determining dose and dosage schedule,selecting the drug product source of supply and drug preparation, and monitoringthe patient's response to the therapy so that the patient receives theoptimal benefits with minimal adverse drug effects.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy offersthe degree of Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) with this expanded role ofthe pharmacist in mind. The effective delivery of essential primary healthcare services requires a greater responsibility of the pharmacist and agreater depth and breadth of education to support it.
It is a goal of all educators to foster within students the desire tolearn and the ability to discover. Our curriculum has been designed toencourage intellectual development and help the student become a competentand skilled professional pharmacist. This is accomplished through conceptualcompetence, technical competence, integrated competence and career marketability.
Pharmaceutical education must provide students a fundamentally strongscience base enabling them to evaluate clinical studies and use data toreach conclusions regarding a variety of issues. Students must be mathematicallycompetent in the resolution of problems related to drug therapy. Analyticalthinking must be cultivated, allowing today's pharmacy student to be effectivein decision making. Communication skills are essential in preparing thestudent to be an effective pharmacist. Graduates must have an understandingof the social context in which their profession is practiced. They mustlearn to first listen in order to effectively convey information regardingdrug therapies. There must also be a sensitivity to patients of all socio-economiclevels and whose native language is not English.
TTUHSC School of Pharmacy program is student centered, focusing on problem-basededucational strategies. The curriculum provides an integrated course contextof pathophysiology, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry and therapeutics.It offers expanded practice management instruction and clinical experiencesearly and throughout the four-year professional program. Each of the curricularand instructional strategies have been precisely balanced to give the academicand clinical preparation to optimally succeed in any pharmaceutical profession.