Faculty & Staff
Faculty and Staff Handbook » School of Pharmacy
Academic Programs
The School of Pharmacy offers the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) as its single professional degree. The Pharm.D. is a 4-year professional program, requiring at least two years of pre-professional studies that may be completed at any accredited college or university.
Students are admitted once each year for enrollment in the fall semester. Studies must be on a full time basis. Students will spend the majority of each weekday in classes, laboratories, or clinical experiences.
The goals of the program are to prepare entry-level pharmacy practitioners, eligible for licensure as a pharmacist in any state, with practice knowledge and skills in drug distribution and control, practice management, and direct patient skills to manage drug therapy and provide case management of patients as recently authorized by Texas Board of Pharmacy, Rule 291.33(2)(B).
The purpose of the program is to prepare entry-level pharmacy practitioners with minimum competencies in the following areas:
- Collection and interpretation of relevant patient data as a basis for therapeutic decision making.
- The prospective review of medication orders and the patient's database to evaluate efficacy, appropriateness, potential toxicity, and cost effectiveness of prescribed drug regimens.
- Counseling patients, caregivers, and other health professionals on the rational, safe, and effective use of medications.
- Counseling patients and caregivers on the rational, safe, and effective use of non prescription medication.
- Developing therapeutic care plans.
- Monitoring a patient's therapeutic outcomes according to his/her therapeutic care plan and intervening as appropriate.
- Preparing medications as appropriate to meet patients' needs according to Texas and Federal laws, rules and regulations, including the compounding and dispensing of dosage forms.
- Administering medications.
- Supervising pharmacy personnel.
- Interpreting financial information relevant to a pharmacy practice environment.
- Practicing in an ethical manner.
The School of Pharmacy is strongly committed to the enhanced educational level of existing pharmacists. Efforts to establish a non traditional Doctor of Pharmacy program are on going. It would be expected that already practicing pharmacists would have the same minimal competencies as the entry level pharmacist in all areas and advanced competencies in those areas they have had practical experience in. This program will be developed in collaboration with the other schools of pharmacy within the State of Texas.
A structured program, emphasizing clinical, problem-based detection and solving skills, will be provided for highly motivated pharmacy residents.
Clinical Programs
The opportunity to positively impact our community is most evidences by the School's clinical programs. Clinical programs are those programs involving formal contracts or affiliation agreements through which pharmaceutical care is provided to an individual or a group of individuals. These are staffed by School of Pharmacy faculty who are involved in direct patient care in the following areas: collection and interpretation of relevant patient data as a basis for decision making, review of medication orders, counseling, developing therapeutic plans, and monitoring patient's therapeutic outcomes. As students progress through the curriculum, these clinical programs will give them the opportunities to experience clinical settings other than in a retail pharmacy. These programs will also provide residency training opportunities.
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