Admission Requirements

Admissions Calendar

Career Outlook

Community/Independent Pharmacy Careers: Retail pharmacists dispense medications at drug stores or grocery stores. Some pharmacists own independent pharmacies and are able to provide more personalized care to their patients. Retail pharmacists are becoming more involved in direct patient care through such activities as counseling patients on disease states, including diabetes and hypertension, medication therapy management (MTM) and administering immunizations.

Clinical Pharmacy Careers: Clinical pharmacists work in a hospital or in a clinic setting as part of a medical care team. They typically visit patients with a physician and help to determine which medications and doses would be most effective for each patient's condition. In addition, they facilitate clinics which provide services such as anticoagulation and disease state management. They are more involved in drug therapy initiation and management than pharmacists in some other settings.

Long-term care: Long-term care facilities are homes where ongoing care is provided to the elderly or incapacitated individuals who are not in need of acute medical care but who are unable to care for themselves. Pharmacists in this setting review the medications of the patients living in these homes and provide recommendations to the providers of care.

Nuclear Pharmacy Careers: Nuclear pharmacists are responsible for measuring and delivering the radioactive materials which are used in digital imaging (MRI, CT, etc.) and other procedures in medical offices and hospitals. Due to the nature of the radioactive materials and how they are handled, nuclear pharmacists are typically required to start each work day very early, sometimes pre-dawn, as the radioactive materials must be delivered within a few hours of their use, or they lose their effectiveness.

Home infusion: These pharmacists are responsible for preparing intravenous medications for patients requiring such products as antibiotics, parenteral nutrition, or chemotherapy.

Academia: Pharmacists are an integral part of the faculty in Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy. In this setting, pharmacists are responsible for didactic teaching of clinical pharmacy courses and also serve as preceptors for students completing rotations, giving them the opportunity to observe clinical pharmacy activities.

Pharmaceutical Industry: Pharmacists are often employed by companies within the pharmaceutical industry to provide drug information, in depth information to healthcare providers, or facilitate clinical trials.

Pharmacy Management: Pharmacy District and Regional Managers supervise teams of pharmacy managers and staff pharmacists within a retail chain.

This list only represents a sample of the many practice opportunities that are available to pharmacists.

Curriculum

Prerequisites

All pre-pharmacy coursework must be completed prior to matriculation to the South University Doctor of Pharmacy program on or before May 25th of the program entrance year. The student must earn a grade of C (2.0) or better in each prerequisite course.

Prerequisites for June 2020

Comments on above:

• English, American or World Literature are preferred to meet the Literature requirement.  One English Composition is required.  A second English Composition course may be accepted in lieu of a Literature course at the discretion of the Office of Admissions.
• These courses must include a “live” lab.   Students with science courses taken prior to 2012-2013 will be required to retake one modern Biology and one modern Chemistry course to meet the prerequisite requirements.
• A lab is recommended but not required for Anatomy and Physiology I and II.  A separate course of Anatomy and a separate course of Physiology will be accepted in lieu of combined courses.
• A lab is recommended but not required for Physics I.
• Electives should in the Humanities, Social/Behavioral Sciences or Arts.  Substitutions may be accepted at the discretion of the Office of Admissions.

Program Quality Indicators

Outcomes

Domain 1: Foundational Knowledge

1. Apply principles of chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology to medication safety and efficacy.
2. Apply the principles of pharmaceutical science and calculations to drug design and drug delivery systems.
3. Apply pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and pharmacogenomic principles to therapeutic strategies.
4. Compare and contrast the physiology and biochemistry of normal body system function to that of abnormal function.
5. Critically analyze literature related to drugs and diseases to enhance clinical decision-making.

Domain 2: Essentials for Practice and Care

1. Collect subjective and objective patient information to identify medication and medical-related problems.
2. Assess and analyze information to determine effectiveness of therapy, identify problems, and prioritize needs to achieve optimal patient care.
3. Design an individual patient-centered care plan in collaboration with the patient and other health care professionals that is evidence-based and cost-effective to maximize desired effects.
4. Implement the care plan in collaboration with the patient, caregiver, and other healthcare professionals.
5. Follow-up and monitor the care plan to evaluate its effectiveness and modify the plan as needed.

Domain 3: Approach to Practice and Care of Individual Patients

1. Demonstrate accurate, safe, and time-sensitive preparation, dispensing, and administration of pharmaceuticals.
2. Manage pharmacy resources to optimize pharmacotherapy outcomes for individual patients.
3. Educate patients and health care providers.

Domain 4: Approach to Practice and Care of Populations

1. Demonstrate skills needed to participate in, or provide, preventive services.
2. Apply research processes to ensure informed decision-making.

Personal and Professional Development

1. Examine personal attributes that may enhance or limit personal and professional growth.
2. Demonstrate responsibility for creating and achieving shared goals, regardless of organizational position.
3. Engage in innovative and creative methods to accomplish goals. 
4. Demonstrate professional citizenship in the delivery of patient care, distribution of medications, and the promotion of wellness and disease prevention.
5. Advocate for the profession and patients.
6. Effectively communicate verbally and nonverbally when interacting with an individual, group, or organization.
7. Demonstrate problem solving skills including the ability to think critically, exercise professional judgment, and articulate and defend a decision.
8. Exhibit behaviors and values that are consistent with the trust bestowed to the profession by patients, other healthcare providers, and society.
9. Demonstrate knowledge of, and compliance with, federal and state laws/regulations governing the practice of pharmacy.

Create Value for Stakeholders of the Health Care System

1. Demonstrate the ability to create a business plan and/or strategy to launch a new service, product, or business line or improve an existing one.
2. Demonstrate the ability to apply performance improvement strategies to monitor the quality of a service, product, or business.
3. Demonstrate the ability to apply business and financial management tools to monitor the performance of a service, product, or business.

Handbooks

School of Pharmacy Handbooks

Download the School of Pharmacy Student Handbook below

• School of Pharmacy Student Handbook (2019-2020) (PDF)

Download the Experiential Education handbooks for South University preceptors below.

• 2019-2020 APPE Handbook (PDF)
• 2019-2020 IPPE Handbook (PDF)