Pharm.D. Curriculum
The Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum is designed to be completed within four years. The first three professional years of the program are primarily based in the classroom and laboratories on campus at UT Tyler and include foundational and clinical sciences. The fourth professional year is comprised of in-depth practice experiences where students learn at pharmacy practice locations with community practitioners and faculty members.
The full curriculum is available at: https://www.uttyler.edu/academics/colleges-schools/pharmacy/admissions/curriculum/index.php.
Didactic Courses
The Pharm.D. curriculum is organized into fall and spring semesters. Globally, the course content in the first year focuses on the foundational sciences. The second and third years of the curriculum focus on the clinical, social and behavioral sciences, pharmacy law, and elective coursework.
Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences
Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs) are integrated throughout the first, second, and third years of the curriculum. During IPPEs, students rotate through institutional and community pharmacies where they learn from pharmacist preceptors and complete service-learning hours. These experiences provide the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills gained from classroom and laboratory coursework to pharmacy practice. IPPEs provide the breadth of experience to help prepare students for success in Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences. Rotations are scheduled based on the availability of sites and preceptors and per the processes outlined in the Experiential Education Manual. Participation in experiential coursework requires an active pharmacist intern license. The FCOP Office of Experiential Education oversees the IPPE curriculum. Students participating in IPPEs are required to adhere to the requirements outlined in the FCOP Experiential Education Manual.
Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences
The fourth professional year consists of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) and a pharmacy capstone course. Throughout this final year of the curriculum, students rotate through various pharmacy practice settings. Four core rotations plus three elective rotations are required, each being 6-weeks in length. The four core rotations are: Adult Medicine, Ambulatory Care, Advanced Community, and Advanced Institution. Elective APPEs must include a minimum of two patient care electives. During APPEs, students are required to attend Back to Campus days in person. Rotations are scheduled based on the availability of sites and preceptors and per the processes outlined in the Experiential Education Manual. Participation in APPEs requires an active pharmacist intern license. The FCOP Office of Experiential Education oversees the APPE curriculum. Students participating in APPEs are required to adhere to the requirements outlined in the FCOP Experiential Education Manual.
Interprofessional Education
The FCOP is dedicated towards our mission of “advancing healthcare through collaborative education.” As a part of these efforts, the College is working with other health science schools/colleges at UT Tyler to develop a full curriculum that involves interprofessional education with other health profession students. These collaborative endeavors are necessary to prepare our graduates for current healthcare environments while also providing them tools that will assist with personal maturation as healthcare continues to evolve.
Because interprofessional collaboration and engagement are imperative competencies in health care, students will be exposed to various interprofessional experiences that will focus on the four Interprofessional Education Collaboration (www.ipecollaborative.org) competency domains:
- Values and ethics for interprofessional practice: Work with individuals of other professions to maintain a climate of mutual respect and shared values.
- Roles/responsibilities: Use the knowledge of one’s own role and those of other professions to appropriately assess and address the health care needs of patients and to promote and advance the health of populations.
- Interprofessional communication: Communicate with patients, families, communities, and professionals in health and other fields in a responsive and responsible manner that supports a team approach to the promotion and maintenance of health and the prevention and treatment of disease.
- Teams and teamwork: Apply relationship-building values and principles of team dynamics to perform effectively in different team roles to plan, deliver, and evaluate patient/population-centered care and population health programs and policies that are safe, timely, efficient, effective, and equitable.
Our framework will utilize these competencies in addition to approaches that focus on strategic growth through the curriculum from exposure, to immersion and integration, and finally, to practice.
Healthcare Leadership Concentration (HLC)
Academic Concentrations are advanced studies that foster career development through comprehensive curriculum. The Healthcare Leadership Concentration (HLC) is offered at the graduate level to select health-related degree programs in collaboration with the Soules College of Business. Upon successful completion of the required Healthcare Leadership coursework, as outlined within the catalog, the HLC is indicated on the academic transcript. Grades for individual coursework are awarded as a letter grade, and successful completion of each course requires a grade of “C” or better to be awarded the HLC.
Healthcare Leadership Concentration students are eligible to earn up to 9-credit hours toward the 36-credit hour UT Tyler MBA program; credits may be applied toward electives for the UT Tyler MHA and MPH with approval from the college in which the degrees are awarded.
The Healthcare Leadership Concentration and Healthcare Leadership Distinction are customized interprofessional education opportunities offered to students, in good academic standing, from select degree programs.
Participation in the Healthcare Leadership Concentration is an optional opportunity within the PharmD program and coursework will be used to satisfy elective credits.
The Healthcare Leadership Concentration (HLC) coursework is a component of the Healthcare Leadership Distinction program (HLD); courses are lockstep and program approval is required to enroll.
National Licensing Examinations
The Fisch College of Pharmacy Pharm.D. program provides students with the knowledge needed to pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) licensing exam and the Federal and Texas State Laws tested within the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE). The program does not provide comprehensive coverage of state laws outside of Texas. Additionally, not all states/territories use the MPJE for their law examinations. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy maintains a list of states accepting the NAPLEX and MPJE as licensing exams as well as contact information for each board of pharmacy.
Academic Calendar for the Fisch College of Pharmacy
The FCOP academic calendar is available at https://www.uttyler.edu/academics/academic-calendar.php.
Academic Honors for the Fisch College of Pharmacy
President’s Honor Roll
Pharm.D. students are not eligible for the President’s Honor Roll.
Dean’s List
To qualify for the FCOP Dean’s List, a Pharm.D. student must complete at least 6 credit hours in the awarding semester with grade point average of at least 3.75. Only those courses within the Pharm.D. curriculum or approved Fisch College of Pharmacy/UT Tyler electives are considered in the grade point average calculations.
Graduation Honors
The FCOP bestows academic honors to Pharm.D. students graduating with a GPA is 3.5 or above. Only those courses within the Pharm.D. curriculum or approved Fisch College of Pharmacy/UT Tyler electives are considered in the grade point average calculations.
| Summa Cum Laude |
3.90 to 4.00 |
| Magna Cum Laude |
3.70 to 3.89 |
| Cum Laude |
3.50 to 3.69 |
Rho Chi
Rho Chi is the academic honor society for pharmacy. Students must have completed their second professional year and be in the top 20% of their class to qualify.
Healthcare Leadership Concentration
Academic Concentrations are advanced studies that foster career development through comprehensive curriculum. The Healthcare Leadership Concentration (HLC) is offered at the graduate level to select health-related degree programs in collaboration with the Soules College of Business. Upon successful completion of the required Healthcare Leadership coursework, as outlined within the catalog, the HLC is indicated on the academic transcript.