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Pharm.D. Program

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Direct Admission to the First Professional Year of the Doctor of Pharmacy Program: Transfer Students

For an application, please contact the Office of Admission (401) 874-7100
or click on the Admission homepage.

The University accepts a very limited number of transfer students to the first professional year of the Doctor of Pharmacy Program. Because of the integrated nature of the curriculum, there is no opportunity for admission to the professional program for students with advanced standing beyond the beginning of the first professional year.

Applicants must meet the program’s academic requirements and have relevant work experience. Applicants are required to submit an essay, undergo a personal interview and provide two letters of recommendation.

Students must be able to meet the requirements for a pharmacy intern license and certain introductory and advance practice sites also require students to undergo a criminal background check and submitt to drug testing. All students enrolled in the Doctor of Pharmacy Program are expected to meet the Technical Standards and to adhere to the Professional Standards of Behavior.

 

Academic Requirements
Applicants are required to take the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) and achieve a minimum composite score of 400. The PCAT score report (sent directly from the Psychological Corporation) must be received by February 1 of the year for which the student is applying

Applicants  must have completed the following pre-pharmacy course-work:

  • Gen. Chemistry I and II with labs
  • General Zoology with lab
  • Applied Calculus 
  • Human Anatomy with lab
  • Organic Chemistry I and II with labs
  • Principles of Microeconomics
  • Introductory Medical Microbiology 
  • Introductory Human Physiology with Lab
  • Introductory Biochemistry  
  • Introductory Biostatistics 
  • Oral Communications and Writing
  • Ethics

In addition to the standard University of Rhode Island transfer admission requirements, applicants must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.8 for all college coursework taken after high school, and a minimum 3.2 grade point average in all pre-professional courses listed above.

Work Experience
Applicants must have work experience in a pharmaceutical, healthcare environment; and/or volunteer service.

Essay
Applicants are required to submit an essay to demonstrate their written communication skills and knowledge of the pharmacy profession . 

Interview
All selected applicants will be required to have a formal interview. The interview is designed to assess students’ commitment to the profession of pharmacy, knowledge of the profession and ability to communicate with patients.

Letters of Recommendation
Two letters of recommendation (one from a health professional and one from science or math instructor) are required.

 

Student Interviews