Curriculum Summary

The Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree is granted upon successful completion of the professional curriculum and compliance with the requirements of the University for graduation. The course of instruction covers eight terms over four academic years (see Curriculum).

The curriculum includes lecture and laboratory courses that are delivered using a variety of pedagogy. Although students are introduced to the clinical environment as early as the fall term of the first professional year, clinical instruction is emphasized in the third and fourth years of the curriculum. During this time students receive experiential learning in traditional practice settings such as community and hospital pharmacy arenas as well as advanced clinical rotations in internal medicine, ambulatory care, pediatrics, mental health, parenteral nutrition, cardiology, critical care and other specialty areas.

Students may be required to complete a portion of the introductory and advanced practice experiences in various parts of the state. US rotations located outside Tennessee (e.g., Alaska, Arizona, North Carolina) and International professional experiences (e.g., England, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Spain, Ireland, Sweden, Hungary, Gambia, Thailand, Turkey and France) are available to a limited number of students.

CPR Certification

All University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy students are required to obtain American Heart Association Healthcare Provider CPR certification by the end of their first academic term. Following initial certification, all University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy students must maintain active CPR certification during the P2, P3, and P4 years. Students will not be allowed to enter the subsequent year without approved CPR certification. For the convenience of UT College of Pharmacy students, the UT Chapter of the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) offers American Heart Association Healthcare Provider CPR that includes external defibrillation to first (during orientation) and third year students.

Content Areas

1. Pharmacology
2. Medicinal Chemistry
3. Pharmacy Technology (including sterile product preparation and compounding)
4. Therapeutics and Pathophysiology of Disease
5. Communications and Patient Assessment
6. Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics
7. Pharmacy Management and Pharmacoeconomics
8. Medication Use Process
9. Experiential learning (12 months)