COLLEGE OF PHARMACY CURRICULUM
Professional and General Outcome Expectations of the Curriculum
The professional and educational outcomes expectations of this curriculum have been adapted from Educational Outcomes 2004 recently published by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s Center for the Advancement of Pharmaceutical Education (CAPE) Advisory Panel. The guidelines integrate science, professionalism and professional attributes, and interprofessional practices across the three principle categories of pharmaceutical care, systems management, and public health as applied to the practice of pharmacy. They also incorporate the General Outcome Expectations of cognitive and psychosocial skills, attitudes, and behaviors that are integral to preparing quality pharmacy practitioners. Although these recently revised outcomes are not yet adopted by ACPE, they employ similar language to corresponding competency/outcomes documents in other health professions. Using the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) evolving “desired future” vision as its background, and with pharmaceutical care as the continuing philosophy of practice, CAPE’s Educational Outcomes 2004 serves as the framework upon which AACP’s member faculties are encouraged to add their own contextual discipline- and content-specific outcome statements.
Curriculum Design and Construction: The Two Plus Two Program
Like other Colleges of Pharmacy, the Touro program consists of two major components: the didactic curriculum and the experiential practice. Our curricular content is equivalent to that of other pharmacy programs, the design and delivery of Touro’s curriculum is notably different in emphasis and style. Modifications were made to optimize student learning and to produce the most competent pharmacy practitioners for today’s rapidly changing roles. To achieve that result, the curricular design, delivery, and assessment were refined to create a student-centered, interactive learning environment that is focused on achievement of outcomes. Graduates of this curriculum will be critical thinkers who are able to meet the increasing expectations of the workplace. They will be empowered to adapt throughout their careers using their capabilities to solve problems, educate themselves and others, and their commitment to life-long learning.
Didactic Curriculum. The first two years of the TUCOP program are organized under four tracks: Biological Sciences (Track 1) , Pharmaceutical Sciences (Track 2), Social and Administrative Sciences (Track 3) and Clinical Sciences (Track 4). Each of the first four semesters, students are enrolled in all four courses. Each semester is subdivided into three five-week instructional blocks followed by one week of evaluation. Evaluation activities will include student self-evaluation of learning, peer evaluations, student projects, clinical performance (objective clinical skills evaluation or OSCE) and traditional examinations. A final cumulative evaluation will occur in the last week of the semester.
DESCRIPTION OF DIDACTIC COURSES
YEAR ONE
PHRM 601. Biological Sciences I. This 5 unit course presents the essentials of gross anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, microbiology and immunology for the first year pharmacy student. Emphasis is placed upon the principles and characteristics of the pathophysiology of body systems, and the concept of altered health by comparing normal and abnormal states of those systems. The course provides the foundation for subsequent biological sciences (track 1) courses in which specific disease states are taught within a vertically integrated organ-system–based framework.
PHRM 602. Pharmaceutical Sciences I. This 7-unit course introduces the pharmacy student to the principles of medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and pharmaceutics. The purpose is to learn the basic principles that underlie these pharmaceutical sciences, and include; principles of functional group chemistry, pH and ionic equilibria, pharmacodynamics, pharmaco-kinetics, drug metabolism, pharmaceutical calculations, pharmaceutical dosage forms, formulation science and other fundamental principles of physical pharmacy.
PHRM 603. Social, Behavioral & Administrative Sciences I. This 3-units course is divided into three blocks will familiarize the pharmacy students with the overall health care environment within which the practice of pharmacy takes place. This overview includes the social, governmental, cultural, legal, and health care structures that impact upon patients, their families, pharmacists and their colleagues. The course imparts the importance of understanding those various influences that determine current and future professional life. Students will be encouraged to expand critical thinking skills, leadership abilities, and communication skills that will support professional and personal success.
The course will introduce complex areas of health care delivery from public policy perspectives. Lectures and class room discussion will provide interdisciplinary approaches to difficult political, social and economic issues that confront health practitioners and the public.
PHRM 604. Clinical Sciences I. This 5-unit course introduces the pharmacy student to clinical assessment skills, medication information acquisition, analysis and evaluation, geriatrics, clinical skills and knowledge related to providing immunizations. An Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) unit on immunizations is part of this course. The overall objective is to provide the student with initial and progressive pharmacy practice skills through active learning involving direct contact with patients, health professionals and the public, and with emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention activities.
PHRM 605. Biological Sciences II. TBA
PHRM 606. Pharmaceutical Sciences II. TBA
PHRM 607. Social, Behavioral & Administrative Sciences II. TBA
PHRM 608. Clinical Sciences II. TBA
YEAR TWO
PHRM 609. Biological Sciences III
PHRM 610. Pharmaceutical Sciences III
PHRM 611. Social, Behavioral & Administrative Sciences III
PHRM 612. Clinical Sciences III
PHRM 613. Biological Sciences IV
PHRM 614. Pharmaceutical Sciences IV
PHRM 615. Social, Behavioral & Administrative Sciences IV
PHRM 616. Clinical Sciences IV
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
Pharmacy Practice Experiences: IPPE and APPE
The experiential component of the proposed curriculum is designed to allow students the opportunity to practice using the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for competent pharmacists in an actual pharmacy setting. The experiential program is divided into two parts each of which has increasing levels of responsibility and clinical maturity: the Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) and the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE).
Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE)
IPPE experiences will be integrated into the Pharmacy Practice Track (Track 4) for Years 1 and 2. Students will spend approximately six hours per week on this track each semester. The IPPE will include the development of clinical skills, communication skills and counseling skills. In Year 1, students will be placed in community and hospital pharmacies with preceptors whom they will shadow. As part of the IPPE, students will be required to keep a portfolio containing descriptions and reflections of these experiences. Their experiences will be integrated with the didactic portion of the curriculum (Tracks 1, 2 and 3). Students will not only acquire new knowledge relevant to their education, but also will be able to integrate classroom knowledge and knowledge gleaned from their practice experience. As part of the Pharmacy Practice Track 4, students will regularly come together in small groups for discussion, reinforcement, reflection, and assessment.
The number and types of sites needed to implement the IPPE is included in the Physical Facility section of the report.
Structure of the APPE section of the Two Plus Two program. The proposed APPE curriculum includes seven required clerkships and four elective clerkships, all clerkships being six weeks in length. The required clerkships are community pharmacy (2), institutional pharmacy (1), acute care (2) and ambulatory care (2). Table C-5 shows how these core rotations are organized from a sequential or developmental perspective. Students begin with introductory experiences in community pharmacy, institutional practice and ambulatory care in Year 3 and progress to more advanced experiences in the second half of Year 3 and Year 4.
