Pharmacy Overview
Philip E. Johnston, Dean, School of Pharmacy
Faculty: Linda Allison, Mark Chirico, Elinor Gray, Salvatore Giorgianni, Eric Hobson, Kelley Kiningham, Marketa Marvanova, Marilyn Thompson Odom, Julie Rafferty, Condit Steil, Steven Stodghill, Kathy Turner, Andrew Webster, Jack Williams.
DOCTOR OF PHARMACY
Mission, Values, and Vision Mission
Mission
The Belmont University School of Pharmacy is an evolving learning community dedicated to rigorous and purposeful teaching, scholarship, service and leadership in pharmacy to reflect the University’s learning objectives and Christian-based ethical underpinnings.
Values
Integrity, Inquiry, Collaboration, Service, Humility.
Vision
To become a nationally-recognized practice and leadership center in pharmacy education, scholarship, patient-centric care and service. We see ourselves as a prominent resource for training and supporting competent, compassionate practitioners committed to life-long professional improvement and service.
Educational Goals
Fulfilling the School of Pharmacy mission and vision requires a philosophical foundation upon which are placed clear, mission-relevant goals in support of intellectual rigor and leadership responsibilities. The curriculum develops competent generalist pharmacists ready to meet the demands of entry-level practice. This vision guides curricular development and sets the educational standard for students and faculty. Students complete a curriculum that provides them a broad, solid grounding in the basic and clinical sciences, epistemologies, and values that define contemporary pharmacy practice.
Curricular Concentrations
Student development is extended by longitudinal interaction with four concentrations that define and guide the program:
- Phamacotherapy: Contemporary health care is a team-based, complex enterprise; professional effectiveness requires knowledge of and longitudinal experience collaborating with multiple health care partners to navigate complex health care systems so that all patients receive exceptional care.
- Information Management: Information systems infuse health care delivery; career competence requires the ability to use and to develop systems that integrate and extend current and emerging technologies.
- Pharmacy Management: Successful pharmacists require more than a solid base in the science of pharmacy; long-term career success and responsible patient care requires more-than-passing training in the art and science of management. This is one of the profession’s greatest needs.
- Pharmacy Missions : Pharmacy is about serving others and what distinguishes fully-developed pharmacists is their concern for others and commitment to service; leadership in the profession and one’s community requires understanding and committing to health care access and equity for underserved populations.
Requirements for Admission
The School of Pharmacy participates in the Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS), a national centralized common application process (www.pharmcas.org). Individuals who wish to apply to Belmont University School of Pharmacy must complete the PharmCAS application process and the supplemental Belmont University Graduate Application. The deadline for application is March 1.
The supplemental application form is available on-line (http://www.belmont.edu/pharmacy/pdf/School%20of%20Pharmacy%20Supplement%207-09.pdf) and can be submitted electronically or as hard copy. Mail hard-copy application materials to the Belmont University Office of Admissions, 1900 Belmont Blvd., Nashville, TN 37212.
In addition to the minimum undergraduate academic pre-requisite requirements, the application to the School of Pharmacy requires the following:
- graduate degree application (downloadable .pdf version or online).
- $50 application fee.
- Official college transcripts from each institution attended, submitted via PharmCAS application at the time of application, and a set submitted directly to Belmont University, Office of Admissions, 1900 Belmont Blvd., Nashville, TN 37212.
- Minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.7 (on a 4 point scale)
- Two letters of recommendation from persons able to discuss the applicant’s work ethic submitted via PharmCAS application or directly to Belmont.
- Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) examination results (Belmont’s PCAT code is 155).
Applications are reviewed, and selected individuals are invited for on-campus interviews. An onsite interview is an admissions requirement. The School uses a rolling admissions process.
Technical Standards for Admission to Belmont University School of Pharmacy
Technical standards for admission ensure that pharmacists are trained to facilitate competent patient care in any and all pharmacy-relevant facets of healthcare. Admitted students must possess the intellectual, emotional, and physical abilities, with reasonable accommodations as needed for those with disabilities, to acquire the knowledge, behaviors, and skills needed to complete the curriculum. These standards are essential to ensure the competencies of the School’s graduates. Each applicant will be assessed in the academic and technical standards set forth by the admissions committee, notwithstanding reasonable accommodations, prior to matriculation.
The doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree identifies persons who have completed the curriculum necessary to perform the functions of a pharmacist in any and all areas of contemporary practice; thus graduates must convey and demonstrate abilities to preserve the safety and protection of public interests. Moreover, pharmacy applicants must be able, with or without reasonable accommodations, to perform specific essential functions that the faculty deem requisite for the practice of pharmacy. These functions fall into several categories including: communicative, motor, conceptual, integrative, quantitative, behavioral and social. Applicants must have the physical and emotional stamina to perform competently in clinical settings that involve heavy workloads and/or stressful stimuli. Individuals impaired by alcohol or substance abuse do not meet the technical standards.
I. Communication: Candidates must be able to speak, hear, and observe patients in a clinical setting. They must be able to record information accurately and clearly, speak, read and write fluent English, and communicate effectively and sensitively with patients. Candidates must also be able to communicate effectively, accurately, and without error with other members of the healthcare team in oral and written form, and in patient care settings in which decisions based upon those communications must be made accurately and rapidly. Change and/or revealed deficiencies in student communication ability may create insurmountable barriers to matriculation or continuation of the curriculum.
II. Motor: Pharmacy students must possess sufficient visual, auditory, tactile and motor abilities required to gather data from written reference material, from oral presentations, by observing demonstrations and experiments, by studying various types of medical illustrations, by observing patients and their environment, by observing clinical procedures performed by others, by reading digital or analog representations of physiologic phenomena, and by performing basic patient physical examinations. Candidates must have sufficient motor function to gather information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion and other diagnostic maneuvers necessary to complete a general physical exam. Candidates must have the physical ability and manual dexterity to compound sterile and non-sterile products in an environment and manner compliant with existing regulations. Change and/or revealed deficiencies in student motor skills may create insurmountable barriers to matriculation or continuation of the curriculum.
III. Interpretative, Conceptual, and Quantitative: Pharm.D. candidates must have effective and efficient learning techniques and habits to master a complex curriculum. They must be able to learn through many modalities including, but not limited to, classroom instruction, small group activities, individual study, report preparation and presentation, and computer technology use. They must be able to memorize, measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, transcribe verbal messages accurately, and interpret written prescriptions accurately. Candidates must be able to read, comprehend and respond to serial information related to medical situations or patients. Change and/or revealed deficiencies in student interpretive ability may create insurmountable barriers to matriculation or continuation of the curriculum.
IV. Behavioral, Social and Emotional Attributes: Candidates must understand the legal and ethical aspects of pharmacy practice and function within guidelines established by the law and by the profession’s ethical standards. They must relate to patients and their families, colleagues, and other healthcare team members with courtesy, maturity, and respect for individuals’ dignity. They must place patient welfare foremost, and demonstrate honesty, integrity, dedication, compassion and nondiscrimination in their patient care. Candidates must, at all times, demonstrate the emotional stability to exercise good judgment, and carry out prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to patient care with sensitivity and effectiveness. This sensitivity includes self-examination of personal attitudes, perceptions, and stereotypes so to avoid potential negative relationship and patient care consequences. Applicants must exhibit sufficient emotional health to adapt to changing environments, display flexibility and professional responsibility to their patients, and learn to function in uncertain environments, in which changes occur rapidly and without warning. Change and/or revealed deficiencies in student behavioral ability may create insurmountable barriers to matriculation or continuation of the curriculum.
V. Stamina: The study and ongoing practice of pharmacy involves taxing workloads and stressful situations. Pharmacy students must have the physical and emotional stamina to maintain a high level of function in the face of such working conditions. In the event of deteriorating behavioral, social or emotional function, pharmacy students are required to counsel with School officials if there is evidence that they are not meeting the technical standards. Pharmacy students whose actions or decisions pose a danger to self, patients and/or colleagues may not continue in the program unless they agree to accept professional help under conditions acceptable to the School of Pharmacy. Change and/or revealed deficiencies in student stamina ability may create insurmountable barriers to matriculation or continuation of the curriculum.
Should questions arise about an admitted and/or matriculated student's ability to meet these technical standards, the school may investigate to determine if a student can continue in the program. Course faculty, faculty advisors, school/college/university administrators and staff may raise concerns in this area. A written request for technical standards assessment is provided to the Chair, Academic and Professional Standards Committee. The Chair will notify any matriculated student in question and arrange for any assessment deemed necessary. Students are responsible for any costs associated with such assessment activity.
Individuals with a diagnosed disability may function as a pharmacy student as long as the above technical standards are fulfilled. Requests for accommodation must be made by the student through processes established by Belmont University. Students are responsible for maintaining all records needed to keep any accommodation requests current.
Requirements for Matriculation
Offer of admission into the Doctor of Pharmacy degree program is not a guarantee of matriculation. Admitted students are allowed to matriculate following verified completion of all required tasks, including:
- Completion, by published deadline, of all pre-requisite courses at a final course grade of C or better.
- Receipt, by published deadline, of official academic transcripts from all colleges/universitities attended with verification of information reported to Belmont University through the PharmCAS application.
- Completion, by published deadline, of all required immunization activity and health tests.
- Filing with Belmont Univeristy, by published deadline, of all required health records.
- Successful completion, by published deadline, of required screening processes (e.g., background checks - employment and criminal, drug use, etc.)
Students who do not complete all of these tasks will not be allowed to matriculate and their offer of admission to the program will be recinded.
Accreditation