1. Pharmacy, the doctor of Pharmacy degree, and you Rich Wilcox, Ph.D. Assistant Dean for Admissions / Advising Professor of Neuropharmacology LPPA Fall 2014

2. Theme = Admissions Process Points to cover What is Pharmacy, really? What pre-Pharmacy major? Keys to the pre-reqs Online college course work Community college course work UT policy on simultaneous enrollment Myths in the application process

3. What is Pharmacy really? Pharmacy is the health profession in which you may have the most contact with patients on a regular basis. Pharmacy is the health profession in which you may have the most control over which life saving medications will be taken by a patient. IMPLICATION: Work with patients!

4. What should be my pre- Pharmacy major? ANY pre-Pharmacy major is OK. Most common are Biology & Chemistry.

5. Do my pre-Pharmacy courses have an expiration date? For UT, NO! For other PharmD programs, you need to check!

6. Keys to the pre-reqs All science / math courses should be for science majors. You need English comp and a literature course. You should take a microbiology course for health professions [326M] Your genetics course should cover cell & population genetics. Your calculus course needs to cover several topics in integration. The one semester majors course often covers these topics. [See next slide] There are some core / flag graduation requirements for UT.

7. Topics in calculus that my course should have? 1/3 of course on integration a] Fundamental theorem of the calculus; b] Integration formulas; c] Intermediate value theorem; d] Theory of the integral such as Riemann sums and integrating continuous functions; e] Applications of the integral - areas, volumes, work, approximations by the trapezoidal rule and by Simpson's rule; f] Integration in relation to logs; g] Trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions.

8. Online & community college courses? Both online and community college courses are fine. HOWEVER, IF you wish to take one of the above while enrolled at UT that term you MUST get prior approval from your advisor!

9. Myth The PharmD program only cares about GPA and PCAT scores, not about passion for or experience in Pharmacy. –Not true! –Yes, the average GPA and PCAT are high, but –Virtually all admitted students have significant amounts of Pharmacy work experience, community service experience, and organizational experience.

10. GPA of enrolled students

11. PCAT composite scores enrolled students

12. Work and service experience While NOT required, direct PHR work experience as a CPhT is valuable and helpful. Volunteering & community service show your true heart!

13. Myth Communication skills don’t matter as admission criteria. –No one is admitted to the PharmD program without communicating effectively during interview weekend. –The committee has denied folks with a 4.0 GPA and 99% on the PCAT because during the interview they did not communicate effectively OR did not convey a real interest in helping other people. –Ethical scenario – team activity –MMI = multiple-mini interviews

14. Myth Language skills don’t matter as admission criteria. –Not true! –Writing achievement and potential are evaluated specifically by the PCAT writing score –And by your grades in English comp and literature

15. MMI http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/02/021313-vetmed- admissions.html

16. MMI http://school.med.nyu.edu/md-admissions/mmi-faqs

17. Myth Letters of recommendation don’t matter to the admissions committee. –Letters of recommendation from Pharmacists are the gold standard for admission! –It is a red flag if someone indicates that they work in a pharmacy and do NOT have a letter from a pharmacist.

18. PharmCAS As of June 2012 we use PharmCAS for the application.

19. Academics Pre-req GPA > 2.8 [2014 mean = 3.6] PCAT > 70% [2014 mean = 89%]

20. Academics + Professional Academic ability –Pre-req GPA –PCAT –Grades in advanced science courses Knowledge of and passion for pharmacy –Resume –Essay –Letters of recommendation – Interview experiences

21. Real work experience Health care Especially in pharmacy Have contact with patients! Learn about health care policy & medications

22. Meaningful service Organizational activities Community service and volunteering Where you actually DO something!

23. PharmD characteristics Following slides show some of the key characteristics of our students. Are these your characteristics?

24. Passion Passion for serving others –THE major focus of your life –THIS is why you are here on earth

25. Discipline 60 hour “work” week [academics, work, and service] such discipline is the key to success

26. Pharmacy work experience Understand at least one type of pharmacy experience Have real insight about the issues facing the profession Know something about medcations

27. Serving in the community Care enough about helping others that you do it….a lot

28. Develop leadership Lead “in front” Lead by example But do lead Being a quiet leader is OK

29. Statistics

30. Size of PharmD Applicant Pool

31. GPA for Each Class

32. GPA of enrolled students

33. PCAT for Each Class

34. PCAT composite scores enrolled students

35. Degrees of Enrolled Students

36. Residence of enrolled students

37. Ethnicity / gender enrolled students