The University of Iowa offers one of the top pharmacist training programs in the nation. U.S. News & World Report ranked the Iowa program as the 16th best in the nation in its 2008 rankings of schools across the U.S. Like many pharmacy schools, the program at the University of Iowa is divided up among pre-professional and professional courses.
At Iowa students take two years of pre-professional studies in areas such as chemistry principles, principles of biology, human anatomy, human physiology and microbiology. Professional courses taken in the last two years of study include courses in medicinal neurochemistry, introduction to therapeutics, drug literature evaluation, pharmacodynamic agents and clinical practice skills.
University of Iowa
College of Pharmacy
115 S. Grand Ave.
Iowa City, IA 52242
319-335-8795
www.uiowa.edu
The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (PCP), located at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, is also ranked among the top pharmacy schools in the U.S. at No. 30 in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report rankings. The school offers a different curriculum than schools that focus mainly on the Pharm.D. program. Although it does offer the Pharm.D, the school also offers a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmaceutical sciences as well as one in toxicology and pharmacology. Both of these can provide foundational studies en route to becoming a pharmacist.
The Pharm.D. program emphasizes pharmaceutical science but also patient care as part of its curriculum. It is a six-year training program where students complete prerequisite courses during the first part of the program before taking pharmacy courses toward the end of year three.
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy
600 S. 43rd St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
888-996-8747
www.usp.edu
For those in the mountain west region of the U.S., the University of Montana in Missoula offers the opportunity to study at a top-50 pharmacy training school (No. 46, according to U.S. News & World Report). The university's Skaggs School of Pharmacy is divided between two primary academic divisions: pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences on the one hand and pharmacy practice on the other. The school offers Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in medicinal chemistry, toxicology, neuroscience and pharmaceutical sciences. The Pharm.D. program is also divided between its pre-professional and professional curricula. The pre-professional program lasts two years while the professional program lasts four.
University of Montana
Skaggs School of Pharmacy
32 Campus Dr.
Missoula, MT 59812
406-243-4621
www.health.umt.edu