Academic Information & Curriculum
Curricular Philosophy
The University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy recognizes that individual students learn and develop in a variety of unique ways. We foster an inclusive culture with support from our dedicated faculty, empowering our students to become collaborative, innovative pharmacists who will transform healthcare delivery through practice and groundbreaking research. Our curriculum utilizes educational outcomes to build strong foundations in relevant disciplines, with particular emphasis on biomedical, pharmaceutical, social, administrative and clinical sciences. Faculty serve as facilitators, guiding students to develop problem-solving, critical-thinking and evidence-based practice skills. The college incorporates didactic, interprofessional, laboratory-based, and experiential educational opportunities to create a rich, diverse learning environment. Additionally, students catalyze their own academic and professional growth by participating in a variety of co-curricular and community engagement activities. Upon completion of our Pharm.D. program, graduates are able to practice patient-centered care with proficiency and professionalism, optimize health outcomes, and advance the pharmacy profession.
Pharm.D. Curriculum for Students Entering Program in Fall 2021 and Beyond
(Approved by the USC College of Pharmacy faculty January 5, 2021 )
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credit Hours | |
| PHMY 600 | Personal and Professional Development for Student Pharmacists I | 1 |
| PHMY 602 | Foundations of Pathophysiology and Pharmacology I | 2 |
| PHMY 607 | Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems | 4 |
| PHMY 615 | Pharmaceutical Biochemistry | 3 |
| PHMY 621 | Foundations of Medicinal Chemistry I | 3 |
| PHMY 650 | Introduction to Pharmacy Practice | 2 |
| PHMY 656 | Pharmacy Calculations | 2 |
| PHMY 671 | Pharmacy Skills Lab I: Compounding and Applied Pharmaceutics | 1 |
| PHMY 680 | Introduction to Drug Information | 1 |
| Credit Hours | 19 | |
| Spring | ||
| PHMY 601 | Personal and Professional Development for Student Pharmacists II | 1 |
| PHMY 603 | Foundations of Pathophysiology and Pharmacology II | 3 |
| PHMY 618 | Genomics, Pharmacogenomics, and Personalized Medicine | 3 |
| PHMY 624 | Foundations of Medicinal Chemistry II | 3 |
| PHMY 657 | Medical Terminology | 1 |
| PHMY 662 | Patient Care Fundamentals | 1 |
| PHMY 670 | Pharmacy Skill Lab II: Introduction to Community Pharmacy | 1 |
| PHMY 690 | Transforming Healthcare | 1 |
| PHMY 750 | Self-Care and Complementary Medicines | 4 |
| Credit Hours | 18 | |
| Summer | ||
| PHMY 699 | Introductory Community Practice Pharmacy Experience | 4 |
| Credit Hours | 4 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| PHMY 700 | Personal and Professional Development for Student Pharmacists III | 1 |
| PHMY 610 | Microbiology/Immunology | 4 |
| PHMY 710 | Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics | 3 |
| PHMY 722 | Pathophysiologyand Pharmacology I | 3 |
| PHMY 751 | Patient Care Applications I | 1 |
| PHMY 772 | Pharmacotherapy I | 4 |
| PHMY 790 | Pharmacy Skills Lab III: Introduction to Health-Systems Pharmacy | 1 |
| Elective 1 | 2 | |
| Elective hours can range 1-3 credits. See footnote below for details | ||
| Credit Hours | 19 | |
| Spring | ||
| PHMY 701 | Personal and Professional Development for Student Pharmacists IV | 1 |
| PHMY 723 | Pathophysiology and Pharmacology II | 2 |
| PHMY 752 | Patient Care Applications II | 1 |
| PHMY 773 | Pharmacotherapy II | 5 |
| PHMY 780 | Outcomes Design and Assessment | 3 |
| PHMY 791 | Pharmacy Skills Lab IV: Applied Health-Systems Pharmacy | 1 |
| PHMY 890 | Clinical Pharmacokinetics | 3 |
| Elective 1 | 2 | |
| Elective hours can range 1-3 credits. See footnote below for details | ||
| Credit Hours | 18 | |
| Summer | ||
| PHMY 798 | Introductory Institutional Practice Pharmacy Experience | 4 |
| Credit Hours | 4 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| PHMY 800 | Personal and Professional Development for Student Pharmacists V | 1 |
| PHMY 771 | Pharmacy Skills Lab V: Applied Community Pharmacy | 2 |
| PHMY 822 | Pathophysiology and Pharmacology III | 3 |
| PHMY 850 | Health Care Systems and Management | 4 |
| PHMY 862 | Patient Care Integration | 1 |
| PHMY 873 | Pharmacotherapy III | 4 |
| PHMY 880 | Advanced Drug Information | 2 |
| Elective 1 | 2 | |
| Elective hours can range 1-3 credits. See footnote below for details | ||
| Credit Hours | 19 | |
| Spring | ||
| PHMY 801 | Personal and Professional Development for Student Pharmacists VI | 1 |
| PHMY 823 | Pathophysiology and Pharmacology IV | 2 |
| PHMY 864 | Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Readiness | 1 |
| PHMY 874 | Pharmacotherapy IV | 5 |
| PHMY 885 | Pharmacy Law and Ethics | 3 |
| PHMY 895 | Clinical Assessment | 3 |
| Elective 1 | 2 | |
| Elective hours can range 1-3 credits. See footnote below for details | ||
| Students must complete 8 hours of electives by the end of the third professional Pharm.D. year. See footnote below. | ||
| Credit Hours | 17 | |
| Summer | ||
| APPE x 1-4 | 12 | |
| Credit Hours | 12 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| APPE x 1-4 | 12 | |
| PHMY 999 | Clinical Seminar | 1 |
| Credit Hours | 13 | |
| Spring | ||
| APPE x 1-4 | 12 | |
| Nine 4-credit (one month) rotations may be scheduled in any month between May and April of the P4 year. For this reason, credit hours may range anywhere from 4 to 16 for a given term. See below for details. | ||
| Credit Hours | 12 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 155 | |
- 1
Typically, electives range from 1 to 3 credit hours. Students must complete 8 hours of electives by the end of the third professional Pharm.D. year.
-
Minimum total hours for the professional program is 155 credit hours. The minimum total hours including pre-pharmacy requirements is 221 credit hours.
- Minimum 300 hours of Introductory Practice Experiential Experience (IPPE) (as required by ACPE) will be satisfied by two 4-credit (four week) rotations in the summers of the P1 and P2 years. PHMY 699 and PHMY 798 require a minimum of 160 hours for each IPPE.
- Minimum 1440 hours of Advanced Practice Experiential Experience (APPE) (as required by ACPE) will be satisfied by nine 4-credit (one month) rotations in the P4 year. Refer to the APPE Rotation Manual for PHMY 9xx requirements for rotation hours for each month, but the minimum number of hours that must be completed is 160 hours each. Rotations include: 2 acute/general medicine rotations (critical care, pediatrics, psychiatry, general medicine, internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, nephrology, transplantation, etc.), 1 ambulatory care rotation, 1 community rotation, 1 hospital/health system rotation, and 4 elective rotations.
- One 1-credit Clinical Seminar (PHMY 999) will be required during the P4 year.
- Students may be required to submit a criminal background check and/or a drug test prior to beginning an introductory or advanced pharmacy practice experience.
- All students are required to complete Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers training prior to the P2 summer IPPE.
- Courses approved for Doctor of Pharmacy elective credit can be found here.
Pharm.D. Curriculum for Students Entering Program in Fall 2020
(Approved by the USC faculty January 3, 2020)
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credit Hours | |
| PHMY 602 | Foundations of Pathophysiology and Pharmacology I | 2 |
| PHMY 607 | Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems | 4 |
| PHMY 615 | Pharmaceutical Biochemistry | 3 |
| PHMY 621 | Foundations of Medicinal Chemistry I | 3 |
| PHMY 650 | Introduction to Pharmacy Practice | 2 |
| PHMY 656 | Pharmacy Calculations | 2 |
| PHMY 671 | Pharmacy Skills Lab I: Compounding and Applied Pharmaceutics | 1 |
| PHMY 680 | Introduction to Drug Information | 1 |
| Credit Hours | 18 | |
| Spring | ||
| PHMY 603 | Foundations of Pathophysiology and Pharmacology II | 3 |
| PHMY 618 | Genomics, Pharmacogenomics, and Personalized Medicine | 3 |
| PHMY 624 | Foundations of Medicinal Chemistry II | 3 |
| PHMY 657 | Medical Terminology | 1 |
| PHMY 661 | Clinical Applications II | 1 |
| PHMY 670 | Pharmacy Skill Lab II: Introduction to Community Pharmacy | 1 |
| PHMY 690 | Transforming Healthcare | 1 |
| PHMY 750 | Self-Care and Complementary Medicines | 4 |
| Credit Hours | 17 | |
| Summer | ||
| PHMY 699 | Introductory Community Practice Pharmacy Experience | 4 |
| Credit Hours | 4 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| PHMY 610 | Microbiology/Immunology | 4 |
| PHMY 710 | Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics | 3 |
| PHMY 722 | Pathophysiologyand Pharmacology I | 3 |
| PHMY 760 | Clinical Applications III | 1 |
| PHMY 772 | Pharmacotherapy I | 4 |
| PHMY 790 | Pharmacy Skills Lab III: Introduction to Health-Systems Pharmacy | 1 |
| Elective 1 | 2 | |
| Elective hours can range 1-3 credits. See footnote below for details. | ||
| Credit Hours | 18 | |
| Spring | ||
| PHMY 723 | Pathophysiology and Pharmacology II | 2 |
| PHMY 761 | Clinical Applications IV | 1 |
| PHMY 773 | Pharmacotherapy II | 5 |
| PHMY 780 | Outcomes Design and Assessment | 3 |
| PHMY 791 | Pharmacy Skills Lab IV: Applied Health-Systems Pharmacy | 1 |
| PHMY 890 | Clinical Pharmacokinetics | 3 |
| Elective 1 | 2 | |
| Elective hours can range 1-3 credits. See footnote below for details. | ||
| Credit Hours | 17 | |
| Summer | ||
| PHMY 798 | Introductory Institutional Practice Pharmacy Experience | 4 |
| Credit Hours | 4 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| PHMY 771 | Pharmacy Skills Lab V: Applied Community Pharmacy | 2 |
| PHMY 822 | Pathophysiology and Pharmacology III | 3 |
| PHMY 850 | Health Care Systems and Management | 4 |
| PHMY 860 | Clinical Applications V | 1 |
| PHMY 873 | Pharmacotherapy III | 4 |
| PHMY 880 | Advanced Drug Information | 2 |
| Elective 1 | 2 | |
| Elective hours can range 1-3 credits. See bullet point below for details. | ||
| Credit Hours | 18 | |
| Spring | ||
| PHMY 823 | Pathophysiology and Pharmacology IV | 2 |
| PHMY 861 | Clinical Applications VI | 1 |
| PHMY 874 | Pharmacotherapy IV | 5 |
| PHMY 885 | Pharmacy Law and Ethics | 3 |
| PHMY 895 | Clinical Assessment | 3 |
| Elective 1 | 2 | |
| Elective hours can range 1-3 credits. See footnote below for details. | ||
| Students must complete 8 hours of electives by the end of the third professional Pharm.D. year. See footnote below. | ||
| Credit Hours | 16 | |
| Summer | ||
| APPE x 1-4 | 12 | |
| Credit Hours | 12 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| APPE x 1-4 | 12 | |
| PHMY 999 | Clinical Seminar | 1 |
| Credit Hours | 13 | |
| Spring | ||
| APPE x 1-4 | 12 | |
| Nine 4-credit (one month) rotations may be scheduled in any month between May and April of the P4 year. For this reason, credit hours may range anywhere from 4 to 16 for a given term. See details below. | ||
| Credit Hours | 12 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 149 | |
- 1
Typically, electives range from 1 to 3 credit hours. Students must complete 8 hours of electives by the end of the third professional Pharm.D. year.
-
Minimum total hours for the professional program is 149 credit hours. The minimum total hours including pre-pharmacy requirements is 215 credit hours.
- Minimum 300 hours of Introductory Practice Experiential Experience (IPPE) (as required by ACPE) will be satisfied by two 4-credit (four week) rotations in the summers of the P1 and P2 years. PHMY 699 and PHMY 798 require a minimum of 160 hours for each IPPE.
- Minimum 1440 hours of Advanced Practice Experiential Experience (APPE) (as required by ACPE) will be satisfied by nine 4-credit (one month) rotations in the P4 year. Refer to the APPE Rotation Manual for PHMY 9xx requirements for rotation hours for each month, but the minimum number of hours that must be completed is 160 hours each. Rotations include: 2 acute/general medicine rotations (critical care, pediatrics, psychiatry, general medicine, internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, nephrology, transplantation, etc.), 1 ambulatory care rotation, 1 community rotation, 1 hospital/health system rotation, and 4 elective rotations.
- One 1-credit Clinical Seminar (PHMY 999) will be required during the P4 year.
- Clinical Applications II-V are recitations designed to bring clinical relevance to basic and applied pharmaceutical science principles in a case-based format.
- Clinical Applications VI is a recitation designed as a “capstone” course, where case studies of complex patients will bring together concepts learned throughout the previous professional years.
- Students may be required to submit a criminal background check and/or a drug test prior to beginning an introductory or advanced pharmacy practice experience.
- All students are required to complete Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers training prior to the P2 summer IPPE.