PharmD Curriculum

A transformed PharmD curriculum—a 3-year, 12-quarter integrated program—was launched in 2018. UCSF prepares distinguished, professionally skilled, and compassionate PharmD graduates with an unmatched scientific mindset to bring creative approaches to serve patients and meet challenges across health care. For more on the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum, see Curriculum Components and Curriculum Outcomes.

Requirements for the doctor of pharmacy degree

A minimum of 184 units of professional study is required for the PharmD degree in addition to a set of specific graduation requirements.

Students complete courses in the following areas:

Foundations	17.5 units
Integrated Themes	72.5 units
Applied Patient Care Skills	8.5 units
Pharmacy Practice Experiences	73.5 units
17.5 units of Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs) and 56 units of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs)
Inquiry and Discovery Project	10 units
Electives	minimum 2 units

The requirements for graduation, including policies and specific courses, are subject to periodic review and may be changed as determined by the faculty of the School of Pharmacy.

PharmD required courses

Foundations			17.5 units
Year 1	Foundations I	14.5 units
Year 2	Foundations II	3 units
Integrated Themes			72.5 units
Year 1	Cardiovascular Science & Therapeutics Theme	11.5 units
	Respiratory Science & Therapeutics Theme	9.5 units
	Renal Science & Therapeutics Theme	6 units
	Gastrointestinal Science & Therapeutics Theme	8 units
Year 2	Endocrine Science & Therapeutics Theme	9.5 units
	Neuroscience & Therapeutics Theme	14.5 units
	Oncology Science & Therapeutics Theme	5.5 units
	Infectious Disease Science & Therapeutics Theme	8 units
Applied Patient Care Skills (APCS)			8.5 units
Year 1	APCS I	2.5 units
	APCS II	1 unit
	APCS III	1 unit
	APCS IV	1 unit
Year 2	APCS V	1 unit
	APCS VI	1 unit
	APCS VII	1 unit
Pharmacy Practice Experiences
Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs)			17.5 units
Year 1	Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience – Community A	2.5 units
Year 1	Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience – Community B	5 units
Year 2	Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience – Health Systems	10 units
Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) Students complete 56 units of APPEs beginning spring quarter of Year 2 through spring quarter of Year 3. The timing of each APPE depends upon the APPE schedule assigned to the individual student.			56 units
Years 2 & 3	Hospital Pharmacy Systems & Practice APPE	7 units
	Community Pharmacy Systems & Practice APPE	7 units
	Acute Patient Care APPE	7 units
	Ambulatory Patient Care APPE	7 units
	APPE Electives: 4 rotations of 7 units each (at least 2 must be Direct Patient Care Elective APPEs)	28 units
	Non-direct Patient Care APPE Elective
	Direct Patient Care APPE Elective
Inquiry and Discovery Project			10 units
Year 1	Inquiry Immersion	3 units
Year 2	Discovery Project Research	5 units
Year 3	Discovery Project Final Analysis and Completion	2 units
Electives Electives provide additional exposure to current issues and practices in pharmacy and health care.			2 units
Total units for the PharmD degree			184 units

Note: Students participating in the Intensive Discovery Project take PharmIS 120B for 12 units in place of PharmIS 120A and the Year 2 Spring APPE. Students participating in the Intensive Discovery Project take three elective APPEs; PharmIS 120B is counted as the fourth Non-direct Patient Care Elective APPE.