© www.aacp.org/pharmacycareers www.pharmcas.org

• A well-rounded career
• A vital part of the health care team
• Outstanding career opportunities
• Excellent earning potential
• A trusted profession

• Cure disease
• Eliminate or reduce symptoms
• Stop or slow a disease
• Prevent disease
• Change physiological processes to improve the health of a patient with minimal risk

• Educate patients about prescription and over-the-counter medications
• Educate and advise other health care professionals on drug decisions for patients
• Provide expertise about the composition of drugs, including chemical, biological and physical properties, as well as on use
• Ensure drug purity and strength
• Ensure drugs do not interact in a harmful way

 Academic Pharmacy  Pharmaceutical Industry
 Community Pharmacy
 Government Agencies
 Hospice & Home Care
 Hospital & Institutional
Practice
 Trade & Professional
Associations
 Uniformed (Public Health)
Service
 Independent Ownership
 Long-term Care
 Consulting Pharmacy
 Managed Care Pharmacy
 Medical & Scientific
Publishing

• Nationwide shortage of pharmacists throughout U.S. various industries *
• Shortage expected to last into the foreseeable future
• Why?
– Increase in number of new prescription medicines
– Growing elderly population
– Greater demand for patient care
– Growth in community pharmacy
* According to the results of the National Pharmacist Workforce Survey
(2006) and the HRSA BHPR National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
(2000).

• Nationwide Shortage = Increased Demand
– * ECONOMIC IMPACT *
• Student pharmacists can expect job offers at graduation
• Salaried pharmacists in 2010 =
$101,000 - $140,000
* According to DrugTopics.com
• Hourly pharmacists in 2010 = $107,000 - $127,000
* According to DrugTopics.com
• Regional mobility - Demand for pharmacists is widespread in U.S.
• Opportunities to work in wide variety of health care and industry settings

DO YOU LIKE...
• Chemistry, Biology, and Math?
• To Help People?
• To Solve Problems and Puzzles?
ARE YOU...
• Dependable? Organized?
• Detail-Oriented?
• Able to Communicate Well with Others?
If you answered YES, you may want to consider pharmacy as a career!

KNOW DO BE
Knowledge + + + + + + + + Skills + + + + + + + Attitudes/Behavior
Behavioral, Social, Admin
& Clinical Sciences/
Apply & build on knowledge
Biomedical &
Pharmaceutical
Sciences/Didactic
IPPEs and simulations
2 years (min.)
Dependent/directed learner
3 years
Independent/self-directed lifelong learner
1 year

Programs with Accreditation Status (n = 124)
• Full Accreditation Status : 99
– Programs that have graduated students
• Candidate Accreditation Status : 16
– Programs with students enrolled but have not yet produced graduates or have graduates and have not addressed all the accreditation standards
• Pre-Candidate Accreditation Status: 9
– Programs that have not yet enrolled students or are in their first year of classes
*
Inclusive of January 2011 Board Actions

13,822
14000
11,487
12000
10000
6,956
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Source: AACP Fall 2010 Data and ACPE February 2011 Estimates

• General Chemistry I & II
• Organic Chemistry I & II
• General Biology I & II
• Physics
• Microbiology
• Calculus
• Anatomy and Physiology
• English I & II
• Public Speaking
* These college courses are not required by all pharmacy degree programs and do not represent all of the course requirements for any pharmacy school. Admission prerequisites vary significantly by pharmacy institution.

The classes required for admission to a pharmacy program vary
Contact AACP or schools for details
Three-fourths of all pharmacy admission offices require the
Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) www.pcatweb.info

• GPAs
 Science 3.29
 Non-Science 3.59
 Math 3.37
 Cumulative 3.41
• 55.25 percentile = Composite PCAT
• 59.5% = Female / 38.25% = Male / 2.25% declined to state
• 14.8% = Underrepresented Minorities (↑6.6%)
• 89.4% = U.S. Citizens
• 8.1 applications per seat
* Data for 86 PharmCAS Institutions Only. Data represents average for accepted PharmCAS applicants.

• 100+ Participating PharmCAS Schools
• Allows an applicants to use one application and one set of materials to apply to multiple Pharm.D. degree programs.

• Submitted and paid to roll-over from 2009-
2010
• Carry over: Applicant Information, Academic
History, Additional Information, Transcripts,
PCAT scores
• Will NOT carry over: Personal Essay,
Payment, Letters of Recommendation,
Designations
• Will be assigned new 2010-2011 ID

• $150 to apply to one (1) school
• $50 fee for each additional
• Payment options
– Credit Card Preferred :
Visa / MasterCard / Discover
– Money Order
• No refunds for withdrawn applications or missed deadlines

November 1, 2011
December 1, 2011
January 5, 2012
February 1, 2012
Date
Applications
Must Be
Received
March 1, 2012
• You cannot e-submit application after the deadline passes
• Allow up to 4-5 weeks for PharmCAS processing

• Early Decision Deadline: September 2
• Applicant may apply to only one (1) ED school
• Denied ED applicant may apply to more schools
• Accepted ED applicant cannot apply to other PharmCAS schools
• October 21 – School decisions due to
PharmCAS

• Up to 4 references allowed
• If evaluators choose paper (not recommended) then student must print form from application to give to evaluator
– This is the process for letter services
• eLOR preferred

• Students should alert evaluators to watch for an automated email from PharmCAS with the subject “Student Reference PharmCAS:
Student Name”
• Email will contain login instructions for evaluator
• Evaluator asked to fill out a rubric on the student and can upload documents to system
– .txt
– .rft
– .pdf
– .doc

• Student receives copy of message sent to evaluator
• Student sees when evaluation received in applicant portal
• Student can edit evaluators until reference submission then no changes
• Committee letters count as 1
• Schools enforce deadlines

• What are the applicant's primary strengths and weaknesses?
• How might these affect the applicant's performance in a
Pharm.D. degree program and future career in pharmacy?
• Any pieces of the rubric you feel need elaborating

• Code provides an explicit statement of applicant responsibilities and expected standards of performance and behavior
• Drawn from the ethical principles of the
Code of Ethics for Pharmacists
• Misconduct in any of the principles defined in the code will not be tolerated
• Any applicant found to have violated the principles of conduct risks losing the privilege of applying to or entering the pharmacy profession

Centralized Criminal Background
Check Program
• Check initiated after offer of admission by participating school
• Cost most likely included in PharmCAS fee
• CBC searches:
– Search by Social Security number
– Determination of areas of prior residence
– Search, based on areas of prior residence, at the local
(county) level, as well as searches at the state, national, and federal levels
– Sex offender search
– Search for dishonorable discharge from the Armed
Forces
– Search of the OIG Exclusions List
– SanctionsBase, a database of disciplinary actions taken by regulatory and accrediting healthcare agencies, including Boards of Pharmacy

• Centralized Drug Screenings for students offered admission
– Random 10 panel drug screening
• Plagiarism software included in
PharmCAS for personal essays

9:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
Mon-Fri
617-612-2050 info@pharmcas.org
www.pharmcas.org
FAQ
Online Status

American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
1727 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703/739-2330, x1024
JAthay@aacp.org