PRE-PHARMACY TRAINING at OSHKOSH

Received Jan 11 2006: Information concerning the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy Open House for college students planned for Saturday, February 11, 2006 (and details on how to register for the event, which must be done in advance) is now available online at http://www.pharmacy.wisc.edu/student_services/openhouse/ and related links from this web page. 

Is this career right for me?

The professional education that's required to become a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D) takes four years, after at least two years of undergraduate study at UW Oshkosh.  Contact the pharmacy school you plan to attend for additional information. There are several resources you should exploit fully before committing yourself to pre-pharmacy training.

• Contact the UWO Counseling Center for personal guidance and recommendations, understanding that the person you are as a college freshman is not the person you'll be upon entrance to pharmacy school. 
• Look at Pharmacy, and other options, at this excellent and comprehensive site: http://wihealthcareers.org 
• Study the web site for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) at http://www.aacp.org.  Click on "For Students and Applicants". There is a wealth of helpful information about the job outlook and preparing for admission to a pharmacy school.
• Take every opportunity to visit with a practicing pharmacist and ask him/her about the career.

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PCAT Entrance Exam

In addition to coursework, about half of all Pharmacy schools (including the one in Wisconsin) require a satisfactory score on the PCAT entrance exam.  NOTE: the content of the PCAT exam changed in 2004.

To learn more about this exam:

• Cost, test dates, etc.:  www.pcatweb.info  Click to download the Candidate Information Booklet. 
• Midwestern University in Chicago offers "an affordable PCAT Review Course to meet the needs of prospective pharmacy students".  For details, visit: http://www.midwestern.edu/ccp.  Scroll down on the left menu to "PCAT Review Course" and click on it. 

Majors & study plans

You do not need to graduate from UW Oshkosh in order to attend Pharmacy school, since only about two years of undergraduate coursework are required for admission. Depending on your math preparation in high school, it may take more than two years to complete all pre-Pharm coursework.  It is always best to have a back-up plan and to declare a major leading to a Bachelor's degree.  The coursework leading to Pharmacy school admission is consistent with a Biology or Chemistry major; according to the AACP web site, Chemistry is the dominant major among pre-Pharm students. 

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Pharmacy schools

A complete list of pharmacy schools in the US is available at the AACP web site.

When you apply to Pharmacy School, you will do so through a centralized service known as PharmCAS.  For more information, visit http://www.pharmcas.org/ 

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Wisconsin's Pharmacy School

The pharmacy school in Wisconsin is at the University of Wisconsin Madison, visit http://www.pharmacy.wisc.edu/.    Application materials are available online. You are encouraged to register with them as an interested pre-Pharmacy student and further to ask questions of Melanie Schneider MS, who serves as Academic Advisor for the School of Pharmacy and also acts as a recruiter. Her phone is (608) 265-0492. 

UW Madison made some important changes to its admission process in Fall 2004 which pertain to students applying to start Pharm School in Fall 2005 or later.  To read about these changes, click here. 

Fall 2005 Informational sessions for both the Pharm D and BS-Pharmacology/Toxicology degree programs are now online. Go to www.pharmacy.wisc.edu and click on the "Prospective Students" links for whichever program you desire.

For information about UW Oshkosh undergraduate courses to complete so as to be eligible to apply to this Pharmacy School, visit http://www.pharmacy.wisc.edu/Student_Services/new_student/PharmD/equivalence_tables.htm 

The PCAT is required for this Pharmacy School.  The mean GPA of the 2002 entering class was 3.56 and about twice as many people applied as there were seats to fill.

Overall, at UW Oshkosh you will need to take:

• BIO 105, BIO 230, BIO 323 (that's Unity, Animals, Intro Cell/Molec).
• CHEM 105-106, 235-335 (that's Gen Chem + Org Chem).
• MATH 171 (that's Calculus I). NOTE: in 2004, more Calculus than this will be required, meaning a second Calc course at UW Oshkosh or a "distance ed" course from Madison itself. Consult the UW Madison Pharmacy School's web site or Advisor for the latest details.
• PHYSICS 107-108 --OR-- 109-110.
• ENG 101.
• ECON 206.
• SOC 101 or ANTHRO 102 or 122 or 232.
• PSYCH 101 or 104 or 110 or 205.

This set of required courses will take you at least two full years (four semesters) to complete and is not sufficient for a Bachelor's degree (although all of them count toward that degree). 

To find out anything you need to know about this Pharmacy School, contact the Pre-Pharmacy student advisor at UW Madison: Pam Palmer, at (608) 262-6234. 

Sample Course of Study for PrePharms at UW Oshkosh

The following program of study will fulfill the pre-pharmacy requirements of the University of Wisconsin Pharmacy School but are not sufficient to earn a degree from UW Oshkosh. Students must have a minimum of 70 credits to enter the Pharmacy program. This may require interim or summer courses and could take more than two years depending on math placement. The below is a "killer" schedule and it also puts you taking the PCAT before you have completed all the coursework content that may appear on the PCAT.  In my opinion, you are far better off planning to spread these courses over 3 years, or indeed in getting a Bachelor's degree over 4 years (probably Biology or Chemistry) and applying to Pharm School as a Junior.

Advisors: Who and Where

Undergraduate Advising Resource Center

Dr. Vaughan (Halsey 249, Dept. of Biology, vaughan@uwosh.edu, 424-3076).

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Last Updated 01/12/06