Major
	None
Professional Degree
	Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the College of Pharmacy
Competitive Admission
Links
	Web Site Courses General Catalog

Pharmacy encompasses a wide range of activities. In addition to filling prescriptions at neighborhood stores, pharmacists work in a variety of health care settings, where they conduct research, engage in clinical practice, and teach. They also consult with and counsel patients and other health care professionals. Many are involved in medication therapy management, providing drug therapy targeted at improving patients’ lives.

Along with their science training and expertise in drug selection and preparation, pharmacists must have the business and communication skills necessary for multifaceted careers.

Pharmacy is a professional degree program at Iowa. It is not offered as an undergraduate major.

• Why Study Pharmacy at Iowa?
• Admission
• Preprofessional Studies
• For More Details
• Facilities
• Student Activities
• Careers
• Scholarships

Why Study Pharmacy at Iowa?
Iowa’s College of Pharmacy has a superb national reputation. Its Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program is ranked 16th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

The college is the fourth-oldest pharmacy college at a state-supported university; it has been educating pharmacists since 1885. Over the past 125 years, it has developed nationally and internationally recognized research programs in pharmaceutics, medicinal and natural products chemistry, clinical pharmaceutical sciences, pharmaceutical socioeconomics, and pharmacy practice. Its faculty is recognized worldwide.

The PharmD program is widely known for its personalized atmosphere and emphasis on individual attention—a result of its low student-to-faculty ratio—and its location on a world-class health sciences campus. It is adjacent to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, one of the nation’s largest public university teaching hospitals. Its research facilities include a unique university-affiliated, full-service, FDA-licensed drug development and production lab.

Admission
Pharmacy is a professional degree program, not an undergraduate major. As an entering first-year student, you'll declare a pharmacy interest for advising assignments and course selection. You must apply for admission to the PharmD program.

Admission is highly competitive; satisfaction of all admission requirements does not guarantee that you’ll be accepted. Minimum admission requirements include satisfactory completion of the following courses with an overall grade-point average (GPA) of at least 2.50 (based on a 4.00 scale):

• Principles of Chemistry I-II
• Principles of Biology I-II
• Calculus for the Biological Sciences
• Rhetoric
• Organic Chemistry I-II
• Principles of Microeconomics
• Principles of Human Anatomy
• Human Physiology
• A statistics course
• A microbiology course
• A physics course with a lab or one year of high school physics
• At least 12 semester hours (s.h.) of elective course work

You'll apply online through PharmCAS, the national pharmacy application service. You'll also submit certain application materials directly to the College of Pharmacy. If you're selected, you must participate in a required personal interview.

You also must take the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT); you should take the PCAT by October in order to be considered for the next fall session.

For registration materials, write to the PCAT office at Pearson Assessment, 19500 Bulverde Road, San Antonio, TX 78259; call 800-211-8378; or apply at the PCAT web site.

The application deadline is Dec. 1 each year for admission the next fall semester.

Preprofessional Studies
As a first-year student at Iowa with a declared pharmacy interest, you'll take prerequisite courses in chemistry, mathematics, biology, and rhetoric. You’ll also learn the critical skills you will need in order to practice as a pharmacist: problem solving, critical thinking, and use of technology-based information retrieval sources.

Typically, students take these courses during their first year:

• Rhetoric
• Principles of Biology I
• Principles of Chemistry I–II
• Calculus for the Biological Sciences
• A physics course with lab (if needed)
• Elective courses

You’re likely to choose elective courses in reasoning or ethics, computer science, and/or the behavioral and social sciences.

For More Details
See Pharmacy in the UI General Catalog to learn about the PharmD degree and for more information about admission, including prerequisites, application materials, and how to apply.

Facilities
The College of Pharmacy operates small and large classrooms with state-of-the-art technology. The student practice lab is a technologically advanced, licensed pharmacy that provides real and simulated practice experiences. The Banker Student Activity Center features quiet environments for individual and small-group study and houses student organization offices.

Other facilities in the college include the Division of Drug Information Service, a computerized database with information about the clinical use of drugs, and University of Iowa Pharmaceuticals, an FDA-registered pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.

Student Activities
You’ll have ample opportunities to become involved in the profession locally, statewide, and nationally through the college’s eight pharmacy student organizations. Students attend national conferences, participate in community service, educate children, assist with immunizations, and organize social events.

Pharmacy students also have opportunities to become involved in the college through committees and meetings with the dean, advisory councils, and alumni boards.

Careers
The College of Pharmacy has had a 100 percent placement rate for many years, with every graduate having a job offer before graduation day. Pharmacists often choose to practice in a community pharmacy or a hospital setting. They hold positions in government, independent businesses, home health care, consulting, clinical pharmacy, managed care facilities, higher education, or the pharmaceutical industry. This broad range of career choices gives graduates considerable flexibility in their personal and professional lives.

Scholarships
Scholarship opportunities for incoming pharmacy students include the College of Pharmacy Tuition Scholarship, which is awarded based on GPA, and the College of Pharmacy Opportunity Scholarship. Criteria for the Opportunity Scholarship include unique personal abilities, perseverance in overcoming obstacles to academic success, previous experience in the health care environment, and the extent to which the student may contribute to racial, ethnic, geographic, and intellectual diversity.

For more information on scholarships, visit the Office of Student Financial Aid web site.