UB Programs At-A-Glance

Pharmacy

Department of Pharmacy Practice
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Office of Admissions
112 Cooke Hall
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-1200

Phone: 716.645.2825
Fax: 716.645.3688
Web: www.pharmacy.buffalo.edu
Email: pharm-admin@acsu.buffalo.edu

Wayne K. Anderson
Dean

Gayle A. Brazeau
Associate Dean (Academic Affairs)

Eugene D. Morse
Associate Dean (Clinical Research and Education)

Karl D. Fiebelkorn
Assistant Dean (Student Affairs and Professional Relations)

Cindy F. Konovitz
Assistant Dean (Admissions and Student Services)

About the Department

Opening in 1886, the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is one of the oldest schools at the University at Buffalo, and is the only public pharmacy school in New York State. As a result, we have the lowest tuition costs of any school of pharmacy in the state.

The school also has a very solid reputation for quality. We were rated as the top program in the Northeast, and as one of the top programs in the country (U.S. News and World Report, March 10, 1997; March 29, 1999). Aulitionally, during the 2002-2003 academic year, the school ranked 4th among U.S. pharmacy schools in individual NIH grant awards per FTE faculty.

Whether a student desires to study infectious disease, critical care pharmacy or pharmacokinetics, our state-of-the-art technology and computer resources, including our pharmacogenomics laboratory (one of five in the country) help him or her stay at the cutting edge of research at the pharmacological, biochemical, molecular, and cellular levels. We are the first school in the U.S. to require a course in pharmacogenomics for Pharm.D. students, and the first and only pharmacy school in New York State to teach Pharm.D. students immunization techniques.

Special Features

The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has many laboratories with modern equipment, including our Professional Practice Lab and our Model Pharmacy. In aulition, a computer laboratory allows pharmacy students access to online programs and resources. A new Pharmaceutical Care Learning Center is anticipated to open sometime next year. Our Pharmacy Museum with a ‘hands-on’ turn-of-the-century apothecary educates students and visitors on the past practices in the field of pharmacy.

The Department of Pharmacy Practice is home to a Pharmacotherapy Research Center that collaborates with the university's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, eight hospitals in Buffalo and Rochester, New York, the Western New York Area Health Education Center, and several medical schools throughout the United States. Research laboratories, drug and data analysis, and modeling facilities include the Pharmacotherapy Research Center, Core Analytical Support Laboratory, the Pharmacometrics Laboratory, the Center for Drug Discovery and Experimental Therapeutics, the Pharmaceutical Genetics Center, the LC-MS-MS facility, the Quality Assurance-Quality Control Program, and the Pharmaceutical Care Laboratory-Medication Dispensing Center.

Degrees Offered

Graduate: Pharm.D. (Pharmacy); Pharm. D., Ph. D. (Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Combined: Pharm.D./M.B.A.

About Our Degrees

Throughout this professional curriculum, students are expected to be actively involved in the learning process. They are asked to work in settings ranging from large lecture halls to small groups to individual instruction, and need to develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities to assist in providing pharmaceutical care. They must also apply knowledge in a variety of settings as compared to simple memorization and regurgitation.

The pharmacy profession requires practitioners to constantly communicate intricate oral and written information to patients, care providers and other health-care professionals. Effective communication not only requires an ability to use the language fluently and write clearly and concisely, but also requires clear thinking and an awareness of when there is understanding or lack thereof. It is essential that students become active listeners.

Our goal is to provide a strong educational foundation with knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable the graduate to successfully practice as a pharmacist, and to embrace the concept of being a life-long learner.

Acceptance Information

An “early assurance” option is available to qualified students who enroll in UB directly from high school and meet the other qualifications. Otherwise, applications are available through a central application service (PharmCAS) at http://www.pharmcas.org.

Deadlines: March 1 for fall entrance into the professional program. Applicants are advised to apply well in advance of this deadline. Supplemental applications (available directly from the Pharmacy Admissions Office after receipt of the PharmCAS application) also must be completed.

Number of applicants (2004): over 800
Number of accepted majors (2004): 115
Total number of majors currently enrolled: approximately 460

Degree Requirements

See the Undergraduate Catalog.

Transfer Policy

The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences does not differentiate between transfer and non-transfer students when making decisions regarding acceptance into the Pharm.D. program. Transfer students are expected to meet the same criteria for admission as non-transfer students. Lists of comparable courses from other colleges and universities that meet the pre-pharmacy requirements are available in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Office of Admissions, 112 Cooke Hall, or through the University's transfer articulation website (TAURUS) at http://taurus.buffalo.edu.. All transfer students are strongly advised to make an appointment with the school's admissions office early in their academic studies to discuss their coursework and application to the program.

About Our Courses

During studies in the Pharm.D. program, a student’s education consists of both lecture and seminar-type classes, as well as “professional practice” laboratories and experiential activities involving patients and other health care professionals.

The typical class size for:

Upper level/advanced courses is: approximately 115

In the Department of Pharmacy Practice, what do student teaching assistants (TA's) do?

They assist in laboratories and in recitations.

In aulitional to lecture halls and seminar rooms, the program provides instructional activities in our Pharmaceutical Care Learning Center (PCLC), which includes a simulated hospital pharmacy, a community pharmacy, a professional practice (compounding) laboratory, a sterile preparation laboratory, a professional practice conference room and lecture room, and an inpatient hospital room, which contains a “practice patient.”

Suggested Introductory Courses

  • BIO 200 Evolutionary Biology
  • BIO 201 Cell Biology
  • CHE 101-CHE 102 General Chemistry I-II or CHE 105-CHE 106 Chemistry: Principles and Applications I-II (or CHE 100 Introduction to Chemistry, if required)
  • MTH 121 Survey of Calculus and Its Applications I or MTH 141 College Calculus I (not recommended for first semester freshmen; instead substitute ENG 101 Writing, PSY 101 Introductory Psychology, or SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology)
  • PHM 201 Orientation to Pharmaceutical Fields


For course descriptions, please see the Undergraduate Catalog.

About Our Faculty

The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has two Distinguished Teaching Professors, and five faculty members have received the Chancellor's Awards for Excellence. Four of these faculty were honored for excellence in teaching. Many faculty members have also received recognition in their areas of specialization, including patents, grants, and national awards.

Faculty in the Department of Pharmacy Practice conduct research as part of the school’s Pharmacotherapy Research Center. Areas of study include patient care environments in adult medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, nephrology, transplantation, infectious diseases, HIV, oncology, neurology, and psychiatry. Clinical trials are performed, incorporating pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, employing the services of the department’s Pharmacometrics Study Unit.

Special Academic Opportunities

Internships

The state of New York requires students majoring in pharmacy to complete a six-month internship (1,040 hours) before taking the NYS Pharmacist Licensing Examination. These hours may be completed through the experiential component during the final year of the program; however, students are also required to gain pharmacy experience prior to this final year.

Clinical Experience

Pharm.D. students complete nine months (36 weeks) of clerkships during their sixth year of study. A formalized UB-affiliated residency program in partnership with ambulatory, acute care, and long-term care programs in the Buffalo-Rochester region has been initiated. Some of these programs include alcoholism, anticoagulation, antimicrobial studies, antiviral research, asthma, attention deficit hypersensitivity disorder, cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, clinical pharmacokinetics, critical care pharmacotherapy, diabetes, geriatrics, headache, immunodeficiency services, infectious disease pharmacotherapy, lipids, managed care, medication adherence, neuropharmacology, nicotine auliction/smoking cessation, oncology, pain management, patient education, pediatrics, pharmacology, pharmacoeconomics, pharmacometrics, thyroid disease, and transplant immunosuppression.

Scholarships and Loans

Pharm.D. students are eligible for funding from many private and public sources, including Health Professions Loans, Alumni Association Scholarships, the CVS Scholarship, the Cecil & Violet Newton Scholarship, the Henry A. Panasci, Jr. Pharmacy School Fund, and a Pharmacy short-term loan fund.

Honors and Awards

Over thirty awards and prizes are presented to graduating Pharm.D. students. These include the Samuel J. Bauda Award for leadership and dedication to community health care, the Lilly Achievement Award for superior scholastic achievement and professional attitude, and the SmithKline Beecham Award for an outstanding student in Clinical Practice.

Extracurricular Activities

Student Organizations


See the UB Student Association.

Career Information

Pharmacists are the "drug experts" among health professionals. They understand how a drug heals and how it can hurt, how it reacts with foods and other drugs. They know its desired effects and its side effects. More than 13,000 prescription drugs are available in the United States, and particularly because of the newer more potent drugs that have highly specific cellular "targets", the management of drug therapy is one of the most important challenges in health care.

Pharmacy is a well-respected profession for individuals with an aptitude in science and a desire to apply their knowledge of drug therapies when counseling patients or when consulting with other health care professionals.

Career Choices

  • Biometrics
  • Clinical
  • Community (ambulatory care)
  • Compounding
  • Geriatric
  • Home care
  • Hospital
  • Industrial
  • Legal research
  • Managed care
  • Neuropharmacology
  • Nuclear
  • Oncology
  • Pediatric
  • Phamacoeconomics


Other Areas:

  • Drug information specialist
  • HIV pharmaceutical care specialist
  • Infectious disease specialist
  • Long-term care consultant
  • Nutritional support pharmacist
  • Pharmacy benefit manager
  • Pharmacology
  • Transplant immunosuppression


Work settings include:

Two out of three pharmacy graduates are engaged in community pharmacy practices in professional pharmaceutical centers, neighborhood pharmacies, and stores in ultra-large shopping centers and malls. They also work in institutional pharmacy practice including private, government, and military hospitals. Aulitionally, opportunities are available in HMO's, long-term care facilities, and home health care.

Other graduates pursue careers in pharmaceutical manufacturing, or the chemical or cosmetic industries. Pharmacists are also employed in pharmaceutical journalism and as drug information specialists or drug therapy consultants. There are also job opportunities in law, research and new product development, management, marketing, quality control and sales. Some seek government employment with the Food and Drug Administration, Public Health Service, the military, or the Veteran's Administration.

What percentage of graduates goes on to find related employment?

Typically, all students are offered pharmacy positions prior to graduation. Most of our ‘pre-graduates’ have each received several employment offers.

Every fall, the school hosts a "Pharmacy Career Day" which attracts employers from organizations throughout the United States and Canada.

Salary Information

Salaries range greatly from one occupation, position, and work setting to another.

What percentage of graduates goes on to graduate school?

This is a graduate/professional program. An increasing number of graduates, however, are completing residencies and fellowship programs.

Some graduates enter medical, law school or go on to receive their Pharm.D. or Ph.D. in biochemical pharmacology. Advanced degree holders pursue research or teaching appointments in universities, hospitals, or research foundations.

Aulitional Resources

Links to Further Information About This Program