Pre-Pharmacy Information

College of Arts & Sciences

General Academic Building, Room 220, (940) 565-2051

For more than 150 years, Colleges of Pharmacy in America have been preparing young men and women for the profession of pharmacy. Over the years, the practice of pharmacy has become a vital part of total health care. Modern pharmacy offers outstanding opportunities for professional service and personal achievement. Today’s pharmacist faces new challenges and expanded needs as reflected in the listing of some of society’s growth factors shown below:

* burgeoning population

* longer life span

* greater demand for drugs

* growth of health insurance and medical care prepayment plans

* greater demand for more hospitals, nursing homes, and extended care facilities

* increased opportunities for home health care

* broader range of specific drugs for more diseases

* larger number of preventative medicines; and increased emphasis on drug research and development.

The qualities of a good pharmacist are a solid education in scientific subjects with a willingness and curiosity to learn. Pharmacy demands good judgement, dependability, and a conscientious performance. Attention must be given to detail, accuracy, neatness, cleanliness, and orderliness, for all decision making and actions involving human life and well being. Pharmacists must enjoy meeting and working with people and be willing to serve them in a variety of circumstances. Pharmacists today have broader functions than dispensing medication or providing pharmaceutical care, a philosophy in which pharmacists care for their patients and share responsibility with other members of the health care team for the outcome of drug therapy in their patients. Pharmaceutical care requires that pharmacists manage drug therapies in patients and/or coordinate those services related to drug therapy; participate in the drug therapy decision-making process; determine the dose and dosage schedule; select the appropriate dosage form, formulation, administration, and/or deliver system; select the drug product source of supply; prepare the medication for patient use; provide the product to the patient or care giver; counsel the patient; monitor the patient to maximize compliance; monitor patient progress with regard to therapeutic objectives; and monitor the patients to prevent adverse drug reactions and drug interactions.

The Texas Board of Pharmacy recently recognized these new roles for pharmacists by allowing pharmacists the opportunity to become primary care providers within a team relationship of physicians, nurses, and other health care providers. Pharmaceutical care requires that pharmacists manage patients’ drug therapies and provide and/or coordinate those service functions related to drug therapy, which include:

* participating in the drug therapy decision making process

* determining the dose and dosage schedule, formulation, administration, and/or delivery system

* selecting the drug product source of supply

* preparing the medication for patient use

* providing the drug product to the patient or care giver

* providing adequate counsel to the patient or care giver

* monitoring the patient’s medication profile to maximize compliance, prevent adverse drug interactions

* Monitoring the patient’s progress with regard to therapeutic objectives

Over 157,000 pharmacists practice in community or hospital pharmacies in the United States with the remainder following one or another of the special fields such as sales, administration, academia, and research in the private, public, or governmental sector. The prospects for immediate employment and long term career growth have never been better.

Revised by: Barbara Tatum, University of Houston College of Pharmacy

There are four pharmacy schools in Texas: Texas Southern University (TSU), Texas Tech University (TTU), the University of Houston (UH), and The University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). Application materials may be obtained by writing:

Admissions Office Office of Admissions

College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences College of Pharmacy

Texas Southern University Texas Tech Health Science Center

3100 Cleburne Avenue 1400 Wallace Blvd.

Houston, TX 77004 Amarillo, TX 79106

(713) 313-7011 (806) 354-5418

http://www.tsu.edu/pharmacy/default.htm http://ismo.ama.ttuhsc.edu/ExternalHome/

Office of Admissions Office of Admissions

College of Pharmacy College of Pharmacy

University of Houston The University of Texas at Austin

4800 Calhoun Austin, TX 78712

Houston, TX 77204-5511 (512) 471-3434

(713) 743-1260 http://www.utexas.edu/pharmacy

http://www.pharmacy.uh.edu/

General information about pharmacy programs throughout the United States may be obtained by writing:

American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy

1426 Prince Street

Alexandria, Virginia 22314

(703) 739-2330

http://www.aacp.org/

* Texas Southern University offers the Doctor of Pharmacy (six years) degree as a first professional degree and as a post B.S. degree. February 15 is the application deadline. Applicants should complete at least 77 semester hours before being admitted and take the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT).

* University of Texas at Austin offers the Doctor of Pharmacy (six year) degree as a first professional degree. The PCAT is required. February 1 is the priority deadline date and March 1 is the final deadline date. Applicants should complete at least 60 semester hours before being admitted.

*Applicants to TSU and UT Austin must also apply to their parent institution. PCAT scores more than 3 years old are not accepted.

* Texas Tech University offers the six-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree. The PCAT is required and February 1 is the application deadline date. (Students who have a Bachelors Degree or above are exempt from the English and Humanities/Social Sciences prerequisites.) Applicants should complete at least 60 semester hours before being admitted.

* The University of Houston offers the Doctor of Pharmacy (six year) degree as a first professional degree. The PCAT is required and March 1 is the application deadline date. Applicants should complete at least 66 semester hours before being admitted.

*Shown below is a composite list of requirements for the pharmacy programs in Texas. Please be aware that program requirements may change without notice and can vary with each school.

Prerequisites for Pharmacy Schools in Texas

TSU=Texas Southern University UH=University of Houston

UT=University of Texas at Austin TT=Texas Tech Health Science Center

Biology: 12-16 semester hours

TSU, UH, UT, TT BIOL 1710 Principles of Biology I (3 hours)

BIOL 1730 Principles of Biology Laboratory I (1 hour)

TSU, UH, UT, TT BIOL 1720 Principles of Biology II (3 hours)

BIOL 1740 Principles of Biology Laboratory II (1 hour)

TSU, UH, UT, TT BIOL 2040 Biology of Microorganisms (4 hours)

TSU BIOL 3000 Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates (4 hours)

UT BIOL 3450 Genetics (4 hours)

Chemistry: 16 semester hours

TSU, UH, UT, TT CHEM 1410 General Chemistry I (3 hours) or

CHEM 1413 Honors General Chemistry I (3 hours)

CHEM 1430 Laboratory Sequence for General Chemistry (1 hour)

TSU, UH, UT, TT CHEM 1420 General Chemistry II (3 hours) or

CHEM 1423 Honors General Chemistry II (3 hours)

CHEM 1440 Laboratory Sequence for General Chemistry (1 hour)

TSU, UH, UT, TT CHEM 2370 Organic Chemistry I (3 hours)

CHEM 3210 Organic Chemistry Laboratory I (1 hour)

TSU, UH, UT, TT CHEM 2380 Organic Chemistry II (3 hours)

CHEM 3220 Organic Chemistry Laboratory II (1 hour)

English: 9-12 semester hours

TSU, UH, UT, TT ENGL 1310 College Writing I (3 hours) or

ENGL 1313 Computer Assisted College Writing I (3 hours)

TSU, UH, TT ENGL 1320 College Writing II (3 hours) or

ENGL 1323 Computer Assisted College Writing II (3 hours)

TSU, UT, TT, UH ENGL 2210 World Literature I (3 hours)

Math: 6 semester hours

TSU MATH 1100 College Algebra (3 hours)

TSU MATH 1650 Pre-Calculus (5 hours) (in place of trigonometry)

UH, UT, TT MATH 1710 Calculus I

UT, UH MATH 1680 Elementary Probability and Statistics

TT Math 1780 Introduction to Statistical Analysis

Physics: 8 semester hours (with labs)

TSU, UT, TT, UH PHYS 1410 General Physics I (3 hours)

PHYS 1430 Laboratory Sequence for General Physics I (1 hour)

TSU PHYS 1420 General Physics II (3 hours)

PHYS 1440 Laboratory Sequence for General Physics II (1 hour)

Economics: 3 semester hours

TT ECON 1110 Macroeconomics

American History: 6 semester hours

TSU, UH, UT, TT HIST 2610 US History to 1865 and

HIST 2620 US History from 1865

Political Science: 6 semester hours

TSU, UH, UT, TT PSCI 1040 American Government and

PSCI 1050 American Government

Communication: 3 semester hours

TSU COMM 1010 Introduction to Communication (3 hours) or

COMM 2020 Interpersonal Communication (3 hours) or

COMM 2040 Public Speaking (3 hours)

TT, UH COMM 2040 Public Speaking

Computer Science: 3 semester hours

TSU CSCI 1100 Introduction to Computer Science

Fine Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Electives: 3-6 semester hours

TSU Appreciation of ART, THEA, or MUMH (requires 3 hours) See course options in Visual and Performing Arts section of university core

TSU Take course(s) from the university core Social and Behavioral Sciences section, including ECON, PSYC, and/or SOCI (requires 3 hours)

UH PSYC 1630 or SOCI 1510 (3 hours) Writing intensive social science – PSYC 3520, SOCI 3300, or SOCI 4340* (Note: refer to the UNT catalog for course prerequisites)

Visual and Performing Arts – ART 2360 or THEA 2340 (3 hours)

TT Humanities/Social Sciences (15 hours) and

ECON 1110 Macroeconomics

Updated 4/01