Prepharmacy Program
Calculus Admission Requirement
Ethnic Studies Admission Requirement
State of Wisconsin "Caregiver Background Check Law"
Non-Professional Curriculum Graduation Requirements
Computer Literacy
Admission to the Pharm.D. Program
4th-Year Clerkships
Pharm.D. Graduation Requirements
Prepharmacy Course Requirements
Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) Professional Curriculum
The prepharmacy program consists of a minimum of sixty two credits of prepharmacy course work, which can be completed at most accredited colleges. In Wisconsin, prepharmacy advisors are located at both public and private colleges. A list of these advisors is available on the School of Pharmacy Web site, as is information about the specific courses at many colleges and universities that fulfill the prepharmacy course requirements. Questions about the transferability of courses from any college or university to the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy can be addressed to the School of Pharmacy Admissions Office or the School of Pharmacy pre-School of Pharmacy advisor. At UW-Madison, prepharmacy students usually enroll in the College of Letters and Science, but their advisor is in the School of Pharmacy. It is important to plan a sound program and stay up-to-date with admission requirements and any program changes; students should stay in contact with their advisor.
The admission application for prepharmacy freshmen and transfers is available from the UW-Madison Office of (Undergraduate) Admissions.
A good grasp of the fundamentals of differential and integral calculus is essential for success in the Pharm.D. program. The pre-School of Pharmacy calculus requirement is a content-based requirement (a list of required calculus topics). The calculus topics required for admission to the School of Pharmacy are:
To meet the School of Pharmacy calculus admission requirement, the following must be accomplished:
It is the responsibility of pre-School of Pharmacy students to compare the content of their calculus course work with the above list of topics, and, if that content does not include all of the required topics, to take the steps necessary to make sure that they are competent in the required topics. This may be accomplished by any of these means:
Students do not need to submit documentation showing that any needed calculus topics beyond those in the completed first-semester calculus course have been covered. However, students are reminded that competence in all of the required calculus topics is essential for success in the School of Pharmacy.
The prepharmacy requirements include 3 credits of ethnic studies course work. Students who fulfill the ethnic studies admission requirement at UW-Madison or at schools outside the UW System must do so by selecting a course, or a course equivalent to one, approved by UW-Madison; students who fulfill the requirement at other UW System schools may do so by selecting course work that is designated on the transcript from the campus of attendance as fulfilling its ethnic studies/diversity requirement.
Ethnic studies course work, in addition to fulfilling the prepharmacy ethnic studies requirement, may fulfill or count toward any one of certain other Pharm.D. admission or graduation requirements, if the course work qualifies as such. Courses at UW-Madison that count as ethnic studies are so marked in the Timetable. Guidance in the selection of a course to fulfill this requirement is available from the UW-Madison pre-School of Pharmacy advisor or the School of Pharmacy Admissions Office.
See School of Pharmacy Admission Policies and Procedures.
For graduation with the Pharm.D. degree, students must complete 2 credits of any kind of history and 3 credits of humanities electives. Guidance in the selection of courses to fulfill these requirements is available from the UW-Madison pre-School of Pharmacy advisor and the School of Pharmacy Admissions Office.
Students who plan to pursue a degree in the School of Pharmacy should develop skills to use word processing, e-mail, information searching, database inquiry, and the Web. These skills will be important to success in the School of Pharmacy.
See School of Pharmacy Admission Policies and Procedures.
Students will complete their 4th-year clerkships at "hubs" in various locations in Wisconsin; some students will be assigned to a clerkship "hub" outside the Madison area. Students will remain at a single "hub" for the duration of the clerkships, and will be responsible for room, board, tuition, and transportation costs associated with the completion of the clerkships.
1. Completion of a minimum of 206 degree credits.
2. Completion of prepharmacy course requirements.
3. Completion of courses required in the professional pharmacy curriculum, including 18 credits of professional electives, selected from the list of approved elective courses.
4. Completion of non-professional curriculum graduation course requirements.
5. Fulfillment of the following two grade point average requirements:
a. A cumulative GPA of 2.0 for all courses attempted at UW-Madison. All graded courses, including those failed and/or repeated, are included in this GPA.
b. An overall GPA of 2.0 for all courses required in the professional pharmacy curriculum, excluding professional electives, completed while enrolled in the School of Pharmacy. All graded courses, including those failed and/or repeated, are included in this GPA.
*Any course that meets any Pharm.D. course requirement must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is, by definition, a credit/no credit course. No course that meets any Pharm.D. course requirement may be taken pass/fail. "Any course requirement" means (1) any prepharmacy course requirement, (2) any Pharm.D. professional curriculum course requirement, (3) any Pharm.D. non-professional curriculum graduation course requirement, and (4) the Pharm.D. professional electives requirement.