If you could shave a year off undergraduate school on your way to becoming a pharmacist, it would be a sound investment of time and tuition, right? That is what the leadership at Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) and St. Louis College of Pharmacy created for undergraduate students at HSSU. The new program also gets more underrepresented students into high-paying pharmacy careers.
John A. Pieper, PharmD, president of St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Dwaun J. Warmack, president of Harris Stowe State University signed documents for the dual degree program on Wednesday, February 17 in the new Academic and Research Building on the pharmacy school campus.
The dual degree program will allow students to pursue a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in a 3+4 format. Students will complete three years of study in the Biology/Pre-Pharmacy track at Harris-Stowe and in their fourth year, they will begin work on their Doctor of Pharmacy at the College.
Pieper said he and Warmack committed right after his arrival at HSSU to develop the program.
“I have always valued the quality of the students and the fact that they are a fantastically talented group and they could bring a richness to our campus that we haven’t traditionally focused on,” Pieper told The American. “And it felt like it was the right thing to do.”
Committees at both schools redesigned curriculum or created new classes and majors for the program.
Warmack said the partnership with St. Louis College of Pharmacy will allow HSSU students the chance to enter an exciting health care career with tremendous employment potential.
“We wanted to create something that was mutually beneficial and also transformational,” Warmack said. “Typically, pharmacy school is four years and undergrad is four years, so we are eliminating a year with the joint curriculum, but still that fourth year, they are not paying tuition at a pharmacy school – they are paying undergrad.”
Undergraduate tuition for up to 32 hours at Harris-Stowe costs around $5,200 for the year, including books and fees.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment in health care occupations to grow 19 percent between 2014 and 2024. In the recently released report: “African Americans: College Majors and Earnings,” African Americans who chose pharmacy careers with a bachelor’s level degree saw the highest median annual earnings, at around $84,000. Earning potential is even higher with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2014 median salary for pharmacists was $120,950.
“We take a lot of pride in making St. Louis College of Pharmacy a supportive and enriching environment for growth,” said Dr. John A. Pieper, president, St. Louis College of Pharmacy. “To live that mission, we are always looking to create as many opportunities as possible for students interested in pursuing a rewarding career as a pharmacist.”
According to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, of the total number of students enrolled in first professional degree programs for fall 2014, 61.4 percent were women and 12.4 percent were underrepresented minority students. Administrators at HSSU and the St. Louis College of Pharmacy recognize this collaboration as an inventive and necessary opportunity for the institutions to increase the number of underrepresented students in this field.
To be eligible to enter the first professional year of the Doctor of Pharmacy program, HSSU students must complete all prerequisite courses by the end of their junior year. The student must also hold a cumulative GPA of at least 2.7, hold no individual course grades below a C- in prerequisite courses, successfully complete an in-person interview and writing assessment, and take the Pharmacy College Admission Test. These requirements are the same as any student applying to transfer into the College’s professional program. Students who successfully complete four years of study in the dual-degree program will earn a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a Pre-Pharmacy minor from HSSU. They will earn a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the College after completing the remaining professional program coursework and progression requirements.
Most of the coursework in the first three years of the program will take place on the HSSU campus. In their sophomore year, students will take eight credit hours of organic chemistry on the College’s campus. In their junior year, they will take four credit hours of physics and three credit hours of health care communications on the College’s campus.
HSSU students will be eligible to enter the program as early as this fall.
