Lebanese American School of Pharmacy in Beirut - is this for real?

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Positives:

According to the AACP, the school is fully accredited. After graduating, you are entitled to sit at the NAPLEX. The language of instruction appears to be in English.

Negatives:

Beirut is a war zone. The city has been bombed by Israel numerous times. I would love to study pharmacy in an ancient, exotic city, but am worried American made smart bombs will rain down upon me without warning.

Islamic militants are active throughout the country and an American student would no doubt be an attractive target for kidnapping.

Maybe Lebanon is not as dangerous as the media portrays it to be.

What do you guys think? Should I seriously consider studying there? Just for the record I am not an Arab.

i wouldn't go there.

Originally Posted by OperatingThetan

Positives:

According to the AACP, the school is fully accredited. After graduating, you are entitled to sit at the NAPLEX. The language of instruction appears to be in English.

Negatives:

Beirut is a war zone. The city has been bombed by Israel numerous times. I would love to study pharmacy in an ancient, exotic city, but am worried American made smart bombs will rain down upon me without warning.

Islamic militants are active throughout the country and an American student would no doubt be an attractive target for kidnapping.

Maybe Lebanon is not as dangerous as the media portrays it to be.

What do you guys think? Should I seriously consider studying there? Just for the record I am not an Arab.

You are either really dumb or really desperate.

Haha, my avatar is the flag for the group that is in charge of South Lebanon.

What is your reasoning for not going there?

Alright OperatingThetan, you have been fooled by the media, much like many North Americans have.

For starters, the pharmacy school is located in Byblos which is a Christian city (8000 years old) and is near the ocean... Thus, NOT a war zone whatsoever.

Secondly, Beirut itself is not a warzone to begin with... You are the victim of propaganda. I am a Lebanese-Canadian and have been to Lebanon many times during the past few years of "war" and there has been nothing threatening.

Thirdly, Beirut (and Lebanon) as a whole is one of the most multicultural Arab cities/countries in the Middle-East. 30% of our population is not Arab and millions go to Beirut (and to the rest of Lebanon) from other countries each Spring and Summer.

Fourthly, YES the Lebanese American University (LAU) pharmacy program IS ACCREDITED by the AACP, but there is one condition. The program works as follows: If you apply and have the pre-pharmacy courses necessary, you get accepted into the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy program FIRST... This is three (3) years long and then when that is finished and you have a good enough average in all your courses, but especially your pharmacy courses, you can APPLY for the Pharm.D. program which does allow you to write the NAPLEX exam. The Pharm.D. program is only one additional year spent in USA and/or its territories at different pharmacy locations... It's basically a full-year of hands-on experience. So you won't even be in Lebanon.

The catch is that ONLY THE PHARM.D. PROGRAM ALLOWS YOU TO WRITE THE NAPLEX EXAM... NOT THE B.Sc. PHM. and there is NO GUARANTEE you will get accepted into the Pharm.D. program at the end of your third year. So it is a bit of a gamble.

Admissions to the 4th year pharmD. are very competitive since many Lebanese people have relatives in the USA and want to get licensed there. It's an amazing program, as I have relatives who attended it.

Also, everyone who graduated from the pharmD. program at LAU has passed the NAPLEX... That is right; a 100% success rate. It was the New York times I believe.

Ask me if you need any more information.

It was IN the NY times is what I meant to say********.

Safer than most major American cities.

I'm 100% serious.

Though I've never been, I know that anyone would love that city.

lebanon is fine for the most part, beirut is a great city. It's not a strict islamic state like saudi arabia, it's very lax. In fact, people in beirut go clubbing.

i would still opt for a school here though, you'd want the experience from here + you don't want to say "yea i went to a school in beirut." I think a company would much rather hear that you went somewhere in the US.

Beirut is a pretty nice city though, when it's not being disproportionally shelled by the Israelis.

or blockaded by

I am Lebanese and Lebanon is not what the media makes it out to be. The media makes everything 100 times worse than it really is. Lebanon is a beautiful country and no, it is not a war zone and the militants of the south do not target Americans. A lot of Lebanese are American citizens and go to Lebanon every summer for vacation and do they get kidnapped?? nooooo..stop being ignorant and think before you speak..people that believe everything the media says are just puppets. They are easily influenced and controlled by non sense reporting..

The school is in fact in Byblos, another beautiful city. IT IS FULLY ACCREDITED BY THE ACPE SO YES, YOU CAN SIT AND TAKE THE NAPLEX AND PRACTICE.

oh ya, Beirut was just voted the number one tourist destination by the New York Times

This sound like an interesting school and I would love to go to Lebanon, but the whole 3 + 4 years thing isn't very appealing and too much of a hassle.

I'm very proud that other fellow Lebanese people stood up in this post and defended some of the allegations made by earlier members. Do not get fooled by the media... And I don't think political views should be displayed here (i.e. those who back Israel AND/OR those who back HezbAllah).

And yes, luckyphooey, the "3+4 years" idea you are referring to is a hassle because there is NO re-assurance as to whether or not you will get into the Pharm.D. fourth-year option after your B.Sc.Phm. So, if you don't, you're screwed.

And thephoenician88, you do your pharmacy experience (as part of the Pharm.D. program) in the U.S.A. So, if you tell this to companies they will not care... and as long as you do well on the NAPLEX and get licensed as a pharmacist, I'm sure the companies will not care where you went. Also, since it is an American university, it is based after American curriculums, which is why the ACPE accredited it in the first place, after reviewing it years ago.

I am in no way trying to advocate the school nor deter anyone from it, but I just want to properly educate those who are interested in the school.

You know, I think this school would qualify to have some of the "best looking" people, referring to that other thread people are talking about.

Originally Posted by OperatingThetan

Positives:

According to the AACP, the school is fully accredited. After graduating, you are entitled to sit at the NAPLEX. The language of instruction appears to be in English.

Negatives:

Beirut is a war zone. The city has been bombed by Israel numerous times. I would love to study pharmacy in an ancient, exotic city, but am worried American made smart bombs will rain down upon me without warning.

Islamic militants are active throughout the country and an American student would no doubt be an attractive target for kidnapping.

Maybe Lebanon is not as dangerous as the media portrays it to be.

What do you guys think? Should I seriously consider studying there? Just for the record I am not an Arab.

You totally have the strangest threads...living in parents basement, in love with lab partner, school in lebanon...

Iam actually in the process of applying to tranfer there. Iam not sure how competitve the school is in terms of transfers i would like to finish my prepharmacy classes there. Iam an american citizen but iam also middle eastern (palestinian) and from what i read they seem to let in middle easterns as a majority so hopefully i am able to transfer there. if anyone is in the same boat as me please message me.

Originally Posted by Sparda29

You know, I think this school would qualify to have some of the "best looking" people, referring to that other thread people are talking about.

True that. Lebanese women are straight up gorgeous. And they have sweet personalities. A little high maintenance though.

So did any of your pre-pharmers apply here this year? Seems like a pretty good option for a fallback school...

Originally Posted by IrishHammer

So did any of your pre-pharmers apply here this year? Seems like a pretty good option for a fallback school...

Originally Posted by luckyphooey

This sound like an interesting school and I would love to go to Lebanon, but the whole 3 + 4 years thing isn't very appealing and too much of a hassle.

Hold up, I don't think he meant 7 years of school total. I think the program is structured similarly to the way PharmD was back in the day. You do everything but rotations, you get your BS. Then you apply for ONE YEAR of rotations, which qualifies you to sit in for the NAPLEX and get a PharmD. This is what I think (s)he meant. I don't think any school would make you be in the PharmD program for 7 years after prereqs. Could be wrong though.

Originally Posted by phathead

Man, I miss OperatingThetan. He was one of the most amusing trolls ever on SDN.

Originally Posted by IrishHammer

Man, I miss OperatingThetan. He was one of the most amusing trolls ever on SDN.

I'm sure he's around here somewhere.