Any Canadians applied/applying to US PharmD Schools?

[mshiz21]

hi guys

i just finished my 2nd year of undergrad @ McMaster University in Ontario Canada. i'm looking at applying to US pharmacy schools and was wondering if there are any canadians (specifically from ontario) that are applying as well, or have already applied before. i'm having trouble finding a speech course and english composition course that I can take at Mac to satisfy prereq's from various universities.. I wanted to know if anyone has taken these courses at a university/community college near teh GTA or hamilton and has had the credit transfer to a US school, and where they took the courses. Im not really sure where I can take it. Thanks so much for the help. 😎

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[ffpickle]

yeah i am cdn & applying to the us. try mohawk college or some other college in your area for a speech course. mac should have an english comp. course

 

[cdpiano27]

really try to get into pharmacy school in Canada. The cost is so much cheaper than most schools in the US unless you are an in-state resident of a state that has a pharmacy school. Of course, most schools are very competitive to get into in Canada, but I think it is the same education. Canada still has bachelors in pharmacy, correct?

 

[cdpiano27]

That being said, SUNY-Buffalo is a top school, and has relatively cheap out-of-state tuition, and is close to Ontario!! Try there for sure!!

 

[SnDividedbyn]

really try to get into pharmacy school in Canada. The cost is so much cheaper than most schools in the US unless you are an in-state resident of a state that has a pharmacy school. Of course, most schools are very competitive to get into in Canada, but I think it is the same education. Canada still has bachelors in pharmacy, correct?

Yeah, man. I think you should try Canada first since it is cheaper and faster than the US, being a Canadian. 👍

 

[mshiz21]

hey guys, thanks for your responses. oh yeah, i am def. going to apply in canada as well. its fairly tough getting in either waterloo or uft however, so thats why im gonna consider the states too. if i get into a US and Canadian school i'll definately pick a canadian one. ill save a bundle of dough.

but yeah, i'll look into community colleges that might offer speech. where did you take it ffpickle? i DID take an english course at Mac that dealt with reading novels/plays, but 40% of the final grade was based on your essay grades. 10% presentation, 10% tutorial participation an dthe restwas the final. does that count as english COMP or english literature?

i guess to be certain il'l have to get it evaluated by the WES.

 

[Onetreehill]

While UFT is competitive, the rest of the schools across Canada aren't. Look into those before you think of american ones because the pre-reqs for american pharm schools are way more complex that canadian pharm school requirements.

It's not bad when you apply cross country or even UW because other than UFT which receives upwards of 1800 applicants, all other Canadian pharm schools are below 800 applicants.

 

[mshiz21]

hmm really? that's interesting to hear. i think i've got decent stats - 3.33 first year GPA and about a 3.75 in 2nd year - overall a 3.5 or so. might be able to bump it up to about a 3.55. i have pretty good extracurriculars..lots of retail pharm experience, hospital volunteer, summer leadership program, i wrote & published a research article in a student journal on a class of drugs and how they work to prevent breast cancer. i'm also a science journalist @ JYI.org. i have yet to write the PCAT thouhg. i will this august.

i glanced at canadian schools a few minutes ago. and am pretty interested in applying to UBC and UW.

and yeah, the prereq's for US schools can be mind boggling sometimes lol.

 

[fungikid]

hmm really? that's interesting to hear. i think i've got decent stats - 3.33 first year GPA and about a 3.75 in 2nd year - overall a 3.5 or so. might be able to bump it up to about a 3.55. i have pretty good extracurriculars..lots of retail pharm experience, hospital volunteer, summer leadership program, i wrote & published a research article in a student journal on a class of drugs and how they work to prevent breast cancer. i'm also a science journalist @ JYI.org. i have yet to write the PCAT thouhg. i will this august.

i glanced at canadian schools a few minutes ago. and am pretty interested in applying to UBC and UW.

and yeah, the prereq's for US schools can be mind boggling sometimes lol.

Your stats sound impressive. I didn't do that much (publishing a paper 😱) and I got into U of T. So definitely try Canadian schools first. 🙂

I don't know why you guys call it UFT.... it's U of T/UofT/UT! lol

Edited: While it's true that U of T receives upwards of 1800 applicants (last year it was more than 1900-1950 applicants if I remember correctly), other pharmacy schools are just as, if not more, competitive. They receive less applicants because of differing admission requirements. For example, Waterloo requires at least 2 years of undergraduate studies as opposed to the 1-year requirement of U of T. It's about to change though. U of T will require PCAT in the upcoming 2009 admission cycle and will launch it's entry-level PharmD program (changing it to a 2 + 4 program) in 2010 at the earliest.

 

[mshiz21]

thanks! u of t is startin a pharmD program?thats interesting to hear. will the pharmD replace the BSc Pharm? what would be the difference in the two degrees?

 

[Onetreehill]

For those of us you actually have completed the requirements the apply for schools like UW, it's much less competitive because the application pool is so small.

I'm not sure what your sources are that Waterloo will change the 2year requirement. The reason it has that is because it manages to complete the pharmacy degree in addition to co-op semesters in the same period of time as other schools take to just complete the degree. To do that, students need to have completed the 2nd year which includes courses taken by first year pharmacy students at all other schools.

 

[fungikid]

The entry-level PharmD (ELPD) program will replace the BScPhm program. It will push some of the courses out of the existing program and turn them into prerequisites (e.g. Organic Chem II, stats, biochem.). It will still be a 4-year program, but the ELPD program will incorporate new courses dealing with topics such as pharmacogenomics. As it stands right now, the level of competency acheived by the various programs is: BScPhm << ELPD << post-graduate PharmD. The post-graduate PharmD program will be scrapped once ELPD is in place. The material previously covered by the post-graduate PharmD program will be covered in fellowships/residencies.

Onetreehill, I did not say that Waterloo will change their requirements. I said U of T will be introducing the ELPD program. 🙂

 

[mshiz21]

cool stuff. i have a huge interest in pharmacogenomics. will the BScPharm students already at the school (i.e. first/second year students) be switched into ELPD students or will they still recieve BSc Pharm degrees?

 

[fungikid]

We will receive the BScPhm designation, but they will have a bridging program in place for ALL BScPhm (all graduates within 20-30 years) to upgrade their degrees to PharmD's. However, you can practice with either a BScPhm OR a PharmD. The bridging program is optional.

 

[mshiz21]

cool! thanks for the info fungikid.

i've done a bit more research into US post grad stuff than i have for canadian post grad options. i was wondering, how do canadians specialize in oncology pharmacy, for example (something i have a big interest in). would they do a 2 year residency like they do in the US?

 

[fungikid]

That I don't actually know about. If I find out I will post the answer here. 🙂 They do have residencies and the pharmacist I work with at the hospital specialize in cardiology, but I don't have the exact details.

 

[pharmacistdoc]

Hi everyone, this is my second post on SDN but an interesting one. I got into the co-op HBSc in PHarmacy program at UW school of pharmacy and a pharm.D. program in the US. I will really appreciate it if you can help me decide where to go and what is the difference between BScPHM of Canada and PHarm.D of the US and also the new ELPD program at U of T?Thanks.

 

[staffpro]

was wondering which US schools accept canadian highschool students for 0-6 pharmD program

i have 85%
4 years of pharm tech experience
too many extracurricular to list

 

[try_infrared]

cool! thanks for the info fungikid.

i've done a bit more research into US post grad stuff than i have for canadian post grad options. i was wondering, how do canadians specialize in oncology pharmacy, for example (something i have a big interest in). would they do a 2 year residency like they do in the US?

In Canada to specialize in oncology, you would do a one-year residency after you graduate and then learn the rest on the job. I don't think you need to do more than that. But if you felt you needed additional training, I'm sure there are specialized training programs available.

 

[rrk]

is a canadian pharmd degree considered valid for getting a job in u.s.?

 

[Marchmagnolia]

Hey!
I'm from Mac too and I'm applying to a bunch of PharmD programs for Fall 2010. Not applying to UW or UofT though...I

 

[cleo2009]

was wondering which US schools accept canadian highschool students for 0-6 pharmD program

i have 85%
4 years of pharm tech experience
too many extracurricular to list

No there are no universities in Canada nor in the States that will accept high school students straight out of highschool even if you are a pharmacy assistant or tech. I have people in my class that still work as techs while going to pharmacy school and they still had to do their preprofessional year(s).