0+6 Program: Pharmacy program accepting applicants directly after high school and are guaranteed a position in the professional phase of the program providing that certain criteria are met
2+4 Program: Program allowing students with the opportunity of entering a pharmacy program after 2 years of undergraduate coursework provided that all pre-pharmacy requirements are met
3+4 Program: Program allowing advanced students with the opportunity of entering a pharmacy program after 3 years of undergraduate coursework
AA: Affirmative action
AACP: American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
AAMC: Association of American Medical Colleges
ACLS: Advanced Cardiac Life Support
Accredited School: A school which has passed ACPE accreditation assuring and advancing the quality of pharmacy education
ADCOM: Admission Committee
AED: Automatic External Defibrillator
Affirmative Action: Programs designed to provide increased opportunities for historically under-represented minorities
AHMA: American Holistic Medical Association
AMA: American Medical Association
AMCAS:American Medical College Application Service
AMSA: American Medical Student Association, publishes the New Physician
AP: Advanced Placement
APhA: American Pharmacists Association
ASHP: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
Attending: A physician who has completed residency and practices in a clinic, hospital, or private practice, in the specialty learned during residency and can supervise fellow residents and medical students.
Awesome: SDN Mods
BCNP: Board Certified Nuclear Pharmacist
BCNSP: Board Certified Nutrition Support Pharmacist
BCOP: Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist
BCPP: Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist
BCPS: Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist
BPS: Board of Pharmacy Specialties; the organization that recognizes individual fields as specialties. Currently six specialty practice areas are recognized: Ambulatory Care, Nuclear, Nutrition Support, Oncology, Pharmacotherapy, and Psychiatry. Most specialties require completion of at least a one year residency program.
BLS: Basic Life Support
BOP: Board of Pharmacy
CC: Community college
Certified Pharmacy Technician: A technician who has passed the certification test provided by the PTCB
Chief Resident: a senior-level resident who has been assigned administrative and training responsibilities within the residency training program.
CNA: Certified nurse assistant
CNM: Certified Nurse-Midwife
Committee Letter: composite letter of LOR's which is submitted by the school's pre-professional advising committee
CPJE: California Practice Standards and Jurisprudence Examination for Pharmacists
CPR: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, An emergency procedure employed after cardiac arrest and used to maintain the circulation of oxygenated blood to the brain.
CRNA: Certified registered nurse anesthetist
CSS: College Scholarship Service
DAW: 'Dispense As Written', A prescription with a DAW must be dispensed precisely as it is written. No substitutions or alterations permitted
DDS: Doctor of Dental Surgery
Deferral: Delayed Matriculation following acceptance, usually one year
DMD: Doctor of Dental Medicine
DO: Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
DOP: Director of Pharmacy
DPM: Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
DPT: Doctor of Physical Therapy
Dr. Collins: PCAT review course
DVM: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
EC: Extra-curricular activities
EDP: Early Decision Program
EK: ExamKrackers, test preparation course materials
ED: the Emergency Department (usually at a hospital)
EM: Emergency Medicine (medical specialty)
EMS: Emergency Medical Services
EMT: Emergency Medical Technician
EMT-B: Emergency Medical Technician- Basic
EMT-I: Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate
EMT-P: Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic
ENT: Otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat)
FAF: Financial Aid Form
FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid
Fellowship: Post residency training in specialized fields
GMAT: Graduated Management Admission Test
GPA: Grade Point Average
GRE: Graduate Record Examination
Gunner: slang for an anxious pre-professional student who will do anything to get good grades.
HBCU: Historically Black Colleges and Universities
HCP: Health Care Provider
House Staff: The physicians and surgeons in specialty training at a hospital who care for patients under the direction and responsibility of attending staff.
HPAC: Health Professions Advisory Committee
Internship: Most intern hours for student pharmacists are completed during their time in school, during the fourth (and sometimes third) year.
IM: Internal Medicine (medical specialty)
IRS: Internal Revenue Service
IS: In-state
JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association
Joint Commission: accredits and certifies more than 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States (formerly JCAHO)
Kaplan: Test preparation review materials and service
LCSW: Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Legacy: A student whose parents or grandparents have attended and/or heavily contributed to the school
Licensed Pharmacy Technician: A technician who possess a state specific license to work in a pharmacy
LOE: Letters of Evaluation
LOI: Letter of intent/interest
LOR: Letter of recommendation
LPN: Licensed Practical Nurse
Match: The electronic process where 4th year pharmacy students are fitted to residency spots based on their preference rankings and preference rankings of the residency program.
MBA - Master of Business Administration, given in many disciplines.
MBChB or MBBS:UK model - Bachelor of Medicine and surgery
MCAT: Medical College Admissions Test, a computer based standardized test used to assess a medical school applicant's aptitude in a variety of fields. Subject matter includes Chemistry, Physics, Verbal Reasoning, a Writing Sample, Biology and Organic Chemistry. It has 3 sections each scored on a bell curve from 1 to 15 (total possible points 45) and the writing section ranges from a J-T.
MD: Doctor of (allopathic) Medicine
MD/PHD: Combined Doctor of Medicine and PhD. program, 6-8 years
MDApplicants.com: Web site that allows students applying to medical schools to share their application stats and track their progress through the application process. Students can view others profiles and leave comments.
MPH: Master of Public Health
MPJE: Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination
NAAHP: National Association of Advisers for the Health Professions
NABP: National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
NAPLEX: North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination
NCPA: National Community Pharmacists Association
NICU: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
NonTrad: a term that applies to people in many different situations, but most typically refers to a student who did not begin their college career directly after high school
NP: Nurse Practitioner
OEC-T: Outdoor Emergency Care Technician
On-Hold: Application has been reviewed without decision
OOS: Out-of-state
OP: Original Poster
OR: the Operating Room (usually in a hospital or ambulatory surgery center)
Orgo: Organic Chemistry, and a common prerequisite for professional schools i.e. medical, pharmacy, dental etc.
OTD: Doctor of Occupational Therapy
PA: Physician Assistant/Associate
PA: Prior Authorization. Additional paperwork required by an insurance outlining the specifics of a patient's medical condition to determine whether or not the medication will be paid for
PCAT: Pharmacy College Application Test; a standardized test used to assess a pharmacy school applicant's aptitude in a variety of fields. The test is broken into 7 parts: 2 Writing Topics, Verbal Ability, Biology, Chemistry, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Ability. The writing scores range from 0-5. All other section scores are a percentile from 0-99.
PCT: patient care technician
PGY1: Post-Graduate Year One (typically refers to a first-year residency)
PharmApplicants.com: Web site that allows students applying to pharmacy schools to share their application stats and track their progress through the application process. Students can view others profiles and leave comments.
PharmCAS: Pharmacy College Application Service, the service a pre-pharmacy student uses to apply to most pharmacy schools in the United States
Pharm.D.: Doctor of Pharmacy (Not the same as Ph.D.)
Pharm.D./MBA: Combined Doctor of Pharmacy and Masters of Business Administration Program
Pharm.D./Ph.D.: Combined Doctor of Pharmacy and Ph.D. program
Pharmacy Protocol: The ability to dispense medication by writing a legal prescription without the consent of a doctor. Only applicable in some states.
Ph.D.: Doctor of Philosophy
PI: principal investigator (of a lab)
PIC: Pharmacist In Charge
PICU: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
PM: Private Message
Post-bac: Coursework taken (typically after earning a bachelor's degree) to allow applicants to meet pharmacy school admission requirements. May be useful for students with degrees in non-science fields; can be formal or informal; short for post-baccalaureate program
Pre-Candidate School - A pharmacy school which has begun the process of becoming accredited, but has not yet done so
Pre-req: Undergraduate course listed as minimum requirement for entry into pharmacy school (e.g. general chemistry)
Primary Application: single initial pharmacy school application submitted online via PharmCAS or other proprietary process. Followed up by secondaries, interviews, etc.
Primary Care: generally, Family Practice, Pediatrics and Internal Medicine (medical specialties)
PRN: As needed
PS: Personal Statement
Psy-D: Doctor of psychology
PTCB: Pharmacy Technician Certification Board
QFT: Quoted For Truth
RD: Resident Director
Re-Applicant: Applicant who has also applied during a previous cycle
Reciprocity: An agreement between States to issue pharmacist licenses to applicants from other States in order to practice legally
Residency: An optional one or two year training, after completing pharmacy school, during which a pharmacist receives special training. As of now, residencies are not required.
RN: Registered Nurse
ROAD: Radiology, Ophthalmology, Anesthesiology, Dermatology - medical specialties considered by some to afford a good mix of income and quality of life
Secondary Application: additional follow-up application for individual schools, which is submitted directly to the school. Content, fees, and methods of selecting applicants for distribution vary widely.
STAT: Immediate, said when something needs to be done immediately.
SDN: Student Doctor Network
SICU: Surgical Intensive Care Unit
Sig Codes: Short hand abbreviations used to describe the directions of a medication therapy. Examples include, but are not limited to: BID, TID, OU, AD, PRN....
SMDEP: Summer Medical and Dental Education Program
SMP: these programs are one-year masters degrees (usually) that allow you to earn an MS in biomedical sciences or a related field. They are usually done by people who have a science background and are looking to make their application more competitive, for GPA or other reasons.
TBR: The Berkeley Review, test preparation review materials and service
TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language
TPR: The Princeton Review, test preparation review materials and service
URM: Under Represented Minority
US News Rankings: Annual ranking of colleges and professional schools by U.S. News and World Report (magazine)
Waitlist: List of students who will be offered acceptance if seats become available at a given pharmacy school
WAMC: "What Are My Chances" threads - designated posting area for all questions related an applicant's chances for admission
