Which Pharmacy School?

[KKHeal]

If u had choices to make from a list of pharmacy schools what could help indicate which is better?

Is it the ranking (how can one get the rankings?)
is it the age of the school?
Is it the location of the school?
Is it what the school says on their website?
Is it whether it is private or public?
Does anyone know about the Philadelphia college of pharmacy?

I seem confused but your insights will help a lot.
Thanks.

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[clachan3]

Philadelphia college of pharmacy is good. I applied there too, but I haven't heard anything from them. Did you get accepted there?

 

[dgroulx]

Since the eventual goal is to become a pharmacist, I would look at the percentage of graduates from a school that pass the state board exam. If you're pretty sure of which state you want to practice in, I'd try to get in a school in that state.

If you pass the California board, you can practice in any state. If you pass the Florida board, you can practice in any state, except California.

 

[Triangulation]

Yeah, I'd take a look at the websites. You can probably contact the school and get intouch with a student. Do google searches on the schools, see what others have to say about it. Take a look at the curriculum and the cost. Try and figure out how crazy your class skej is gonna be (like ucsf has a ton of electives you need to take, very chem heavy, which is great if that's what you want, but if you just want a career in retail other schools have currics that cater more to that.)

People on this site are really crazy about board passing rates, so check that out i guess. My kinda feeling about that is, if you're on your sh#$ you'll pass the boards.

 

[KKHeal]

Originally posted by clachan3
Philadelphia college of pharmacy is good. I applied there too, but I haven't heard anything from them. Did you get accepted there?

Yeah...I got accepted but I really havent seen the school yet and dont know much about philly...'cos what I mean is that does one go by the things they say on the website...I am just thinking it will be a good school.

 

[KKHeal]

Originally posted by dgroulx
Since the eventual goal is to become a pharmacist, I would look at the percentage of graduates from a school that pass the state board exam. If you're pretty sure of which state you want to practice in, I'd try to get in a school in that state.

If you pass the California board, you can practice in any state. If you pass the Florida board, you can practice in any state, except California.

..umm how can you get the info of the statistics of grads that pass the board exams??

 

[Samoa]

Originally posted by dgroulx
Since the eventual goal is to become a pharmacist, I would look at the percentage of graduates from a school that pass the state board exam. If you're pretty sure of which state you want to practice in, I'd try to get in a school in that state.

Call the state board of pharmacy in that state. It's public info, so they have to release it.

If you pass the California board, you can practice in any state. If you pass the Florida board, you can practice in any state, except California.

This information is incorrect. If you pass the California board, you can practice only in California. California does not recognize the NAPLEX exam, they use their own, therefore you cannot transfer your license into or out of California without taking a new board exam.

I think they're in the process of changing this, but it hasn't happened yet.

Florida does recognize the NAPLEX exam, however, you may only apply for a license there based on original scores, not reciprocity (reciprocity is where you get a license in a new state based on your original license in another state). NAPLEX scores are sent once, and once only--unlike other standardized tests where you can go back and send them to additional places after you've gotten them back. They are sent to however many schools you list on your initial application to sit for the exam, and that's it. So if you ever want to practice in Florida, you have to pay to send them your scores when you first take the exam, or else take the exam again.

Every other state grants licenses by reciprocity, except to California licensees..

 

[dgroulx]

From a NAPLEX exam web site:


"Q.5 Is the score transfer applicable for all the states ?

No, California & Florida do not accept the score transfer from any other states, however if you pass exam from Florida, you can transfer score to any other states except California."


To me, that says that if I pass in Florida, I can transfer my score to any state except California and practice there. If I take the test in any other state, I can't transfer it to Florida. That means that Florida does not grant reciprocity to other states. I'm not sure if they hold you to a higher standard, or if they just want to make money by retesting everybody.

 

[prettymean]

Would someone please explain how one can get licensed in certain states by passing NAPLEX? I am confused.

 

[jdpharmd?]

I thought that I just heard that Florida started accepting NAPLEX from other states. I thought that California was the only state left that had their own "special" test. Did I misunderstand?

Jd

 

[Samoa]

Originally posted by dgroulx
From a NAPLEX exam web site:


"Q.5 Is the score transfer applicable for all the states ?

No, California & Florida do not accept the score transfer from any other states, however if you pass exam from Florida, you can transfer score to any other states except California."

The wording of this answer is a little misleading.

What this actually means is that you can designate Florida as one of the states to which your scores are initally reported, and then subsequently apply for original licensure in that state. Then you can use that original license to apply for reciprocal licensure in any other state except California without retaking the NAPLEX.

However, let's say you tell NABP to report your scores to Texas, New York and North Carolina, get licensed in New York and North Carolina, and then subsequently move to Florida and want to practice. You would have to take the NAPLEX again, because Florida grants only original licenses, not reciprocal. If you had added Florida to your list, you would not (as long as you obtained your license there within a specified time period).

 

[KKHeal]

I was able to pull-up this ranking from searching...does this ring any bell?
IS there any more recent ranking than this?

http://www.uspharmd.com/rxschoolranking.htm

 

[neonam11]

KKHeal,

The last ranking US & News Report did dates back to the late 90's, which was based soley on the criteria of perception. A new survey was recently done that ranked pharmacy schools based on perception, funding for research, and number of publications churned out by the school. I read on the UCSF website that the top five schools include UCSF, Purdue University, University of Texas, Ohio State University and University of Michigan.

If you want to know where your particular school falls, you can find the article from the Annals of Pharmacotherapy:

The Annals of Pharmacotherapy: Vol. 36, No. 9, pp. 1477?1478.
"Ranking of US pharmacy schools based on perception, funding, and publications"

http://phth.allenpress.com/phthonli...ct&issn=1542-6270&volume=36&issue=9&page=1477

Good luck.

 

[jason UCSD2000]

If you want to know where your particular school falls, you can find the article from the Annals of Pharmacotherapy:

If only we had a subscription to the journal...

 

[jdpharmd?]

Originally posted by jason UCSD2000


If only we had a subscription to the journal...

It's likely that your school or library has a subscription with either online access or archived hard-copies. I'm going to try to check tomorrow, and I'll try to post the results if I find anything.

Jd

 

[riskhk]

If this journal was so reputable, the UC system would have subscribed to it, but they haven't.

Either that, or the school is too cheap.

 

[BMBiology]

The journal is not online, but the hardcopy is at the UC library. As I recall, UCSF was ranked number 1, while USC was ranked number 10 I believe.

 

[KKHeal]

Hi Neonam,
Thanx for the insight...were u able to see the rankings 'cos I've tried serching for it and do not seem to be pulling it up. Such info could be very useful...10x a lot!!

Originally posted by neonam11
KKHeal,

The last ranking US & News Report did dates back to the late 90's, which was based soley on the criteria of perception. A new survey was recently done that ranked pharmacy schools based on perception, funding for research, and number of publications churned out by the school. I read on the UCSF website that the top five schools include UCSF, Purdue University, University of Texas, Ohio State University and University of Michigan.

If you want to know where your particular school falls, you can find the article from the Annals of Pharmacotherapy:

The Annals of Pharmacotherapy: Vol. 36, No. 9, pp. 1477?1478.
"Ranking of US pharmacy schools based on perception, funding, and publications"

http://phth.allenpress.com/phthonli...ct&issn=1542-6270&volume=36&issue=9&page=1477

Good luck.

 

[KKHeal]

that'll be cool if u come across it..I'm sure everyone'll be curious to see it and maybe the different criteria they used in ranking them

Originally posted by jdpharmd?
It's likely that your school or library has a subscription with either online access or archived hard-copies. I'm going to try to check tomorrow, and I'll try to post the results if I find anything.

Jd

 

[neonam11]

Originally posted by riskhk
If this journal was so reputable, the UC system would have subscribed to it, but they haven't.

Either that, or the school is too cheap.

riskhk,

I'm pretty sure UCSF has a subscription to this particular journal, and, more than likely, the account is available to UCSF staff and students. However, we, as outsiders, must pay for a subscription if we want a sneak peak inside the journal. If the others are not able to find the article, I can have the library department at my company order me a copy. It'll probably take a week or two, but if I get enough requests, I will make it happen, alright? So, are there any takers out there?

 

[riskhk]

Hmm.

I thought all UC's shared the same services. I logged onto UCI's library account and couldn't access it because they didn't have the journal in the system.

 

[BMBiology]

Originally posted by KKHeal
that'll be cool if u come across it..I'm sure everyone'll be curious to see it and maybe the different criteria they used in ranking them

The ranking is based on (1) 1998 U.S. News' Perception ranking, (2) Research funding, and (3) Number of publications. The ranking, however, does not say much about the curriculum. I think a good indication of the quality of a school's curriculum is the passing rate on the Pharmacy Board Exam.

 

[dgroulx]

During my interview at Campbell, they said that their primary focus was teaching and research was secondary. As opposed to schools who do a lot of research and the researchers are forced to teach because it goes with the job.

That impressed me, even though they are not a ranked school and most likely won't ever be with a attitude that the student is more important than research.