Support student success Support Dal

Dalhousie University - Inspiring Minds

Support Dal
 

Academic Calendars

Programs Offered

PharmD

The undergraduate program has a patient-oriented curriculum integrating clinical pharmacy with the pharmaceutical sciences. The curriculum utilizes an integrated problem-based learning (PBL) format as well as a wide variety of other learning methods.  The first three years of the program include courses covering pharmaceutical sciences, social, behavioural and administrative pharmacy, therapeutics, pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacoeconomics, pharmaceutical care, communications, interprofessional education and collaboration, law and ethics, and the role of pharmacy in the health care system. Practice experiences in community and hospital pharmacy take place in the summers following first and second year, respectively. The final year, beginning immediately at the end of the third year of the program, consists of practice experience rotations in community, collaborative health care and elective placement sites.

Pharmacy Residency Program

The College participates with the Nova Scotia Health Authority (Central Zone), Halifax, NS; the Horizon Health Network, Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton, NB; and the IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, in providing a Canadian Pharmacy Residency Board (CPRB) accredited twelve-month post graduate hospital pharmacy residency program.  In addition, the College participates with the Nova Scotia Health Authority (Central Zone), Halifax, NS, in providing a Canadian Pharmacy Residency Board (CPRB) accredited twelve-month post-graduate year two hospital pharmacy residency program in Oncology.

Through structured rotations in various areas of pharmacy practice, the program aims to prepare pharmacists for exemplary pharmacy practice. Areas of rotation include patient care, drug information, drug distribution, pharmacy administration, a research project and in-service and education. The emphasis is on providing exemplary patient care. Practitioner role models/preceptors are utilized throughout the program to mentor the necessary skills, knowledge and values required to be a pharmacist for application by the resident. A stipend is provided, and a certificate is presented to candidates successfully completing the program.

Undergraduate Curriculum Structure

Integrated Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Courses

Lectures are provided by faculty experts to introduce the therapeutic topic covered in the PBL case, discuss the clinical relevance of the content material, explain difficult concepts and summarize case material.

Tutorials

In PBL tutorials students learn together in tutorial groups of eight to ten students.

Each group is facilitated by a trained non (content)-expert tutor who may be sessional tutors, practitioners or graduate students.

Two-hour tutorials are held three times a week. In tutorial sessions students are presented with a situation for which they must identify their own prior knowledge and set specific learning objectives. Students use the time between tutorial sessions for self-directed learning of the objectives that they have set. Subsequent tutorials consist of discussion and application of knowledge.

Non-PBL Courses

There are some courses in each year that may be lecture based, assignment based, or case based.

Skills Laboratory

The skills laboratory focuses on practical skill development and application of knowledge acquired in the PBL and other courses in the curriculum. Activities required for successful completion of the practical experience program are introduced and practiced. Content includes but is not limited to: extemporaneous compounding, calculations, clinical and technical skills in pharmacy practice, written and verbal communication skills, patient education, injection training, medication administration and jurisprudence.

Practice Experience Program (PEP)

All rotation sites and preceptors are recruited by the College of Pharmacy. For each rotation, from year 1 through to year 4, students may be required to travel to sites outside of the Halifax/Dartmouth area and will be responsible for any costs incurred as a result of the program.

All PEP rotations must be completed in Canada with the possible exception of PHAR4083.09 elective rotation course.  Students must be prepared to complete all PEP rotations within the Maritimes.

Year 1 – Practice Experience Program

Introduction to Pharmacy Practice Experience: Community (4 weeks)

PHAR 1083.04

This four-week introductory rotation is completed during the summer following first year and provides pharmacy students with an opportunity to contribute to patient care in a community pharmacy setting. Pharmacy students will build upon the knowledge, skills and abilities they have developed during the first year of the Doctor of Pharmacy program. Opportunity will be provided to help pharmacy students cultivate their patient care skills and begin to gain personal clinical experiences working with patients and other members of the healthcare team encountered in a community pharmacy. Students will begin to make health care decisions with the help and guidance of a pharmacist preceptor. The Pharmacist’s Patient Care Process, pharmacy law and ethics, medication coverage in Canada, the operation of a community pharmacy, case presentations, drug information, quality assurance and interprofessional practice are key areas of this rotation.

Year 2 – Practice Experience Program

Introduction to Pharmacy Practice Experience: Hospital (4 weeks)

PHAR 2083.04

This four-week introductory rotation is completed during the summer following second year and provides students with an opportunity to actively participate in pharmacy patient care within a hospital pharmacy practice setting. Pharmacy students will build upon the knowledge, skills and abilities they have developed during the first two years of the Doctor of Pharmacy program. Opportunity will be provided to allow pharmacy students to continue to cultivate their patient care skills and gain personal clinical experiences working with patients and other members of the healthcare team within a hospital setting. Students will begin to make healthcare decisions with the help and guidance of a pharmacist preceptor. Specific units will focus on: the role of the hospital pharmacist as part of the healthcare team; understanding the patient chart; documentation of patient care; applying the Pharmacist’s Patient Care Process; ordering and interpreting lab values as required for the management of drug therapy; case presentations; drug information; medication safety; and interprofessional practice.

Year 4 – Practice Experience Program

Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience: Collaborative Health Care Setting (12 weeks)

PHAR 4081.12

This twelve-week clinical rotation focuses on the provision of patient focused pharmacy care in a collaborative healthcare practice setting e.g. hospital, long-term care, ambulatory or primary care sites. Pharmacy students will apply the knowledge, skills and abilities they have developed during the past three years of the Doctor of Pharmacy program to further refine their clinical skills in preparation to enter independent practice. Students will serve as an active member of the healthcare team incorporating professional, legal and ethical principles; identifying and resolving drug related problems; providing drug information and patient education. Using the Pharmacist’s Patient Care Process learned at the College of Pharmacy students will gain clinical experience providing safe and effective, patient focused and evidence-informed care to patients with acute and chronic conditions; across the lifespan; and across all levels of care offered within the institution as well as for patients in the transitions between levels of care.

Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience: Community Setting (12 weeks)

PHAR 4082.11

This twelve-week clinical rotation focuses on the provision of patient focused pharmacy care in a community pharmacy practice setting. Pharmacy students will complete rotations at community pharmacy practice sites offering an expanded scope of pharmacy practice. Pharmacy students will build upon the knowledge, skills and abilities they have developed during the first three years of the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum to further refine their clinical skills in preparation to enter independent practice. Students will serve as an active member of the healthcare team and provide safe and effective care under the supervision of a pharmacist preceptor to patients presenting with chronic and acute conditions across the lifespan.

Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience: Elective (8 weeks)

PHAR 4083.09

This eight-week advanced pharmacy practice rotation will focus on an area of pharmacy practice or research that is of personal interest to the pharmacy student. Rotations may be completed in a direct or non-direct patient care setting. Preceptors may be pharmacists, other health professionals or suitable supervisors who are committed to learning and teaching with a fourth-year pharmacy student. Students will explore and/or develop both traditional and non-traditional roles of pharmacists within either a Canadian or global health care context. Pharmacy students will contribute meaningfully and productively to the patient care and/or professional activities of the rotation site. Students will be required to design, develop and complete a project for the rotation site.

Active certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) Level C and emergency first aid course are the sudents' responsibility in cost.

Prescribed Courses – PharmD

Year 1

Year 2

  • PHAR 2013.02: Critical Appraisal Series 2A
  • PHAR 2014.02: Critical Appraisal Series 2B
  • PHAR 2021.03: Immunology & Vaccinology for Pharmacy
  • PHAR 2041.01:Special Considerations in Pharmacotherapeutics: Pregnancy, Lactation and Pediatrics
  • PHAR 2042.01:Special Considerations in Pharmacotherapeutics: Substance Use Disorders
  • PHAR 2051.09: Integrated PBL 3
  • PHAR 2052.09: Integrated PBL 4
  • PHAR 2063.03: Social, Behavioural, and Administrative Pharmacy 3
  • PHAR 2064.03: Social, Behavioural, and Administrative Pharmacy 4
  • PHAR 2073.03: Skills Lab 4
  • PHAR 2074.03: Skills Lab 5
  • PHAR 2083.04: Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience: Hospital

Year 3

Year 4

  • PHAR 4081.12: Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience: Collaborative Health Care Setting
  • PHAR 4082.11: Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience: Community Setting
  • PHAR 4083.09: Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience: Elective

Interprofessional Health Education

Students are required to maintain enrolment in IPHE 4900 (see calendar section on Health Professions, Interprofessional Health Education) for the duration of their studies. Students must register in IPHE 4900.00 (section 5). Successful completion of this course is a requirement for graduation, and will be recognized further with the awarding of a special Certificate in Interprofessional Collaboration to be presented by the Faculty of Health. Students are asked to consult with their individual school/college to determine the specific guidelines and expectations regarding the required portfolio.