Advanced Standing
Minimum Time of Study in Residence
Credit Nondegree Status
Academic Policies
Curriculum
Credits, Quality Points, GPA
Dean's List
Courses
Elective Courses
Graduation Requirements
Licensure Requirements

The Chicago College of Pharmacy has accepeted its last class in Fall 2006. Admission to the program is closed.

Goal of the Nontraditional Pharm.D. Program
The Chicago College of Pharmacy is committed to improving the quality of pharmaceutical care delivered to the citizens of the United States. In so doing, the faculty of the College have developed this Nontraditional Pharm.D. Program, which includes a sequence of courses covering key content areas and a variety of clerkships to enhance and expand skills of pharmacists in pharmacotherapeutic management. The primary objective of this program is to educate and prepare pharmacy practitioners to become more competent providers of pharmaceutical care. This program is offered to any registered pharmacist having a valid U.S. or Canadian pharmacist license. Upon successful completion of this self-paced, flexibly scheduled academic program, the pharmacist is eligible to earn a Pharm.D. degree.

Advanced Standing
Once accepted into the Nontraditional Pharm.D. Program, a student may be considered for advanced standing for any didactic course or experiential rotation in the curriculum. Advanced standing is automatically awarded to an enrolled student who has successfully passed any of the following courses or completed any of the following programs.

* The consult must include a critical evaluation of the primary literature in a format consistent with DIAS Rounds in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy. Citations should conform to the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” in Medical Education 1999; 33: 66–78.

In all other cases, advanced standing requests are processed on a course-by-course basis by the CCP NTPD Student Promotion and Graduation Committee (SPGC). Advanced standing requests must be submitted in writing to the Office of the Dean of the Chicago College of Pharmacy. Once accepted to the College, a student may undertake one and only one of the following evaluation processes for advanced standing in a particular course, if available:

1. Syllabus review. The student supplies a copy of the catalog course description and syllabus for each course successfully completed at another accredited college or university. Only letter grades of C or higher are considered for advanced standing. The Office of the Dean forwards all materials to the course coordinator or appropriate disciplinary group of faculty. The course coordinator’s evaluation is then forwarded to the SPGC for a final recommendation. All requests must be submitted at least three weeks prior to the start of the course being considered.
2. Proficiency examination. An examination to evaluate a student’s proficiency in course content or allow an opportunity for a student to challenge a course for credit may be available at the discretion of the course coordinator, program director, or department chair. If available, such examinations are scheduled by the student directly with the course coordinator and must be taken at least one month prior to the start of any course. The course coordinator’s evaluation will then be forwarded to the SPGC for a final recommendation. A student will have only one opportunity to take a proficiency examination for advanced standing consideration of a particular course. No retake examinations will be offered.
3. Portfolio review. The student will complete a portfolio of information, which documents successful attainment of knowledge and skills covered in the competencies of a course or rotation. To initiate the process, a student obtains a listing of information to be included in the portfolio from the Dean’s Office. Information requested will include, but not be limited to, documentation of course(s) or professional practice experiences that provided opportunities to acquire relevant knowledge and skills. An oral defense may be part of the portfolio review. In addition, a portfolio evaluation fee must be submitted for each course. The portfolio of information must be submitted to the Dean’s Office at least one quarter prior to the start of the course being considered or 4 months prior to the start of the first scheduled rotation. The portfolio will be forwarded to the course coordinator or review team. The evaluation of the review team or course coordinator will then be forwarded to the Committee for a final recommendation. A student may receive advanced standing by portfolio review for only one rotation. All students seeking advanced standing for rotation courses via portfolio review will be required to attend a portfolio preparation workshop, which will be offered annually.

Minimum Time of Study in Residence Rule
A minimum of one-half of the required credits of didactic courses and one-third of the credits for experiential rotations must be successfully completed at CCP while enrolled as a Nontraditional Pharm.D. student, regardless of eligibility for advanced standing. Students who are eligible for more than one-half of the required credits of advanced standing in the Nontraditional Pharm.D. curriculum may enroll in any CCP elective in the traditional program, independent study elective, or elective experiential rotations.

Credit Nondegree Status
Pharmacists may request to take courses for academic credit, on a nondegree basis. For consideration of this status, a pharmacist must provide the following documents:

1. Completed application form;
2. Official transcript from all colleges of pharmacy attended;
3. Notarized photocopy of valid U.S. or Canadian pharmacist license; and
4. Application processing fee of $50.00.

The completed application is reviewed by the Dean’s Office. If satisfactory, the applicant is permitted to take a course(s). All prerequisites must be satisfied prior to course registration. Continuing enrollment as a credit nondegree student is contingent on the student submitting a completed registration form at least one month prior to the first day of any quarter. A pharmacist who has successfully completed credit nondegree coursework earns continuing education credit and academic credit.

Due to dicontinuation of the NTPD program, after July 1, 2006, CCP will not consider credit non-degree students for admission to the degree seeking program. In addition, credit non-degree students who are admitted to the degree-seeking program beginning Fall 2006 will be required to complete all their didactic program requirements by the end of Winter 2009.

Academic Policies in the NTPD Professional Program

1. Candidates for the Pharm.D. degree must resolve all incomplete letter grades in didactic coursework before beginning experiential rotations.
2. A minimum grade point average of 2.00 for all didactic coursework is a prerequisite for the first experiential rotation.
3. The maximum length of time to complete all requirements for the Pharm.D. degree is four calendar years.
4. NTPD students receive an MWU mail account when they matriculate into the program. Students are responsible for all administrative information and course specific information that is sent to students via MWU mail. This will be the only e-mail address that College faculty and administrators will use to electronically communicate with students.
5. Should a student earn a failing grade in a didactic course while enrolled in a Longitudinal Chronic Care Rotation, their continuation in the rotation is subject to review by the NTPD Student Promotion and Graduation Committee.

Curriculum for the Nontraditional Pharm.D. Program
Year I

The timetable depicts a sample course schedule for a student who chooses to complete all academic requirements for the Pharm.D. degree in two calendar years. Alternatively, a student wishing to spread out the course of study over three or four calendar years can divide the didactic courses for Year 1 of the program over two years, or divide the didactic courses and rotations for Year 2 of the program over two years. However, all courses in Year 1 must be completed prior to enrolling in courses in Year 2.

Courses marked with an asterisk (*) were offered in the College’s B.S in Pharmacy degree program. A student who earned a C grade or higher in these courses during the B.S. in Pharmacy program is eligible for automatic advanced standing.

All NTPD students are required to enroll in the videotape option.

Students may begin their Longitudinal Chronic Care Clerksip in the spring quarter of their first year. This part-time rotation is completed over several quarters. The Acute Care Clerkship, Clinical Clerkship, and the traditional Chronic Care Clerkship (should students choose this option rather than the Longitudinal Chronic Care Rotation) are to be completed after successful completion of the didactic courses.

Each clerkship is equivalent to a 240-hour experience. The College anticipates that some rotation sites may be willing to accommodate students on a less than 40 hour per week basis (one to three days/week). However, the availability of such sites may be limited, and students will need to plan their work schedules accordingly. On average, it is anticipated that each student would be required to complete two rotations on a full-time basis.

Credits, Quality Points, and Grade Point Average
Courses are recorded in terms of quarter hour(s) of credit. Multiplication of the credits for a course by the numerical value for the grade awarded gives the number of quality points earned for a course. Dividing the total number of quality points earned in courses by the total number of credits in those courses gives the grade point average (GPA).

A student’s academic standing is determined on the basis of his/her GPA. Placement on probation and other academic actions depend directly on the GPA. Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 (which is calculated from grades of all courses taken) to remain in good academic standing. If a student’s cumulative GPA drops below 2.00, the student is notified in writing that he/she is being placed on academic probation for the next academic quarter. Probation represents notice that continued inadequate performance may result in dismissal from the program.

If a student’s cumulative GPA remains below 2.00 for two consecutive quarters in which the student is enrolled, he/she may either be dismissed or given the option to repeat all the courses in which grades of D or F were received. If the student does not meet the criteria for good academic performance after repeating those courses in which Ds or Fs were previously received, he/she will be dismissed. To be returned to good academic standing after earning a cumulative GPA of less than 2.00, a student must raise his/her cumulative GPA to 2.00.

Dean's List
Following each term, the Dean's Office recognizes all students in the Chicago College of Pharmacy who achieve a GPA of 3.50 or better for the previous term. This applies for didactic coursework only and to those students who are enrolled in five or more quarter hours.

Course Descriptions: Nontraditional Pharm.D. Program

PPRA 0700 Concepts in Current Pharmacy Practice
This course focuses on the application of the pharmaceutical care process. This includes development of the following skills: physical assessment; understanding the science, rationale for, and the counseling issues pertaining to novel drug delivery systems; and patient care planning. In addition, the pharmacist will gain a familiarity with medical terminology, routine laboratory tests and clinical chemistry profiles, and interpretation of information in the medical chart.
4 credits, Fall Quarter, Pharmacy Practice Faculty

PPRA 0702 Implementing Pharmaceutical Care
This course introduces students to the clinical, managerial and economic issues regarding the implementation of patient-oriented professional services into pharmacy practice. Readings, class discussions and homework assignments are used to explore the need for new pharmacy services, describe how to integrate services into practice, and how to assess the resulting clinical and economic outcomes from a variety of perspectives. Workshops are used to demonstrate tools needed to provide and evaluate professional services, allowing students to gain "hands-on" experience. By the end of the course, students will develop a business plan to justify and guide the implementation of patient-oriented professional services into a pharmacy practice.
3 credits, Winter Quarter, Pharmacy Practice Faculty
Prerequisite: PPRA 0700 Concepts in Current Pharmacy Practice

PPRA 0710 Drug Literature Evaluation I
This course is designed to introduce pharmacists to methods used to conduct, interpret and evaluate research performed in all areas of pharmacy practice. Emphasis will be placed on the use of research as a tool to investigate and provide solutions to practice-based problems. Topics to be covered include research design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and the application of research results to pharmacy practice.
2 credits, Fall Quarter, Pharmacy Practice Faculty

PPRA 0711 Drug Literature Evaluation II
The pharmacist will learn a systematic approach to drug information retrieval and gain practical experience in the critical evaluation of the medical literature. Pharmacists will gain experience in preparing written responses to drug information requests.
2 credits, Fall Quarter, Pharmacy Practice Faculty
Prerequisite: PPRA 0710 Drug Literature Evaluation I

PSCI 0751 Advances in Targets of Drug Action
Drug action can be organized around four targets: 1) message receptors 2) enzymes 3) nucleic acids and 4) excitable membranes and other biopolymers. Significant advances in the understanding of the characteristics of many of these targets have facilitated many recently introduced drugs acting at these targets. Many of these drugs have opened new therapeutic classes or have produced substantial improvements over previous therapies. Examples of new drug entities that have been developed in each of these target areas will be discussed with emphasis on those that have new mechanisms of action. This course will include print self-instructional materials with periodic workshop discussions on course material including therapeutic applications in a case study problem-solving format.
3 credits, Winter Quarter, Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty

PSCI 0752 Contemporary Biotechnology
The number of biotechnology medicines currently approved or under development by pharmaceutical manufacturers has dramatically increased in recent years. This course will present important chemical and biochemical concepts as well as various molecular biology techniques for the successful production, storage, and handling of biotechnology products. These concepts will emphasize important considerations of these products for use in the prevention, diagnosis, and/or treatment of immunologic disorders, endocrine disorders, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, and many other disease states. The basic science aspects of these topics will provide the clinician with critical knowledge for appropriate patient education, patient counseling, and therapeutic decision making.
3 credits, Summer Quarter, Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty

PPRA 0761, 0762, 0763, 0764 Advanced Therapeutics I, II, III, IV
These courses expand on and focus on the application of the concepts of pharmaceutical care and patient assessment introduced in Concepts in Pharmaceutical Care. Course blocks (modules) are organized according to diseases of various organ systems. Within each block (modules), drug treatments of selected diseases are reviewed. An emphasis is placed on assessment of indications for drug therapy, selection of rational and safe drug therapy, identification of alternatives to drug therapy, and patient monitoring. The pharmacist will apply problem-solving strategies to realistic patient cases and develop patient care plans.
3 credits, Spring Quarter; 3 credits, Summer Quarter; 4 credits, Fall Quarter, 6 credits, Winter Quarter, Pharmacy Practice Faculty
Prerequisite Advanced Therapeutics I: PPRA 0700 Concepts in Current Pharmacy Practice
Prerequisites Advanced Therapeutics II, III, and IV: PPRA 0700 Concepts in Current Pharmacy Practice and PPRA 0761 Advanced Therapeutics I

PPRA 0781 Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Clerkship
This rotation is longitudinal beginning during the spring term of the first year. The longitudinal nature of the rotation allows for maximum exposure to chronic disease states found in the ambulatory setting. The established Pharm. D. competencies are developed over time and are equivalent to the entry-level Pharm. D. program competencies. This rotation should be completed before beginning the Acute Care Rotation and the Clinical Rotation. Advanced therapeutics are taught concurrently with this rotation, which will allow for practical and immediate application. The site is identified early and students will use the same site throughout the rotation.
9 credits, beginning Spring Quarter, Pharmacy Practice Faculty
Prerequisites: PPRA 0700 Concepts in Current Pharmacy Practice and
PPRA 0702 Implementing Pharmaceutical Care, and concurrent enrollment in
PPRA 0761-0764 Advanced Therapeutics I-IV and PPRA 0711 Drug Literature Evaluation II.

PPRA 0782 Chronic Care Clerkship
PPRA 0783 Acute Care Clerkship
PPRA 0784 Clinical Clerkship
Advanced clerkship emphasizes in-depth experience in the provision of pharmaceutical care in ambulatory, chronic, and acute patient care settings. The NTPD student under the supervision of affiliate or full time clinical faculty will participate in the drug use decision-making process and will monitor outcomes of drug therapy in various patient populations.
9 credits; Fall, Winter, Spring or Summer Quarters; Pharmacy Practice Faculty
Prerequisite: Completion of all didactic courses

PPRA 0791 Clinical Pharmacokinetics
This course focuses on the application of pharmacokinetic principles for the purpose of optimizing drug therapy. A self-study workbook is used to teach the principles, which include effects of disease and drug-drug interactions on pharmacokinetic parameters; initial loading and maintenance dosage regimen calculations; dosage adjustment for linear and nonlinear drugs; effects of altered serum protein binding; effects of hemodialysis; interpretation of serum drug concentrations; and drug assay validity characteristics. Patient cases and problem sets will be distributed weekly and used to give practice in the application of principles. Frequent quizzes will be given to assess the understanding of principles; examinations will cover both principles and applications.
3 credits, Spring Quarter, Pharmacy Practice Faculty

Elective Courses: Nontraditional Pharm.D. Program
In addition to the didactic and experiential courses, students may choose to take elective courses from the traditional Pharm.D. degree program of the College. These courses typically require regularly scheduled on-campus classroom activities and examinations. Grades from elective courses are computed into the grade point average but are not required for graduation. Elective courses that are graded on the Pass/Fail scale are not computed into the grade point average.

Graduation Requirements for the Nontraditional Pharm.D. Program
To qualify for graduation, a student must have satisfied the following requirements

1. Successfully completed the program of professional and experiential coursework as approved by the faculty and dean, Chicago College of Pharmacy;
2. Attained a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 for all requisite professional and experiential coursework at the Chicago College of Pharmacy;
3. Repeated, upon approval, and earned a passing grade for any required courses in the professional program for which a grade of F has been issued;
4. Attained a grade point average for all experiential rotations of 2.00 or greater and no rotation failures;
5. Completed, at a minimum, one-half of the required credits of didactic courses and a minimum of 240 hours of experiential education at CCP;
6. Be recommended for the degree by a majority vote of the faculty of the Chicago College of Pharmacy Student Promotoin and Graduation Committee;
7. Settled all financial accounts with the institution; and
8. Attended the annual spring or fall commencement exercises for conferral of the degree, unless excused by the Dean, Chicago College of Pharmacy.

Licensure Requirements
Information on specific examinations and licensure requirements for the 50 states in the United States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, New Zealand, eight Canadian provinces, and four Australian states can be found by contacting the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), 700 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068; phone 847-698-6227; fax 847-698-0124.