How to Apply
- Complete the PharmCAS Application at www.pharmcas.org
- As part of the PharmCAS application, we require that you submit three letters of recommendation.
- Complete (or be in the process of completing) the undergraduate pre-pharmacy curriculum with a “C” or better in all required courses.
- Optional: Take The Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT). For more information and to register for the PCAT, visit www.pcatweb.info. Score should be submitted directly to PharmCAS.
Minimum GPA and PCAT Requirements
The University of Cincinnati Winkle College of Pharmacy does not require the PCAT for admission into the PharmD program. Applicants can opt to take the PCAT to enhance their overall application, but will not be penalized for not submitting a score.
It is recommended that the following applicants take the PCAT:
- Overall GPA below a 3.0
- 2 or more repeated science courses
- Science pre-requisites taken more than 7 years ago
- A downward trend with academics over time
A holistic approach to admissions review is used. To be considered a qualified candidate, applicants should have a strong academic background, a demonstrated history of leadership and involvement in community service, and strong essays and personal statements. A preferred GPA is a minimum of 3.0.
Interviews
Interviews are by invitation only. Interviews days are 3.5 hours and will include an information session, student-guided tour of the college, a traditional interview, and a series of multiple mini interviews.
University of Cincinnati students who have a 3.5 cumulative college GPA or above (as calculated by PharmCAS) and a “C” or better in core required courses will be guaranteed an interview.
Letters of Recommendation
It is required that you submit three letters of recommendation. Suggested sources of the letters could be your academic instructors, academic advisors, Pharmacists, and employers. Letters of recommendation from politicians, friends, family members, co-workers, current students or clergy will not be accepted.
Status of Application
You can check the status of your PharmCAS application by logging into your PharmCAS application. After the college has received your PharmCAS application, you will receive an e-mail informing you of your application status at UC.
Working in a Pharmacy Setting
It is strongly encouraged for students to work in a pharmacy setting or engage in pharmacy shadowing experiences before applying. This will allow students to explore the field of pharmacy to provide a knowledge base of the profession. Previous pharmacy work experience is not a requirement.
Meeting Technical Standards
In the Doctor of Pharmacy program, students are not only required to be successful in a rigorous academic program but must also be able to meet technical standards that are essential to practicing in the profession of pharmacy.
The determination of whether an applicant or current student meets the technical standards will be done on an individual case-by-case basis. Upon request, qualified students with documented disabilities will be provided with reasonable accommodations to assist in learning, performing, and satisfying the fundamental standards of the program. Accommodation may involve an auxiliary aid but none that substitutes for an essential technical skill or supplements clinical and ethical judgment. Although technological compensation and accommodations can be made for some disabilities in some of the technical areas, a student should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner without a trained intermediary or auxiliary aid. The use of a trained intermediary by a student means that a student's judgment must be mediated by someone else's power of selection, observation, perception, or cognitive support. (adapted from University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center and College of Medicine Technical and Health Standards).
The technical standards include the following skills and abilities:
The student must demonstrate the ability to assimilate large amounts of detailed information, integrate that information and be capable of utilizing it for problem solving. He/she must be able to process information and demonstrate the ability to reason, comprehend, measure, calculate, analyze, memorize, organize, and synthesize complex information. In order to appreciate experiences in the laboratory and clinical settings, the student must perceive and understand visual spatial relationship structures and three dimensional relationships.
The student must be able to demonstrate and use (in English) the knowledge acquired during the pharmacy education process to elicit, convey, clarify, and transmit information (both in oral and written form) effectively, accurately, efficiently, and sensitively to patients, their families and/or caregivers and other members of the health care team. Communication and transmission of information include reading, writing, hearing, and speech.
For example, students must be able to present legible and accurate information in oral and written form to a preceptor, professor, teammate, patients, families, and other members of the health care team. Students must also be able to effectively and efficiently participate in sometimes fast-paced small group discussions/interactions and in patient care settings where clinical decisions may depend on rapid communication.
The student must possess the emotional stability and the maturity necessary to interact with others in a responsible manner, to use sound judgment, and to use ethical and clinical reasoning. The ability to make decisions appropriate to the care of patients; function in a stressful and demanding environment; adapt to new and changing situations and cope with ambiguity is essential to the development and performance of future pharmacists. The student must be prompt in the completion of all responsibilities with regard to providing pharmaceutical care to their patients. The possession of human relations skills is equally important. The student should demonstrate compassion, empathy, a caring attitude, tolerance, an acceptance of diversity and differences, personal generosity toward others, thoughtfulness, and a general concern and respect for other individuals.
The pharmacy education process is both demanding and challenging. The student must have sufficient emotional and physical stamina to acquire the knowledge and skills required in the classroom, perform the duties in the basic science and practice laboratories, participate in activities on clinical rotations, tolerate physically and mentally taxing workloads, and function independently, competently and effectively under stress. The student must be able to complete the curriculum within the maximum time period specified by the faculty.
Sufficient motor function, tactile ability, and sensory abilities are required to attend and participate effectively in all classrooms, laboratories, conferences, clinical settings, and activities that are part of the curriculum. Students must be able to remain fully alert and attentive at all times in clinical settings. Students must be able to perform some physical assessment of their patients including measurement of blood pressure using a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff, performing fingersticks for the purpose of measurement of glucose for blood glucose monitoring or measurement of lipids for cholesterol screening, and subcutaneous injection, intramuscular injection or intranasal administration for the purposes of administering immunizations.
Students must be able to use fine motor skills to perform the functions necessary to compound sterile preparations in a laminar airflow hood using an aseptic technique and compound non-sterile medications. Students must have sufficient motor skills to execute all aspects of the prescription process. Students must have the ability to safely and effectively operate appropriate equipment used in the laboratory and practice settings such as computers, and medical devices used in assessing a patient's health status or for use in administering medications.
Through independent observation, the student must be able to acquire information in the PharmD curriculum, including that obtained from lectures, demonstrations, experiments, and experiential education activities. Students must not lack any of the senses to the point that they cannot recognize normal versus abnormal and cannot acquire or perceive sufficient factual material to accurately assess a patient's prescription or health information.