Latest News: July 2011
The PCOM School of Pharmacy is granted ACPE Candidate Status and has enrolled its second entering Pharm.D. class on August 15, 2011. The School of Pharmacy at the Georgia Campus officially opened on August 11, 2010.
The School of Pharmacy leadership team, faculty and support staff congratulate the 78 students of the inaugural Pharm.D. class, Class of 2014, who successfully completedtheir first year of pharmacy study and began their second year in the PCOM School of Pharmacy's inauguaral Pharm.D. class!
The 2011 first-year class numbers 92 students (45% female/55% male), chosen from more than 1500 applications. The new class arrived on August 15 and represents 17 states, with 60 students (65% of the class) from the State of Georgia. The class is also rich in diversity, with 64% of the class comprised of minority students, including 15% African-American students.
The admission process for the class entering Fall 2012 has begun, and another large increase in the applicant pool is anticipated. Our pharmacy faculty continues to grow to meet the needs of the growing student body and a strong network of clinical sites for experiential education has been developed in Georgia and the Southeast.
PCOM is dedicated to the education of students in medicine, health and behavioral sciences and now pharmacy. The College is committed to the advancement of knowledge and intellectual growth through teaching and research, and to the well-being of the community through leadership and service. The Georgia Campus shares the PCOM mission but articulates a focus of improving the quality of life for those living in Georgia and the southeast by providing professional and graduate-level degree programs to prepare healthcare practitioners and professionals to address the social, economic, and health care needs of the region. The professional degree in pharmacy will have a strong regional emphasis and a focus on increasing the number of practicing pharmacists in Georgia and the southeast.
Other notes:
- Biographical profiles of the faculty and pharmacy leadership team have been posted in the faculty section of this website.
- If you have any questions about admission, please do not hesitate to call the PCOM School of Pharmacy at (678) 407-7330.
Accreditation Updates
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine's Doctor of Pharmacy program has been granted Candidate status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 135 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 4100, Chicago, IL 60603-4810, 312/664-3575; FAX 312/664-4652, web site www.acpe-accredit.org. Please refer to the ACPE web site for a full explanation of the accreditation process.
Candidate Status
With respect to clarification of the meaning of Candidate accreditation status, graduates of a program so designated would, in the opinion of ACPE, have the same rights and privileges of those graduates from a fully accredited program. The Candidate accreditation status denotes a developmental program that is expected to mature in accord with stated plans within a defined time period. It should be underscored, however, that decisions concerning eligibility for licensure by examination or reciprocity reside with the respective state borads of pharmacy in accordance with their state statutes and administrative rules. Should Candidate accrediation status be awarded to a program, ACPE would, however, make its position known and make recommendations consistent with that position.
School of Pharmacy Development
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has established its newest school, the PCOM School of Pharmacy, offering a four-year doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree at its Georgia campus (GA-PCOM).
The GA-PCOM campus, a 19-acre site located approximately 25 miles northeast of Atlanta in Gwinnett County, Georgia, also serves 343 medical and 90 graduate students. The new pharmacy program is designed to respond to the need for pharmacists in Georgia, the southeast and the nation. The Pharm.D. program emphasizes patient-centered care, a model consistent with the emphasis of PCOM's other graduate and medical programs.
At its January 2008 meeting, the PCOM Board of Trustees approved a feasibility study and authorized a search for the founding Dean. In October 2008, Mark P. Okamoto, Pharm.D. was appointed founding Dean and Chief Academic Officer of the School of Pharmacy. Dr. Okamoto appointed a group of distinguished pharmacy educators to form the PCOM School of Pharmacy's leadership team and faculty. Construction was completed in June, 2010 on a multi-million dollar facility for the pharmacy school at the Georgia campus, which featured state-of-the-art teaching laboratories, faculty and administrative offices, student service space and large lecture halls. The PCOM School of Pharmacy enrolled its first class in August 2010 and was granted ACPE Candidate accreditation status in June 2011.
In addition to a partnership with the Georgia Statewide Area Health Education Centers Network, partnerships with a number of clinical training sites have already been secured, and we expect rapid progress on the completion of a high-quality regional training network that will include institutional and community pharmacy practice sites in both rural and urban settings. Students interested in the Doctor of Pharmacy program will have completed pre-pharmacy courses at undergraduate colleges, and the four year PharmD program is characterized by three years of didactic coursework in pharmaceutical, clinical and administrative sciences at the Georgia campus followed by one year of advanced pharmacy practice experiences at clinical sites throughout Georgia and the southeast. Introductory pharmacy practice experiences are also part of the three-year didactic program so that students can gain practical experience and begin developing ideas for the type of pharmacy practice they will choose after graduation.
