No. The Pharm.D. is considered to be a professional clinical doctorate and is not part of the UConn Graduate School. The only graduate programs at the School of Pharmacy are the MS and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences are graduate programs. The Professional (Pharm.D.) Program begins at the undergraduate level and students are considered undergraduates in the P1 and P2 year. After students are awarded the BS in Pharmacy Studies following the P2 year, they are considered Doctor of Pharmacy students, but never graduate students, since the program is not administered by the Graduate School.

Students who will be entering their P1 and P2 years should say they are undergraduate students. Students who will be entering their P3 and P4 years should say they are professional students pursuing education beyond an undergraduate degree.

No. The Professional (Pharm.D.) Program curriculum is meant to be completed in a particular sequence, and core courses are only offered once per academic year. There is no way for students to condense this curriculum.

The tuition rate for P3 and P4 students is the Pharm.D. rate. You can find up-t0-date information on the UConn Bursar website.

Review our research resources. We have put together a number of resources for pharmacy students interested in research, as well as links to different areas of research at the School of Pharmacy. Consider looking at our research page.

Take PHRX 3012 as a professional elective. PHRX 3012: Pharmacy Research Seminar is a fall-only course that is offered every year. It is a great way for students to be exposed to the different research projects happening at the School of Pharmacy, as well as the faculty within the School.

Discuss the interest with your faculty advisor. Faculty advisors are a great resource when it comes to discussing research, as they may be able to provide you with ideas, and help network with fellow faculty at the School of Pharmacy and UConn.

Meet with one of our advisors. Discussing your interests with one of our team is a wonderful way to get started. You can meet our advisors on our team page.

You can access your degree audit notes in Nexus through the shared documents and notes tab under advising.

You can access resources for this on our careers resource page.

Professional students should contact the Professional Program Staff Advisor, who serves as one of the Dean's Designees in the School of Pharmacy.

Courses and Registration

All Professional students should plan to meet with their faculty advisor unless otherwise directed. Students who need to complete general education courses should schedule a supplemental meeting with the Professional Program Staff Advisor. Students who are on a revised plan on study for any reason (e.g., a dual degree) should meet with the Professional Program Staff Advisor instead of their faculty advisor for course selection.

Unfortunately, no. The Professional (Pharm.D.) Program is a cohort-based program, and it was designed with the intent that students will take the core curriculum in sequence. Because of this, our core courses are offered only once a year, and some electives may be offered only in alternating years. If you have further questions about a repeat, please reach out to the Professional Program Staff Advisor.

Yes, this may be done by Professional students who need to finish professional electives, require additional credits to be able to graduate with the Pharm.D., or just for personal or professional enrichment. However, these courses will be charged at the Pharm.D. rate, rather than the undergraduate rate, despite being undergraduate courses.

Professional Electives

All Professional students must complete nine total credits of professional electives. Six of these nine credits must be completed by the end of the P2 year, as they are required for the BS in Pharmacy Studies. The remaining three should be completed by the end of the P4 year. However, we recommend that students complete all professional electives by the end of the P3 year, so students are not taking didactic classes during their APPE rotations.

Yes, provided that these credits are not being used for general education requirements.

You can review the full list of courses that are pre-approved, and the process for requesting a non-approved course on our professional electives page.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Just because a course that you took is on the list of pre-approved professional electives does not mean that it can automatically count as a professional elective. Many of the courses on the list are taken by pharmacy students as general education courses. Courses that are used for general education requirements may not be used for professional electives. If you have questions about whether a class is eligible for use as a professional elective, please contact the Professional Program Staff Advisor.

This information is located in your degree audit note in Nexus, which can be found in the shared documents and notes tab under advising.

Professional electives may be taken at UConn or at regionally accredited institutions with a C or better for transfer to UConn.

If you plan to attend a college or university in Connecticut and the course can be found on the Transfer Admissions Transfer Course Equivalencies page, you do not need to fill out a Prior Course Approval request. For all courses taken at an institution outside of Connecticut, even if the course is on the Transfer Course Equivalencies page, you must fill out a Prior Course Approval Request on Student Admin.

You can review the full requirements to transfer credit as a current UConn student on the Transfer Admissions website.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Courses at other institutions must be coded as undergraduate courses. Graduate courses are not eligible for transfer.

Yes, this is common for Professional students who may wish to lighten their course load during a fall or spring semester.