In the News: New pharmacy program enhances clinical skills

The new Doctor of Pharmacy program aims to help better train pharmacists

10 September 2013

Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences launches Doctor of Pharmacy program to advance clinical skills, patient care as scope of practice evolves.

"Unlike a PhD, which tends to focus on research, PharmD is a clinical degree and it focuses on clinical expertise," said Catherine McCann, the program director and a clinical assistant professor. "In order to do that, we have a large emphasis on experiential education through clinical rotations. It's like a fast track for clinical experience."

McCann said the same level of clinical expertise that would typically take a pharmacist with a bachelor's degree five to 10 years to develop as a practitioner can be obtained during the 12- to 14-month PharmD program through high-level rotations working with patients in acute-care and community-based settings.

Read the full story by Bryan Alary.


Watch the Global News Edmonton story on how this program will help pharmacists with the new scope of practice in Alberta: prescribing some medications, administering injections and vaccines, and interpreting lab tests.

Watch the CTV News Edmonton story > Your Health (left menu) > New U of A Pharmacy program