About the School of Pharmacy
Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy admitted its first class in the Fall quarter of 2002. The specific objective of the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree program is to educate pharmacists in a Seventh-day Adventist Christian setting. Graduates will be able to provide high quality pharmacy care as fully participating members of health-care teams committed to whole-person care.
The four-year program leads to the Pharm.D. degree and is the first offering of the professional doctorate in pharmacy degree program by a Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher learning. Priority is given to those students who are on track to complete a bachelor's degree in biological, chemical or related sciences (see full list of prerequisites and admissions information).
The School of Pharmacy administrative offices and Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science are located in Shyrock Hall. The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences is located in Chan Shun Pavilion where faculty are close to research facilities. A wide variety of experiential education sites are available for students. These include the exceptional resources of the LLU Medical Center and the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center as well as a number of other locations in the surrounding area.
Accreditation
Loma Linda University's Doctor of Pharmacy program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 135 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60503, 312/664-3575; FAX 312/664-4652, web site www.acpe-accredit.org.
ACPE has an obligation to assure itself that any institution which seeks or holds a preaccreditation or accreditation status for its professional program(s) conducts its affairs with honesty and frankness. Complaints from other institutions, students, faculty, or the public against a college or school of pharmacy, including tuition and fee policies, and as related to ACPE standards, policies or procedures, shall be placed in writing in detail by the complainant and submitted to the ACPE office. The complaint shall be submitted to the institution for response. Requests for confidentiality shall be respected to the extent any such information is not necessary for the resolution of the complaint. If you wish to file a complaint, please e-mail:
csinfo@acpe-accredit.org (regarding a professional degree program)
ceinfo@acpe-accredit.org (regarding a continuing education provider)
School of Pharmacy Student Learning Outcomes
By the conclusion of the doctor of pharmacy curriculum, all graduates will be able to do each of the following:
- Perform the functions necessary to provide patient-centered care;
- Perform the functions necessary to provide population-based care;
- Perform safe medication distribution and handling;
- Apply the LLU philosophy of wholeness in their personal and professional lives;
- Apply core biomedical knowledge to patient-centered care.
Each course in the curriculum will provide students with learning opportunities to adequately prepare them to achieve these outcomes. Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy prides itself on developing practitioners that have high-level technical skills and who are committed to the principles of whole person care, including the spiritual, physical, relational, and intellectual domains.
School of Pharmacy Student Facts
Profession of Pharmacy
While pharmacists continue to provide traditional services as dispensers of prescriptions and advisors on over-the-counter medications, their roles have expanded significantly in the last 25 to 30 years. Pharmacists working in community, ambulatory, long-term care, and hospital settings are increasingly called to work in close concert with physicians, nurses, and other health professionals as important members of the health-care team. Other pharmacists work within the pharmaceutical industry, insurance, law, home health, nuclear, public health, and numerous other aspects of the health-care industry. Pharmacist-led research teams are also instrumental in data gathering and drug development and evaluation.
The pharmacist's specialized knowledge of drug actions, interactions, toxicities, alternative treatments, drug level monitoring, and costs are important factors when critical decisions are made concerning patient therapy. This can be especially important in critically ill patients requiring complex treatment regimens or when patients utilize several independent practitioners.
Pharmacists also serve as educators to their health-care colleagues through their abilities to evaluate the medical literature, put new "claims" into perspective, and communicate that information. The patient is also a key recipient of such educational activities as pharmacists counsel them on proper medication dosing, side effects, and toxicities. Increasingly, pharmacists are also involved in disease prevention and health-care enhancement activities.
The pharmacist is often the most accessible member of the health-care team and will frequently be the first person with whom a patient will confer on a health question. They are also likely to be the final professional providing information and advice on medication use and other interventions. It is, therefore, vitally important that today's training of pharmacists for tomorrow can be accomplished in a high-level health-care facility such as exists at Loma Linda University.
Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science Annual Report
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Annual Report
PS Annual Report 2010-2011