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.