Pharmacy Programs in California
Pharmacy schools are mainly smaller sections of larger public schools around the country, which makes their entrance into schools reserved for those students who are serious about their studies. California in general offers programs in only a handful of universities:
University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, Los Angeles
Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy, Loma Linda
Western University of Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Pomona
University of California – San Diego School of Pharmacy, San Diego
University of California – San Francisco School of Pharmacy, San Francisco
University of the Pacific, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy, Stockton
These schools represent the best pharmacy schools within the state of California, and the schools which students should focus on applying to.
The USC pharmacy program was the first pharmacy school in the state, founded in 1905, and still remains one of the top choices for many pharmacists within the state (50 percent of pharmacists attended the school). USC offers the Doctor of Pharmacy program as well as Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy, all of which are necessary within fields of pharmaceuticals. This school was the first to establish the six-year Doctor of Pharmacy program and remains a model for pharmacy schools around the nation.
Loma Linda is a relatively new school, which saw its first class of graduates in the fall of 2002. This school caters specifically to pharmacists in a Seventh-day Adventist Christian setting, allowing students to achieve a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in this environment. While the school grants entrance to a wide array of students, priority is given to those who have a bachelor’s degree in biological, chemical, or related sciences.
Western University has undergone name and location changes since its inception in 1977, when it was known as College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. It was founded in response to a shortage of physicians in the western United States, and represents the fourth pharmacy school to be established in California. The name of the school changed in 1996 to western University of Health Sciences to better reflect its true purpose.
Another new school, the University of California Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences was established in 2000, graduating its first class in 2002. This program specifically focuses on the intertwining of science degrees such as chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering, with pharmacy. This school has recognized the need for students who are well-versed in all sciences and pharmacy in order to tackle modern diseases, which is why it now ranks third in the nation for the development of biotechnology products as a result of this emphasis on sciences. Plans are still underway to create a new program that offers a B.S. in Chemistry and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in a joint seven-year program.
The University of California, San Francisco Pharmacy School boasts the title of the nation’s top-ranked pharmacy school, as well as one of the oldest pharmacy schools in the West. The school has focused over the years of the growing link between drugs and technology and has evolved its teaching methods as technology has allowed. Therefore, as the top-ranked school, it has catered to evolutions within the technological field while still retaining the core pharmaceutical values.
The Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is another school that has been around for more than fifty years in California. Making a name for itself on the Pacific Coast, the school offers an extensive history of unique humanistic approaches to education. The school recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and continues to be a beacon of strength on the West Coast.
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