Program Overview

University of California San Francisco PharmD Degree Program

The University of California San Francisco offers a PharmD Degree Program designed to advance hands-on pharmacy practice, communication, and critical thinking skills.

Program Overview

The program is structured to provide students with a comprehensive education in pharmacy practice, including patient care skills, integrated themes, and discovery projects.

About the PharmD

• Program Overview
• Facts and Figures
• Career Opportunities
• Advanced Training
• Student and Alumni News

Admissions

• Admissions Overview
• Policies and Disclosures
• Financial Aid and Cost
• Application Process
• Frequently Asked Questions and Tips
• Applying Without U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Resident Status
• PharmD-PhD
• Post-Baccalaureate Program
• Pharm Tech to PharmD Pathway Program

Student Life

• Student Life Overview
• Year 1 Perspective
• Year 2 Perspective
• Year 3 Perspective
• Past Student Perspectives Overview

Curriculum

• Curriculum Overview
• Program Timeline
• Component 1 - Foundations
• Component 2 - Integrated Themes
• Component 3 - Patient Care Skills
• Component 4 - Practice Rotations
• Component 5 - Discovery Project
• Progress and Feedback
• Curriculum Outcomes

Patient Care Skills

As a practicing pharmacist, you will apply specific skills, such as taking blood pressure and administering immunizations, while communicating effectively and compassionately with patients and identifying and solving problems. The Applied Patient Care Skills (APCS) course is designed to advance your hands-on pharmacy practice, communication, and critical thinking skills, so that you can offer patients excellent and professional care.

Patient Care Skills: A Closer Look

The APCS course begins immediately in year one and continues through the spring of year two. As much as possible, it complements the topics you will be learning in all other coursework and prepares you for Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

During the APCS course, you will learn how to:

• Counsel a patient on a specific prescription
• Counsel a patient with chronic kidney disease on therapeutic lifestyle changes, or on the physical exam findings of a gastrointestinal examination, as examples
• Document patient encounters with SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, plan) notes
• Teach a patient how to use a medical device and help troubleshoot a malfunctioning medical device
• Instruct a patient on medication use as the patient is being discharged from a hospital
• Interpret lab test results
• Navigate medical records
• Perform a complete medication reconciliation
• Propose a search strategy for determining the answer to a legal question
• Take vital signs
• Take a medication history
• Use aseptic techniques in administering a vaccination