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College of Pharmacy

Academic Policies for the Professional Program

Student Responsibility:

Students are responsible for assuring the faculty that they satisfy the qualifications for the profession of pharmacy. The faculty reserves the right to dismiss from the college at any time a student who, in its judgment, is academically unqualified or is mentally or morally unsuited for a career in pharmacy.

Student Recovery Program:

The University of Houston College of Pharmacy Student Recovery Program is designed to assist students who are experiencing impairments due to inappropriate alcohol and/or chemical use and physical and mental issues. A seminar provides education about abuse and dependency issues and referral resources and other avenues of help. This seminar is required and is offered as a part of the Skills program in the first professional year.

Texas Board of Pharmacy State Registration:

Students graduating with the Doctor of Pharmacy degree are eligible to sit for the Multi-State Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE) and North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX). examination.

Internship Requirement:

Under the Texas State Board of Pharmacy Rules and Regulations. a student is required to register as a student pharmacist-intern prior to performing student internship duties and only after successfully completing the first year and 30 credit hours of work towards a professional degree in pharmacy. The agreement for registration requires a student to reveal personal history (i.e. conviction of a felony or any misdemeanor other than a minor traffic violation). For more information contact:
Texas State Board of Pharmacy
William P. Hobby Building, Suite 3-600
333 Guadalupe, Box 21
Austin, Texas 78701-3942.

Academic Standing

Requirements for Progression

  1. A grade of C or better must be earned in all pharmacy courses and pharmacy practice experiences to apply toward progression or graduation.

  2. The college will not grant credit for any course taken without the proper prerequisites.

  3. Professional coursework attempted during summer sessions I, II, III, and/or IV counts as a free semester.

  4. Students must have prior permission to register for less than a full load as published in the university catalog. In addition, a student wishing to drop a course or courses during the semester may do so in accordance with university policy as published in the Undergraduate Studies catalog. Student will also need permission from the college adviser and approval of the assistant dean for student and academic affairs.

  5. At the end of each semester, the Admissions and Progression Committee will review the academic records of all students with a cumulative grade point average below 2.00 or with one or more grades below a C or with one or more grades of U (unsatisfactory) in required courses.

  6. Students will not be permitted to register for any course in the professional program more than two times. The student who fails a course twice or whose grade fails to meet minimum grade requirements, as described in rule 1 of this section or as specified by the Admissions and Progression Committee, is ineligible to continue in the professional program.

  7. Students must satisfactorily complete all required second-year courses with a grade of S or C or better, excluding electives, to be eligible for the Introductory Community Practice Experience, PHAR 5493.

  8. Students must satisfactorily complete all required courses during the first three professional years with a 2.00 minimum grade point average to progress to the final professional year.

  9. Milemarker I (after the first professional year) and II (after the second professional year) are given annually to assess Pharm.D. student learning in order to determine areas of strength and weakness in preparation for subsequent courses and MileMarker III. Students who pass MileMarker I and II receive credit towards Milemarker III and students who are unsuccessful are required to remediate areas of weakness.

    A student must successfully pass Milemarker III in order to progress to the final year of the curriculum.

  10. A grade of S (satisfactory) must be earned in the Introductory Community Practice Experience course (PHAR 5493), and a grade of C or better must be earned in Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (PHAR 5600s) to apply toward progression or graduation.

  11. All students must complete the professional course work for the Doctor of Pharmacy program within a period of six years from the time of admission, including remediation, withdrawals, and progression problems. The Assistant Dean for Academic and Student Affairs will withdraw the student from the professional program when appropriate. Exceptions to this policy will be considered by the dean of the college on a case-by-case basis. This policy applies to students entering in fall 2007 or later and those students progressing with the entering class of fall 2007.

  12. Criminal Background Checks and Drug Screenings

    Hospitals and other health care organizations are requiring criminal background checks and/or drug screenings for students placed in early/introductory pharmacy practice experience and/or advanced clinical pharmacy practice experience assignments at these sites. All students admitted into the University of Houston College of Pharmacy Doctor program are required to participate in pharmacy practice experiences for graduation.

    As part of the admission process for new students in the Doctor of Pharmacy program, students will be required to pass a criminal background check and/or drug screening test. Students will be referred to a third party vendor that will conduct the background check and/or drug screening test without analysis, involvement or interaction by the College pertaining to the results. Students will be responsible for paying any associated expenses to the vendor. In addition, all students admitted into the program must pass yearly criminal background checks and/or drug screening tests (and at other times as requested in writing by a hospital or health care organization) at students sole cost and expense. Hospital or health care organizations will be responsible for determining whether students are eligible to participate in the clinical practice experience assignment at the site, and will notify the student and the College of its decision. Results of the background check(s) and drug screening(s) may be submitted to the College by the vendor and the College will do nothing more than pass the results on to the requesting hospitals or health care organizations. Additionally, students may be required to submit results directly to hospitals and other health care organizations. Students will be personally responsible for obtaining background checks and drug screenings (including costs).

    Students who cannot pass the background check and/or drug screening tests will not be admitted and/or unable to complete the required curriculum (pharmacy practice experiences) for graduation, and will therefore be withdrawn from the Doctor of Pharmacy program by the University of Houston College of Pharmacy.

  13. Immunization Requirements

    An applicant accepted into the University of Houston College of Pharmacy program must present proof of adequate immunization against rubeola (common measles), rubella (German measles), mumps, varicella (chicken pox), and tetanus prior to the beginning of the first professional year. The Hepatitis B immunization series must be initiated prior to the beginning of the first professional year and completed by January 31 of the second semester of the first professional year.

    A negative TB skin test or chest clearance must be documented no sooner than three months prior to beginning the fall semester of the first professional year. Thereafter, a student must submit documentation of a negative TB skin test or chest clearnace annually to the University of Houston College of Pharmacy Student Services office.

Probation and Suspension
The following guidelines apply to students in the professional program.

Academic Probation:
Doctor of Pharmacy students are placed on academic probation at the close of the semester if they earn the following:

  1. Less than 2.00 semester grade point average or;

  2. A grade of D or F or U in any professional course or;

  3. Less than 2.00 cumulative grade point average.

These students may be required to repeat a course or courses specified by the Admissions and Progression Committee prior to progression into the next professional semester, or the student may be suspended at that time (according to the suspension rules). If the student earns a grade of D or F or U after repeating the designated course or courses, the student may be suspended from the pharmacy program. If after repeating the designated courses the student's cumulative grade point average in required courses is below 2.00, the student may be suspended from the pharmacy program. A student normally will not be allowed to repeat courses in which they have made a grade of C or better.

Academic Suspension:
Doctor of Pharmacy students are considered ineligible to progress in the professional program and placed on academic suspension under any of the following conditions:

  1. Receipt of a grade of D or F or U in any course in a semester while on academic probation or;

  2. Receipt of less than 2.00 semester grade point average while on academic probation or;

  3. Receipt of less than 2.00 semester grade point average for more than one semester whether consecutive or non-consecutive semester or;

  4. Placement on academic probation more than once or;

  5. Receipt of grade of D or F or U after repeating a course or;

  6. Receipt of 1.00 semester grade point average (all digits significant) or less.

All such cases of academic probation and academic suspension will be reviewed carefully by the College's Admissions and Progression Committee. The college dean may place on probation, or suspend any deficient student. Similarly, the college dean may remove from academic probation or suspension any student whose academic progress warrants such action.

Any student placed on suspension must apply to the Admissions and Progression Committee for re-admission into the college. Suspension lasts for a period of at least one semester. A student may be denied re-admission to the college but granted a re-admission to the university to pursue a different major, provided the general university requirements have been met.

Withdrawals
Should a student decide to leave the program for personal or medical reasons, an appointment should be made with the College's Director of Counseling and Advising to address options and review university policy and requirements.