Important general information
Students interested in the pre-pharmacy career advising track must complete the necessary prerequisites for pharmacy school. The minimum credit requirement varies for each pharmacy school. VCU School of Pharmacy requires a total minimum of 52 semester hours, however some students elect to earn a baccalaureate degree before entering the program. Students interested in pharmacy school should consult with a pre-professional health career adviser to learn about requirements that are specific to the schools of pharmacy to which they hope to apply.
Declaration of the pre-pharmacy career advising track through VCU Career Services - Pre-Professional Health Career Advising does not constitute admission to the VCU School of Pharmacy. Students must apply separately to the pharmacy school of their choice at the appropriate time.
Students with an interest in preparing for pharmacy school must declare an academic major and should declare and maintain their pre-pharmacy advising track. Students do not earn a pre-pharmacy degree. Those unsure of their academic majors initially should clarify their academic interests through regular conversations with their academic adviser and pre-professional health career adviser. Pre-pharmacy students are encouraged to major in fields of greatest interest to them. To declare a pre-pharmacy career advising track, see the Pre-Professional Health Hub in Canvas.
Prerequisites for the VCU Pharm.D. program
Students must complete the minimum 52 semester hours of course work and the required science courses to be eligible to start the Pharm.D. program at VCU. However, some students elect to complete their bachelor’s degree prior to enrollment into the Pharm.D. program. The Pharmacy College Admission Test is not required for admission into the VCU Pharm.D. program. The exam is optional and only recommended to students under certain circumstances. If students have any questions about whether or not they should take the PCAT, they should contact vcupharm@vcu.edu. It is not necessary to have completed all prerequisite course work prior to submitting an application to pharmacy school. However, students must complete all prerequisite courses before entering VCU’s pharmacy program.
Science and non-science courses required for the VCU Pharm.D. program
General biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, human anatomy, human physiology, microbiology and biochemistry are required science prerequisites for admission to the VCU Pharm.D. program.
Students must also complete English composition, calculus and statistics as non-science prerequisites for the VCU Pharm.D. program.
Due to the importance of a strong biomedical science foundation for success in the Pharm.D. program, some or all of these courses are highly recommended: genetics, molecular biology, immunology and cell biology. Other highly recommended elective choices are computer science, economics, business, history, foreign languages, philosophy, political science and sociology.
The following prerequisite courses must be completed prior to admission for students entering in the fall semester. Advanced Placement tests of the College Board and/or International Baccalaureate courses will not be accepted for science prerequisites other than physics, although higher-level courses in the same subject area may be substituted (e.g., physical chemistry for general chemistry). AP/IB credit in physics, calculus and statistics courses will be accepted with a minimum score of 3 for AP or 4 for IB.
Prerequisites for VCU’s Pharm.D. program
| Course | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 151 & BIOZ 151 | Introduction to Biological Sciences I and Introduction to Biological Science Laboratory I | 4 |
| BIOL 152 & BIOZ 152 | Introduction to Biological Sciences II and Introduction to Biological Science Laboratory II | 4 |
| BIOL 205 | Basic Human Anatomy | 4 |
| BIOL 303 | Microbiology | 3 |
| CHEM 101 & CHEZ 101 | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry Laboratory I | 4 |
| CHEM 102 & CHEZ 102 | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry Laboratory II | 4 |
| CHEM 301 & CHEZ 301 | Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratory I | 5 |
| CHEM 302 & CHEZ 302 | Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratory II | 5 |
| CHEM 403 | Biochemistry I | 3 |
| MATH 200 | Calculus with Analytic Geometry I | 4 |
| PHIS 206 | Human Physiology | 3 |
| PHYS 201 | General Physics I | 4-5 |
| or PHYS 207 | University Physics I | |
| STAT 210 | Basic Practice of Statistics | 3 |
UNIV 111  Play course video for Focused Inquiry I | Focused Inquiry I | 3 |
| UNIV 112 Play course video for Focused Inquiry II | Focused Inquiry II | 3 |
| Total Hours | 56-57 | |
Due to the importance of a strong biomedical science foundation in the Pharm.D. program, some or all of these courses are highly recommended: genetics, molecular biology, immunology and cell biology. Recommended elective choices are computer science, economics, business, history, foreign languages, philosophy, political science and sociology.
Additional recommended prerequisites for pharmacy schools nationwide
Pharm.D. programs across the U.S. have different prerequisites for admission. The list below shows courses required by various schools beyond the courses listed above for the VCU Pharm.D. program requirements. Students should discuss career plans with their pre-professional health career adviser for additional guidance.
| Course | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BIOZ 303 | Microbiology Laboratory | 2 |
| ECON 210 | Principles of Microeconomics | 3 |
| or ECON 211 | Principles of Macroeconomics | |
| PHIL 201 | Introduction to Ethics | 3 |
| PHIZ 206 | Human Physiology Laboratory | 1 |
| PSYC 101 Play course video for Introduction to Psychology | Introduction to Psychology | 4 |
| SOCY 101 Play course video for Introduction to Sociology | Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| Additional arts and humanities/social and behavioral sciences course work | ||
Students should also consult with their pre-professional health career advisers to discuss an individual plan of study in parallel with their academic majors.