Pharmacy Program
The Pharmacy program (PharmD) encompasses both the basic and clinical sciences and is designed to provide you with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential to the practice of pharmacy. Pharmacists work in concert with the patient and other health care providers to promote health and prevent diseases. This is achieved by assessing, monitoring, initiating and modifying patients' medication therapy to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes.
The current entry-level PharmD curriculum is designed to give you the professional competencies necessary to enter pharmacy practice in any setting to ensure optimal medication therapy outcomes and patient safety, and to satisfy the educational requirements for licensure as a pharmacist.
The PharmD degree prepares you to accept positions in community, hospital, managed care, clinical, and industrial pharmacy. Other potential opportunities include administrative positions in pharmaceutical companies and associations. Also, teaching and research positions in universities and the pharmaceutical industry are excellent opportunities for those with advanced training in pharmacy.
There are multiple routes to pursue admission to NDSU’s PharmD program.
Option 1: The Early Admission Pathway
The Early Admission Pathway (EAP) to NDSU's PharmD program is designed for academically qualified high school students who want an affordable, expedited path to a PharmD degree. If you are interested in EAP, you would apply during your senior year in high school.
Option 2: The Traditional Admissions Pathway
The Traditional Admissions Pathway involves entering the program as an undergraduate in pre-pharmacy upon meeting general admission standards of the university. Once all required pre-pharmacy coursework is satisfied, you can apply to the PharmD program. The pre-pharmacy course work may be completed at other institutions and NDSU reviews transfer records submitted and determine if equivalent to NDSU requirements.
You are admitted to the final four professional years on a competitive basis after meeting specific admission requirements of the college which can be found on the Traditional Pathway page. Students attending other institutions must maintain frequent contact with the NDSU School of Pharmacy to determine appropriate course work.
Option 3: The Post-Baccalaureate Pathway
Students who hold a four-year bachelor degree in a health or STEM field on or before May 2024 are eligible to apply for admission to NDSU’s PharmD program through this pathway. This pathway applies your previously earned credits towards meeting the pre-pharmacy course requirements. Your NDSU advisor works with you to identify any coursework that still may be needed prior to applying to the program.
Are you a pharmacy technician who is interested in becoming a pharmacist? If so, we assist in identifying the most efficient pathway to meet the NDSU Pharmacy Program’s admission requirements. If you completed a pharmacy technician program at a college or university and received academic credit for your program, those credits may count towards meeting our admission requirements. Your NDSU advisor works with you to identify any coursework that is still needed prior to applying to the program.
Differential Tuition
Students in the pharmacy professional program (i.e, the final five years of study for students on the early admission path, and the final four years for students on the traditional or post-bacculaurete admission path) are assessed a different tuition rate. This differential tuition is assessed to cover the higher costs associated with the program.
Current Curriculum
The curriculum leading to the PharmD degree requires a minimum of six years of study. Approximately 77 semester hours are required in the pre-professional curriculum. The vast majority of required pre-professional courses (listed by name and number) must be completed by the end of spring term prior to admission to the professional program for traditional path students, or for early admission students, the final four years of the professional program. A maximum of six elective credits may be taken during the summer prior to entrance in the professional program.
The four-year professional program is divided into three years of didactic education on campus and one year (40 weeks) of experiential training (advanced pharmacy practice experience) with qualified preceptors at various practice sites. Additional introductory experiential training occurs during the summer sessions following the first and second years of the professional program. A wide variety of experiential rotation offerings are available to students. Students should plan to travel outside the Fargo-Moorhead area to fulfill their experiential program requirements.
Our pharmacy program partners with PioneerRx, a pharmacy management system, to simulate the functions of today’s pharmacies.