PharmD Curriculum and Experiential Learning
The first three years of the four-year PharmD program consist of didactic coursework, Pharmacy Skills Labs and Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs).
Upon graduation, you’ll be able to provide care in collaboration with patients, prescribers and other healthcare providers based upon sound therapeutic principles, evidence-based data and research.
See the full curriculum.
The fourth and final year is composed of 40 weeks of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) from June until May (three semesters). Experiential education comprises approximately 30% of the curriculum.
IPPE students are introduced to various pharmacy practice settings, with an emphasis on hospital and community settings, which lay the foundation for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs).
- Year 1
IPPE 1: Six four-hour shadow visits - Summer of Year 1
IPPE 2: Three-week community setting - Summer of Year 2
IPPE 3: Three-week hospital setting - Spring of Year 3
IPPE 4: 32-hour clinical
During the fourth year, students complete eight five-week APPEs (rotations) on a full-time basis. The required APPEs include:
- Community Pharmacy Practice
- Hospital Pharmacy Practice
- Acute Care
- Ambulatory Care
- Drug Information or Medication Therapy Management
Creighton’s Office of Experiential Education manages Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs and APPEs/rotations) for pharmacy students throughout the curriculum. The office’s database includes over 1,000 pharmacy practice sites across the country. Students have opportunities in all 50 states. Preceptors at these sites are highly trained pharmacists with expertise in their specialty area of pharmacy practice.
Cross-Cultural Programs
As a pharmacy student at Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, you’ll have multiple opportunities to provide healthcare to underserved individuals around the world.
The IRD Curriculum Model
The content, skills and outcomes of the curriculum are purposefully structured around a spiraling Introduce-Reinforce-Demonstrate (IRD) curricular model.
The IRD model builds competence by structuring learning in a purposefully integrated cycle of increasing complexity. Each course identifies specific learning objectives that are tied to the relevant educational outcomes and denotes competencies to be introduced (I), reinforced (R) and/or demonstrated (D).