Pre-Professional Curricula: Pre-Pharmacy

A career in pharmacy offers a broad range of opportunities including local and hospital pharmacies, pharmaceutical research, pharmaceutical and medical field sales, and medical research.

A student planning a career in pharmacy ordinarily completes two years of pre-pharmacy course work prior to seeking admission to a school of pharmacy. The student should work closely with the pre-pharmacy advisor to tailor his or her program to the requirements of the particular pharmacy school in which he or she is interested. The following courses are required for admission to the pharmacy school at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Students intending to apply for admission at other pharmacy schools should contact those schools to ensure that they complete all Pre-Pharmacy coursework required by those programs.

All of the following:

  • BIO 1324 - Principles of Biology II
  • BIO 2314 - Principles of Genetics
  • BIO 3134 - Microbiology
  • CHM 1014 - General Chemistry I
  • CHM 1024 - General Chemistry II
  • CHM 3014 - Organic Chemistry I
  • CHM 3024 - Organic Chemistry II
  • MTH 2015 - Calculus I
  • PHY 2014 - General Physics I

1 of the following:

  • ACC 2003 - Principles of Accounting I
  • ECN 2003 - Principles of Macroeconomics
  • ECN 2013 - Principles of Microeconomics

3 courses from the following:

  • COM 1003 - Basic Oral Communication
  • ENG 1013 - Composition I
  • ENG 1213 - Composition II
  • Any advisor-approved survey of literature course

3 courses from the following:

  • BIO 2314 - Cell Biology*
  • BIO 3444 - General Physiology*
  • BIO 4432 - Anatomy Laboratory*
  • BIO 4644 - Molecular Genetics*
  • CHM 3104 - Quantitative Chemical Analysis*
  • CHM 4104 - Biochemistry*
  • MTH 2024 - Calculus II
  • MTH 3033 - Probability & Statistics
  • PHL 1003 - Logic
  • PHY 2024 - General Physics II

Advisor-approved electives from these areas to reach a total of 69 Pre-Pharmacy hours:

  • American History
  • Philosophy
  • Anthropology
  • Political Science
  • Art**
  • Psychology
  • Ethics
  • Religion
  • Foreign Language (Spanish preferred)
  • Sociology
  • Geography
  • Theatre**
  • Literature
  • World History
  • Music**

NOTE: For admission to the UAMS College of Pharmacy, no more than 8 credit hours of AP credit or CLEP credit in the natural sciences and mathematics may be counted in fulfillment of Pre-Pharmacy program requirements, and no more than 12 credit hours of AP credit or CLEP credit in non-science, non-mathematics subjects may be counted in fulfillment of Pre-Pharmacy program requirements. Toward the end of the program, the student should take the PCAT examination, a national standardized examination, which is used by pharmacy schools to evaluate applicants. After transfer, four additional years are required at the UAMS Pharmacy School toward a doctor of pharmacy degree.

* Preferred
** Survey Courses Only