Accreditation

Curricular Goals

The following curricular goals and objectives of the College of Pharmacy serve as guidelines for the design and organization of our curriculum:

GOAL 1: Professional and educational competencies

• Provide a curriculum that produces graduates proficient in all the professional and educational competencies required, and who have met all outcome expectations related to those competencies.
• Curricular design should allow all students the time, resources, and opportunities to achieve all competencies. Outcome expectations and methods of assessment must relate to the desired professional and educational competencies, and be able to provide reasonable assurance of a student‘s achievement of these competencies.
• Curricular competencies and outcome expectations should be reviewed annually by the faculty and by practicing pharmacists to ensure their relevance to contemporary practice.
• Assessment methods should be reviewed regularly to ensure they relate to the stated proficiencies and outcome expectations, and that they are adequate measures of achievement.

GOAL 2: Student-centered, interactive learning environment

• Design a curriculum that provides a student-centered, interactive learning environment that is cooperative rather than competitive, and able to accommodate individual learning styles.
• Class time should focus on student learning rather than faculty teaching.
• Students should take responsibility for their own learning, be encouraged to participate, and regularly self-assess their progress toward achievement of outcome expectations.
• Faculty should design and guide educational experiences of varied types to accommodate and facilitate different styles of learning.
• The learning environment and daily planned group activities should stimulate participation and promote cooperation towards outcomes rather than competition among students.
• Students should be encouraged to teach each other and learn from each other.
• In designing learning experiences for students, the faculty will recognize and accommodate different styles of learning by providing varied types of educational experiences.

GOAL 3: Assessment tools & outcomes

• Employ assessment tools that emphasize achievement of outcomes.
• Assessment, feedback, and reassessment should be the fundamental means to achievement.
• Knowledge and critical thinking skills should be achieved at individual levels of performance.
• Students should be encouraged to work as teams because often groups can arrive at answers that elude them individually.
• The curriculum should communicate clear outcome expectations to all students, and produce entry-level, generalist pharmacy practitioners.
• Individual outcomes should be assessed through examination and feedback provided by review and reassessment. Team assignments should be assessed by peer- and self- evaluations.
• The most decisive methods should be employed to assess a student‘s progress, provide feedback about their progression to students and teachers, and show deficiencies and corrective procedures.
• Skills should be practiced periodically throughout all four years so that mastery is achieved.

GOAL 4: Solve problems, make wise decisions, teach, and learn to be a lifelong learner

• Produce graduates who have the ability to solve problems, make wise decisions, teach, and learn by themselves, and remain committed to lifelong learning.
• The curriculum should provide opportunities to develop problem-solving skills.
• The curriculum should assign student projects that go beyond the classroom.
• The curriculum should give students educational experiences that develops the ability to locate, retrieve, and assess information for the benefit of their patients.

GOAL 5: Meet workplace expectations

• Produce graduates who are able to meet the expectations of the workplace.
• The outcome expectations of the curriculum should be reviewed annually by current pharmacy practitioners to ensure their relevancy to the profession.
• Data about a student‘s knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors from the practice experiences, and employer satisfaction should be collected via surveys designed to give feedback and assess the quality and preparation of graduates for contemporary pharmacy practice.