The uniqueness of the UAMS nontraditional program
is that the bulk of its experiential rotation self-study component may take place in the
student's own community under faculty tutelage. This appeals to many practitioners who for
various reasons can not take an extended leave of absence from their practices in order to
complete experiential clerkships.
The core curriculum for the nontraditional Doctor of Pharmacy degree program has been
designed to insure that the practitioner will receive educational experiences which
produce competencies equivalent to those of students earning the Doctor of Pharmacy degree
via the traditional pathway.
There are three methods by which the student can conduct a clerkship. The first
and most common is that the student may conduct the clerkship in a nontraditional format.
This is accomplished by the student coming to Arkansas for an intensive orientation period
(one week in the case of Adult Medicine). This orientation is followed by a self-study
period in the students’ own community or practice site where the bulk of the work
occurs. This is designed so that it would take the typical traditional student 160 hours
to complete. In the self-study format the student identifies patients in their own
community. After patient case development, the student typically faxes or e-mails some
information about the patient and laboratory data to the faculty member and the faculty
and student set a time to discuss the patient on the phone. The student is expected to
present and understand detailed information regarding their patients’
pathophysiology, treatment modalities, drugs of choice and alternate drugs, monitoring
parameters etc. Several case presentations are required in this format.
The second method is for the student to come to Arkansas and complete a
traditional month-long clerkship, side by side, with the entry level Pharm.D. students.
This is an attractive alternative for those students who can get a month away from work.
Traditional clerkships last one calendar month each.
The third method, although not promoted, is when an out-of-state student has the
opportunity to utilize faculty in their geographic area from another College of Pharmacy
to meet our clerkship requirements. In this route the College will work with that student
and faculty, provided a number of conditions are met. The College wants to take
responsibility for our students’ educational learning and does not want to be
perceived as dumping our responsibility on another academic program. However, situations
may arise where this training may be mutually beneficial for the student, as well as the
two academic programs. For instance, a nontraditional students may be a staff clinical
pharmacist in a teaching facility for another program. The other academic program may view
"instructing" our student as an opportunity to develop future teaching resources
in their area and occasionally agree to work with our student. This is strictly voluntary
on the part of the other academic programs.
