Report of a survey of PharmD curricula: implications for accreditation standards

The curriculum content of Doctor of Pharmacy Programs throughout the United States was evaluated with the objective of describing the set of standards now held by each school. A questionnaire was mailed to 40 Colleges of Pharmacy offering the PharmD Degree requesting curricula information. The mean total number of hours of instruction for pathophysiology and therapeutics was 27.1 hours, (range 62-1175). The largest section taught was cardiology (mean 38.9 hours), followed by infectious diseases (25.7), endocrinology (22.9), nephrology (22.5), and neurology (20.5). Courses in pharmacokinetics, statistics, and drug information were required by a majority of the programs. Clinical rotations in internal medicine, drug information, and ambulatory care were similarly required. There was considerable variation in the curricular requirements among the programs.