Pharmaceutical Sciences
VCU Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Program Graduate education in the pharmaceutical
sciences occupies a critical position in the varied missions of the School of Pharmacy
at Virginia Commonwealth University. The maintenance of high standards of quality,
while serving the career objectives of our students, are the responsibilities of
the School in conjunction with the individual departments offering advanced degree
programs.
In the School of Pharmacy, the Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Program is coordinated
through the Office of the Director of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Program,
Dr. Susanna Wu-Pong (swupong@vcu.edu).
Ph.D., M.S. and M.P.S. students are enrolled in a specific department’s track. Each
department’s track is the responsibility of the department’s Graduate Program Director.
The details of didactic and scholarly requirements are available from the department
handbook. Each department’s track is represented by the Graduate Program Director,
who is appointed by the respective Department Chair. The Graduate Program Directors
act on behalf of the programs and hold the responsibility and authority to represent
the respective department(s) and their faculties to the School.
M.P.S. Program - The major difference between the existing M.S. in Pharmaceutical
Sciences and the proposed Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences is that the proposed
program does not focus on research; instead it focuses on the knowledge and skills
that are needed by persons who already work in the pharmaceutical industry.
All students enrolled in the Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences program will be
required to prepare a written review of the literature suitable for publication
in a journal specified by the student’s advisor. An oral defense will consist
of a public presentation of the review and a committee examination of the student
on the literature review and their course work. It is anticipated that students
will spend 1-2 semesters performing literature research and writing their review
of the literature. The student, exclusive of literature research credits, must earn
a minimum of 30 credit hours.