Pre-Pharmacy Area of Emphasis (3 or 4 years)

Overview of Pharmacy as a Career

Pharmacology degrees used to be given at undergraduate institutions, but now many students are going on to earn the Pharm.D. degree. This usually requires an additional year or two of school. Normally, students complete two years of pre-pharmacy undergraduate work at Marshall before applying to a pharmacy program.

GPAs in the range of 3.5 or higher are required along with excellent PCAT scores. PCAT scores at the 50th percentile and higher are competitive. There are two pharmacy schools in West Virginia, West Virginia University and the University of Charleston.

See the Occupational Outlook Handbook:  Pharmacy

Courses

Principles of Biology I and II (BSC 120 and 121)

Principles of Microbiology and Lab (BSC 302 and BSC 304) or General Bacteriology (BSC 250) Note: BSC 250 does not count toward a Biological Science degree.

Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (BSC 310) or Human Anatomy (BSC 227) Note: BSC 227 does not count toward a Biological Science degree.

Animal Physiology (BSC 422) or Human Physiology (BSC 228) Note: BSC 228 does not count toward a Biological Science degree.

Principles of Chemistry I and II and Labs (CHM 211, 212, 217, and 218)

Organic Chemistry I and II and Organic Lab (CHM 355, 356, and 361)

Applied Calculus (MTH 140), or Calculus (MTH 229) [Depending on placement, student may need College Algebra (MTH 130 or 127) and Trigonometry (MTH 122)]

Introductory Statistics (MTH 225)

General Physics I and II and labs (PHY 201, 202, 203 and 204)

English Composition I and II (ENG 101 and 102)

Fundamentals of Speech Communications (CMM 103)

Principles of Microeconomics (ECN 250)

Recommended Electives

Applied Ethics (PHL 302)

Other Courses

12 hours from Art, English, Literature, Languages, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies (must be distributed in at least three fields

6 hours from Geography, History, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology

Biology
Biomedical Sciences
Cellular/Molecular Biology
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Microbiology

Biochemistry
Chemistry
Forensic Chemistry

Physics

Professional Exam

The Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) must be completed, preferably in the fall of the year before entry into the pharmacy program.

PCAT is a 4-hour exam composed of 240 multiple-choice questions and 2 writing assignments. A short break is given half-way through the test. The exam is divided into seven subtests

1. Writing assignment lasting 30 minutes.
2. Verbal Ability. Thirty minutes and 48 questions testing sentence completion and nonscientific vocabulary.
3. Biology. Thirty minutes and 48 questions testing general biology knowledge (60%), microbiology (20%), human anatomy and physiology (20%).
4. Chemistry. Thirty minutes and 48 items covering general chemistry (60%) and organic chemistry (40%).
5. Writing assignment lasting 30 minutes.
6. Reading Comprehension. Fifty minutes and 48 multiple-choice questions concerning six separate science-related reading passages.
7. Quantitative Ability. Forty minutes and 48 questions evaluating basic math skills (15%), algebra (20%), probability and statistics (20%), pre-calculus (22%), and calculus (22%).

The approximate cost is $125.00. Additional fees such as late registration, change of testing site, or rescheduling fees can be included in the total cost.

You will receive a scaled score and percentile for each of the five multiple-choice sections of the PCAT, and for all five of the multiple-choice sections as a whole (composite scores). Scaled scores run from 200 to 600. A separate score, ranging from one through five, is given for the Writing sections. A score of five is "superior", and a score of one is "weak."

For the most current information, review the PCAT web site.