Stony Brook School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Stony Brook, New York

Founded: 2015

Class Size: 75 students

Stony Brook’s pharmacy school is still pending, but prospective students may want to keep an eye on this option for 2018.

In March 2015, the State University of New York Board of Trustees voted to adopt a resolution endorsing the university’s efforts to offer a Doctor of Pharmacy degree to students. The plan for the pharmacy school had been in the works for 6 years, according to the university.

The school stated that a national need for pharmacists and the academic and clinical environment at Stony Brook Medicine prompted the idea for a new school. The Stony Brook University Senate and outside evaluators also endorsed the plan.

The first class will matriculate in August 2018 interim dean Edmund M. Hayes, MS, PharmD, told Pharmacy Times.

Q: Why did Stony Brook decide to add a pharmacy school?

A: Stony Brook University is in an excellent position to offer an outstanding program in pharmacy that would be thoroughly integrated with our schools of medicine, dental medicine, nursing, and health technology/management.

The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Stony Brook will be the only school of pharmacy in New York based on this integrative model. Both the Institute of Medicine and the American College of Pharmacy Practice have called for an interdisciplinary approach to training, to provide appropriate coordination of treatment involving multiple health care professionals, in order to provide optimal patient-centered care.

Stony Brook University is in the position to develop a school of pharmacy that will be considered 1 of the preeminent schools of pharmacy in United States.

Q: What is unique about the school/program?

A: The Stony Brook School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will be unique in that we will be 1 of the very few schools of pharmacy that will be thoroughly integrated with a school of medicine as well as the other health science schools that encompass Stony Brook Medicine.

The development of a PharmD program at Stony Brook will provide many opportunities for inter-professional education, modeled on our successful interdisciplinary programs between the schools of medicine, dental medicine, nursing, and health technology.

Stony Brook University already offers multiple health care and non-health care programs that would enhance the Stony Brook School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences program. We offer dual-degree programs for students enrolled in the Stony Brook School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Examples of valuable dual degrees are:

• PharmD/PhD in pharmaceutical sciences (School of Pharmacy)
• PharmD/MHA (School of Health Technology and Management)
• PharmD/MBA (School of Business)
• PharmD/MPH (Program in Public Health)
• PharmD/MD (School of Medicine)

The program has 5 major components:

• Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree awarded in a 4-year program;
• Learning in teams with medical, dentistry, nursing and other health professional students;
• Training in advanced personalized patient care at a comprehensive medical center;
• Post-PharmD pharmacy practice and specialty residencies and research fellowships;
• Continuing professional development programs for practicing pharmacists.

The program leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy degree provides education and training for practice in all environments, today and in the future. These include hospitals, clinics, home care, the pharmaceutical industry, and community practice.

In small, first-year classes, students study pharmaceutical sciences and the practice of pharmacy. The second-year curriculum promotes interactions with medical students as the 2 groups share classes in the biomedical sciences. Third- and fourth-year studies apply the knowledge obtained in the basic sciences to therapeutic decisions in the care of patients.

Q: What is the teaching style or philosophy?

A: The pharmacy program will prepare graduates with the professional competencies to enter pharmacy practice in any setting, to ensure optimal medication therapy outcomes and patient safety, and to satisfy the educational requirements for licensure as a pharmacist.

The pharmacy program at Stony Brook University offers students an innovative and flexible curriculum leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Students are taught by a stellar health sciences faculty in a program closely associated with the outstanding clinical, research, and academic programs in the school of medicine.

The PharmD curriculum also includes basic science and professional practice classes on a campus with premier educational programs in chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering.

The pharmacy program will provide a broad-based curriculum with strong basic science, diversity of clinical experiences, and the opportunity for independent study in a variety of research and clinical settings.

The pharmacy program will strive to serve the needs of the citizens and communities of the state of New York, the nation, and the global community.

As part of a research-intensive university, the pharmacy program will:

• Provide a premier professional education program leading to the PharmD degree and postgraduate programs, including residencies and fellowships.

• Prepare students to be leaders in the profession of pharmacy and to provide them with the tools to practice effectively in a wide variety of currently existing and potential future roles in hospitals and medical centers, community pharmacy settings, academia, government, and the pharmaceutical industry.

• Provide graduate education programs in the pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences leading to the PhD degree.

• Promote interdisciplinary education and cooperation among pharmacy, medicine, and other health care disciplines.

• Develop and maintain research initiatives in the basic, translational, clinical, and computational sciences to discover new knowledge and new approaches to enhance health care.

• Become a center of excellence in translational clinical pharmacy with emphasis on collaborative care and innovative practice models.

• Serve as a resource center for dissemination of drug, toxicology, and pharmacogenomic information for health professionals and the public.