Pacific University’s undergraduate Environmental Science program has created an option for students, in partnership with the School of Pharmacy, to cut down on the amount of time required to get into the graduate program.
Pacific’s new Three-Plus-Three Pharmacy program, which has been two years in the working, will allow students to receive their Doctorate of Pharmacy in six years, as opposed to the normal route which takes seven to eight years to complete.
Students enrolled in the Three-Plus-Three Pharmacy program will attend three years of undergraduate schooling, and then three years of graduate schooling. The program works to integrate hands-onexperience during undergrad, which is necessary to excel in graduate school.
According to Biology Professor Deke Gunderson, who helped create the Three-Plus-Three Pharmacy program, rather than having students simply go through prerequisites during their undergrad, they will have the opportunity to work with professors at the graduate school instead.
“The program was developed so students could take course work with the same principles they will see in pharmacy school,” Gunderson said.
Internships will also be offered through the program, which will allow students to perform capstone research under a professor at the graduate school. Giving students a head start in the application
process by familiarizing themselves with professors who will either write their letters of recommendations or review their applications. The Three-Plus-Three Pharmacy program will also include a mentorship program.
“It will connect first and second year undergraduates with first and second year graduate students to help shepherd them with this process,” Gunderson said.
Another added benefit of the program, allows students the opportunity to apply to Pacific’s School of Pharmacy as early as their freshman year. Students are guaranteed acceptance into the graduate program as long as they maintain a “B” average.
If the interview process does not go well the first time, students can apply again their second or third year of the program.
According to Gunderson, the Three-Plus-Three Pharmacy program will be rigorous and students will be
expected to take strenuous classes right at the start of their college career.
“It’s not for every incoming student,” Gunderson said. “You have to be ready to take calculus. You’ll be diving in pretty quick.”
The Three-Plus-Three Pharmacy program has already been implemented at Pacific, and any additional questions can directed to Gunderson. Other Pacific programs offer similar options for students. The Three-Plus-Two program gives students the chance to get a degree in engineering with a partnering school after spending three years at Pacific, and then two years at either of the partner schools,
Portland State University or Case Western University.
In addition, the Pacific Exercise Science program has recently created a program which allows students to receive their athletic training degree in minimal amount of time.
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