A new partnership between UW-Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) allows students to earn their PharmD degree in just six years.
UWM and MCW announced in October that the institutions will offer an accelerated program that allows students to earn both a bachelor’s and a PharmD degree in as little as six years.
That’s important because the nation and Wisconsin are facing a shortage of retail pharmacists. Currently, Walgreens alone reports more than 50 currently open pharmacist positions across Wisconsin.
“The traditional pathway to becoming a pharmacist – four years of college followed by four years of pharmacy school – can seem daunting to many, particularly first-generation students,” said Scott Gronert, dean of UWM’s College of Letters & Science. “Programs like this that streamline the experience will attract more students and help fill the demand for pharmacists faster. Today’s pharmacists play a critical role for individuals and for the public health system, providing vaccinations, health screenings, mass education and chronic disease management.”
UWM has three other similar partnerships already in place:
An agreement with Midwestern University, located in the Chicago suburbs, has two options – dual admission to both UWM and Midwestern University for high school seniors or early admission while a student is a freshman at UWM. Under either option, students proceed directly to the PharmD degree at Midwestern after they complete their foundational science prerequisites at UWM, leaving without a bachelor’s degree.
The 3+4 Accelerated Program with Concordia University allows students to spend three years at UWM and four years in Concordia’s PharmD program to earn both their bachelor’s and PharmD degrees.
And, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Early Assurance program accepts applications from students in their first semester of freshman year. If accepted, students proceed to Madison’s pharmacy school as soon as they complete their
foundational science prerequisities and leave UWM without a bachelor’s degree.
Adding the partnership with MCW makes sense because it offers students one more option to complete their PharmD degree on a faster-than-normal timeline but also close to the Milwaukee area, said Laura Stark, a senior advisor who
counsels students in Letters & Science’s pre-pharmacy track.
One of those prospective students is Sundus Elchekha, who has already expressed an interest in the new program.
“What drew my interest to the dual degree program was the convenience of saving time and money,” she said. “I hope to be able to give back to patients in necessary care with my PharmD degree. As a pharmacy tech, I see the quality care pharmacists provide to patients, and that really inspires me.”
Application deadlines vary by program and can be as early as senior year of high school. The ideal time for biology, microbiology or biochemistry majors to apply for the Medical College of Wisconsin program is during freshman or sophomore year of college. Students will then be partnered with an MCW faculty member and have access to career discussions and shadowing opportunities with MCW’s clinical partners.
Stark says the ideal candidate for an accelerated program is a student with a strong interest in math and science. “It’s definitely more intensive than just doing the prerequisites and spreading things out over the four-year time frame,”
she warned.
Even though the program can be intense, the accelerated time frame has its advantages.
“This dual-degree program reduces the overall cost of undergraduate and professional education at two outstanding institutions by reducing two full years of
education,” said George E. MacKinnon III, PhD, MS, RPh, FASHP, FNAP, founding dean of the MCW School of Pharmacy. “The partnership with UW-Milwaukee, the second-largest institution of higher learning in the state, will help those living in southeastern Wisconsin remain in the area for their full breadth of education from baccalaureate to Doctor of Pharmacy degree, reducing costs associated with moving to other campuses, while still being able to remain engaged in the local community.”
The MCW School of Pharmacy is one of only 18 institutions in the country that offers an accelerated threeyear program to a PharmD degree. It is the only pharmacy school in southeastern Wisconsin located at an academic medical center, providing students with access to clinical experiences with Froedtert Hospital, Children’s Wisconsin and the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center.
Information on pre-pharmacy – including more details about each of the acclerated options – is available at the College of Letters & Science webpage or by
contacting let-sci@uwm.edu.
By Sarah Vickery and Deanna Alba, College of Letters & Science