The Doctor of Pharmacy degree is the entry-level degree for the practice of pharmacy in the United States.  The program at Wayne State University is a four year curriculum.  Approximately 100 students are enrolled in each year of the program.  The pharmacy program at WSU is fully accredited by the American Council on Pharmacy Education. Information on accreditation standards can be found on the ACPE website.

The WSU Doctor of Pharmacy program will educate students to become valued providers of health care. Our graduates will use evidenced based practice to ensure optimal health of the patient and of the public and will provide leadership in advancing pharmacy practice and health policy.

The practice of pharmacy has experienced profound change during the past three decades as its traditional role in drug distribution has increasingly expanded to incorporate the concept of pharmaceutical care. This philosophy of pharmaceutical care charges pharmacists with the responsibility for providing drug therapy that achieves defined outcomes and improves a patient’s quality of life. Pharmacists are expected to interact with patients and other health care providers to assure that the drug therapy prescribed is appropriate and is being taken in a way that assures achieving the desired outcomes.

The ability of pharmacists to play an active role in drug therapy is being recognized at the state and national levels. At the state level pharmacists have been recognized as having the ability to initiate or modify drug therapy, either through collaboration with a physician or by independent authority. In Michigan pharmacists are allowed to prescribe under delegated authority of a licensed practitioner. Examples of services provided by pharmacists include: disease state screening (examples are: blood pressure monitoring for hypertension, glucose monitoring for diabetes, cholesterol monitoring, bone densitometry for osteoporosis), monitoring and adjusting anticoagulation therapy, monitoring and adjusting antibiotic therapy.

A major impetus for these changes is a result of the realization of the added value of pharmacists input into therapeutic decision making in manner that can result in cost reduction through prevention of problems arising from adverse drug experiences, drug-drug and drug-food interactions, errors in prescribing or administering medications, and patient noncompliance.