Building a Public Health Focused Doctor of Pharmacy Program

Touro College of Pharmacy is a new program located in the Harlem community in New York City. Serving the urban, ethnically diverse population of Harlem is a major part of our mission. The curriculum is designed in recognition that pharmacists can play an important role in meeting the goals of Healthy People 2010 and can provide public health information to populations through pharmacies that are in place in community settings. The public health component of the novel Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum is contained in a series of public health courses in two years of coursework followed by two years of experiential education. Public health content includes coursework in the Foundations of Public Health in the first semester, Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the second semester followed by a course on Communities and Health Disparities in the third semester of the program. Public health-related elective offerings are offered in the fourth semester and in semesters five and six. The curriculum contains Introductory Practice Experiences and Advanced Practice Experiences that place students in community settings and public health facilities and develop skills to support public health advocacy. The year long Capstone Project in the fourth year of the program provides a research experience for every student and the opportunity to hone their organizational and communication skills in pharmacy and public health. The expected outcome of the Touro College of Pharmacy program is a graduate that is responsive to the health care and public health needs of diverse communities and populations.