The Doctor of Pharmacy program at Northeastern University is a rigorous and challenging academic program that requires students to possess specific characteristics and abilities within the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, referred to here as technical standards. To successfully progress in and ultimately complete the didactic, laboratory and experiential components of the Doctor of Pharmacy program, students must meet the following standards:
Intellectual Abilities
Students must have well-developed problem solving and critical thinking skills. Cognitive function must be appropriate to integrate, evaluate and apply information gained through measurement, analysis, calculation, and reasoning. Students must have the capacity to learn efficiently in classroom, laboratory, small group, and experiential settings, and through independent study. Students are required to demonstrate the ability to integrate course content knowledge with clinical practice applications to optimize medication therapy management.
Communication Skills
Students must be able to communicate effectively with colleagues, professors, patients, families, and healthcare providers. This includes efficiently comprehending, speaking, reading, and writing in English. Students must be able to process and use appropriate non-verbal cues and be proficient in the use of electronic communication media.
Behavioral and Social Attributes
Students must demonstrate maturity, integrity, honesty, compassion, and respect when relating to others. Students must have sufficient mental and emotional health to complete work and responsibilities using good judgment. Students must be able to tolerate and adapt to stressful workloads and situations, and modify behavior based on constructive criticism. Students must be able to function in accordance with the legal and ethical standards of practice.
Observation and Motor Skills
Students must have functional use of visual, auditory, and tactile senses. Students must be able to observe and perform experiments, physical assessments, patient interviews, and medication order processing. Students must be able to distinguish physical characteristics of medications by inspection. Students must have coordination of gross and fine muscular movements sufficient to perform pharmacy-related tasks including compounding and dispensing medications, administering medications, and using computers and other technology necessary for learning and professional practice.