Academic Information (2023)

Degree Requirements

The School of Pharmacy PhD program follows the Texas A&M University guidelines for PhD program requirements and the SCH requirements for students with or without master’s degrees. Further, unlike other programs with separated disciplines of pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, or pharmacy administration, the proposed program will have only one administrative unit. Regardless of the discipline interest of students, they will take the required core courses followed by a qualifying examination conducted by the PHSC PhD Program Committee with help from the course instructors and advisory committees.

Following the completion of six-week lab rotations, students will select mentors and an advisory committee. This advisory committee will select prescribed electives to advance the student experience and training depending upon the discipline interest; the advisory committee will work with the PHSC Graduate Program Committee to develop content for the qualifying examination and take part in the progress evaluation of research throughout a student’s stay in the program.

The advisory committee, with assistance from the PHSC PhD Program Committee, ensures the general requirements of the Texas A&M graduate catalog are met. At the end of the second year, or any time prior, students will present their research proposal to the advisory committee and larger departmental audience in consultation with the major advisor. They will also take questions to demonstrate the mastery of the subject in which they are conducting dissertation research. Furthermore, students are required to participate in the School of Pharmacy’s seminar series and make a presentation on their respective dissertation topic at least once every year.

At the end of every year, students will present their progress report to their advisory committee or present departmental seminars on research progress, and complete their dissertations at least one month before the final defense. The dissertation must be defended in an open presentation followed by in-depth questions and examination on the research content by the advisory committee. Dissertations must be submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies (OGAPS) as per their requirements.

Semester Credit Hour Requirements by Category

¹ Texas Education Code 61.059 (l) limits funding for doctoral students to 99 SCH. Programs may be allowed to require additional SCH, if there is a compelling academic reason.

Courses

The program offers courses and opportunities to pursue graduate education in a variety of areas includingprocess or product development of pharmaceutical products by quality by design and process analytical technologies with chemometrics and big data management techniques.

Further, the proposed PhD program will be the first of its kind offering graduate training and education based on the FDA’s critical path and CGMPs of the 21st century initiatives and the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education’s (NIPTE) recommendations for modernization of pharmaceutical development. Specialized courses such as pediatric dosage forms, vaccine delivery, chemometrics and big data management, process and product development with PAT and QBD tools are not offered as prescribed electives or electives in many other institutions. These unique courses will help modernize the pharmaceutical industry as needed by the FDA and pharm industry. Texas A&M is uniquely positioned to accomplish this because of the qualifications of the faculty in the School of Pharmacy as well as the state-of-the-art infrastructure at Texas A&M.

The faculty of the School of Pharmacy is diverse, which is a strength for the integration of knowledge required for pharmaceutical science research. The core courses represent basic fundamental knowledge required for all majors within pharmaceutical science. After the students complete these courses and laboratory rotations, they will select PhD advisory committees. Depending upon the specialty areas of the major advisor and advisory committee members, appropriate electives will be suggested. Another unique feature of the program is that students will understand the drug development from a regulatory standpoint so that they develop the ability to convert basic discoveries into actual dosage forms for targeted drug delivery, controlled drug delivery, biotech and vaccine product development, transdermal and topical drug delivery, as well as herbal drugs, nanotechnology for biomedical applications, and knowledge of big data management and chemometrics.

For transfer credits, a maximum of six credit hours will be allowed after the determination of competency-based equivalency with existing courses by the PHSC PhD Program Committee. For professional experience, a student may be allowed to work in a pharmaceutical industry for a maximum of six credit hours of research with consent of the major advisor and approval of the PHSC PhD Program Committee.

The School of Pharmacy has well-tested teaching strategies of active learning, problem-based learning, competency-based learning, and flip-teaching that have been evaluated by American Council on Pharmaceutical Accreditation when the college recently received its accreditation for PharmD degree. The School of Pharmacy will also participate in the Texas A&M pedagogy project to enhance student learning and professional experiences.

Required/Core Courses

The courses in the above table are the required courses for 26 SCH for all entering students without Master of Science (MS) degrees and 18 SCH with MS degrees. They build the foundation and bring consistency to a diverse group of incoming students. It is highly likely that some of these required courses have already been completed at the graduate level by students entering with MS degrees. Depending upon their backgrounds, only 18 out of the 26 credits will meet the requirements. If a student enters after a MS degree and is found to have taken more courses or their equivalents in an accredited program, the PHSC PhD Program Committee may waive the required course and substitute that course with an elective based on the students’ background and dissertation advisory committee recommendations.

Prescribed Elective Courses (course offering is determined by graduate program committee and availability of courses)

Prescribed electives vary depending upon the background of incoming students. If it is not prescribed, the students may elect to take the above courses or others from Texas A&M that their advisory committee may recommend.

Graduate Catalog