PharmD students are required to complete 10 clinical practice experiences during their four years
at the School.

Practice experiences, coordinated through the Professional Experiential Program (PEP), ensure that each student develops the technical skills, professional judgment, communication skills, and clinical competency required of professional pharmacists.

Students provide care and work under the close supervision of faculty and selected professionals recognized by the School of Pharmacy as preceptors. These preceptors show the student how to apply knowledge learned in the classroom to daily practice, assess the student's progress, and contribute to the student's overall evaluation. These 10 months of practice experiences are distributed throughout the coursework as outlined below.

Required Practice Experience

PY2 Practice Experience (typically July following PY1 year)

The PY2 practice experience places students in community and hospital pharmacies (at least 2 weeks each) to provide early exposure to the philosophy and practice of the profession of pharmacy. In each of the practice settings, students participate in direct delivery of comprehensive community and hospital pharmacy services.

PY3 Practice Experience (typically May following PY2 year)

During the PY3 year, students will participate in either an advanced hospital or an advanced community practice experience in order to provide them with additional practice skills and knowledge to begin practice in these settings.

PY4 Practice Experience (typically August–November and January–April of PY4 year)

The PY4 year emphasizes hands-on learning in real world environments. The year's practice experience are designed to translate classroom learning into clinical application. By participating in numerous practice experience, students begin to gain skills and acquire the confidence to become independent practitioners.

The practice experience for the PY4 year are:

• Advanced Community or Advanced Hospital Pharmacy Practice Clerkship (1 month)
• Inpatient Medicine  (1 month)
• Ambulatory Care (1 month)
• Medicine Specialty (1 month)
• Elective (4 one-month practice experiences)

Students receive four hours of academic credit for each month of practice experience. The resulting 10 months of practice experience meets the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy experience requirement (1500 hours) required for the licensure examination.

Elective rotations

A number of alternative practice experience opportunities are available as electives. Students can choose from the Public Health Service, FDA, and other national professional organizations and research facilities as settings for further experiential learning.