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- Offers Recommendations to Strengthen Graduate Programs - The Commission on the Future of Graduate Education in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, a distinguished panel of experts appointed by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, recently reported the results of its examination of graduate programs in the pharmaceutical sciences, the potential career pathways of Ph.D. graduates in the pharmaceutical sciences, and the current and future supply of and demand for pharmaceutical scientists. A major finding is that current and future opportunities for employment of pharmaceutical science graduate students from US colleges and schools of pharmacy are excellent and there is no need to cut back the number of pharmaceutical sciences Ph.D graduates from colleges of pharmacy as has been recommended for graduate programs in other areas of the biomedical sciences. According to Commission Chair, Dr. David J. Triggle, Provost and Dean of the Graduate School of the State University of New York at Buffalo, "emerging discoveries in genomics and an expanding understanding of the molecular basis for diseases are creating a bright future for the pharmaceutical and related biotechnology industries that employ pharmaceutical scientists. Unlike other life science disciplines, pharmaceutical science Ph.D. graduates generally view an industrial career to be equivalent to an academic career, not as a less desirable 'alternative' career." In the process of examining the future opportunities for graduate students in the pharmaceutical sciences, the Commission identified specific courses of action that can enhance the value of the pharmaceutical science educational experience. The Commission stressed the need for schools and colleges of pharmacy to meet the challenge of remaining both competitive and collaborative with the other biomedical sciences disciplines within the university. Nine recommendations for schools and colleges of pharmacy directed toward the goal of strengthening their graduate programs in the pharmaceutical sciences reflect the specific findings of the Commission (see back of release). Dr. Triggle was ably supported by Paul Anderson, Ph.D., Vice President, Chemical and Physical Sciences, DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company; John M. Cassady, Ph.D., Dean, Ohio State University School of Pharmacy; Jere E. Goyan, former FDA Commissioner and former Dean, UCSF College of Pharmacy; David A. Knapp, Ph.D., Dean, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy; Ernest Mario, Ph.D., Chairman of AFPE and Chairman and CEO, Alza Corporation; Kenneth W. Miller, Ph.D., Vice President, Graduate Education, Research and Scholarship, AACP; Joseph Mollica, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pharmacopeia, Inc.; John P. Perkins, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Alice Till, Ph.D., President, Generic Pharmaceutical Industries Association, and Renee Williard, postdoctoral representative on the AAMC GREAT Group. The magnitude of AFPE's long-term contribution to pharmaceutical education is evidenced by the number of former AFPE fellows who participated and indeed comprised almost half of the members of the Commission (noted in bold type). AFPE Chairman and Commission participant Ernest Mario, Ph.D. praised the findings and recommendations. "The Commission confirmed the expanding industry need for Ph.D. graduates in the pharmaceutical sciences in addition to making important recommendations for improving the graduate education of pharmaceutical scientists," he said. "I will forward this report to the soon-to-be established AFPE Industry Advisory Board for review and consideration". The Commission offers the following recommendations to assist colleges and schools of pharmacy with strengthening their graduate programs in the pharmaceutical sciences and planning for the future. A full copy of the report can be found at www.aacp.org/Faculty/faculty.html#reports or the Am. J Pharm Educ., 1999;63: 218-48. Recommendation 1: To maintain both the viability and visibility of graduate programs in the pharmaceutical sciences, colleges and schools of pharmacy must offer students research environments were competitive, funded, cutting edge research is performed under the supervision of highly qualified faculty mentors. Recommendation 2: Institutions contemplating starting graduate programs (Ph.D. or M.S.) should only do so after an objective examination of the need for graduates with the particular expertise that the program is designated to provide. An inventory of faculty research experience, extramural financial support, and the research infrastructure (i.e., instrumentation, animal facilities, etc.) available to perform cutting-edge research in the proposed program area should be conducted, and deficiencies corrected before initiating a graduate program. Colleges and schools of pharmacy at less-research intensive universities should identify non-pharmacy departments (i.e., chemistry, mathematics, statistics, etc.) on their campus or on an adjacent campus that can provide research support and didactic courses at a level advanced enough to provide sufficient breadth to the proposed programs of graduate study. Recommendation 3: Pharmaceutical sciences faculty are encouraged to engage in multi- or interdisciplinary research and graduate programs within their own institution and with other faculty within the university. Pharmaceutical sciences faculty need to be more proactive in proposing and organizing interdisciplinary institution-based and campus-wide research programs, centers, or institutes, despite the possibility that the majority of faculty participants may not be from the college or school of pharmacy Recommendation 4: Graduate programs in the pharmaceutical sciences should establish, compile, and assess longitudinal databases of performance indicators to internally and externally assess faculty, students, and program quality. Sufficient data should be made public to assist potential graduate students to determine if the program is consistent with their research career aspirations. A common set of performance indicator measures should be submitted annually to AACP for the purpose of constructing comparison college and school cohorts (benchmarks) for chairs and deans to evaluate and improve the performance of their graduate programs. Recommendation 5: All colleges and schools of pharmacy with graduate programs should provide "survival skills" training to their graduate students through a combination of didactic presentations and supervised experiences. These survival skills include, but are not limited to research ethics, written and oral communications skills development, teaching skill development, computer skills enhancement, career counseling, and research team building opportunities. Recommendation 6: Colleges and schools of pharmacy need to increase their recruitment efforts for U.S. students from disciplines other than pharmacy. The availability of large numbers of qualified foreign pharmacy graduates should not be used as a continual justification for the lack of recruitment of U.S. educated students. Colleges and schools of pharmacy also need to explore innovative approaches to increase the numbers of U.S. pharmacy students in graduate programs, through joint Pharm.D./Ph.D. programs that offer a significant decrease in time to complete both degrees. Recommendation 7: Colleges and schools of pharmacy are encouraged to examine a Ph.D. program in the clinical sciences as an appropriate addition to their graduate program offerings. Recommendation 8: Colleges and schools of pharmacy are encouraged to reexamine the M.S. degree as an applied pharmaceutical science graduate degree with a prescribed set of didactic and research requirements for completion. Recommendation 9: The topic of graduate education should become an area of programming at AACP Annual Meetings.
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