UB pharmacy school partners with Utica College on new 3+4 doctoral program

BUFFALO. N.Y. – The University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Utica College have formed a new agreement that will provide students the opportunity to earn a doctor of pharmacy degree (PharmD) in a shorter amount of time.

Under the 3+4 agreement, Utica College students who complete three years of undergraduate study in the school’s biology program are allowed to apply for admission to the UB PharmD program. Once accepted, students will have their first-year pharmacy courses applied toward completion of their bachelor’s degree at Utica College. 

Rather than taking four years to complete a bachelor’s degree and an additional four years to complete the PharmD, students will complete both programs in seven years. UB will guarantee spaces each year for qualified Utica College students.

The agreement was formally signed on Dec. 20, 2016, by Utica College President Laura Casamento, EdD; James O’Donnell, PhD, dean of the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Michael Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB; and Graham Hammill, PhD, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School at UB.

“Utica College is committed to helping and preparing students to find their path to successful lives and careers,” said Casamento. “Partnerships such as this one with premier institutions like the University at Buffalo are consistent with that commitment.”

Discussing the UB-Utica partnership, O’Donnell said, “The University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences values our strong collaboration with Utica College, and this 3+4 agreement will further solidify this partnership. We look forward to having their best and brightest students as members of our PharmD program.”

The UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the premier school of pharmacy in the SUNY system, is ranked among the top pharmacy schools in the U.S. and is one of the top departments in the world in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and biopharmaceutics.