Is a Lipscomb Pharm.D. Degree the Right Fit for You?

April 27, 2023

Pharmacy students standing outside — Lipscomb PharmD students benefit from our 100% job placement rate and #1 residency match rate in TN.

You have many choices in pharmacy education. But not all of them offer the same opportunities.

As the June 1 PharmCAS application deadline approaches, learn what sets a Lipscomb Pharm.D. degree apart from the rest and determine if it is the right fit for you.

According to our students and alumni, a Lipscomb Pharm.D. degree is a good fit if…

1. A high-ROI Pharm.D. program is important - you want to maximize your investment and gain a professional edge before graduation.

Lipscomb offers certifications and dual degree options to boost the value of your education which ultimately saves you time, money and effort.

Built-In Certifications
Our students earn many certifications while they are enrolled including Basic Life Support (BLS), Medication Therapy Management (MTM), Diabetes Care and Education (CDCES), Immunization Certification, Naloxone training, State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) Training, and Medicare Plan Selection in the State of TN.

Dual Degree Options
Lipscomb Pharm.D. students have the option to enroll in one of our two dual degree offerings: Health Care Informatics (MHCI) or Healthcare Administration (MHA). Health Care Informatics and Health Care Administration dual degree students graduate on the same day with two degrees, so they can enter the workforce with added credentials that set them apart on day one of employment. Lipscomb also offers a Pharm.D. to Ph.D. pathway program with Vanderbilt. Through this partnership Lipscomb Pharm.D. graduates may be admitted to Vanderbilt’s Ph.D. program in pharmacology with one year of advanced standing.

2. You want a variety of hands-on interprofessional and research learning experiences while earning your degree.

Pharmacy practice experiences at Lipscomb begin your first semester and allow you to work with some of the nation’s best practitioners in all areas of pharmacy outside the classroom. This includes hospitals, community pharmacies and specialty pharmacies, such as long-term care and nuclear pharmacies.

14 Professional Pharmacy Experiences
Our Pharm.D. students complete three 5-week introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPE rotations), earning 14 unique pharmacy trainings. This format enables students to build their network at every step of earning their Pharm.D. degree, starting in the first week of classes.

Paid Summer Research Program
Lipscomb’s 10-week summer research program has supported over 100 research experiences for pharmacy and undergraduate students to engage in faculty-mentored laboratory research projects since its inception. In addition to participating in hands-on research, students attend research seminars and presentations, evaluate scientific literature, develop and present a poster or seminar, and explore research career opportunities in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences. Students in this program have gone on to secure highly competitive travel awards, scholarships and fellowships at the national level.

Pharmacy Partnership with Vanderbilt
The Vanderbilt Program in Interprofessional Learning (VPIL) places a student pharmacist alongside student peers from different medical disciplines in an interprofessional Vanderbilt clinic. As a team, the interprofessional team assists in the delivery of care for patients and participates in seminar sessions to hear from various professionals at Vanderbilt and learn different skills. This setting allows for each student to experience first-hand the value that each perspective brings to the medical team and learn to begin using their voice as a pharmacist to impact medication decisions.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center
Lipscomb’s 15,000 square foot pharmaceutical sciences research center facility specializes in the area of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics. It also provides collaborative classroom space, core analytical labs and other learning areas to support research initiatives. In the simplest of terms, this research investigates the impact of a medication on the body and the body’s impact on a particular medication with the goal of understanding the safety and efficacy of a drug and minimizing negative medication reactions.

Integrated Biomedical Sciences Laboratory
Located within Lipscomb’s pharmaceutical sciences research center, the IBS Lab is specifically designed to provide hands-on experiences for students that emphasize fundamental concepts in drug delivery, drug formulation, drug disposition and drug response, along with basic science content through a variety of active learning approaches. It is a unique concept among pharmacy programs.

3. You don’t want to settle for general educators, you want to learn from accomplished experts in their fields.

Lipscomb Pharm.D. professors are specialists who are residency trained and experts in their field. Our faculty are board certified in specialties such as pediatrics, cardiology, internal medicine, health care informatics, and ambulatory care to name a few. They practice at diverse sites throughout the Middle Tennessee area ranging from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Monroe Carell Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and the Tennessee Valley VA, to clinics that serve Nashville’s most vulnerable populations. This includes professors like Jessica Wallace (Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Internal Medicine), Allison Provine (Pediatric Pharmacy Specialist), and Zach Cox (Heart Failure Clinical Pharmacy Specialist).

Our faculty partner with institutions far and near to bring new insights and knowledge to our world. Read a few of their stories:

Students have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty in research through both our summer research program as well as research electives in both pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacy practice in the third year.

4. You want to earn your degree in the Health Care Capital.

We have choices here that ensure your pharmacy practice experiences are more diverse, of higher quality and cover a large expanse of the industry. According to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, the health care industry is the region's largest and fastest-growing employer, with more than 900 health care companies located here. Nashville's health care industry contributes an overall benefit of nearly $67 billion and 362,560 direct and indirect industry jobs to the local economy annually.

5. You are outcomes-driven and want a program you can rely on to help secure your future in pharmacy or greater health care.

Your future is our focus. Lipscomb Pharm.D. licensed graduates have a 100% job placement rate. We have the #1 residency match rate in TN and are top 20 in the Nation. Our graduates are placed in exclusive residency programs around the country including:

Medstar National Rehabilitation Network, Washington, DC
Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego,CA
Baptist Health Louisville, Louisville, KY
Providence Alaska Medical Center, Anchorage, AK
VA - Nashville, TN - VA Tennessee Valley HCS, Nashville, TN
Bayhealth, Dover, DE
CVS Health/UNE at ABD Specialty Pharmacy, Portland, ME
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Saint Joseph Hospital, Denver,CO
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Durham NC
And many other locations

Read a few of our alum spotlights:

Make sure your final choice is one that will prepare you to be the pharmacist you truly want to be.

As one of the top pharmacy programs in the Southeast, we are committed to developing pharmacists who not only know how to execute in their field but see a deeper level of caring as essential to their work and the communities they serve. We promise: you’ll never be a number here. You’ll be a member of a community that knows you by name. If our PharmD program sounds like the right fit for you, we invite you to complete your PharmCAS application by the June 1 deadline.

Complete your PharmCAS application by June 1

Learn more about Lipscomb’s College of Pharmacy and PharmD program.

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