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Beyond the PharmD
B Y D A N I E L P . S M I T H
College of Pharmacy graduate programs prepare— and consistently evolve—to help students succeed in a wide range of clinical and research positions.
WHILE THE TRADITIONAL PHARMD remains the most frequently issued degree at the UIC College of Pharmacy, and the newly launched Bachelor of Science in pharmaceutical sciences might be the current topic du jour, graduate programs remain an important, core pillar of the college.
Across three different academic departments— Pharmaceutical Sciences; Pharmacy Practice; and Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes, and Policy (PSOP)—the UIC College of Pharmacy offers a diverse array of graduate opportunities designed to meet market forces and create industry-ready researchers and clinicians.
And with an enterprising spirit and responsive mindset, the college continues to evolve and adapt its graduate programs to ensure relevant training that propels students into difference-making positions, elevates scientific research, and drives patient care.
The current state of graduate programs
The Department of Pharmacy Practice hosts more than 30 postgraduate trainees spread across several programs. In addition to directing the college’s flagship PGY1 residency program, Pharmacy Practice oversees PGY2 specialty residencies in areas such as ambulatory care, critical care, drug information, and emergency medicine as well as fellowships covering areas such as infectious diseases, critical care, and academic/family medicine. While the residencies largely focus on clinical care, the fellowships prioritize research training.
“As a department and a college, this mix of residencies and fellowships allows us to stay at the top of the pyramid in training future professional leaders, both in clinical practice and applied research,” says Dr. Edith Nutescu, head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice.
In PSOP, the PhD program offers four distinct areas of concentration: health economics and outcomes research, pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, pharmaceutical policy, and pharmacy education. About 25 students are in the sought-after program, which sees its alumni land careers in industry, managed care, nonprofits, and academia.
The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, meanwhile, admitted the first students into its new PhD program last fall. The new structure allows students to take courses across five different concentrations: chemistry and drug discovery; pharmacognosy; molecular mechanisms and therapeutics; pharmaceutics and drug delivery; and, finally, forensics. While each concentration maintains its own required courses, all students must complete program-specific courses, such as teaching and research presentation, scientific ethics, and biostatistics.
In the department’s former PhD programs, students pursued a doctorate degree in one of three fields—medicinal chemistry, pharmacognosy, or biopharmaceutical sciences. Under the new, more encompassing “umbrella program,” one of the nation’s few such academic efforts, students gain heightened training across disciplines, which enables them to discover different scientific areas and stretch their knowledge base.
“This new arrangement allows students to expand the breadth of their knowledge,” says Dr. Terry Moore, director of graduate studies. “It’s a change that reflects the students’ desires to gain varied training as well as the professional world’s growing need for professionals with multidisciplinary skills and knowledge.”
Moore adds that Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty are actively developing new curricula to prepare students for a demanding industry environment that requires interdisciplinary research experiences and communication skills. Next spring, for example, Pharmaceutical Sciences professor Brian Murphy will teach a first-time course in scientific writing and storytelling. Department faculty also continue finetuning the syllabus for a required first-year course in drug discovery and development that will expose students to many aspects of pharmaceutical sciences.
Such evolution, of course, is a hallmark of the UIC College of Pharmacy, which claims a long-standing record of innovation and pioneering action. The college has never held much interest in the status quo, and so it goes with its graduate programs as well.
In recent years, Pharmacy Practice has added new PGY2 residences in pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine and expanded their criticalcare and ambulatory-care residency programs. The department also unveiled its fellowships in the areas of critical care and infectious diseases pharmacotherapy as well as academic/family medicine pharmacy.
“We’re keeping any eye on how the healthcare world is evolving and aligning our programs accordingly, so that we have highly trained researchers and clinicians ready to step in and contribute,” Nutescu says. To that point, UIC teamed with NorthShore University HealthSystem to launch the nation’s first dual-site pharmacogenomics-personalized medicine residency this summer. Nutescu says that collaborative PGY2 residency serves as a fitting example of the department’s willingness to create innovative training programs that nurture the next generation.
“We’ve consistently lagged as a nation when it comes to personalized medicine and bringing science to bedside, but the pharmacogenomics residency allows us to step up and bring this to pharmacy and our patients in an exciting way,” Nutescu says.
To better reflect the work of graduate students in its department, PSOP is transforming its PhD in pharmacy into a PhD in pharmacy systems, outcomes, and policy, according to department head Todd Lee.
GRADUATE PROGRAM ALUMNI IN ACTION
DR. SKYLAR CARLSON
At UIC, Carlson completed her PhD in pharmacognosy from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy (now the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences) in 2015. In addition to extensive, interdisciplinary-flavored research in natural products, one of UIC’s most notable specialties, she also took courses to prepare for a career in higher education preparation. Today, Carlson is an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. In addition to teaching responsibilities, Carlson also runs an active research program mentoring graduate students. Her research lab combines natural products chemistry, interdisciplinary biology, and chemical ecology. Focusing on the roles that molecules play in nature, the lab searches for biologically active natural products from bacteria, cyanobacteria, sponges, and algae.
“There’s no question UIC helped me land on my feet,” she says. “I not only gained a big-picture, rigorous view of translational research, but also learned how to teach students a diversity of topics and prepare them to work in industry.”
DR. CONOR HANRAHAN
At UIC, Hanrahan took advantage of the online master’s degree program in comparative effectiveness research (MS CER) while working at Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare, an integrated delivery system with 24 hospitals and over 200 clinics across three states. He earned his MS CER in 2020.
Today, Hanrahan remains at Intermountain, where he is the director of medication policy, outcomes, and stewardship for Pharmacy Services. He leads a team evaluating the most effective use of medications across the organization at a population health level.
“With the MS CER program, I learned how to go beyond what the FDA approved and to look at real-world data to assess outcomes of one agent versus others,” Hanrahan says. “With drug costs rising, this knowledge is critical to using our financial resources judiciously and ensuring patients get the best medication therapy.”
DR. BRIANNA MCQUADE
At UIC, McQuade was an academic/family medicine pharmacy fellow from 2018 to 2020. Prior to her fellowship, McQuade worked as a medical science liaison at Pfizer, where her interest in blending clinical practice and research blossomed. She calls her UIC fellowship the “ideal training program.”
“This will make it more relevant to the skills and knowledge our students are developing, so the area of focus is more clearly understood,” Lee says.
PSOP is also shifting to more online content, an evolution that began prepandemic but accelerated as education and training moved into the virtual world due to COVID-19 mandated shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. More online content, Lee says, allows students greater flexibility in how they structure their day.
“And more flexibility to their day opens the door to getting more hands-on research experience, especially earlier in the program,” Lee says.
The college and PSOP, of course, have openly embraced technology to dispense knowledge and advance careers. In addition to PSOP’s long-standing online certificate program in pharmacoepidemiology, PSOP also offers an online master’s degree in comparative effectiveness research (MS CER). Designed to be a flexible degree program for working professionals seeking upward professional movement, the MS CER program trains students to develop, conduct, and analyze CER studies to drive improved health outcomes.
“As we look for the most effective strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions in real-world settings, there is more and more demand for people with the ability to study drug effectiveness,” Lee says.
With the worlds of pharmacy and healthcare evolving at a rapid pace, Nutescu says the college will continue to adapt its graduate programs to meet patient and marketplace needs.
“We will lead, add new areas, and expand where there is high demand,” she says. “That type of education and service is so central to our mission and so vital to stronger patient care and research.”
Today, McQuade is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at UIC. In the classroom, McQuade teaches an elective course on mindfulness, a topic related to her fellowship research, while her clinical work at the UIC-operated Mile Square Health Center in Chicago includes working alongside other health professionals to combat substance use disorder.
“There’s a direct line from my fellowship to the work I’m doing today, and I’m not where I am without the fellowship experience,” McQuade says.
DR. RACHEL HARRINGTON
At UIC, Harrington earned a PhD focused on pharmacoepidemiology and health policy from the Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes, and Policy in 2019.
Today, Harrington is a research scientist in performance measurement for the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit dedicated to developing objective, valid, and reliable healthcare measurement standards. She credits her PhD work with providing her a strong foundation in methods, data, and the ability to collaborate with those from other disciplines.
“Everything I did at UIC was grounded in application,” Harrington says. “The broad foundation of knowledge I received has enabled me to translate this expertise effectively into a number of areas, working alongside other professionals to achieve results,” Harrington says.
DR. DANIELLE TOMPKINS
At UIC, Tompkins followed her PGY1 pharmacy residency with a PGY2 specialty residency in critical care running from 2017 to 2018.
“UIC is one of the most wellknown, well-established pharmacy schools in the country, so I was thrilled to match there not once, but twice,” she says.
Today, Tompkins balances teaching and clinical work as a clinical assistant professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Outside of the classroom, she spends much of her time in the surgical/neurological intensive care unit at Hackensack University Medical Center.
“My training at UIC laid a strong foundation for pharmacy practice, and I was able to get rich experience training at the top of my license,” Tompkins says. “Several great mentors at UIC also showed me the lessons I needed to impart to my students so they could then have the strongest possible impact on patient care.”
