Touro College of Pharmacy

New York, New York

Founded: 2008

Class size: Around 86

As the only pharmacy school in Manhattan, Touro College of Pharmacy (TCOP) places its students in one of the world’s most renowned cities that also happens to be a health care mecca.

Dean Henry Cohen, PharmD, FCCM, BCPP, CGP, who assumed his new role in January 2016, expressed a desire to promote interprofessional education and grow research and scholarship opportunities, which will open the door for students to find residencies and fellowships.

“TCOP has established university-sponsored or co-sponsored pharmacy residency programs with several high caliber hospitals in the New York metropolitan area,” Dr. Cohen told Pharmacy Careers. “Such programs—which are available in such specialties as infectious diseases, critical care, internal medicine, and ambulatory care—benefit students because they provide opportunities to shadow pharmacy resident role models, increase their clinical pharmacy interactions, and promote student interest in postgraduate residency training.”

Dr. Cohen spoke further with Pharmacy Careers about what TCOP provides and what it is like to be a student there.

Q: What is unique about your school/program?

A: TCOP, along with its sister college of pharmacy in Vallejo, California, are unique in offering a “2+2 program” that resembles medical school education: students receive 2 years of didactic coursework followed by 2 years of pharmacy practice experience in the field through clerkship rotations.

The additional years of practice experience integrated with classroom lectures allow students to learn while honing their practice skills, preparing them for real-life pharmacy practice and work experiences.

Pharmacy practice rotations focus on clinical pharmacy, hospital and community practice, ambulatory care, long-term care, public health, and the pharmaceutical industry.

In addition, TCOP has new state-of-the-art facilities with modern high-tech classrooms, lecture halls with classroom-style seating, laboratories with modern drug assay equipment, and a sterile room with laminar flow hoods. These facilities are aesthetically pleasing and conducive to learning.

TCOP also has a health and wellness facility, private study rooms, a multipurpose student lounge, and a comfortable medical library.

The expansive medical library is designed for both the medical and pharmacy schools with access to more than 60,000 journals, 100,000 e-books, and 135 databases.

TCOP is located in the same building as Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, which allows students from pharmacy and medicine to interact and build relationships both socially and professionally.

The colleges of pharmacy and medicine engage in interprofessional training, and students are taught about each other’s expertise and roles in health care. The student doctors and pharmacists are taught how to work collaboratively as members of multidisciplinary teams to improve patient outcomes.

Q: What is the teaching style or philosophy?

A key strength of TCOP is its faculty members, who are highly dedicated to teaching and are readily available for students’ needs.

Students learn best when faculty utilize active learning techniques such as audience response systems, videos, patient and disease state blogs, review of simulated and actual patient cases, and working in the simulation laboratory, as well as small group recitations, workshops, and laboratories.

TCOP offers all of these opportunities and provides excellent student support services, classes, and tutorials to help students succeed in its rigorous pharmacy program and pass national pharmacy licensing examinations.

Q: What are some community outreach activities or programs in which the school participates?

A: The pharmacy program has a strong focus on community outreach and public health. Students participate in immunization campaigns, brown bag events, and medication lectures at community centers, geriatric centers, and other public locations.

Together with faculty liaisons, students travel globally to provide health care and medication management to countries with health care crises and underserved populations.

Q: What opportunities do students have for internships or co-ops?

A: Students train and gain extensive experiences at world-class health systems at leading medical centers in the New York metropolitan area and a variety of pharmacy settings, including community hospitals, New York City hospitals, community pharmacies at both national chain stores and independent pharmacies, and long-term care facilities.

Students can complete pharmacy practice experiences at leading pharmaceutical companies and government agencies such as the FDA, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization.

Q: What opportunities do students have for internships or co-ops?

The Doctor of Pharmacy degree is very flexible, and the field of pharmacy offers many diverse opportunities for new graduates.

New graduates should consider enhancing their candidacy for these opportunities by pursuing postgraduate training and education. Most commonly, PharmD graduates pursue pharmacy residency training as postgraduate year (PGY) 1 general residencies or PGY-2 specialty residencies in a variety of areas, such as community pharmacy, critical care, infectious diseases, ambulatory care, pediatrics, psychiatry, and oncology.

Community pharmacy residencies are especially helpful for those pursuing careers in independent pharmacy and ownership.

Many graduates will also pursue fellowship training for positions with the pharmaceutical industry or advanced degrees such as an MBA, MPH, MPA, or JD for leadership roles in all areas of pharmacy, health systems, and regulatory affairs.

Graduates who join the workforce must stay abreast of changes in pharmacy practice and pharmacotherapy. They should avidly participate in professional societies, continuing education programs, local and national educational conferences, and they should also network to develop a cadre of professional relationships with pharmacy and medical colleagues.