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New! Explore Health Careers Program Option & Webinar

  • 1.  New! Explore Health Careers Program Option & Webinar

    Posted 01-18-2022 09:19 AM

    Liaison's Explore Health Careers Program Overview

    DESCRIPTION
    Liaison's Explore Health Careers Program is new and intended to assist colleges and schools of pharmacy situated within a university with other health profession degree programs (academic health centers). The purpose of the service is to facilitate the application process for "other CAS" applicants who applied to and were denied admission to one health profession program and have agreed to be considered for admission by the college or school of pharmacy at the same institution. The program eliminates the need for these health profession applicants to complete a second CAS application during the same cycle. It also ensures that schools are complying with the PharmCAS full participation policy. Pharmacy schools are strongly encouraged to speak with their university administration and colleagues in other health profession degree programs about this recruitment strategy before attempting to encourage applicants who applied to other professions at the same institution to apply to the pharmacy program.

    APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY
    To be eligible for Liaison's Explore Health Careers Program, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

    • Applied to and was denied admission by another health profession degree program at the same parent institution (university) as the college or school of pharmacy.
    • Applied during the same admissions cycle (e.g., 2021-2022) and for the same entering class year.
    • Have a Liaison-based CAS application with verified application status (not undelivered, not on hold).
    • Has granted the institution permission to transfer the other CAS application to PharmCAS via a signed authorization form created and collected by the institution.

     

    APPLICANT AUTHORIZATION FORM
    The institution is solely responsible for obtaining permission and the appropriate release form from the applicant to authorize Liaison to transfer the applicant's record from the other CAS application to PharmCAS. By submitting an applicant's name to Liaison, the institution is confirming that it has consulted with its institutional legal counsel and obtained the appropriate signed release from the applicant. The school will NOT send these signed forms to PharmCAS or AACP. Please view examples (attached).

    PROCESSING OVERVIEW

    • Once received from a school, Liaison will identify the applicant's record in the other CAS.
    • Liaison will manually key enter selected fields from the applicant's (other) CAS application to the PharmCAS application.
    • Only selected application fields will be populated in PharmCAS, as described in the field mapping overview (attached).
    • PharmCAS will manually copy the applicant's transcripts from one CAS to another.
    • PharmCAS will re-verify the application using the PharmCAS verification rules and generate a new set of PharmCAS GPAs.
    • Since Liaison will use "dummy" email accounts for the PharmCAS account, the affected applicant will not have login access to the PharmCAS application during the impacted cycle.
    • The school will be notified when the CAS application transfer is complete, and the applicant's record is available in WebAdMIT.

     

    FEES
    The per applicant fees for Liaison's Explore Health Careers Program are subject to change every cycle. Liaison will email an invoice to the pharmacy school at the end of the 2021-2022 cycle for all fees.

    • $175 base application fee
    • $175 Liaison CAS transfer fee

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    • $350 = Total fee per applicant

     

    CAS CONTACT
    Once the school has obtained signed permission from the applicant(s) to transfer their application to PharmCAS, it should email Liaison at ehcprogram@liaisonedu.com. Schools are encouraged to send applicant names to Liaison as they come, rather than wait to send until the list is complete.

    PROCESSING DATES
    Liaison will accept requests for CAS application transfers between March 1 and June 15, 2022. PharmCAS will verify and process CAS application transfers through June 30, 2022. Schools must allow up to 10 business days for the transfer process to be completed.

    PILOT PROGRAM
    Liaison is offering this service as a pilot program for PharmCAS schools only during the 2021-2022 cycle. This service is not currently available to other CAS and may be modified in the future based on experiences during the pilot phase.

    ALTERNATIVES FOR OTHER CAS APPLICANTS
    Pharmacy schools are NOT required to use the fee-based service to consider or accept applicants who applied to another health profession program at the same institution. Alternatives are described below.

    • Instruct the applicant to create and submit a PharmCAS application.
      • Applicants can be instructed to complete the application in full or only the required fields.
      • Follow the tips on Page 18 of the PharmCAS School Manual on ways to reduce the burden on early assurance students.
    • Decide whether the institution will pay the PharmCAS application fee ($175).
      • If the applicant will pay the standard PharmCAS fee, then no special instructions are needed.
      • If the school wishes to cover the PharmCAS fee, it can use the coupon codes.

     

    LEARN MORE
    A related webinar will be offered on Monday, March 14 at 2pm ET for those who are interested in learning more. Click here to register.

    FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

    Q: The applicant has completed additional college courses since first applying via the other CAS. Should the applicant's updated courses and transcripts be sent to PharmCAS?

    • No. Applicants who are processed through this service will NOT have the opportunity to submit updated coursework or transcripts through PharmCAS. If needed, these types of updates must be sent directly to the school. Otherwise, the school should advise the applicant to create a new PharmCAS application and submit all materials via the regular process.

     

    Q: The pharmacy school is located on a different campus than the other health profession program(s) at the university. Are applicants to these programs still eligible for this service?

    • Yes. As long as the applicant applied to another health profession program at the same institution as the pharmacy school (as identified in the ACPE directory), then the individual is eligible for Liaison's Explore Health Careers Program.

     

    Q: Can we use this service if the applicant applied to the medical school at my university via AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service)?

    • No. AMCAS is not a Liaison-based CAS.

     

    Q: Can we use this service if the applicant applied to a different university?

    • No.

     

    Q: Does the "other CAS" applicant also need to be an undergraduate student at the same university as the pharmacy school to be eligible for this service?

    • No. Applicants who applied to another health profession program at the same institution as the pharmacy school are eligible for this service, regardless of whether they were undergraduate students at the same university.

     

    Q:  Are all "other CAS" applicants required to have a PharmCAS application?

    • Yes. All "other CAS" applicants who wish to be accepted into a pharmacy school that participates in PharmCAS must have a PharmCAS application to comply with the participation policy.

     

    Q: Will the applicant's PharmCAS GPAs match the GPAs for other CAS?

    • Due to differences in the calculation rules across CAS, the GPAs will differ.

     

    Q: Can I use this service BEFORE the applicant has been reviewed by the other health profession program at my institution?

    • No, you may only use this service if (a) the applicant has already been denied admission to the other program and (b) has granted the pharmacy school permission to transfer their application to PharmCAS.


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    Katie Owings Bruce
    Director of Application Services and Student Programs
    American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
    703-739-2330 x1026
    kbruce@aacp.org
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