Hello colleagues,
We wanted to share some guidance with schools on the Previous Attendance at a Health Profession Program question block.
APPLICATION
Applicants will find the following question within the Other Information section of the Personal Information quadrant in the PharmCAS application:
INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS
Indicate whether you previously attended a health profession program anywhere in the world, regardless of completion. Pharmacy technician and pre-pharmacy programs do not qualify. If you select Yes, enter details about the program. Note: You are also required to send official transcripts and enter this health profession program in the Colleges Attended section.
WHAT SCHOOLS NEED TO KNOW
- PharmCAS verifiers can only see the Academic History quadrant of the application, which they use to determine whether the Colleges Attended section matches the official transcripts submitted to PharmCAS.
- The Previous Attendance at a Health Profession Program question block is within the Personal Information quadrant of the application and is never seen by verifiers.
- Therefore, it is the pharmacy school's responsibility to determine whether an applicant entered an institution in the Previous Attendance at a Health Profession Program question and, if yes, also reported it in the Colleges Attended section.
- Schools can find the Previous Attendance at a Health Profession Program tab within the Education panel in WebAdMIT.
WHAT TO DO IF A DISCREPANCY IS FOUND
Schools should always compare the applicant's response to the previous health profession program item to the Colleges Attended section. If a school determines that an applicant answered yes to the Previous Attendance at a Health Profession Program question, but that institution is not listed under Colleges Attended, email our PharmCAS Manager, Nicole Iarossi, via niarossi@liaisonedu.com. Please include the applicant's name, PharmCAS ID, and a brief description of the missing information. Nicole will undeliver the application, so the applicant can add the missing information.
SCHOOL GUIDANCE FOR DISMISSED/WITHDRAWN STUDENTS
Schools may wish to advise their professional Pharm.D. students who are dismissed or choose to withdraw from the program after starting classes that they must report the institution as a previous college attended on PharmCAS if they decide to (re)apply to any Pharm.D. programs in the future. This guidance may help to reduce the number of PharmCAS applicants who omit their past pharmacy school attendance from the Previous Attendance at a Health Profession Program and Colleges Attended sections.
NEW APPLICANT COMMUNICATION IN 2023-2024
PharmCAS will provide additional guidance for applicants in the 2023-2024 (next) cycle to further clarify that all previous health profession programs attended, including Pharm.D. programs, must be reported in both sections, including if the courses later transferred to another institution or the applicant was dismissed from the institution for any reason.
We hope this guidance is helpful and welcome any questions you may have.
Thanks!
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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------------------------------