College of Pharmacy

Meet Christopher Westrick, PharmD ‘11, @ Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

“Patients are referred to me for chronic disease education and management for conditions like diabetes, smoking cessation, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and anticoagulation. I can start, stop, or change medicines, and order and evaluate pertinent laboratory values. After a patient establishes with me, I typically see them about once per month until their condition improves, at which point the visits become more spaced out.”

What’s to love: “Helping patients understand their disease states and watching them improve. I have patients tell me ‘nobody has taken time to explain that to me before.’”

Skills needed: communication, relationship building, resourcefulness, willingness to fight for patient rights.

Meet Kara Sosinski, PharmD ‘18, @ Cleveland Clinic

“I optimize electronic health records and pharmacy automation. Typical projects include adding alerts, building scoring systems, tracking inventory, creating medication lists and pars for dispensing cabinets, and regulating cartfills and dispense locations. I work alongside managers, nurses and pharmacists who make requests or are affected by new functionality to ensure that the changes are not disruptive but provide maximum benefit.”

What’s to love: “The teamwork required to complete large projects that affect the entire health system. It’s interesting to receive improvement requests daily and brainstorm ways to make others’ workflow smoother.”

Skills needed: critical thinking, organization, ability to work independently, time management.

Meet Ashley Duty, PharmD ‘12, @ Children’s Mercy Kansas City

“I manage 23 pharmacists working in hematology/oncology and general medicine/surgery for a children’s hospital. I also coordinate our sterile compounding operations. Most drug manufacturers do not make things ready-to-use for pediatrics. Pediatric pharmacists must become experts in choosing the right concentration and dosage form for their patients and making those manipulations. We care for babies who weigh only four pounds up to teenagers who are adult sized.”

What’s to love: “The people who work in pediatrics are compassionate and focused on the care and healing of children.”

Skills needed: empathy, detailed-oriented, strong knowledge of drug information.

Meet Kellie Musch, PharmD ’15, @ OhioHealth Columbus

“I oversee all pharmacy services at seven freestanding emergency departments. My team of pharmacists and technicians supports pharmacy operations with order verification, dispensing, compounding, checking and delivery. Additionally, we work with nurses, advanced care providers and physicians to recommend drug therapy, assist with emergency response, perform medication reconciliation and to independently manage post-discharge culture review to make sure the ‘bug matches the drug.’”

What’s to love:  “Making a positive impact on a patient’s life by choosing the right drug for his or her disease, organ function, weight, and age.”

Skills needed: motivation, adaptability, drive, organization, time management.

Recent Achievement: installed as the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) New Practitioners Forum Executive Committee Chair where she leads a forum of 7000+ members with 119 New Practitioner Forum Leaders and 4 executive committee members.  

Meet Michael Cox, PharmD ‘00, @ DayOne Pharmaceuticals

“I am the medical lead on the development of new drugs for children with cancer. I work with clinical research teams at hospitals throughout the world to design and conduct trials, and also with regulatory authorities like the Food and Drug Administration to lead drugs through the approval process. Every day is different as I work with bench top researchers to develop new drugs based on newly discovered targets in the cancer genome, and also with academic collaborators to publish and present data at global scientific conferences.”

What’s to love: “It’s great to hear how our drugs are changing outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer. While there are setbacks and failures, we learn from those and try again. We never sit and wait, we forge the path forward.”

Skills needed: perseverance, adaptability, innovation, desire to never stop learning.

Meet Kelsey Rife, PharmD ‘12, @ VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System, Cleveland

“As clinical program manager, I oversee our pharmacy intern program, chair our Residency Advisory Committee, and serve as a liaison to pharmacy schools on the coordination of training at our facility. I also maintain a clinical practice in gastroenterology/hepatology that is expanding from hepatitis to include the management of post-transplant, inflammatory bowel disease, and other chronic liver disease patients.”

What’s to love: “The diversity and flexibility of my position. I’ve had the chance to lead many novel process improvement projects that have measurable outcomes, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our day-to-day work.”

Skills needed: leadership, organization, time management, communication.

Meet Alison Haas, PharmD ‘12, @ Jackson Center Pharmacy & Wellness Center

“I own and operate an independent community pharmacy. My husband and I started the pharmacy from scratch in a small Ohio town that had been without a pharmacy for five years. On a daily basis, I counsel patients, fill prescriptions, and run pharmacy operations with tasks like bookkeeping, inventory management and payroll. We also offer customers many enhanced services such as adherence packaging, medication synchronization, and immunizations.”

What’s to love: “Nothing can match the opportunity to take care of the friends and neighbors who live in my small community. The relationships I develop with my patients is by far the most rewarding aspect of what I do.”

Skills needed: entrepreneurial spirit, business skills, communication, relationship-building.

June 11-16, 2023

High School students who will be entering their Junior or Senior year;

During a weeklong pharmacy course, you’ll discover the expanding role pharmacists play in improving patient lives. You will gain insight into the various science disciplines involved in the research and development of pharmaceutical products and patient care. This camp will evolve as you first learn the history of pharmacy and then progress through an enriching set of hands-on experiences that will expose you to a vast array of pharmacy disciplines. With the guidance of experienced ONU faculty and health care leaders in the area, you will learn drug modeling, design and development; work in a compounding lab; venture into the field of pharmacy where you will visit multiple pharmacy settings; perform research on drug information; and learn more about the expanding role of pharmacists in patient care, assessment and counseling. Lastly, through hands-on lab and research experiences, you will learn the steps required to manufacture a product and how to counsel patients on the use of medications. All of this will prepare you to present your final project to ONU faculty and your parents.

Note: the class size is limited to 24 students (no exceptions).
Cost for the camp is $495. 

Experience counts, and you’ll get plenty of it by venturing out into the region with our award-winning community engagement programs. You’ll come to understand how pharmacists fill health care gaps in rural communities through preventative programs like mobile clinics, health risk assessments, health education and primary care services. By the time you graduate, you’ll have already made a difference. And that’s just the beginning. Learn more.

PharmD:

As the Raabe College of Pharmacy continues to meet the high standards of pharmaceutical education, the college’s experiential programs, which encompass approximately one third of the student’s total curriculum, allow for expansion and direct application of knowledge and skills. The Office of Experiential Education provides a variety of quality opportunities for students in both Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs) and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs). The experiential portion of the curriculum is possible because of preceptors who are enthusiastic about educating future pharmacists. Many preceptors are alumni of the Raabe College. Preceptors provide valuable perspective to students, and often serve as mentors to young student pharmacists as they prepare to enter the profession.  If you are interested in becoming a preceptor please contact: experiential@onu.edu

PMBS:
Four years of laboratory and research experience anchor this cutting edge degree. You'll spend an entire semester working in a professional scientific research facility getting real-world experience and learning about the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.  

For more information, contact Dr. Soph Chrissobolis, program director (419-772-3954 or s-chrissobolis@onu.edu)

Graduate outcomes

On-time graduation rate, NAPLEX passage rate for graduates, MPJE passage rate for graduates, Residencies (percentage of graduates entering PGY1 residency).

Accreditation

The Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy Doctor of Pharmacy degree is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education and the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education

135 S. LaSalle St.

Suite 4100

Chicago, IL 60603-4810

Phone: 312-664-3575

Fax: 312-664-4652

www.acpe-accredit.org

The Higher Learning Commission

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400

Chicago, IL 60602

Phone: 312-263-0456

Fax: 312-263-7462

www.hlcommission.org

The Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy has been fully accredited by ACPE. The next onsite evaluation of the College of Pharmacy is scheduled for 2023-24.

- Accreditation Standards and Guidelines

- Student Complaint Policy and Procedure

GRADUATION RATES

NAPLEX PASSAGE RATES FOR 2016-21 GRADUATES

Six year average (2016-2021) 91%

MPJE PASSAGE RATES FOR 2016-21 GRADUATES 

MPJE Passage Rate: The most recent year's results for first time takers 74; % passing on the first attempt 89%; National averages 80%:

Six year average (2016-2021) 92%

RESIDENCIES (% OF GRADUATES ENTERING PGY1 RESIDENCY):

Caring for the health needs of rural and underserved populations is a specialty in itself. These patients face different health issues than people in cities and towns and to best serve them, rural health care provider should receive specialized training and hands-o experience working with these populations.

The Rural and Underserved Health Scholars Program will prepare you for rural practice by providing opportunities to develop your leadership skills, gain patient care experience and learn research techniques necessary to understand the unique needs of rural and underserved populations.

Upon completion of this multi-year certificate training program, you will be ready to face the challenges of rural practice by complementing your degree with a specialized skill set.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Seminars – learn about various topics related to rural health, such rural health care and project development.

• Patient experiences – care for patients in rural settings and shadow health care providers who practice in rural settings.

• Research experience – design, implement and evaluate research related to rural and underserved patient populations, in collaboration with faculty members.

• Leadership experience – utilize our tools and guidance to solidify strong leadership skills necessary to enact change in rural and underserved communities.

• Service opportunities – develop and implement service-learning opportunities to address needs and opportunities in a rural, underserved community.

For application questions, please contact Emily Eddy or Michelle Musser. 

Mission

We prepare pharmacists and scientists who improve health, serve others, lead change and advance discovery.

Vision

To lead the nation in the preparation of practice-ready professionals who advance healthcare for everyone.

Values

We value our family members, faculty, staff, students and alumni through collaboration, community, diversity, excellence, faith, integrity and service.

In the ever-changing world of pharmacy, and with the evolving role of pharmacists as primary care providers and health educators, our duty to the citizens in our community has changed to meet the demands of patients. Since 2010, the Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy has provided health and wellness resources to the community through the outreach efforts of ONU HealthWise, a multidisciplinary team of ONU faculty, students and interdisciplinary health care specialists under the supervision of licensed professionals. Learn more.

With more than a dozen professional, honorary and student government organizations on campus devoted to the pharmacy profession, getting involved outside the classroom is distinctly ONU. By participating in student organizations, you’ll develop leadership skills and a teamwork mindset. You’ll also build your network with pharmacists around the country, and have the chance to travel, attend and present at professional and scientific conferences.

Professional Organizations

• Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)
  • AMCP is the professional association leading the way to help patients get the medications they need at a cost they can afford. AMCP’s members leverage their specialized expertise in clinical evidence and economics to optimize medication benefit design and population health management, and help patients access cost-effective and safe medications and other drug therapies. The ONU student chapter furthers the purposes of AMCP through educational and community service, provides opportunities for professional growth, and promotes managed care pharmacy. 

• American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP)
  • ASCP is an enthusiastic community and organization which offers students opportunity for direct patient contact, leadership initiative, learning, and networking from a professional and well-rounded pharmacy perspective. Among our best qualities are inclusivity, affordability, and professional activity: students of any major can join and be fully active as early as their first year of college, we publish research, and are nationally recognized for our outreach developments.

• American Pharmacist Association–Academy of Students of Pharmacy (APHA-ASP)
  • APhA-ASP is the collective voice of student pharmacists that provides opportunities for professional growth, improves patient care, envisions and advances the future of pharmacy, and provides invaluable networking and career opportunities. What makes the organization outstanding is that it is a part of the largest national pharmacy organization, covers all aspects and fields of pharmacy, makes an impact on patients from a local, state, and national level, and provides student pharmacists the vital tools needed to become an excellent leader within the profession of pharmacy.

• Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International (CPFI)
  • CPFI is a close knit, faith-based organization that strives to connect the word of God to our role as student pharmacists and exemplifies how faith, pharmacy, and fellowship come together for a rewarding experience. CPFI builds lasting relationships between students, faculty, and the community as well as providing the word of God, compassion, and direction to others on and off campus. 

• National Community Pharmacist Association (NCPA)
  • NCPA Student Chapter offers pharmacy students a wide array of opportunities to broaden and enrich their educational experience, gain valuable real world skills, earn scholarships, and have fun in the process. Our mission is to encourage, foster, and recognize an interest in community pharmacy ownership and entrepreneurship among the future leaders of their profession. Currently, membership in the ONU NCPA Student Chapter is around 100 members, but it is still growing! Our chapter was NCPA Chapter of the year in 2019.

• Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC)
  • The ONU Student Chapter of PMC is a student-led organization that provides information and counseling to educate patients on the concept and importance of personalized medicine. This is a wonderful organization as members work collaboratively to achieve the goals and maintain The website drugsandgenes.com which is available for patients and healthcare providers to use for accurate information about personalized medicine.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
• Polar Pediatrics
  • Polar Pediatrics is an interdisciplinary pharmacy and nursing organization for students interested in specializing in the pediatric field. We come together to collaborate and develop our skills by learning from practicing pediatric specialists, staying up to date with new topics in pediatrics, and by supporting the community by donating blankets to pediatric hospitals and educating children about hygiene and nutrition. 

• Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP)
  • The College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) is an organization with the goal of including pharmacists in the care of individuals with psychiatric and neurological conditions. The ONU student chapter provides opportunities to learn about the pharmacist's role in psychiatric pharmacy, network with pharmacists, participate in patient care, and serve the community. Mental health is important in all areas of medicine and CPNP offers the opportunity to be exposed to the difference a pharmacist can make in promoting and improving mental health.

• Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA)
  • SNPhA is an educational service association of pharmacy students who are concerned about the profession of pharmacy, healthcare issues, and the poor minority representation in these areas. Throughout the years our passionate and ambitious ONU chapter members have represented Ohio Northern nationally on multiple occasions. We’re home to two SNPhA National Presidents (Joshua Blackwell & Colin Lombardi) and in 2019, our chapter was the host for the Regional Conference “A Pharmacy Expedition at Kalahari: Finding Your Purpose in the Profession.”

• Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP)
  • SSHP is an organization whose focus is to educate members about career opportunities in acute and ambulatory settings. SSHP membership offers a variety of benefits including career development, professional development, networking opportunities, and residency preparation, as well as monthly guest speakers from a variety of different practice areas.  

Honorary and Greek Organizations

• Kappa Epsilon (Professional Pharmacy Fraternity)
  • Kappa Epsilon (ΚΕ) is a professional pharmacy fraternity founded by Zada M. Cooper with the purpose of uniting female pharmacy students in an era when women were a minority in the profession. Women and men have been initiated into ΚΕ since its founding.  KE’s National Project is the promotion of breast cancer awareness, and to promote awareness of other women's health issues such as osteoporosis. KE's recently added the Pharmacy Career Opportunity Recruitment Project (Pharm-CORP) to their National Project. Pharm-CORP works to introduce pharmacy careers to middle and high school aged students and encourages them to excel in math and the sciences.

• Kappa Psi (Professional Pharmacy Fraternity)
  • Kappa Psi (KY) Pharmaceutical Fraternity is the oldest and largest professional pharmaceutical fraternity in the world with more than 6000 student members and more than 87,000 alumni members. The mission of KY is to develop leaders with a passion for service to their community while creating lifelong professional connections. Once a brother of Kappa Psi, you become a brother for life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
• Phi Delta Chi (Professional Pharmacy Fraternity)
  • Phi Delta Chi (Phi Dex) is a professional pharmacy fraternity that currently has 102 collegiate chapters and 60,000 members nationwide. Phi Delta Chi provides a lifelong home for pharmacists inspiring Brotherhood, Leadership, Service, and Scholarship. Phi Delta Chi has a partnership with the Pharmacy Leadership and Education Institute (PLEI), a non-profit educational foundation that develops leaders in pharmacy and other professions. Phi Delta Chi's philanthropy is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
• Phi Lambda Sigma (Pharmacy Leadership Society)
  • Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS) is the national Pharmacy Leadership Society, with a mission to promote the development of leadership qualities, especially among pharmacy students. By peer recognition, the Society encourages participation in all pharmacy activities. Since membership crosses fraternal and organizational lines, the Society does not compete with other pharmacy organizations.

• Rho Chi (Pharmacy Honor Society)
  • Rho Chi is the Academic Honor Society for Pharmacy open to the top 20 percent of each pharmacy class (P4 and P5 in the 6-year program; 2nd and 3rd years of the four-year program). The mission of ONU’s Beta Psi chapter is to provide didactic and clinical resources for students, such as pharmacy peripheral brain books, hosting pharmacy mock-interviews, granting a merit-based scholarship, and more. 

Student Government

• Pharmacy Council
  • Pharmacy Council is the college student government that works diligently to solve problems, create college-wide unity, and provide support for the various organizations within the Raabe College of Pharmacy. Pharmacy Council is unique in that it produces timely solutions while fostering collaboration, such as through hosting beloved events such as Pharmacy-Phest and Pharmacy Week.  

If you are interested in research, you’ll discover opportunities to work side-by-side with ONU professors in a variety of venues, including laboratory, epidemiologic, public health and clinic research projects. Many ONU pharmacy students serve as authors on scientific papers and present research findings at regional and national conferences. High-impact learning experiences like these are distinctly ONU. 

I. Observation Skills 

All candidates for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Raabe College of Pharmacy must be able to observe: 

• Lectures; 
• Recitation/Seminar presentations; 
• Experiments; 
• Practice-based activities; and 
• Patients at varied distances from the candidate. 

II. Communication Skills 

All candidates for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Raabe College of Pharmacy must be able to: 

• Effectively and efficiently communicate in oral and written English; 
• Effectively communicate with patients, caregivers and all members of the health care team; 
• Communicate with compassion and empathy; 
• Communicate efficiently with instructors and peers as well as recognizing and employing non-verbal communication cues; 
• Understand the role of professional communication within the field of pharmacy; and 
• Rapidly elicit information from patients using sensitive and effective communication including information from non-verbal cues. 

III. Motor Skills 

All candidates for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Raabe College of Pharmacy must have sufficient sensory and motor skills including exteroceptive sense (touch, pain, and temperature), proprioceptive sense (position, pressure, movement, stereognosis, and vibratory), and motor function as well as functional use of the senses of equilibrium needed for diagnostic skills to: 

• Provide adequate patient care and assessment utilizing diagnostic equipment and procedures, 
• Provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, and other functions required for an emergency response in a timely manner; 
• Provide injections for immunization; 
• Utilize compounding techniques and equipment; 
• Safely and effectively prepare and handle sterile products and perform aseptic techniques; 
• Dispense pharmaceutical compounds and monitor their effects in a patient. 

IV. Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities 

All candidates for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Raabe College of Pharmacy must be able to: 

• Solve problems using varied skills, including: 

1. Measurement 
2. Mathematical calculations 
3. Reasoning 
4. Analysis 
5. Synthesis 
6. Evaluation 

• Incorporate new and changing information obtained during an exercise or patient encounter and modify plans to take that information into account; 
• Identify and communicate the limits of one’s knowledge, when appropriate; 
• Consistently, quickly and accurately integrate all information received by whatever sense(s) employed; 
• Learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data; and 
• Perform the above abilities in a reasonable amount of time consistent with the task at-hand. 

V. Behavioral Attributes 

All candidates for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Raabe College of Pharmacy must be able to: 

• Read, understand and abide by the Professional Code of Conduct put forth by the Raabe College of Pharmacy; 
• Exercise good judgments in all situations, including but not limited to online communications; 
• Learn to competently function in stressful situations, be flexible and adapt to change; 
• Possess integrity, passion, empathy, concern and interpersonal skills; 
• Exhibit ethical decision making and behavior; 
• Create mature and effective relationships with patients; and 
• Have good moral character, decent values and principled judgment meet the ethical standards set forth by the pharmacy profession 

At the beginning of each year, students in the College of Pharmacy are provided a copy of the current College of Pharmacy Student Handbook.  The handbook includes policies and procedures specific to students in the College of Pharmacy.  If you are interested in a copy, please email pharmacy@onu.edu.