Chapman University School of Pharmacy: An Overview

Chapman University School of Pharmacy (CUSP), located in Irvine, California, is committed to educating and developing the next generation of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. CUSP aims to improve health by engaging in team-based, patient safety-focused health care and by conducting transformative research and scholarship. This commitment to patient safety is central to the school's mission.

A New School with a Clear Vision

Established with a $60 million investment as part of a larger $150 million investment in health science professional education, CUSP is housed on the state-of-the-art Harry and Diane Rinker Health Science Campus. Chapman University owns seven buildings and over 25 acres at the Rinker Health Science Campus. The first two buildings on Jeronimo Road are fully occupied by Chapman health programs in pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, and communication sciences and disorders programs.

The vision of CUSP is to become a recognized leader in pharmacy and patient safety initiatives. It strives to deliver an avant-garde approach to education, health care, and research. The school's practitioners and scientists possess a deep scientific foundation, a passion for human health improvement, and a commitment to eliminate preventable medical harm and death.

Academic Programs

CUSP offers multiple program options:

Accelerated Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Program: This program allows students to earn their PharmD degree in a shorter timeframe.
Master of Science: A research-focused program for students interested in advanced study in pharmaceutical sciences.
PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences: A doctoral program for students seeking careers in research and academia.
Pre-Pharmacy Freshman Early Assurance Program: This program provides a pathway for freshmen to the PharmD program with four semesters of pre-pharmacy coursework on Chapman's main campus in Orange, California.
4 + 1 Integrated Undergraduate Master’s Degree: A joint program with the Schmid School of Science and Technology.

Other joint- and dual-degree options for master and PharmD programs are under discussion within the school and with the Argyros School of Business and Economics and the Fowler School of Law.

Accreditation and Recognition

CUSP received full accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) in June 2018.

In the 2017 fiscal year, CUSP improved its national ranking for total research from 59th to 46th place. CUSP had 43 faculty during this period, and over 25% of them had funded research awards. The school’s assessment data continues to demonstrate student, faculty, and staff satisfaction levels that exceed national averages and, in many areas, the levels of satisfaction seen at other California schools of pharmacy.

Experiential Education and Research

Orange County’s first pharmacy school, the Chapman University School of Pharmacy, launched its first cohort of 76 students into Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences during the summer of 2017. The school was proud to place 13 of those students into competitive residencies and fellowships.

The initial investment in research facilities and faculty is unusual for a new school of pharmacy. The plan to provide a deep scientific foundation for pharmacy practitioners was realized in the faculty hiring process and our investments in state-of-the-art laboratories. Students from each cohort and in multiple colleges participate in research at CUSP along with more than 30% of the PharmD students who elect capstone electives in this area with research faculty. The school conducts basic science and clinical and translational research. A product being developed by one faculty member is approaching a phase 2 clinical trial. Associate Dean and Chief Medical Officer Sean Nordt, MD, PharmD, a board-certified toxicologist and an emergency department physician, oversees the school’s curriculum, student academic performance, and interprofessional education, as well as the CUSP Seminar Series, which brings highly successful physicians, pharmacists, and government officials into close contact with PharmD students and faculty on a monthly basis.

Interprofessional Training and Patient Safety

CUSP has a strong focus on interprofessional training that has a renewed emphasis on student physician and practitioner interaction with PharmD students based on the direction espoused by the ACPE Board of Directors. Tied with our patient safety strategic goals, CUSP offers robust programming that facilitates significant hands-on simulations of health care team interaction as well as actual clinical care.

Read also: Chapman University Law School

Teaching Philosophy and Style

CUSP actively engages students in their own learning through the use of a flipped-classroom framework and a focus on team and leadership training. Every student receives Apple technology for use in classes, study, and testing. In the flipped approach to teaching, the faculty curate materials that direct students to gain basic understanding and knowledge about various subjects outside class. When in class, faculty act as guides who help the teams of student apply their knowledge and understanding to problem-solving simulated cases and research.

In uniquely designed laboratories and classrooms, students apply their knowledge to problem solving, innovation, and development of answers through teamwork and communication. The teams are intentionally diverse in all aspects including age, life experience, and cultural and socioeconomic background. The teams are also assigned and changed every trimester to ensure students learn to work with a wide array of people with skills and experience that might be different from their own, just as they will face in their careers regardless of the direction they head. Faculty members are not lecturing in the traditional “sage on the stage” mode. Instead, they are the “guide on the side,” helping each student personally learn at the speed appropriate for them.

Community Outreach

CUSP now boasts more than a dozen student organizations that have engaged in a wide variety of service and community interactions in Southern California. The organizations are connected with state and national associations and compete in programs and initiatives sponsored by those groups. Students have all engaged in community outreach and, in some cases, have won awards and accolades from government officials, organization heads, and associations.

Location and Environment

CUSP is located at the state-of-the-art Harry and Diane Rinker Health Science Campus in Irvine, California. From day one, students can take advantage of Chapman’s Southern California location, which blends the ease of small-city living with access to cultural experiences, internships, and job prospects in one of the world’s most exciting metropolises. Irvine was one of the first planned cities in America, and the historical visions for the community driven by the Irvine Company continue to unfold as planned today.

Dean Ronald Jordan, RPh, FAPhA, said that CUSP is located in a “wonderful place to live, work, and attend college. It is also an extraordinary laboratory for health care change, with 4 major health systems all innovating change, an extremely wide socioeconomic diversity between wealth and poverty, and one of the most diverse cultural populations in any county, with very large representations from some countries.”

Read also: Chapman Grad Tuition Costs

A Pharmacy of the Future

A new PrescribeWellness Center at CUSP opened in October 2018. This pharmacy of the future aims to deliver business-to-business advanced practice pharmacy services in the Irvine area as it trains the practitioners of the next generation.

Advice for Graduates

Graduates are encouraged to stay connected with the faculty and work at CUSP to help shape their passions. CUSP is developing efficient ways for faculty to stay connected to graduates so that they can further assist them and engage them in the education of their following cohorts. Graduates are advised to embrace and seek change that helps improve their ability to deliver excellent care and to stay involved in their evolving profession.

Assessment Program

The program is built on an ambitious assessment program that delivers integrated examinations every 3 weeks via the ExamSoft electronic testing platform. CUSP believes in continuous comprehensive examination, which teaches students to study regularly instead of trying to cram for exams.

Leadership

CUSP boasts having two current and one past American Pharmacists Association presidential officers on its leadership team.

Strategic Plan

In the new 5-year strategic plan, the faculty and staff will design and build a new culture that is unique to CUSP and aimed at creating a truly high-performing organization. This will create role models and tools for interactions that students can use in the organizations they encounter in school and their future careers.When you build a new school, you bring folks from a wide variety of schools and career experiences. The ideas they bring help build the foundation of the organization. Once the foundation is complete, it is important to construct a scaffold of optimum behaviors, attitudes, and approaches and work together through inevitable change and problem solving that will result in optimum results. Health care needs higher-performing teams to protect patients from medical harm.

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