Education

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Elisabeth Fall

Overview

Department of Clinical Pharmacy faculty members prepare Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students to become leaders of the profession; train pharmacy residents as therapeutics specialists; teach dental, medical, nursing, and physical therapy students, patients and heath professionals about safe, effective medication use; share their expertise beyond UC San Francisco; and continually educate themselves about new developments in their fields.

Professional degree programs

The department is responsible for aspects of the following degree programs:

PharmD professional degree program

  • Vice Dean: Sharon L. Youmans, PharmD, MPH
    • Experiential Programs Director: Valerie Clinard, PharmD
    • Regional Program Directors:
      • Fresno: (unfilled)
      • Greater Sacramento: Tiffany Pon, PharmD
      • Los Angeles / Orange County: Robin Corelli, PharmD
      • North Bay: Kirsten Balano, PharmD
      • San Francisco Bay Area (including South Bay): Tram Cat, PharmD

Faculty members in the three School of Pharmacy departments develop and deliver the School’s Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree program, which is administered by the Dean’s Office. Faculty members outside the School also teach in the PharmD program.

Department of Clinical Pharmacy faculty members are deeply involved with all aspects of the PharmD curriculum, from course development to the use of new methodologies and technologies. The department’s volunteer faculty members are essential to the success of the program, particularly the experiential coursework that students begin in the third year of the curriculum. In addition, the department is committed to furthering research that explores the effectiveness of new educational models.

Other professional degree programs

Department faculty members teach in professional degree programs in the Schools of Dentistry, Nursing, and Medicine, including the medical school’s physical therapy degree program.

Postdoctoral programs

Pharmacy residency program

  • Director: Mandy Brown, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

The Pharmacy Residency Program offers first-year general practice and second-year specialty residencies, administered by the UCSF Health Pharmacy Enterprise in partnership with Department of Clinical Pharmacy faculty.

Postdoctoral scholars, including fellows

Postdoctoral scholars add to the intellectual rigor of the department while furthering their own research. See Office for Postdoctoral Scholars.

Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (CPT) Postdoctoral Training Program

  • Contact: Leslie Floren, PharmD, MA, DABCP

The goal of the Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (CPT) Postdoctoral Training Program is to develop clinical scientists who will be experts in clinical pharmacology research. The program trains PharmD, MD, and PhD scholars in laboratory and clinical investigations focused on therapeutics.

Supported by the National Institutes of Health, this training program is a cornerstone for the development of future clinical and translational scientists.

PrOPEPS/Biogen Pharmacoeconomic Fellowship

  • Contact: Leslie Wilson, PhD

The Program for Outcomes, Pharmaceutical Economics, and Policy Studies (PrOPEPS) aims to meet the needs of patients, caregivers, health care systems, and industry to determine the best use of pharmaceutical care resources in the management of disease in the current health care environment of scarce resources. The program is research- and teaching-focused and concentrates both on theoretically based economics research and health care system-based clinical outcomes research. Economic research impacting health policy, new technology, new payment systems, and outcomes of clinical practice are major goals of the research program.

UCSF-Genentech Clinical Development Fellowship Program

  • Contacts: Leslie Floren, PharmD, MA, DABCP and Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD

The UCSF-Genentech Clinical Development Fellowship Program partners two top leaders in academic research and the biotechnology industry to provide an immersive, innovative, mentored, two-year experience combining academic clinical investigation and pharmaceutical industry training for PharmDs in early postdoctoral years. The objective of this program is to provide training in proper conduct of clinical trials, safety surveillance and risk management, methodologies, and exposure to scientific and ethical issues in research and development.

Career-development courses

The department shares its expertise nationally and internationally through the following courses, offered to professionals in industry, regulatory agencies, academia, and health care.

Rx for Change: Clinician-assisted tobacco cessation

  • Contact: Robin Corelli, PharmD

A comprehensive tobacco cessation training program, Rx for Change equips health professional students and practicing clinicians, of all disciplines, with evidence-based knowledge and skills for assisting patients with quitting.

Interdisciplinary approach

Department faculty pharmacists and hospital pharmacists, nurses, and physicians began to work together in the 1960s at UCSF Health to ensure optimal medication therapy for hospital patients. This team approach to pharmacy care was incorporated into the School’s PharmD curriculum.

Today, the education of all health professional students is becoming increasingly and intensely interdisciplinary as issues of health care cost, quality, access, and disparities in the United States call for dramatic changes in how care is delivered. To promote expanded interdisciplinary practice, Department of Clinical Pharmacy faculty members work with education leaders across campus to integrate curricula, and they teach in professional degree programs outside the School of Pharmacy.