The Wilkes University Nesbitt School of Pharmacy is committed to fostering an inclusive learning environment that supports students in their pursuit of success throughout the curriculum with or without reasonable accommodations.
Students enrolling, continuing, and graduating from the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy are expected to read, acknowledge, and understand these technical standards. They describe non-academic abilities, achieved with or without reasonable accommodations to fulfill the requirements of the program in the classroom, laboratory, and practical experiences. These requirements are established to ensure students benefit from the highest quality educational experience while prioritizing the safety of their patients and the general public.
These technical standards are also available as a PDF document (.pdf).
These technical standards describe non-academic abilities and skills required for admission to, continuation in, and graduation from the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy to obtain a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. The University strives to foster an inclusive and supportive community by identifying and reducing barriers to provide equitable access and participation for individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those with disabilities. The School of Pharmacy is committed to helping students with documented disabilities complete the didactic and experiential curriculum by offering reasonable accommodations and services that remove or lessen the effect of the disability-related barrier.
Candidates with documented disabilities, following the Wilkes University policy, and as defined by section 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1993, who may seek accommodations to meet the technical standards are encouraged to contact the Office of Academic Success to discuss what reasonable accommodations the School of Pharmacy could make for the candidate to meet these standards. A student who requests accommodations will be required to submit this request in writing and provide pertinent documentation in accordance with Wilkes University policies. Candidates are not required to disclose any information regarding technical standards to those responsible for admissions.
Throughout the pharmacy curriculum, students will be required to observe demonstrations, experiments, displayed medical illustrations, and practice-based activities. Students must accurately prepare medications to be dispensed. To provide patient care, students must be able to identify and interpret sounds relevant to patient assessment and treatment, as well as evaluate physical signs and symptoms.
Additionally, student pharmacists must effectively communicate with patients by observing and assessing their responses and behaviors, evaluating physical symptom presentation, and determining engagement and comprehension of the information provided during the patient interactions.
Students are expected to partake in effective communication with patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, instructors, preceptors, and fellow students. Effective communication includes collecting, providing, and clarifying information in oral and written form, accurately, efficiently, and sensitively. Students must appropriately recognize and respond to nonverbal and emotional communication cues.
Furthermore, students must provide educational and instructional information to patients and caregivers in an appropriate manner, considering health literacy, culture, and socioeconomic factors.
Student pharmacists must possess essential motor skills to ensure the safe and effective delivery of patient care. Students must perform motor movements efficiently and promptly to provide both routine care and emergency interventions. Students must demonstrate the necessary motor skills to complete the following functions:
- Basic computer proficiency (e.g. ability to navigate drug information resources, electronic health records, dispensing software, etc.)
- Sterile and non-sterile compounding
- Point of Care or lab testing (e.g. blood glucose, capillary blood testing, etc.)
- Demonstrating device usage (e.g. insulin pens, inhalers, etc)
- Immunization and injectable medication administration
- Patient assessment / Physical examination (e.g. blood pressure, foot exam, etc.)
- Medication preparation and dispensing
- CPR, first aid, and pharmacy-based immunization delivery certification
In order to successfully navigate completing the curriculum, students must be able to effectively learn through a variety of educational modalities such as classroom instruction, small group discussion, online learning, and independent study. A doctoral curriculum necessitates the ability to think quickly and accurately in an organized manner, while mastering the broad and complex body of knowledge that comprises pharmacy education. Students are expected to synthesize, analyze, interpret, integrate, process, measure, and calculate scientific and clinical information.
Students are expected to exhibit professional demeanor at all times and adhere to the professional and behavioral conduct outlined in the Wilkes University and Nesbitt School of Pharmacy student handbooks. Student pharmacists must embrace and behave in accordance with the highest ethical standards expected of a healthcare professional. In order to progress through the curriculum, students must possess a high level of motivation, accountability, and reliability. The student must demonstrate active engagement throughout their education and contribute meaningfully to their learning environment. Furthermore, students are expected to be able to demonstrate resilience and function effectively as an individual and team member during physically, intellectually, and emotionally taxing workloads and situations.
The nature of pharmacy education necessitates the ability to adapt to changing environments and display flexibility in various educational settings. In order to ensure self-assessment and improvement, students must be able to recognize personal knowledge deficits and limitations, and identify situations in which such deficits or limitations require further study, as well as to develop and carry out an improvement plan. Students must demonstrate emotional introspection, self-reflection, emotional intelligence. Furthermore, the ability to accept and apply constructive criticism in a professional manner is essential for professional and academic development. Students must also demonstrate empathy, patience, respect, and genuine interest in the well-being of others while providing care to a diverse patient population in a non-judgmental manner. The development of strong interpersonal skills is expected in order to build meaningful relationships with patients. Students must also engage in teamwork with peers and as part of an interdisciplinary healthcare team.
During the Pharm.D. curriculum, students will be required to provide up-to-date health and vaccine records. Most experiential sites will require CDC recommended vaccinations for healthcare workers. Per individual experiential site requirements, students must also complete tests to assess immunity and the health status for communicable diseases (e.g. PPD testing), and submit and clear all required criminal background checks and drug testing. The Compliance Requirements for Professional Student Experiences Policy contains additional information, it is located online in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy Handbook (.pdf) or may also be requested by reaching out to Dr. Julie Olenak, Associate Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs, at 570-408-4288. Students must also meet all requirements to obtain a Pennsylvania Pharmacy Intern license. In addition, students are responsible for their transportation to clinical experiential sites.
The Office of Experiential Education is committed to providing for reasonable accommodations in experiential learning for students with documented disabilities approved by the University, however, not all accommodations can be guaranteed based on experiential rotation site and rotation type and requirements. When possible, an alternative rotation site will be identified and offered to those needing accommodation, and/or reasonable equivalent activities will be offered.
Requests for accommodations during experiential rotations should be submitted to the Office of Experiential Education in advance. For summer Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) accommodations, requests should be submitted by the IPPE student survey deadlines, while academic year IPPE accommodation requests should be submitted by the course conflict form deadlines. For Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) accommodations, submissions should be made by the early APPE application deadlines in the fall semester.
Candidates must acknowledge, upon acceptance of admission to the School of Pharmacy, that they understand the technical standards and additional requirements for experiential education. Candidates are not required to disclose any information regarding technical standards to those responsible for admission.
For further questions or clarification about accommodations please contact Katy Betnar, Executive Director of the University’s Office of Academic Success at 570-408-4233.