The USC School of Pharmacy secured its position among the best pharmacy schools in the nation with a #10 rank among all schools, jumping up five spots from the last ranking released in 2008.
“Our upward trajectory reflects the dedicated work of our faculty and students, as leaders and innovators of our profession,” says R. Pete Vanderveen, dean of the school.
One-hundred and twenty-five pharmacy schools, all accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, were included in the ranking survey. The survey focused on the quality of each school’s PharmD program, a four-year, professional degree.
The School maintains its #1 rank among all private pharmacy schools with the closest contender ranked #37.
“Our School is the only private pharmacy school on a major health sciences campus with a research-intensive faculty and I believe that benefits us greatly,” said Vanderveen. “It provides a very rich experience for our students, with opportunities to see a wide range of disease states and diverse populations in area clinics and hospitals and to engage in basic, translational and applied research with our faculty.”
Also of note, the rankings put USC at #4 for public policy programs specializing in health policy and management. This ranking includes work done by faculty at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, a collaboration between the School of Pharmacy and the Price School of Public Policy, under which the ranking is listed.
The US News & World Report ranking comes on the heels of the most recent NIH rankings for pharmacy schools, placing USC at #2 in the nation for research dollars. Research at the school spans a broad range of topics, from drug development and delivery to health economics and policy to nanoscience. The largest NIH grant housed at the school supports an $11.4 million project, headed by associate professor Jason Doctor, that aims to dissuade physicians from unnecessarily prescribing antibiotics for common acute respiratory infections.
“While it is rewarding for the School to be recognized among the elite schools of pharmacy in the US, we have always and will continue to focus on attracting the very best and brightest students, faculty and staff, and conducting cutting-edge research, and continuing the School’s long-standing tradition of leading innovation in the profession” according to Dean Vanderveen.