UA Monticello, UAMS to Allow Early Transfers to UAMS College of Pharmacy

By Ben Boulden

The Rural Health Early Admissions Program was created by the universities recently through a memorandum of understanding.

Under the program, UAM and UAMS College of Pharmacy jointly will accept approximately five high school seniors each year into the program. Participants will complete four to six semesters of undergraduate pharmacy pre-requisites at UAM, followed by enrollment at UAMS in the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) program.

Early acceptance into the program at UAM guarantees the students will be accepted into the UAMS College of Pharmacy if the student satisfactorily completes designated courses at UAM as well as meets other requirements listed in the memorandum.

“The UAMS College of Pharmacy is excited to partner with U of A Monticello in the Rural Health Early Admissions Program,” said UAMS College of Pharmacy Dean Keith Olsen. “The college’s goals are to recruit qualified students from rural and underserved areas of Arkansas and to attract those pharmacists back to rural areas of the State. We believe this program can accomplish these goals.”

UAM Chancellor Karla Hughes called the agreement a “validation of the quality of our mathematics and science program and particularly our programs in health-related professions. We have always taken a great deal of pride, not just in the remarkable acceptance rates of our graduates to medical, pharmacy and dental schools but their success once they have been accepted.”

Applicants must attain an ACT score of 25 or above in high school with demonstrated excellence in mathematics and science courses, have a cumulative high school grade point average of 3.5 or higher, complete an interview with UAM and UAMS faculty and administrators, and demonstrate a strong interest in and commitment to the pharmacy profession.

Once enrolled at UAM, participants must achieve a score in the 50th percentile or higher on the Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT), maintain a grade point average of 3.25 at UAM (transfer students are not eligible for the program), complete at least 69 hours of Pharm.D. pre-requisite coursework at a grade of C or above, complete at least 40 hours shadowing a licensed Arkansas pharmacist, and complete satisfactory interviews with the UAMS College of Pharmacy.

High school seniors must conform to UAM undergraduate application deadlines. Joint interviews will take place on the UAM campus in February and July of each year before undergraduate registration.

Morris Bramlett, dean of the UAM School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, said the agreement was “a wonderful opportunity for our students to be part of a ground-breaking program that will help UAM, UAMS and the state of Arkansas. This agreement recognizes that UAM serves a rural population whose residents are underrepresented in health-related professions. This will provide another avenue to bring those students to the table and give them opportunities they might not otherwise have.”

For more information, contact the School of Mathematical at Natural Sciences at (870) 460-1016.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,870 students, 799 medical residents and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS and its regional campuses throughout the state, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.