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Pharmaceutics

MS Program

Apply for MS

MS Application deadline: Applications are accepted for Autumn admission only.

 

List of faculty interested in taking MS students:

Please take a look at our faculty page

Additionally, several Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Department of Pharmacy faculty members are taking MS students for the Pharmaceutics MS Program: Abhinav Nath, Rheem Totah, Libin Xu, Lingtak-Neander Chan

 

The Department of Pharmaceutics offers an MS degree which is typically completed within two years as a terminal degree. The course work for the program is divided into four components:

  1. Prerequisites which define the level of entry into the program
  2. Required core program
  3. Seminars and literature review
  4. Research

Prerequisites

  • College-level mathematics including differential equations (college-level Calculus 1 course that covers concepts of limits, derivatives, and the rate of change of functions), equivalent to UW course Differential Calculus, MATH 124

Please see the Graduate Program Handbook for the typical schedule of core requirements.

 Core Courses

The MS degree entails an accrual of minimum 50 credits, of which 18 must be graded (the graded credit must be from graduate courses of 500 level or above). The additional 32 credits include electives, seminar, journal club, research, and thesis study and writing. Students must complete a minimum of 24 credits of PCEUT 700 (Master’s Thesis) for the degree. Please review the UW Graduate School Degree Requirements here for more information. Of the 18 required numerically graded credits, 15 are derived from the following “core” courses (see below) that are intended to give the student the necessary foundational knowledge in the field of pharmaceutical sciences. The other 3 numerically graded credits will come from an elective class.

  • PCEUT 502: Drug Disposition Science (2 cr)
  • PCEUT 505: Concepts in Pharmaceutical Sciences I (2 cr)
  • PCEUT 532: Clinical Pharmacokinetics (4 cr)

Additional didactic core courses:

  • BIOST 511: Medical Biometry I (4 cr)
  • MEDCH 501: Medicinal Biochemistry (3 cr)

Seminars and Literature Review

  • PCEUT 520: Seminar (1 cr/quarter; 3 quarters/year until obtain 6 total credits)

MS students are not required to make a presentation for PCEUT 520, but they may take the opportunity to present for the experience.

  • PCEUT 583: Journal club (1 cr/quarter; 3 quarters/year until obtain 6 total credits)

During the final examination week at the end of each quarter, all first-year graduate students are required to give at minimum ~10-minute research presentation as part of the course.

Research

  • PCEUT 700 (variable credits)

MS students will have selected a thesis advisor at the beginning of Autumn quarter in their first academic year, and must begin their laboratory research then. Due to the course work and research demands of the program, most students may find that after-class and off-hours are the best and most productive time for their laboratory research.

MS students sign up for PCEUT 700 (Master’s Thesis) until the defense of their thesis, in order to meet the research requirements of the program and the Graduate School.

Master’s Thesis

  • PCEUT 540 (1 cr; WIN and SPR quarters of the second year)

MS students are required to submit a Master’s thesis. The required PCEUT 540 course in Winter and Spring quarters of the second year will help the students with their writing along with help from their faculty advisor. The content of the thesis should be a research summary of their laboratory project. Under special circumstances and with the consent of the advisory committee, a comprehensive review of a relevant area of pharmaceutical research may be permitted. Each student should work closely with their research advisor in order to identify and develop the content of the Master’s thesis and the composition of the reading committee.

Students admitted into the PCEUT MS program can formally apply to the PCEUT PhD program only after successful completion in the MS degree program. The application will be reviewed competitively with other PhD applicants.

You may find additional information in the Pharmaceutics Graduate Student Handbook  and the Applications webpage.