Manchester’s first pharmacy graduates report success
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Manchester University Pharmacy Program inaugural class has a 98 percent success rate.
Forty-nine out of 50 graduates are working in community pharmacies and hospitals or are completing additional post-graduate training. Sixty-five percent of the graduates entered the community pharmacy workforce and 8 percent are employed in the hospital
setting. Even though they came to MU from all over the nation, half of the graduates remained in Indiana and 75 percent of those are in northeast Indiana.
About a third of the graduates pursued residencies, and they achieved an 81 percent “match” rate with programs in 13 states. This is much higher than the national rate of 68 percent, according to data from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
Residency Match Program. Residencies usually last a year and offer post-graduate training primarily at hospitals, community pharmacies and managed-care organizations.
“We commend the Class of 2016 for again creating a strong foundation for all future classes,” said Tommy Smith, Pharm.D., J.D., who announced the results. He is assistant dean for assessment and accreditation of the Pharmacy Program. “Getting the first
set of very competitive results in the record book is one of a number of important milestones our program has successfully achieved in 2016.”
Milestones include:
- Graduating its first pharmacy doctoral class in May.
- Receiving full accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education in July.
- Achieving full enrollment of 73 students in each of the program’s four years.
- Achieving a faculty-student ratio of less than 10 to 1, which offers each student individualized attention.
The Manchester pharmacy graduates are also well on their way to meeting full licensure requirements at a rate that is competitive with the national pass rate. To become a registered pharmacist, a graduate must pass two exams:
- The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) measures a candidate’s knowledge of the practice of pharmacy. Nearly 86 percent of the Manchester class passed on the first attempt.
- The Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE) tests knowledge regarding pharmacy law. More than 86 percent passed on the first try.
All Manchester graduates are well-prepared academically and have practical experiences that make them highly successful in the job market.
Year after year, MU’s newest graduates report success – at a five-year average above 95 percent. The undergraduate Class of 2015 hit 98 percent within six months of commencement and the class of 2014 reached 97.1 percent.
With campuses in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Ind., Manchester offers more than 60 areas of academic study to 1,600 students in undergraduate programs, a Master of Athletic Training, a Master of Pharmacogenomics and a four-year professional Doctor of Pharmacy. Learn more about what’s available at the private, northern Indiana school at
http://admissions.manchester.edu/areas-of-study/.
October 2016