Technical Standards Requirement

Essential abilities and characteristics required for completion of the PharmD degree

Upon admission, admitted students will affirm that they have reviewed and agree that they are capable of meeting the School of Pharmacy’s technical standards with or without accommodations.

Introduction

The School of Pharmacy welcomes everyone, including candidates with disabilities, to apply for and participate in our academic programs. The Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree requires mastery of a coherent body of knowledge and skills. The essential abilities and characteristics required for completion of this degree assure that candidates for admission, promotion, and graduation are able to complete the entire course of study and participate fully in all aspects of the curriculum. The School of Pharmacy prepares graduates to become competent and compassionate pharmacists who are able to meet all requirements for pharmacist licensure and enter pharmacy practice, and/or post-graduate training. The avowed intention of an individual student to practice only a narrow part of clinical pharmacy, or to pursue a non-clinical career, does not alter the requirement that all pharmacy students complete and achieve competence in the full curriculum required by the faculty.

The following technical standards, in conjunction with the academic standards, are requirements for admission, promotion, and graduation. The term "candidate" refers to candidates for admission to pharmacy school as well as enrolled pharmacy students who are candidates for promotion and graduation. These requirements may be achieved with or without reasonable accommodations. Candidates with disabilities are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services (SDS) early in the application process to begin a confidential conversation about the accommodations they may need to meet these standards.  

The technical standards encompass several broad categories including observation, communication, motor function, interpretive, conceptual and quantitative abilities, behavioral and social attributes, and ethical and legal standards.

Individuals who are currently impaired by alcohol or other substances are not suitable candidates for admission, promotion, or graduation. Those individuals who would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of others are not considered suitable candidates for admission.

Principles

1. The School of Pharmacy has a societal responsibility to train competent healthcare providers who demonstrate critical judgement, extensive knowledge, and well-honed technical skills. 
2. Although students learn and work under the supervision of the faculty, students interact with patients throughout their pharmacy education. Patient safety and well-being are therefore major factors in the standards required of candidates for admission, promotion and graduation with or without reasonable accommodations.
3. Students with disabilities bring valuable perspectives that contribute to the diversity of the student population and a diverse healthcare workforce.
4. Candidates must adhere to universal precaution measures and meet safety standards applicable to inpatient and outpatient settings and other professional activities.  Individuals who are currently impaired by alcohol or other substances are not suitable candidates for admission, promotion, or graduation. 

Technical standards

1. Observation: Candidates must be able to acquire information as presented through the curriculum, demonstrations and experiments in the basic and pharmaceutical sciences. Candidates must be able to acquire information from patients, including accurately observing a patient’s condition, obtaining a history and performing appropriate assessments.
2. Communication: Candidates, with or without an accommodation, must exhibit interpersonal skills to enable effective caregiving of patients, including the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently in English in person, virtually, and in writing, with all members of a multidisciplinary health team, including but not limited to faculty, staff, other learners, patients, families, and other healthcare professionals. Candidates must be able to assess patients in a timely fashion, accurately interpret verbal and nonverbal communication, and establish therapeutic relationships with patients. Candidates must be able to clearly and accurately record information. They must be able to effectively communicate with and supervise technical support staff.
3. Motor function: In accordance with State law, candidates must possess the motor function sufficient to assess, direct, and supervise the activities of technical staff to accurately compound and prepare medications for dispensing to patients. In addition, candidates must possess the capacity to elicit information from patients using basic patient assessment skills and perform patient care, including medication administration and patient education. They must adhere to universal precaution measures and meet safety standards applicable to pharmacy professional activities.
4. Interpretative, conceptual and quantitative abilities: Candidates must have effective and efficient learning techniques and habits that allow mastery of the pharmacy curriculum. Candidates must be able to interpret, assimilate and analyze the detailed and complex information presented in the PharmD curriculum. They must be able to learn through a variety of modalities including, but not limited to, classroom instruction, small group, team and collaborative activities, individual study, preparation and presentation of reports, simulations, and use of technology. They must be able to register, recall, measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, apply and transmit information and concepts in person and via technology. They must be able to recognize and draw conclusions about three-dimensional spatial relationships and logical sequential relationships among events. They must be able to formulate and test hypothesis that enable effective and timely problem solving in providing pharmaceutical care to patients in a variety of clinical settings and healthcare systems. Candidates must integrate the information derived to develop and implement an accurate and therapeutically appropriate plan.
5. Behavioral and social attributes: Candidates must demonstrate the emotional regulation required for full use of their intellectual abilities. They must accept responsibility for learning, exercising sound judgment, and promptly completing all responsibilities attendant to the curriculum and to the care of patients. Candidates are expected to exhibit personal accountability, engagement, conscientiousness, reliability, compassion, integrity, honesty, empathy, and collaboration. Candidates must be able to communicate to all individuals in a respectful and effective manner. Candidates must understand the legal and ethical aspects of the practice of pharmacy and function within the guidelines established by the law and by the ethical standards of the pharmacy profession. They must be able to relate to patients and their families, colleagues, and other members of the healthcare team with courtesy, maturity, and respect for the dignity of individuals regardless of gender identity, age, race, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or any other protected status. Candidates must be able to contribute to collaborative, constructive learning environments; accept constructive feedback from others and take personal responsibility for making appropriate positive changes. Candidates must have the stamina and resilience to tolerate the workload of caring for patients and serving as members of a healthcare team. Candidates must be able to function in a competent and professional manner under highly stressful situations, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and manage the uncertainty inherent in patient care and the healthcare system.
6. Ethical and Legal Standards: Candidates must demonstrate the highest ethical and moral behavior. As such, candidates must meet the legal standards to be licensed as intern pharmacists and to practice pharmacy in the State of California as well as the standards of the UCSF School of Pharmacy. Criminal background checks are conducted as part of the admissions process through PharmCAS and are required to verify a candidate’s suitability to participate in experiential education rotations, confirm a candidate’s eligibility for pharmacy licensure and to ensure patient safety. Additional criminal background checks and/or drug screens may be required prior to placement in clinical rotations as specified by the rotation site.

Ability to meet the school of pharmacy’s technical standards

The School of Pharmacy intends for its students and graduates to become competent and compassionate pharmacists capable of entering pharmacy practice and/or post-graduate training. Students must meet the aforementioned technical standards and all requirements for pharmacist licensure. Students with approved accommodations may meet standards and requirements using permitted accommodations.

Equal access to the School of Pharmacy’s educational program

The University of California San Francisco has a proud history of training pharmacists with disabilities and provides reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with disabilities who apply for admission to the PharmD degree program and who are enrolled as pharmacy students. Otherwise, qualified individuals shall not be excluded from admission or participation in the School of Pharmacy’s educational programs and activities based solely on their status as a person with a disability.

UCSF may deny admission or dismiss, separate, or discontinue a candidate from the PharmD program if, despite reasonable accommodations (whether the candidate chooses to use the accommodation or not), their disability poses a (1) safety risk to patients or peers or (2) impedes meaningful progress towards graduation or licensure.

It is the responsibility of a student with a disability (or a student who develops a disability) needing an accommodation to notify Student Disability Services of the disability and request reasonable accommodations as soon as possible.

The Office of Student Affairs works in conjunction with Student Disability Services in evaluating and responding to all requests. It is the responsibility of the student to engage with the Office of Student Affairs and Student Disability Services during the interactive process to review reasonable accommodation requests.

Procedure

1. Candidates must attest that they have reviewed and are capable of meeting the technical standards prior to enrollment in the School of Pharmacy.
2. Second- and third-year students attest that they have reviewed and are capable of meeting the technical standards at the beginning of each academic year.
3. Candidates who wish to request reasonable accommodations to meet these technical standards are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services and request accommodations.
4. Candidates may be requested to provide documentation of the disability and the specific functional limitations during the registration process with Student Disability Services. Candidates who do not register with Student Disability Services or who do not provide necessary documentation shall not be considered to be requesting or seeking reasonable accommodations. Students are responsible for their performance, with or without reasonable accommodations. Candidates will not be assumed to have a disability based on performance alone. Reasonable accommodations are not applied retroactively, and a disability-related explanation will not negate prior poor performance in such cases.
5. While the education staff work in consultation with Student Disability Services to determine and coordinate approved reasonable accommodations, disability documentation maintained by Student Disability Services remains confidential.

Technical Standards Requirement

There are essential abilities and characteristics required for completion of the PharmD degree. Technical standards encompass nonacademic admissions and enrollment criteria essential for participation in the PharmD program and required for admission, promotion and graduation. These requirements may be achieved with or without reasonable accommodations. The delineation of technical standards is required for accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

April 2025