The partnership between the Swenson College of Science and Engineering at UMD and the College of Pharmacy helps students acquire both degrees in seven years rather than eight, though some students are able to complete the program in even less time due to college credit earned in high school.
Students in the accelerated program spend the equivalent of three years pursuing an undergraduate degree at the Swenson College before starting their first year of the pharmacy program, at the end of which they receive their bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences. Not only does the program allow students to save money, but it helps UMD retain students. The number of students on an accelerated path is steadily increasing due to word of mouth and more effort from both colleges to promote the program, said Miranda Miller, director of advising and academic services at the Swenson College. Additionally, Swenson College launched a new, shared pre-health advisor position in April in collaboration with the Pre-Health Student Resource Center on the Twin Cities campus, which will provide additional support and advising for students in the accelerated program.
“We have a really strong partnership between our office, the College of Pharmacy, and the Office of the Registrar, ensuring these students have a streamlined and seamless process,” Miller said. “We're really trying to meet that need within the University of Minnesota strategic plan and meet the deficit in healthcare right now, including rural healthcare.”
For the last several years, four to six students per year have enrolled in the accelerated program, but that number has climbed to 19 students across all four cohorts, said Olivia Buncher, assistant dean for student affairs at the College of Pharmacy. She attributes the growth to partnered outreach with Swenson College and student word of mouth. Entry to the PharmD program doesn’t demand a bachelor’s degree (though many applicants have one), so the accelerated route also provides an undergraduate degree, opening up opportunities to work toward dual or advanced degrees.
“The majority of our students in the past have typically come in with a bachelor's degree to be a more competitive applicant and also to have the doors left open for them to pursue other types of opportunities,” Buncher said. “This is sort of the best of both worlds.”
For PharmD students Isaac Howell and Macy Williams, the accelerated program enables them to complete both degrees in just six years— two years for their undergraduate degrees, four years for their PharmD.
Howell considered it a no-brainer. He also applied to pharmacy school through the early assurance program, which meant interviewing as an 18-year-old first-year college student for conditional admission into the pharmacy program, so long as he maintained a satisfactory GPA. Now he’s in his first year of pharmacy school and his fiancée will join him in the accelerated pharmacy program this coming fall. At the start of the PharmD program, he worried about feeling behind amongst his peers with four-year degrees and more advanced chemistry knowledge, but now he believes his student experience isn’t all that different.
“There hasn't been much of a difference because of a lot of the way the new MNspire [curriculum] is built— they ease you into it,” Howell said. “For a lot of our biochemistry classes, it’s just a review sometimes for classmates, but for me it was still slow enough of an introduction that I never felt like I was behind anyone.”
Williams, a second-year student, also had her doubts about keeping up with peers, which were assuaged after talking to her advisor.
“[My advisor] said, ‘They accepted you for a reason,’ and they did… They want to get everyone on the same page, because everyone comes in with such different educational backgrounds,” she said. “I would 100% recommend [the accelerated program]. I think anyone can do it academically with [the right] mentality.”
Howell also affirmed the value of the accelerated and early assurance programs, despite any hesitancy incoming students may feel about switching majors or fields down the road.
“A lot of people, I think, are worried about changing their mind or something, but for the [accelerated] program, you're on the track for a [bachelor’s] degree anyways,” he said. “I'd say in my experience— and from the people I've talked to— there's literally no downsides to it… All it can do is help you.”