Pharmaceutical Sciences, B.S.
UCI’s undergraduate degree in pharmaceutical sciences is among the top pharmaceutical sciences departments in the nation. The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) program trains students in a multidisciplinary approach so that they can contribute to the advancement of new pharmaceutical technologies such as accelerated chemical synthesis, molecular-based assays using cloned enzymes, biopharmaceutical techniques, novel diagnostics, computational chemistry, and gene therapies. Pharmaceutical scientists are rapidly changing the field of drug discovery and development. The graduates of this program may seek employment in public and private sectors or choose to pursue graduate degrees such as a Ph.D., M.D., or Pharm.D., as well as many others.
Specialization in Medicinal Pharmacology
Additionally, the specialization in medicinal pharmacology within the B.S. degree is designed to prepare students to pursue further training for healthcare-related careers, such as medicine, pharmacy, physician associate, and nursing. The specialization can also be used as preparation for research-oriented careers such as drug development. The first three years of the program are similar to the pharmaceutical sciences major and is composed of a foundational study of biology, chemistry, physics, and math. The core of the program begins in the third year and is constructed around two molecular pharmacology classes and a class in pharmacotherapy. These three classes provide fundamental instruction in drug mechanisms of action and the use of drugs in the treatment of disease. The program also includes instruction in human anatomy, physiology and microbiology, emphasizing the basic understanding of human health and disease. Students also receive instruction in drug development with an accompanying hands-on wet-lab experience. Finally, the specialization is designed to provide students with a greater flexibility in scheduling required classes and they will have access to a large variety of electives allowing them to personalize their educational experience. This specialization allows students to develop a solid preparation for healthcare focused professional schools or for research oriented graduate programs.
Undergraduate Honors. Honors at graduation, e.g., cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude, are awarded to approximately the top 16 percent of the graduating seniors. To be eligible for honors, a general criterion is that students must have completed at least 72 units in residence at a University of California campus. For more information, please visit the Latin Honors page.
Students may be admitted to the Pharmaceutical Sciences major upon entering the University as freshmen, via change of major petition, or as transfer students from other colleges and universities.
Information about change-of-major policies is available in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences office and at the UCI Change of Major Criteria website.
Transfer Students: All applicants must have completed the following required courses with a grade of B- or better in all courses: one year of general chemistry with laboratory equivalent to UCI's CHEM 1A-CHEM 1B-CHEM 1C and CHEM 1LC-CHEM 1LD AND one year of organic chemistry with laboratory equivalent to UCI’s CHEM 51A-CHEM 51B-CHEM 51C and CHEM 51LB-CHEM 51LC-CHEM 51LD. Transfer students must also complete two years of biology courses equivalent to UCI’s BIO SCI 93, BIO SCI 94, BIO SCI 97, BIO SCI 98, and BIO SCI 99. Moreover, all transfer applicants must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. Additional courses that are recommended, but not required: one year of calculus and one year of calculus-based physics.
All students must meet the University Requirements.
| A. Lower-Division Requirements: | |
| 1. Select one of the following sequences: 4 | |
| General Chemistry and General Chemistry and General Chemistry | |
| Honors General Chemistry and Honors General Chemistry and Honors General Chemistry | |
| and select one of the following lab sequences: 4 | |
| General Chemistry Laboratory and General Chemistry Laboratory | |
| Majors General Chemistry Laboratory and Majors General Chemistry Laboratory and Majors Quantitative Analytical Chemistry Laboratory | |
| Complete the following organic chemistry sequence and accompanying labs: | |
| Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry 3 | |
| Organic Chemistry Laboratory and Organic Chemistry Laboratory and Organic Chemistry Laboratory | |
| 2. Complete: | |
| MATH 2A- 2B | Single-Variable Calculus I and Single-Variable Calculus II |
| and select one of the following: | |
| Multivariable Calculus I | |
| Introduction to Linear Algebra | |
| Basic Statistics | |
| Introduction to Biological Statistics | |
| 3. Select one of the following physics sequences: | |
| Basic Physics I and Basic Physics II and Basic Physics III | |
| or | |
| Classical Physics and Classical Physics and Classical Physics | |
| 4. Complete: | |
| BIO SCI 93 | From DNA to Organisms |
| BIO SCI 94 | From Organisms to Ecosystems |
| BIO SCI 97 | Genetics |
| BIO SCI 98 | Biochemistry |
| BIO SCI 99 | Molecular Biology |
| 5. Complete: 2 | |
| PHRMSCI 1 | New Student Seminar |
| PHRMSCI 76 | Ethical Conduct of Research |
| B. Upper-Division Requirements: | |
| Complete: | |
| BIO SCI 100 | Scientific Writing |
| BIO SCI E109 | Human Physiology |
| PHRMSCI 170A- 170B | Molecular Pharmacology I and Molecular Pharmacology II 2 |
| PHRMSCI 173 | Pharmacotherapy 2 |
| PHRMSCI 177- 177L | Medicinal Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory 2 |
| PHRMSCI 171 | Physical Biochemistry |
| PHRMSCI 172 | Topics in Pharmaceutical Sciences |
| PHRMSCI 174- 174L | Biopharmaceutics and Nanomedicine and Biopharmaceutics and Nanomedicine Lab |
| C. Upper-Division Electives (8 units): | |
| The upper-division electives may be selected from the following: 1,2 | |
| Cell Biology | |
| Developmental Biology | |
| Developmental and Cell Biology Laboratory | |
| Human Anatomy | |
| Eukaryotic and Human Genetics | |
| Genomics, Development, and Medicine | |
| Applied Human Anatomy | |
| The Physiology of Human Nutrition | |
| Environmental Ethics | |
| Advanced Biochemistry | |
| Biochemistry Laboratory | |
| Molecular Biology Laboratory | |
| Experimental Microbiology Laboratory | |
| Immunology with Hematology | |
| General Microbiology | |
| Introduction to Computational Biology | |
| Virology | |
| Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity | |
| Molecular Biology of Cancer | |
| Microbial Genetics | |
| Human Parasitology | |
| Cell Organelles and Membranes | |
| Neurobiology and Behavior | |
| Neurobiology Laboratory | |
| Neuropharmacology | |
| Molecular Neurobiology | |
| Inorganic Chemistry | |
| Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory | |
| Advanced Organic Chemistry | |
| Introduction to Chemical Biology | |
| Introduction to Chemical Biology Laboratory Techniques | |
| Introduction to Computational Organic Chemistry | |
| Advanced Laboratory in Chemistry and Synthesis of Materials | |
| Organic Synthesis Laboratory | |
- 1
Course may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement.
- 2
Courses must be completed with a grade of C- or better.
- 3
Courses must be completed with a grade of C- or better by winter quarter of the second year.
- 4
Students may repeat one course in the general chemistry series one time. Multiple repeats of one course or repeats of more than one course are not permitted.
Upper-Division Writing Requirement: Pharmaceutical Sciences majors satisfy the upper-division writing requirement by completing BIO SCI 100 with a grade of C- or better, followed by the completion of PHRMSCI 174L and PHRMSCI 177L.
NOTE: Double majors with Pharmaceutical Sciences, Public Health Sciences, Nursing Science, Biomedical Engineering: Premedical, or with any of the School of Biological Sciences majors are not permitted.
Optional Specialization in Medicinal Pharmacology
| A. Complete the lower-division course requirements listed in section A of the major requirements. | |
| B. Upper-Division Requirements | |
| Complete: | |
| BIO SCI M122 | General Microbiology |
| PHRMSCI 122L | Medical Microbiology Laboratory |
| PHRMSCI 120L | Human Physiology Lab |
| PHRMSCI 121 | Human Anatomy with Pathological Correlates |
| C. Upper-Division Electives: | |
| Select 8 units from the upper-division electives listed section C of the major requirements. 1,2 | |
Upper-Division Writing Requirement: Medicinal Pharmacology Specialization satisfies the upper-division writing requirement by completing BIO SCI 100 with a grade of C- or better, followed by the PHRMSCI 122L, and PHRMSCI 121.
| Freshman | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Winter | Spring |
| BIO SCI 93 | BIO SCI 94 | CHEM 1C & CHEM 1LC |
| CHEM 1A | CHEM 1B | MATH 2A or 2B |
| PHRMSCI 1 | WRITING 50 | WRITING 60 |
| General Education | General Education | General Education |
| Sophomore | ||
| Fall | Winter | Spring |
| BIO SCI 97 | BIO SCI 98 | BIO SCI 99 |
| CHEM 51A & CHEM 1LD | CHEM 51B & CHEM 51LB | CHEM 51C & CHEM 51LC |
| PHRMSCI 42 | General Education | PHRMSCI 3 |
| General Education | ||
| Junior | ||
| Fall | Winter | Spring |
| BIO SCI E109 | PHRMSCI 177 & 177L | PHRMSCI 174 & 174L |
| BIO SCI 100 | General Education | Elective |
| PHYSICS 3A or 7C | PHYSICS 3B or 7D | PHYSICS 3C or 7E |
| CHEM 51LD | Upper-Division Elective | PHRMSCI 76 |
| Senior | ||
| Fall | Winter | Spring |
| PHRMSCI 171 | PHRMSCI 170A | General Education |
| General Education | General Education | Upper-Division Elective |
| PHRMSCI 172 | STATS 7, 8, MATH 2D, or MATH 3A | PHRMSCI 170B |
| PHRMSCI 173 | ||