Pharmaceutical Sciences, B.S.
The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Pharmaceutical Sciences is housed in the UC Irvine Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, a pioneering program designed to train undergraduates in the art of discovering new medicines and deploying them into the clinic. After completing comprehensive background training in basic biology, chemistry, and mathematics, majors continue on to advanced training in organic chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, human genetics and physiology, and biochemistry. Starting in their third year, majors take very deep dives into the topics that define contemporary drug discovery and clinical implementation: medicinal chemistry, molecular pharmacology, and biologics. Supplementing these core areas are a variety of electives and experiential learning opportunities to acquire advanced knowledge in high-throughput experimentation, structure-activity relationship studies, cellular analytics, and cutting-edge OMIC technologies. Most graduates of this program pursue advanced degrees, such as the Ph.D., M.D., or Pharm.D., and pursue careers in biomedical research and professional healthcare, while others seek employment in the public and private sectors after graduation.
Specialization in Medicinal Pharmacology
The specialization in medicinal pharmacology within the B.S. degree provides added flexibility to students who are 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 courses in molecular pharmacology and pharmacotherapy. These courses provide fundamental instruction in drug mechanisms of action and the clinical use of drugs in the treatment of disease and provide synergistic training in other pharmaceutical sciences courses that can be taken as electives. The program also includes instruction in human anatomy, physiology and microbiology, emphasizing the basic understanding of human health and disease. Students receive instruction in drug development with an accompanying experiential learning in our medicinal chemistry laboratory. 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 UC Irvine 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 UC Irvine's CHEM 1A-CHEM 1B-CHEM 1C and CHEM 1LC-CHEM 1LD AND one year of organic chemistry with laboratory equivalent to UC Irvine’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 UC Irvine’s BIO SCI 93, BIO SCI 94, BIO SCI 97. Moreover, all transfer applicants must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. Additional courses that are recommended, but not required: BIO SCI 98. BIO SCI 99. one year of calculus and one year of calculus-based physics.
Pharmaceutical Sciences undergraduate students may remain in the general major or select the Medicinal Pharmacology specialization. The two options differ in their upper-division course requirements listed below, with Medicinal Pharmacology offering courses with a greater focus on the health science professions. To select the specialization, contact the Pharmaceutical Sciences Student Affairs Office.
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 | |
| Majors General Chemistry Lecture and Majors General Chemistry Lecture and Majors General Chemistry Lecture | |
| 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 | |
| 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 90L | Introduction to Biology Research |
| 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 (All Pharmaceutical Sciences students): | |
| 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 |
| C. Upper-Division requirements for General Pharmaceutical Sciences majors (only): | |
| Complete: | |
| PHRMSCI 171 | Physical Biochemistry |
| PHRMSCI 172 | Special Topics in Pharmaceutical Sciences 5 |
| PHRMSCI 174 | Biologics |
| PHRMSCI 174L | Cellular Pharmacology Lab |
| D. Upper-Division requirements for Medicinal Pharmacology Specialization students (only): | |
| Complete: | |
| PHRMSCI 120L | Human Physiology Lab |
| PHRMSCI 121 | Human Anatomy with Pathological Correlates |
| PHRMSCI 122 | Medical Microbiology |
| PHRMSCI 122L | Medical Microbiology Laboratory |
| E. Upper-Division Electives (All Pharmaceutical Sciences students): | |
| Select 8 units of upper-division electives from the following: 1,2 | |
| PHRMSCI 100-196 (Excluding PHRMSCI courses required for the general major or Medicinal Pharmacology specialization) 5 | |
| Honors Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences 6 | |
| BIO SCI D103-N170 (Excluding BIO SCI E109, BIO SCI E112L, BIO SCI M118L, BIO SCI M122, BIO SCI D170) | |
| Design of Biomaterials | |
| CHEM 100-160 | |
| PUBHLTH 120-190 | |
- 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.
- 5
General Pharmaceutical Sciences Majors: PHRMSCI 172 must be taken at least once to meet upper-division major course requirements. It may be taken additional times with different topics to fulfill upper-division elective course requirements.
Medicinal Pharmacology Specialization: PHRMSCI 172 may be taken multiple times with different topics to fulfill upper-division elective course requirements.
- 6
To count as an upper division elective, PHRMSCI H199 must be taken in addition to at least 12 units of PHRMSCI 199 or BIO SCI 199 or CHEM 180 or other approved research course.
General Pharmaceutical Sciences Majors Upper-Division Writing Requirement: Pharmaceutical Sciences general 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.
Medicinal Pharmacology Specialization 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.
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.
| 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 | ||