Course Waivers & Substitutions

You may waive the courses described below either by achieving a passing grade on a waiver exam or by providing evidence of completed coursework prior to entering UCSF.

The faculty member in charge of the course establishes the requirements for course waivers and substitutions. Some instructors give waiver exams; some ask for verification of coursework; and others do not approve any waivers, regardless of your previous coursework.

If you are able to waive a course, you may be eligible to substitute a course taken previously, thereby earning units toward the PharmD degree. The determination of courses suitable for substitution rests with the faculty in charge of a course. Courses taken to satisfy UCSF School of Pharmacy prerequisites may not be used as substitutes and may not be counted toward the degree.

Once approved for a waiver, you will receive instructions from the course director or our office on how to proceed. In general, the process includes: dropping the waived course from your study list and, if applicable, filing a petition for course substitution (available in our office) to receive credit for prior coursework. If you have questions about this process, please contact us.

Year 1 Fall

BPS 112 Biostatistics

Students who have taken and passed a recent graduate-level (or similar) course in Biostatistics may be able to waive BPS 112. The course should have been at least 2.5 hours of instruction per week for 10 weeks, and should include at least the following topics: descriptive statistics, probability theory and applications to conditional probabilities, Bayes theorem, odds ratios, probability distributions, sampling distributions, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, correlation and regression (simple linear, multiple linear, logistic), ANOVA, and contingency tables. The course must have used a modern computer program concurrently. Examples of these include Minitab, STATA, SAS, and SPSS. Please contact the course director, providing your full syllabus (not merely a course description) and transcript, if you wish to attempt a substitution.

CP 110 Pharmaceutical Calculations

For those students who believe that they have a strong mathematical background in conjunction with prior work experience in a pharmacy (retail, institutional or other), the opportunity to sit for a waiver exam will be offered. In order to sit for the waiver exam, you must complete and return the waiver request form to the course director who will confirm eligibility to take the waiver exam.

The waiver exam consists of 20 questions that must be completed within 2 hours (10 minutes per question). It is a comprehensive examination that covers all topics from the CP-110 text (Pharmaceutical Calculations, 13th Edition, Howard C. Ansel). Those students eligible to take the exam will receive specific information regarding content and a sample exam that reveals layout and scoring information. A passing score is 90% on the exam to waive out of the CP-110 course. Partial credit is awarded on the waiver exam.

Year 1 Winter

Anatomy 115 Histology

A waiver exam is given in early winter quarter. To take it, you must have completed a histology course for 2 or more units with a grade of B or better within the last 4 years. If you pass the exam, a substitution may be granted for an equivalent course.

Biochem 112 Human Metabolism

Students who have taken an approved upper division biochemistry course and earned a grade of B or better are eligible take the Biochemistry 112 waiver examination. The exam contains multiple choice questions on the topics covered in the course. The waiver exam is given in January. Additional information about this exam is provided to first-year students in the fall.

Students who pass the waiver exam and complete a 1-unit Biochem Clinical Correlates course, will have met the corresponding graduation requirement. Up to 3 units of course substitution credit is allowed for students who pass the exam. To learn more about courses approved for eligibility to take the exam, contact the OSACA.

Chem 113 Advanced Organic Chemistry

A waiver exam is not given for this course. In order to waive this course, you must have taken an upper division Advanced Organic Chemistry course for a minimum of 3 quarter units and earned a grade of B or better. The course must be advanced (graduate level) organic chemistry taken in the junior or senior year, after basic organic chemistry. You must provide the instructor with a copy of the transcript as well as the course syllabus. (Contact us to obtain a copy of the transcript you had sent with your application.)

Year 1 Spring

Anatomy 116 Gross Anatomy

Waivers are rarely granted for this course; please direct questions to the course director.

Year 2 Fall

Micro 121 Immunology

Students who have taken basic immunology as an undergraduate course and feel very comfortable with the subject may apply to waive out of Micro 121.

Waivers are granted based upon the course taken, the grade received, and the responses to the waiver application. Detailed information about the waiver process is provided in the summer prior to the beginning of the 2nd year.

Students are not eligible for a waiver unless they have taken and received a grade in a course fully devoted to immunology. A few lectures or a unit within a microbiology course is not sufficient for consideration for a waiver.

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