Current Status of Immunology Education in US Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy.

Objective. To determine the extent of immunology education in US Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programs. Methods. Curricular information on immunology education was collected from the web pages of US PharmD programs (N=142). The data were sorted, comparisons were made, and trends were identified. Results. Of 142 PharmD programs studied, 100% posted curriculum information on their websites. Among them, 73 programs (51.4%) had a dedicated immunology course in their curriculum, either as an independent course or a course combined with another subject. Most immunology education was offered in the first professional year (72.5%). Of the programs that offered immunology as an independent course, the number of semester hours dedicated to the course varied from 1.5 to 3.5 (median=3, mode=3, mean=2.7). More three-year programs offered immunology as a core component in the didactic curriculum than did four-year programs (64.7% vs 49.6%). Similarly, more private programs offered immunology than did public programs (64% vs 37.3%). Conclusion. Immunology education in US schools and colleges of pharmacy lacks consensus. Not all PharmD programs indicated they offered specific, focused immunology education in their curricula. There were also variations in the placement of immunology content within the curriculum among programs offering specific immunology course(s). Lastly, there was discrepancy in the allocation of credit hours to the immunology courses. Continued discussion on standardization of immunology education across US pharmacy schools is recommended.