MC partners with ETSU for dual-degree pharmacy program

June 8, 2020

Maryville College and East Tennessee State University’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy recently signed an agreement to offer a dual-degree pharmacy program that will allow MC students to pursue a bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree in biopharmaceutical sciences and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD), starting this fall.

“We’re really pleased to be able to offer this new dual-degree option for students with an interest in pharmacy,” said Dr. Daniel Klingensmith, vice president and dean of the College. “The Gatton school is a great partner for us: they can provide our students with highly specialized advanced coursework, facilities and professional networks. For our part, we can send them students with an excellent foundational training in science and the broader perspective that’s part of a liberal arts education. Programs like this expand the range of opportunities associated with a Maryville College education, because they allow a student to start with us in the rigorous but highly supportive and personalized program that a small college can provide, but then finish up in a specialized pre-professional program.”

Students in the program will spend the first three years of their college career at Maryville College, completing 102 credit hours and laying a strong foundation in chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, cellular biology, human anatomy and physiology, genetics, microbiology, and immunology, as well as developing the skills that will position them for leadership and career advancement: resiliency, written and oral communication, and critical thinking.

Curricular and co-curricular experiences at Maryville College will strengthen students’ applications to ETSU’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, where, upon acceptance, students will complete the requirements for a pharmacy degree.

After completing the requirements of the program, students will receive a bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree in biopharmaceutical sciences from Maryville College and a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from ETSU. This is an alternate track for receiving a B.A. from Maryville College, in which requirements for the senior year of study are completed at ETSU as part of the first year of pharmacy school.

Maryville College already has a similar dual-degree pharmacy program agreement with the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy. For the past six years, Maryville College students who completed MC’s traditional bachelor’s degrees in biology, biochemistry and chemistry have had a 100 percent acceptance rate to pharmacy programs in the United States. Maryville College alumni have completed – or are completing – pharmacy degrees at ETSU’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy; UT’s College of Pharmacy; Lipscomb University’s College of Pharmacy in Nashville, Tenn.; South College’s School of Pharmacy in Knoxville, Tenn.; Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy in Columbus, Ohio; and Belmont University’s College of Pharmacy in Nashville, Tenn.

Maryville College’s agreement with ETSU was initiated by ETSU, after a Maryville College student who was majoring in biopharmaceutical sciences applied for admission to ETSU’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy.

“ETSU was impressed with the student’s qualifications and offered her a spot in their 2019 cohort,” said Dr. Angelia Gibson, chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and professor of chemistry at MC. “Even though the student wanted to attend ETSU, we did not have an agreement with them at the time that would allow her to complete her bachelor’s degree. She ultimately decided to attend UT College of Pharmacy, because our agreement with them allowed her to complete her bachelor’s degree at Maryville by taking the first year of classes at UT College of Pharmacy.

“Representatives at ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy and our student both indicated that ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy would be a good fit for Maryville College students because of similarities in campus cultures,” Gibson continued. “We liked the idea of providing our students with more than one pharmacy partner in Tennessee.”

For more information, visit the Maryville College website or call the Admissions Office at 865.981.8092.

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”