Leadership Track

Leadership is critical to advance the pharmacy profession. Patient care will be less than optimal without pharmacists who can lead the profession through a continuously evolving health care delivery system.  Developing leadership skills is an ongoing life-long process and commitment.  The leadership track will facilitate each participant to build their leadership capacity in order to grow personally and professionally.  The track will provide exercises to develop leadership skills for any practice setting.

The LDO is a three-year program consisting of nine hours of classroom didactic coursework and two month-long advanced practice experience rotations in leadership.  During the P2 and P3 years, students in the LDO complete a series of courses designed to increase one’s leadership capacity and includes content on self-awareness and individual development planning, team dynamics and dysfunctions of a team, behavior change and the neuroscience of behavior change, and leading change in organizations.  A distinguishing feature of the LDO is coaching that is integrated within the program in which faculty who are certified health, wellness, and leadership coaches provide one-on-one coaching to every student in the LDO. 

In the P4 year, students complete two leadership APPE rotations.  One is a cohort rotation, and the other is an individual leadership APPE of their choosing.  Various individual leadership APPE options stem from numerous partnerships established between the College and external partners over the years, and include rotations in:  corporate or local retail chain pharmacy leadership; independent pharmacy ownership, leadership, and management; hospital pharmacy leadership and management; federal government health care leadership (including military and VA); professional pharmacy organization leadership; pharmaceutical industry leadership; and non-profit organization leadership training.

Spring of P2 Year (Date announced at the beginning of the Spring semester each year)

https://redcap.link/pharmacycommonapp

• Didactic courses:
  • PHAR 7142:  Leadership in Pharmacy-I [2 credit hours]
  • PHAR 7242:  Leadership in Pharmacy-II [2 credit hours]
  • PHAR 7461:  Leadership in Action-I [1 credit hour]
  • PHAR 7703:  Pharmacy Business & Entrepreneurship [3 credit hours]
  • PHAR 7471:  Leadership in Action-II [1 credit hour]
• Experiential courses [Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) Rotations]:
  1. PHAR 7094:  Selective Practicum in Leadership [4 credit hours]
  2. PHAR 7094:  Selective Practicum in Leadership [4 credit hours]

The LDO prepares graduates for any career in pharmacy, whether in patient care or non-patient care settings.  The leadership learning and capacity that one builds in the leadership track can be applied and translated to any professional or personal area of one’s life.  Graduates of the LDO have entered leadership roles in various patient care practice sites, have pursued post-graduate opportunities (residencies, fellowships, graduate degree programs), and have entered non-traditional areas of practice in leadership roles.

Michael Smith, PhD, RPh, FAPhA, NBC-HWC;
Professor and President’s Associate Presidential Professor
OU College of Pharmacy
Michael-Smith@ou.edu