For the successful completion of the Ph.D. program, the Graduate School and the faculty in the Department of Pharmaceutical Systems and Policy have established the following minimum requirements.

1. Complete core courses
2. Complete elective courses
3. Attend lectures of the professional course PHAR 700: Pharmacy as a Profession (if recommended by advisor for international and non-pharmacy U.S. students)
4. Successfully complete Master's Degree
5. Successfully complete written qualifying examination
6. Successfully complete oral qualifying examination
7. Submit written proposal to committee, which may be in SF424 format
8. Orally defend dissertation proposal (public defense)
9. Have at least three (3) peer-reviewed manuscripts either published or accepted for publication (unrelated to dissertation research) prior to graduation. These publications ideally should be generated according to the timeline listed in the Graduate Handbook.
10. Complete at least 12 hours of dissertation research
11. Orally defend final dissertation (public defense)
12. Attend the WVU Summer Teaching Scholars Program and develop and present a minimum of 3 classroom teaching presentations in the graduate or pharmacy professional curriculum
13. Submit an approved dissertation to WVU in a traditional 5-chapter book or 3 manuscript model
14. Submit at least one manuscript for peer review for publication from the dissertation work

Details of the above graduation requirements may be found in the School of Pharmacy Graduate Handbook and the Graduate School Handbook of the University.

The faculty of the Department of Pharmaceutical Systems and Policy have identified certain expectations and additional skills that will be desired from students completing the Ph.D. program. These include:

1. Submit abstracts for presentation at national or international professional meetings
2. Attend and/or make presentations at national meetings
3. Assist faculty in writing grants and be involved in funded research projects
4. Assist faculty in writing manuscripts on funded research projects
5. Be proficient in use of statistical packages such as SPSS and SAS
6. Complete summer internships at pharmaceutical companies, managed care organizations or other agencies

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