Through a series of short videos, current students take you inside the labs, clinics, and experiences shaping the next generation of pharmacists
From sterile compounding labs to community-building events to a semester abroad, today’s PharmD students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy are getting a broad, hands-on education that goes far beyond the classroom. The School’s students share their experience in pharmacy school through short videos on Instagram, giving a glimpse at what life is like as a student pharmacist and helping future pharmacists picture themselves as Badgers.
The UW–Madison School of Pharmacy is part of a top-tier research institution, with research programs spanning basic science and drug discovery to translational work that brings innovations to patient bedsides. PharmD students have the opportunity to learn and work alongside leaders in their field, including through the PharmD concentration in research.
The School's PharmD students are practice-ready well before graduation, getting hands-on experience in labs that simulate real clinical scenarios, from compounding sterile medications to guiding patients through continuous glucose monitors.
Great pharmacists are great communicators. PharmD students learn to translate complex science into clear, confident conversations, whether they're counseling a patient in the School's Communications Lab or presenting their research findings to their peers.
Pharmacists are natural innovators, with a clinical foundation and proximity to patients that allows them to see and solve problems in healthcare. Through a business-focused track and opportunities like ShaRx Tank — a student competition where students take a business or product idea from conception to a pitch to investors — the School cultivates student pharmacists' entrepreneurial potential.
In their final year, PharmD students complete Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs), clinical rotations that put classroom learning into real-life practice. Whether completing a rotation close to campus or across the globe — such as in South Africa, Thailand, or Spain — the School's student pharmacists gain experience in a breadth of practice settings.
At the School of Pharmacy, students are also part of a tight-knit community. The Pharmacy Families program ensures that every PharmD student has a network of faculty, staff, and students across all program years, and events like the Taste of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association offer more ways for students to connect outside the classroom.
In the School of Pharmacy’s annual ShaRx Tank, five PharmD student-led teams bring entrepreneurial ideas from concept to competition in front of alumni judges.
The Wisconsin Society of Pharmacy Students’ heart health outreach is recognized by APhA-ASP as the third-best in the nation.