Approved Electives

Doctor of Pharmacy students should check the WSU Schedule of Classes for elective offerings, as courses vary by term.

Doctor of Pharmacy Electives

PharDSci 499 Special Problems variable 1 to 4 cr. May be repeated for credit; cumulative maximum 12 hours. (Offered Fall and Spring) Independent study conducted under the jurisdiction of an approving faculty member; may include independent research studies in technical or specialized problems; selection and analysis of specified readings; development of a creative project; or field experiences.

Pharmacy 499 Special Problems variable 1 to 4 cr.  Contact Pharmacotherapy Faculty for project list (Offered Fall and Spring) Independent study conducted under the jurisdiction of an approving faculty member; may include independent research studies in technical or specialized problems; selection and analysis of specified readings; development of a creative project; or field experiences. Topics include: Personal Finance 1 cr. (Spring only)

Pharmacy 570 Pain: Processes and Treatment 2 cr. (Offered Fall only) Course Prerequisite: PharDSci 512. Skills, education, and awareness in topics related to pain processes, pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments, legal processes and resources, and inter-professional communication for improved patient outcomes.

Pharmacy 572 Physical Activity Prescription in the Pharmacy 2 cr. (Offered Online) This elective is designed to provide student pharmacists with the knowledge and skill set to apply evidence-based guidelines to recommend and promote physical activity in their patients. A satisfactory or honors grade in PharDSci 532 is required for enrollment in Pharmacy 572.

Pharmacy 573 Family Medicine and Pharmacy 2 cr. (Offered Fall, Yakima only) Course Prerequisite: Pharmacy 544 or 554. Wide range of both inpatient and outpatient family medicine topics including but not limited to, anticoagulation, diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, polypharmacy, atrial fibrillation, COPD and asthma; serves as a bridge between therapeutic courses and experiential APPE rotations

Pharmacy 574 Veterinary Pharmacy 2 cr. (Offered Spring only) Course Prerequisite: Pharmacy 534. Basic pathophysiology of diseases in small and large animals and current treatments likely to be dispensed by community pharmacists.

Pharmacy 575 Substance Use Disorder 1 cr. This course provides students with a foundational knowledge of substance use disorder and the impact pharmacists have on the disease. Offered Spring 2022.

Pharmacy 577 Diseases Complications and Drug Therapy in Obstetrics 2 cr. Course prerequisite: admission to the pharmacy program and PharDSci 532. (Offered online fall only) Medical and pharmacological issues common in obstetrics.

Pharmacy 578 Leadership and Professional Development  2 cr. (Offered Fall Only) Skills, traits, and values required by leaders seeking to influence change in the pharmacy profession and health care.

Pharmacy 580 Practical Politics and Pharmacy 2 cr. Course Prerequisite: admission to the pharmacy program. (Offered spring only) Study of government and legislation to better assist patients in navigating the political process.

Pharmacy 588 Special Topics V 1-4 cr. May be repeated for credit; cumulative maximum 10 credits. Contemporary issues in pharmacy. Recommended preparation: Completion of one year in the Pharmacy program. Typically offered Fall and Spring. H, S, F grading.

Pharmacy 589 Special Topics V 1-4 cr. May be repeated for credit; cumulative maximum 10 credits. Contemporary issues in pharmacy. Recommended preparation: Completion of one year in the Pharmacy program. Typically offered Fall and Spring. S, F grading.

Pharmacy 590 Advanced Infectious Disease Elective 2 cr. (Offered Spring only) Course Prerequisite: PHARMACY 544. Advanced knowledge of infectious disease topics covered in therapeutic pharmacy coursework. S, F grading.

Pharmacy 591 Advanced Elective in Critical Care 2 cr. Course Prerequisite: PHARMACY 554. (Offered in the PY3 year spring semester) Explores in greater depth the pharmacology and pharmacotherapy encountered in the critical care setting.

Pharmacy 593 Residency Preparation 2 cr. Course prerequisites: Admission to Pharmacy Program; PY3 students who have successfully completed Pharmacy 554 and 566. An introduction to the residency experience and methods to succeed in attaining a pharmacy residency. Typically offered Spring. H, S, F grading.

Pharmacy 594 Comprehensive Diabetes Management 3 cr. (Not currently offered) Multidisciplinary foundation for future health professionals in the principles of diabetes management, using self-paced, modular and internet-based alternative format for delivery.

Pharmacy 595 HIV – Advanced Therapeutics 2 cr. (Offered Fall only) Course Prerequisites: PHARDSCI 510; PHARDSCI 512; PHARMACY 514. Broad range of HIV related topics covered from the origin of HIV through the current status of HIV vaccines. H, S, F grading.

Pharmacy 596 Entrepreneurship in Pharmacy 1 cr. (Offered Spring only in odd years) Entrepreneurship and innovative pharmacy business plan development.

Pharmacy 597 Advanced Diabetes Management 2 cr. (Offered Spring only, Spokane only) Course Prerequisite: Pharmacy 554 and 566. This course provides students an in depth experience in the holistic management of patients with diabetes. During this course, students will be provided with the opportunity to increase their knowledge, skills, and confidence in relation to treating patients with diabetes. The components of this course will include case-based discussions, case-presentations, and greater understanding of diabetes self-management.

Pharmacy 598 (pending faculty senate approval) Advances in Clinical Pharmacogenomics 2 cr. (Offered Spring only) Course Prerequisite: PharDSci 510 The Advances in Clinical Pharmacogenomics elective course covers a broad range of new topics including gene-environmental interactions and application of knowledge of PGx to numerous different disease states such as hypersensitivity reactions, neurology, diabetes, transplantation and infectious diseases as well as a much greater in depth discussion of common disease states such as cardiology, pain management, mental health and oncology. H, S, F grading

Pharmacy 599 Special Projects 2 cr. Contact Pharmacotherapy Faculty for project list (Offered Fall and Spring) Laboratory research, clinical research, or comprehensive review of selected subjects.

PharDSci 599 Special Projects 2 cr. Contact Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty for project list (Offered Fall and Spring) Laboratory research, clinical research, or comprehensive review of selected subjects.

Elective Requirement

Class of 2027 and beyond are required to complete 5 credits of electives.

Class of 2024-2026 are required to complete 12 credits of electives.

Areas of Interest

The College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences offers multiple electives that fit within an area of interest. Below are categories and courses that fit within that interest.

Leadership

HPA 515: Health Care Management

MBA Dual Degree Program
PharDSci 499 & 599: Special Projects
Pharmacy 499 & 599: Special Projects
Pharmacy 578: Leadership and Professional Development
Pharmacy 580: Practical Politics and Pharmacy
Pharmacy 596: Entrepreneurship in Pharmacy

Ambulatory/Community Pharmacy

PharDSci 499 & 599: Special Projects
Pharmacy 499 & 599: Special Projects
Pharmacy 578: Leadership and Professional Development
Pharmacy 580: Practical Politics and Pharmacy
Pharmacy 594: Comprehensive Diabetes Management
Pharmacy 596: Entrepreneurship in Pharmacy

Acute Care Pharmacy

PharDSci 499 & 599: Special Projects
Pharmacy 499 & 599: Special Projects
Pharmacy 577: Disease Complications and Drug Therapy in obstetrics
Pharmacy 578: Leadership and Professional Development
Pharmacy 591: Advanced Elective in Critical Care

Management

PharDSci 499 & 599: Special Projects
Pharmacy 499 & 599: Special Project
Pharmacy 594: Comprehensive Diabetes Management
Pharmacy 596: Entrepreneurship in Pharmacy

Pharmaceutical Sciences and Molecular Medicine Graduate Courses

PharmD students can enroll in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Molecular Medicine graduate courses as electives, with instructor permission. Check the WSU Schedule of Classes for offerings.

PharmSci 512 Topics in Pharmacology 3cr. (Scheduling varies) Topics of current interest in pharmacology and closely related disciplines.

PharmSci 520 Foundation of Molecular Regulation 3 cr. (Typically offered in the fall) Principles of molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry used to develop therapeutic approaches to the treatment and prevention of human disease.

PharmSci 530 Foundations of Cellular Regulation 3 cr. (Typically offered in the spring) Fundamentals of pharmacology and toxicology; signal transduction; cellular effects of diet and exercise; action and regulation of dietary supplements.

PharmSci 540 Fundamentals of Chronopharmacology 3cr. (Typically offered every other spring) Role of the circadian clock in pharmacology as it relates to therapeutic efficacy with a special emphasis on anti-cancer drug treatment.

PharmSci 560 Molecular and Cellular Methods in Biomedical Sciences 3cr. (scheduling varies) Basic experimental methods and approaches in cell and molecular biology, with an emphasis on practical skills and their appropriate application.

PharmSci 565 Drug Delivery 3cr. (Typically offered in the fall) Comprehensive overview of drug delivery at the molecular, cellular, and organ level; concepts and approaches as applied to multiple diseases.

PharmSci 572 Fundamentals of Oncology 3 cr. (Offered every other spring). Thorough overview of cancer biology encompassing basic cellular and molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and tumor progression, treatment and prevention.

PharmSci 573 Principles of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics 3cr. (Scheduling varies) Pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and toxicokinetic systems; mathematical model development utilizing common kinetic systems.

PharmSci 575 Receptor-ligand Interactions 3 cr. (Scheduling varies) Interactions of drugs with biological macromolecules constituting the physicochemical basis of drug action.

PharmSci 576 Biophysical Methods 3 cr. (Offered every other spring) Biophysical methods separating or detecting analytes based on their physical interactions with a support matrix or energy.

PharmSci 577 Responsible Conduct in Biomedical Research 3 cr. (Typically offered in the fall) Training in biomedical research ethics consistent with NIH requirements; introduction to literature searching and analysis, scientific writing, and oral presentations.

PharmSci 578 Applied Statistics 3 cr. (Typically offered in the fall) Research process; techniques for conducting health sciences research and evaluation; critique published health sciences research and collect, utilize, and evaluate primary and secondary data.

PharmSci 579 Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences 3cr. (scheduling varies) Introduces entering graduate students to diverse concepts regarding advances in pharmaceutical sciences in the areas of drug discovery, targeted drug actions and reactions, molecular mechanisms of drug actions and nutraceuticals.

PharmSci 581 Stem Cell Biology, Therapeutics and Regenerative Medicine 3 cr. (Offered every other spring) Provides information on the latest cutting edge research in the areas of stem cell biology and tissue regeneration; covers stem cell therapeutics, gene transfer vectors and methods for isolating, characterizing, and generating stem cells.

Approved WSU Courses

Check the WSU Schedule of Classes for offerings. These courses require Registrar enrollment. Email pharmacy.studentservices@wsu.edu if you are interested in enrolling in Global Campus courses.

COM 561 Professional Multimedia Content Creation

COM 562 Crisis Communication in Global Contexts

COM 563 Ethics for Professionals

COM 564 Research Methods for Professionals

COMHLTH 570 Health Communication and Behavior Change

COMHLTH 571 Communicating Health in Practice

COMHLTH 572 Communicating Health to Specialized Populations

COMHLTH 573 Communicating Health in a Digital Landscape

COMHLTH 574 Health Message Design and Effectiveness

COMSTRAT 701 Master’s Independent Capstone Project and /or Examination

E M 501 Management of Organizations 3 cr. Exploration of issues related to individual behavior in work organizations, including motivation, leadership, team-building, and team management skills.

E M 508 Legal Concepts for Engineering and Technical Managers 3 cr. Basic legal obligations of engineering/technical managers; identify, minimize and recognize risks and liability; contemporary legal environment and business law.

E M 520 Contract Project Management 3 cr. Contract project bids, proposals, contracts, project delivery/organization; estimating, scheduling, resource loading, project monitoring and controls, safety and quality.

E M 522 Leadership, Supervision, and Management 3 cr. Strategies of supervision with practical application techniques presented to create individual and organizational motivation. Credit not granted for both E M 422 and 522. Offered at 400 and 500 level.

E M 526 Constraints Management 3 cr. Identifies factors that block improvements in any system; effective breakthrough solutions; continual systems improvements for manufacturing, administration, projects.

E M 530 Applications of Constraints Management 3 cr. Understanding and applying proved solutions developed by the theory of constraints in areas of production, project management, finance, and distribution.

E M 534 Contemporary Topics in Constraints Management 3 cr. May be repeated for credit; cumulative maximum 6 hours. Course Prerequisite: E M 526; E M 530. Contemporary teaching tools, software packages, current techniques and thought in managing complex systems using the theory of constraints.

E M 538 Lean Tools for Systems Improvement 3 cr. Integration of the best of Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints to accelerate the continuous improvement process.

E M 555 Enterprise Resource Management 3 cr. Focusing the flow of quality, timely products and cooperative supply chain operations and planning using simulation and effective enterprise resource management.

E M 560 Integrated Supply Chain Management 3 cr. Concepts and techniques for design and managing manufacturing and service, operations intended to develop a world class organization.

E M 564 Project Management 3 cr. Technical tools, Critical Path Method (CPM), Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT), cost/schedule control systems, behavioral issues and organizational structure.

E M 565 Introduction to systems management 3 cr. This course is designed to assist students in knowledge essential for the management of new and modified complex system development.

E M 566 Systems engineering analysis and practice 3 cr. The course covers: a) models and approaches for system analyses, b) design for operational feasibility, and c) evaluation and comparison of a set of feasible system design alternatives early in the system development life cycle.

E M 567 Systems Supportability and Logistics Management 3 cr. Supportability and logistics engineering and management in a system life cycle, from concept to retirement.

E M 568 Risk assessment and management 3 cr. This course covers the principles and applications of risk assessment and management in the context of engineering management and systems engineering.

E M 569 Systems Architecting 3 cr. Students will apply architectural principles and practices to the development of a system architecture that will provide insight to the linkages between stakeholder requirements and their translation to system requirements, early architectural decisions, and system deployment, operation and sustainment phases, and associated development, operation and support costs.

E M 570 Systems Improvement: Integrating TOC, Lean, and Six Sigma 3 cr. Leveraging Theory of Constraints, Lean, and Six Sigma to achieve integrated systems level improvement. Credit not granted for both E M 470 and 570. Offered at 400 and 500 level.

E M 580 Quality Control and Reliability 3 cr. Quality analysis, modeling process, product quality, statistical process control, process capability studies; sampling concepts, reality models, predictions, design testing.

E M 585 Design of Experiments 3 cr. Design for quality improved products; processes and services using designed experiments, including robust/parameter design.

E M 590 Leading Design and Innovation 3 cr. Techniques and tools to optimize cost, quality, time to market, and to improve comprehensive product design, manufacturability and service components.

Engl 402 [W,M] Technical and Professional Writing 3 cr. Course Prerequisite: Engl 101, junior standing. **offered through Global Campus and requires approval.  Research writing: defining, proposing, reporting progress; presenting a final product; other professional writing needs.

H_D 505, Developing Effective Leadership: Tidal Leadership 2 cr. Offered completely online, and self-paced with the exception of 4 synchronous zoom meetings throughout the semester on Monday evenings. It is a customized leadership course for acquiring essential skills beyond the discipline skills for professional and personal success where you can build a personal leadership platform.

MedS 600 Special Projects Variable cr. Independent study

Nurs 471 Foundations of Occupational and Environmental Health Practice 3 cr. Course Prerequisite: Junior standing in any Health Professions program. Fundamentals of occupational and environmental health practice; concepts of prevention, epidemiology, disease prevention and health promotion to explain the underlying causes of occupational illness. Typically offered Fall.

Nurs 478/578 Plateau Tribes: Culture and Health 3 cr. Course Prerequisite: Admitted to the major in Nursing, Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, or Pharmacy; junior standing. History, culture, and health care needs of the Plateau Indian tribes; both classroom and practicum experience. Credit not granted for both NURS 478 and NURS 578. Offered at 400 and 500 level. Typically offered Spring

Nurs 492 Essential Disaster Management For Nurses 3 cr. Course Prerequisite: requires instructor approval. Implications for disaster management across the health professions; mental health and ethical issues and concerns related to vulnerable populations.

Nurs 498 Special Projects Topics vary

Nurs 499 Community Organizing for Health Equity 1 cr. Facilitates learning of community organizing skills through participatory exercises, discussion, and short lectures. The course provides a foundation to understand the world through a different lens needed to work on “upstream” issues. Students are drawn from across professional programs providing a setting for inter-professional collaboration and shared learning.  The course promotes community engagement by connecting students with existing community organizations, campaigns and other socially active individuals.

Nurs 492 Essentials of Disaster Management for Health Professions 3 cr. Course Prerequisite: Admitted to the major in Nursing; junior standing. Implications for disaster management across the health professions; mental health and ethical issues and concerns related to vulnerable populations. Typically offered Summer Session.

Nurs 524 Foundations of Methodological Applications for Health Sciences 2 cr. Qualitative and quantitative methods in health care; research, statistics, and interpretation language. Typically offered Summer Session.

Nurs 526 Analytical Foundations for Health Sciences 3 cr. Quantitative methods, research and statistics in current health care literature. Required preparation must include college-level statistics course. Typically offered Spring.

Nurs 529 Analytical Seminar for Health Science 3 cr. In-depth research methods used for health science research. Typically offered Spring.

Nurs 534 Research Seminar: Grant Development and Critique 3 cr. Seminar focusing on writing a fellowship and/ or grant application and skills for critically reviewing a funded fellowship or grant. Typically offered Summer Session.

Nurs 554 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Health Professions 3 cr. Course prerequisite: Admission to Nursing graduate program. Introduction to epidemiology: principles and methods of epidemiologic investigation including analysis of key elements of investigation of high risk populations. Required preparation must include college-level statistics course.

Nurs 564 Family Health and Health Promotion of Populations 3 cr. Interprofessional course analyzing the theoretical bases for developing and evaluating health promotion strategies tailored to variations in health behaviors.

Nurs 565 Information Management for Clinical Practice 3 cr. Course Prerequisite: NURS 505; NURS 576; admission to Nursing graduate program. Application/evaluation of nursing informatics; information systems to support clinical research, practice, administration, and education. Required preparation must include competency in word processing/spreadsheets.

Nurs 581 Advanced Pathophysiology 3 cr. Course prerequisite: Admission to Nursing graduate program. Etiology, pathogenesis, manifestations, and outcomes of disruption and dysfunction of human physiology.

Nurs 584 Health Care Law, Policy, and Analysis 3 cr. Course prerequisite: Admission to Nursing graduate program. Analysis of health care policy and delivery systems including access, disparity, barriers to care, social justice, vulnerability, and health outcomes.

Nurs 587 Research Inquiry: Qualitative Methods I 3 cr. Qualitative methodologies, issues and techniques of data collection, analysis and interpretation; issues of ethics and bias. Typically offered Spring.

Nurs 588 Research Inquiry: Quantitative Methods I 3 cr. Quantitative methodologies, issues and techniques of data collection, analysis and interpretation. Typically offered Fall.

SHS 201 American Sign Language I 4 cr. Fall only. Instruction and practical training in sign language for communication with persons who are deaf; deaf culture; beginning conversation skills.

SHS 202 American Sign Language II 4 cr. Course Prerequisite: SHS 201 or concurrent enrollment; completion of SHS 201 recommended. (spring only) Sign language systems; vocabulary and skill development in signing and interpreting signs; intermediate conversation skills.

Health Policy and Administration (HPA) courses are not being offered as of Summer 2019 for the foreseeable future.

The following are the past HPA courses that were available to PharmD students:

  • HPA 500 Introduction to the Health Care System 3 cr. Orientation to history and organization of the health care system.
  • HPA 501 Health Care Policy and Politics 3 cr. History, methods, results and evaluation of health-care-related policy and politics.
  • HPA 502 Law and Ethics of Health Management 3 cr. Private health law and ethics, including professional liability, relationship of physician and patient, malpractice reform, health institutions, and health access.
  • HPA 509 Health Care Economics 3 cr. The economics of allocating, financing and delivering health care services. Cooperative: Open to UI degree-seeking students.
  • HPA 510 Health Care Cost Accounting 3 cr.  Basic cost-accounting concepts, principles, and applications in the health care setting.
  • HPA 511 Health Care Finance 3 cr. Aspects of health care financial management fundamentals and managerial accounting for strategic financial management.
  • HPA 515 Health Care Management 3 cr. Introduction to the knowledge, skills, and values associated with the practice of health management.
  • HPA 519 Biostatistics and Epidemiology for the Health Sciences 3 cr. Application of quantitative methods to problems in the health sciences; statistical analysis software.
  • HPA 520 Research and Evaluation Methods 3 cr. Basic research and evaluation methods for health care professionals.
  • HPA 530 Health Care Information Systems 3 cr. Key attributes of health care information systems and their evolution in health care environment.
  • HPA 570 Marketing for Health Care Organizations 1 cr. Basic marketing concepts, principles, and issues related to marketing public and private health care.
  • HPA 590 Strategic Management and Marketing 3 cr. Key components and processes in strategic planning.

PharmD/MBA Dual Degree Foundation Courses

MBA business foundation courses are approved pharmacy electives for students enrolled in the PharmD/MBA dual degree. Contact pharmacy.studentservices@wsu.edu or Mitch Swanger for more information.

ACCTG 550 Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting 2-3 cr. **offered through Global Campus. Fundamentals of financial and managerial accounting; primarily for graduate students who wish to meet the MBA core requirements in accounting.

BA 501 Foundations in Marketing 2-3 cr. **Offered through Global Campus. Foundation topics in marketing for MBA students.

BA 502 Foundations in Operations Management 2-3 cr. **Offered through Global Campus. Foundation topics in operations management for MBA students.

BA 503 Foundations in Business Law 2-3 cr. **Offered through Global Campus. Foundation topics in business law for MBA students.

BA 504 Foundations in Finance 2-3 cr.  **Offered through Global Campus. Foundation topics in finance for MBA students.

BA 600 Introduction to Statistics (currently listed as an independent study). **Offered through Global Campus.

ECON 555 Managerial Economics for Decision Making 3 cr. **Offered through Global Campus. Optimal economic decision making for business in a global environment. Not open to economics graduate students.

Courses Available From Other Universities & Programs

Please note, tuition for the following courses varies and is in addition to your WSU Pharmacy tuition you currently pay. Please check with each institution to verify the course listed is still being offered and/or prerequisites have not changed.

Professional Compounding Centers of America

Interested students are encouraged to visit the PCCA student website to learn more about their courses (including the course schedule) and register for the desired course. Please contact pccainstitute@pccarx.com if you have any questions. Work with your advisor to enroll in a Pharmacy 599 and credit will be granted upon proof of successful completion of course.

  • Veterinary Compounding* 2 (requires extra fee).
  • PCCA Advanced Compounding* 2 (requires extra fee)

Procedure for Approval of Additional Electives

Students may petition the curriculum committee for approval of electives of their choice. The student should send an email to the curriculum committee chair providing the following information:

  1. course prefix and number
  2. Personal or career goals met by the course
  3. semester the student would like to enroll

The curriculum committee chair will research course description, learning outcomes and availability to PharmD. Students, and the committee will consider the course using the following criteria:

  1. Does the course fulfill curricular learning outcomes
  2. If the student would like to take the course for personal or career goals, is the course suitable for professional study

499 and 599 Electives

Using a 499 or 599 Elective for Research

Doctor of Pharmacy students interested in pursuing research can do so through independent study projects (electives). These electives are only one semester long and are a great way to gain exposure to research in your field of interest.

Next Steps

  1. Find a faculty research project and gain approval from the researcher to participate. Or bring your idea for a research project to a faculty mentor.
  2. Discuss your elective with your advisor.
  3. Your faculty mentor for the project contacts the pharmacy student services office and submits required information.
  4. Start your project.

Procedure for Approval of a Pharmacy 499 Continuing Education Courses

Students interested in requesting approval to complete continuing education courses for elective credit must complete the following steps:

  1. Complete the Pharmacy 499 CE Elective Request form. (Requires faculty advisor signature)
  2. Submit form to the curriculum committee chair

The committee chair will research the CE course and the curriculum committee will consider the course using the following criteria:

  1. Does the course fulfill curricular learning outcomes
  2. If the student would like to take the course for personal or career goals, is the course suitable for professional study.

Note: It is the student’s responsibility to check the schedule of courses for course offerings and availability.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a 499 and a 599 project?

Here are the definitions from the WSU catalog:

499 Special Problems: Independent study conducted under the jurisdiction of an approving faculty member; may include independent research studies in technical or specialized problems; selection and analysis of specified readings; development of a creative project; or field experiences.

599 Special Projects: Laboratory research, clinical research, or comprehensive review of selected subjects.

Therefore, if a student is working on a specific research project with you a 599 designation is the most appropriate. If the student is working on more of an independent study, the 499 designation is more appropriate. The Office of Student Services can help if there are questions regarding the appropriateness of a 599 or 499 designation.

How much time should 499 or 599 courses require from students?

These are both considered courses and therefore fall under the University’s guidance on time commitment for courses. Both 499 and 599 fall under the category of independent study, which is a minimum of 3 hours per week for each credit hour (or minimum 45 hours per credit per semester). The total time per week can vary between the 499 and 599 because of the number of semester credits can be different between these, as noted below:

  • Both 499 and 599 allow for variable credit between 1 and 4 credits per semester, they will require 3 to 12 hours per week as appropriate for the credit assigned (minimum 3 hours per week for each credit or minimum 45 hours per credit per semester). A student can repeat a 499 or 599 for a maximum of 12 cumulative credits.
  • For both 499 and 599 the time can be completed in a flexible manner if needed so that it does not have to be the same amount of time each week. However, the student should be aware of time expectations, and the total time for the semester should reflect the credit expectations noted above.
  • Please note that students who may plan to work with faculty for more than one semester and who may spend a semester doing literature review prior to starting the actual project should use the 499 credit for literature review so that 2 semesters of 599 can be utilized, if needed, for the actual research project.

As a quick reminder, students are required to take 12 elective credits in a minimum of 4 courses. Both 499 and 599 fulfill elective credits. However, a student still must take 4 elective courses even if high credit courses such as a 4-credit 499 might allow her/him to meet the 12-credit minimum with fewer than 4 courses.

How does a student register for a 499 or 599 with a faculty member?

If a faculty member agrees to be the instructor for a 499 or 599, that faculty member must contact Pharmacy Student Services, at pharmacy.studentservices@wsu.edu. Student Services will then enroll the student in the 499 or 599 course. Students are not able to register online for a 499 or 599, and faculty members are required to make the contact with Student Services rather than the student so that there is no question that the faculty member has agreed to be the instructor.