[Pharmacy School and Pharm.D. Program in the United States of America].

Pharmacy schools in Japan started to offer the 6-year undergraduate program in 2006. Currently, students are eligible for the national licensing examination to become a pharmacist only after completing the six-year program and receiving a bachelor's degree. Meanwhile, pharmacy schools offer the four-year graduate program in the United States of America (U.S.A.). In addition to the length of the program, there are several significant differences between pharmacy schools in Japan and the U.S.A. In the U.S., students receive a professional doctoral degree in pharmacy, doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.), after completion of the program. Fourth-year pharmacy students in the U.S. spend 1600 h in their clinical rotations, which is considerably longer than those in Japanese programs. It is also unique that pharmacists and pharmacy students are authorized to administer vaccines in the U.S. upon completion of immunization training. This symposium review aims to introduce the pharmaceutical education and the Pharm.D. program offered in the U.S.