Pharmacogenomics and the Raabe College of Pharmacy Curriculum

The Raabe College of Pharmacy at ONU is the only school of pharmacy to put a six-year emphasis on pharmacogenetic training. The integration of pharmacogenetics and personalized medicine throughout the PharmD program was adopted by the college faculty at-large.

Students are introduced to pharmacogenomics in their first semester during the introductory biology course, where they undertake exercises that relate DNA analysis to drug therapy. In the second semester, students are introduced to the broader topic of personalized medicine. In the second year of the curriculum, students learn about the Human Genome Project and the techniques used to sequence genomes. Biochemistry expands the students’ understanding of sequencing DNA as they start the third year.

In the spring of the third year, students use polymerase chain reaction and gel electrophoresis to examine their own DNA, specifically looking at drug metabolizing enzymes. As the students enter the fourth year of the program, they focus on the relationships between genetics and how that influences what the body does to the drug and what the drug does to the body. In the spring of the fourth year and continuing on through the sixth year, students learn about specific drugs for which genetic variation is understood and applied. The six years of education in pharmacogenomics is extensive and makes clear to the student that this is the future of pharmacy practice.

In history, we rarely have the opportunity to be part of something that promises to profoundly change our world. In medicine, in pharmacy, it is genomics, and our students understand this is the "here and now" future of our profession. Their applications of pharmacogenomics will lead our profession to greater, positive change.